Page 68 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

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46 Vladimir Zegarac

To sum up: human communication involves the production and interpre-
tation of ostensive stimuli, which make evident the communicator’s intention to
convey some belief-assumptions. The communicator, by making evident her in-
tention to inform the addressee, effectively issues a kind of promissory note to
the effect that the utterance (or other ostensive stimulus) is worth paying atten-
tion to. The Cognitive Principle of Relevance makes it possible to spell out the
conditions under which this promise has been honoured: an act of communi-
cation is worth paying attention to, provided that doing so will lead to the deri-
vation of enough cognitive effects to warrant at least some attention, without
gratuitous expenditure of processing effort.
These observations on the role of the Cognitive Principle of Relevance in
ostensive-inferential communication are more formally captured by the follow-
ing generalization, known as the Communicative Principle of Relevance:
Communicative Principle of Relevance:
Every act of ostensive communication communicates a presumption of its own opti-
mal relevance.
Sperber and Wilson (1995: 260)
Presumption of Optimal Relevance:
(a) The ostensive stimulus is relevant enough for it to be worth the addressee’s while
to process it.
(b) The ostensive stimulus is the most relevant one compatible with the communi-
cator’s abilities and preferences/goals.
Adapted from Sperber and Wilson (1995: 270)

The principle of relevance provides the basis for a production strategy (followed
by the communicator) and a comprehension strategy (followed by the ad-
dressee):

Relevance-Theoretic Production Strategy
Given your preferences/goals, choose the least effort-demanding option for the
hearer.
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Zegarac (2004: 203)
Relevance-Theoretic Comprehension Strategy
(a) construct interpretations in order of accessibility (i.e. follow a path of least
effort)
(b) stop when your expectation of relevance is satisfied.
Adapted from Carston (2002: 380)

The communicator’s choice of signal is guided by two factors: their assump-
tions about the addressee (the addressee’s knowledge and reasoning abilities)
and the communicator’s own preferences or goals. Thus, in examples (1) to (3),
the communicator’s poor assessment of the addressee’s/audience’s cognitive re-
sources (more specifically, the availability and salience of particular contextual