Contexto. Evolucin del concepto. Las claves de contextualizacin.

CONTEXT
Context is a dynamic term. Basically, it refers to the frame that surround the speech
occurrence.
It's important to note that any piece of text must be understood in relation to its context.
Context is a lobal concept that embodies different types of surroundin elements.
!hat is, every spo"en text is surrounded by a linuistic context, a conitive context and a
sociocultural context.
#!he LI$%&I'!IC C($!E)! has to do not only *ith time, location and precedin discourse
but also *ith the performativity of lanuae +e.. the effects produced by speech acts,.
#!he C(%$I!I-E C($!E)! has to do *ith the mental representations *ithin spea"ers.
#!he '(CI(C&L!&./L C($!E)! has to do *ith every social and cultural element that
influences the speech occurrence. 0or example1 social roles and eneral bac"round
"no*lede of a specific culture.
!his is # basically # the contemporary description of context.
EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT
!he concept of context evolved throuh many different studies throuhout the years.
(ne of the first author that studied context *ith a discoursal approach *as 2alino*s"i.
2alino*s"i *as an anthropoloist. 3e analyzed primitive lanuaes and observed that
lanuae functions as 'a mode of action' 4 and that lanuae is al*ays embedded *ithin a
C($!E)! (0 'I!&/!I($. !herefore, the meanin of an utterance depends on the context of
situation.
2alino*s"i suested that this also applied to 'modern lanuaes' but *e couldn't appreciate it
#until then# because the focus *as put on *ritin.
Conse5uently, the authors *ho follo*ed 2alino*s"i present the C($!E)! (0 'I!&/!I($
alon *ith C($!E)! (0 C&L!&.E, both as bein part of a *ider concept1 C($!E)! (0
I$!E./C!I($.
/lso, most of their descriptions claim that the notion of context involves a 6uxtaposition of t*o
entities1 789/ 0(C/L E-E$! and 7:9/ 0IEL; (0 /C!I($ in *hich that event is embedded.
!hat is, the 0(C/L E-E$! is the conversation # for instance # and the 0IEL; (0 /C!I($ is
the lobal frame that surrounds that conversation. !his t*o entities are connected and function
side by side in *hat is defined as context.
0urther theories also tal"ed about C($!E)!&/L /!!.IB&!E' such as the settin 7social and
spatial frame*or"9, the behavioral environment 7activities in *hich the spea"ers are involved9,
lanuae as context, extrasituational context.

$o*adays, *e refer to context as an umbrella term that includes linuistic, conitive and
sociocultural context.
/part from that, recent studies s*itch from C($!E)! !( C($!E)!&/LI</!I($.
C($!E)!&/LI</!I($ is defined # in relation to discourse analysis # as the process throuh
*hich participants in a conversation ma"e relevant or focus on certain aspects of bac"round
"no*lede and minimize attention to others.
In other *ords, contextualization refers to usin lanuae to sinal relevant aspects of an
interactional or communicative situation.
Contextualization is not a static process, it develops and chanes as the participants interact.
CONTEXTUALIZATION CUES
=hen *e analyze conversations, *e loo" for 'contextualization cues' or 'contextualization hints'
to help us define *hat the participants see as relevant to the context. Contextualization cues
are any sinificant features that suest certain contextual information in a iven situation.
!hat is to say, they are non#verbal sins that help spea"ers clarify their messae and help
listeners ma"e inferences.
=hen participants interpret each others> contextual cues, then conversations o effectively.
3o*ever, *hen contextual cues are misinterpreted, the conversation is not productive and the
participants could label each other as rude, socially a*"*ard, forein, strane, etc. In other
*ords, contextualization cues allo* the interpretation of messaes in a culturally acceptable
form.
Examples of contextualization cues include intonation, stress, pitch, rhythm and volume. =ith
these *hole set of elements *e can actually mean so much by utterin very little. !his is a
central point in the notion of contextualization cues1 that is, that apparently, &!!E./$CE'
C/$ C.E/!E !3EI. (=$ C($!E)!'. Indeed, utterances carry their contexts *ith them,
that is, the set of assumptions necessary to allo* their interpretation.
Certainly, interpretation is cooperatively realized and al*ays relies on the participants' shared
bac"round "no*lede.
/n example of context#invocation by 'cue' is the use of r tone in the follo*in utterance1
/Sorry could you PLEASE help me with these BOOKS?/
R
7In this example, the . tone pro6ects1 a neative politeness stratey +it avoids imposition, 4
Indirectness 4 3edin 4 /poloizin before as"in. 4 !he spea"er's intentions are clear.
3e?she doesn't *ant to be rude, that's *hy he?she ma"es a mild re5uest not a stron demand.
3e?she tries to transmit toetherness.9

'o, it's clear that a simple realization of tone is a contextual fla #amon others# that carry a
reat amount of information and function as an instruction that pro6ects ho* to build the context
in *hich the utterance should be interpreted.