10 Chapter - Common Ground in Electronically Mediated Communication: Clark's Theory of Language Use

Abstract

This chapter introduces Clark's theory of language use. This theory can make practically relevant predictions for the design of facilities to electronically mediate communication. The key concept in Clark's theory is that of common ground. Language is viewed as a collaborative activity that uses existing common ground to develop further common ground and hence to communicate efficiently. The theory defines different kinds of common ground, formalizes the notion of collaborative activity as a joint action, and describes the processes by which common ground is developed through joint action. The chapter discusses why a purely cognitive model of communication is not enough, and what is meant by the phrase “collaborative activity.” It introduces the idea of common ground and how it is used in language using an example of two people communicating over a video link.