Types of Context in the Speech

INTRODUCTION

According to Brilhart and Galanes (1989) “communication is the process where by symbols generated by people are received and are responded to by other people.”

According to Kiura and Munga (2012) communication is the process in which message is received, organized, transmitted, deceived and responded to.

The communication process involves a set of dynamic systems and related inter-dependent elements. These systems and elements operate in dynamic and reciprocate cycles. Communication can be said complete once the desired number of cycles has been accomplished. The following are the basic elements in the communication process, source, message, channel, receiver, feedback and context.

Context

According to Weaver (1996) context “simply refers to the environment in which communication takes place.

According to Verderber (1998) context is the setting in which communication occurs including what precedes and follows what is said.

Communication context

According to Wikipedia; Communication context can be thought of the environment or human eco-system in which communication takes place.

According Deveto J. A. (2005), Communication context exist in a context and that context to a large extent determines the meaning of any verbal or non verbal message.

The relationships in which we are involved, the groups which we are members, the organization’s we work for, and the society in which we live, all have an impact on our individual communication activities. Human communication does not occur in a vacuum. It always takes place in series of interacting contexts always influence the form and content of the message or of communication that occurs. When examining context, we look at the; who, what, when, where and how of interpersonal communication.

In that sense, therefore, context includes the physical, psychological, social, cultural and historical (temporal).

PHYSICAL CONTEXT

According to Verderber R. F. (1998) “physical context of communication includes where it takes place, environment condition (temperature, lighting and noise level), the distance between communicators, seating arrangement, and the time of the day” physical context in other words refers to the tangible or concrete environment at which the communicators are when communicating, the size of the space, its temperature, the number of people present in the physical place would also be the part of the physical dimension.

For instance; a speaker at the political rally should shout to pound the podium and use inflammatory to get his audience excited. At many political issues this type of behavior is expected, bun doing the same as shouting in political rally with the small group of friends around the fire place late at night, would produce very different reaction. Thus the friends will speak calmly to one another.

To shed more light; let us take a look to this, a girlfriend may take her boyfriend to the nice restaurant to deliver bad news! Perhaps the death of his father or close relative, or rather to end their relationship, the ambience of the restaurant in sense tends to bother the effect of harsh or hostile news. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTEXT

Includes the mood and feeling each person brings to the communication, also it consists the aspects that occur in the minds of the participants, with the moods or attitudes of the communicators, therefore context can be serious or humorous, formal or informal, friendly or unfriendly. As a result, then, one’s values, past experiences needs, cognitive styles (the way one thinks) and one’s perceptions of other people, and situations help one attach meaning to that information. How the audience is feeling will have an impact on how the speaker’s message will be received and how they should be delivered. For example if a speaker is making presentation at a conference with several days of various speaker doing presentations the psychology of the audience will be different in the morning of the first day than it will in the evening of the last day. The mood following dinner will be different than the mood right before dinner. Another example suppose Mr. Nassary is under great deal of stress as he tries to finish are port due to next morning, if his friend jokingly suggests that he take a speed typing course Nassary who is nominally good natured may explode with an angry tired why? Because his stress level provides the psychological context within which he hears this message and it taints what he understands. 

SOCIAL CONTEXT

Social context has to do with the status relationships between/among speakers, the formality of the situation, the norms of the group, the organization. Communication is affected by whether one is talking with a peer or superior, a parent or a child. The group’s organization or clubs to which one belongs influence ones communication.

For example; one can not talk the same way in the cafeteria as he/she would at a formal dinner at his/her boss house or home, the different attained due to affiliation between speaker and the listener at that critical condition. Another instance is, that most people change how they interact when talking with their parents or sibling as compared to how the interact when talking with their professors.

CULTURAL CONTEXT

Involves the lifestyles, beliefs, values, behavior and communication of a group, it is the rules of a group of people for considering something right or wrong. Also is one of the most obvious factors of communication but it is also on the most important culture relates to the beliefs and value of a group (society).traditions, taboos, habits and customs have powerful influences on the character  of person, people of all culture. for example the way material is presented to a group of teenage boys will be different from the way it is effectively presented to a group of elderly women, the best way to present information to a group of wall street stock blockers will be different than the best way to present that same information to a group of hunger victims, it is always critically important that as speaker understand the cultural expectations of the audience. The assumptions that makes when interacting with others is they share the beliefs values and norms that are common in western European countries as they have been adapted to the America experience. Communication strategies or techniques that prove satisfying may prove disturbing or offensive to members. 

HISTORICAL (TEMPORAL) CONTEXT

This includes the background provided by the previous communication or regular communication episodes/events between the participants that influences understanding in the current encounter.

For example the way people greet during the day differs due to the effect of time or historical case, for instance in the afternoon one cannot greet by saying good morning instead he/she says good afternoon.

Suppose one morning; Hosea requested the report draft from Upendo that they left to their boss to read. When Upendo enters Hosea’s office the following afternoon and ask Hosea “did you get it” the secretary who is listening that conversation will have no idea of what Upendo communicated, but Hosea will notice exactly what is communicated due to the historical effect referred back, and perhaps Hosea will answer in affirmative mode. 

CONCLUSION

In order for communication to take place effectively the speaker should look at the; who, what, when, where and how communication is taking place. There fore because communication does not take place in vacuum. It always relate to the context which is present, so in order to have effective communication a contextis very crucial indispensable. 

REFERENCES

Brilhart J. K. and Galanes G. J. (1989), Effective Group Discussion, Dubuque USA; WCB Publishers.

Bunnow R. (2002), Communication Context Explanation and Social Judgment, USA; Princeton University Press.

DeVito J. A. (2005), Essential of Human Communication, Boston USA; Pearson Education Inc.

Kariuki K. M. and Munga C. E. (2011), Fundamentals of Communication Skills, Mwanza Tanzania; Victoria Educational Promotional Centre Ltd.

Verderber R. F. (1999), Communication, USA; Wordsworth Publishing Company.

Weaver R. L. II (1996), Understanding Interpersonal Communication, New York; Harper Collins College Publishers.