Page 70 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

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48 Vladimir Zegarac

The notion of mutual cognitive environment is important because it sets a limit
on the possibilities of communication, as illustrated in (7):

(7) Situation: Kiki, a mutual acquaintance/friend of Maria’s and Peter’s, had
told Peter in April that Maria would be coming to England in May, and that she
was planning to see a few people, including him. She also asked him not to tell
Maria that she had informed him of her planned visit. Peter was surprised, but he
kept the “secret”. He did not meet up with Maria in England as he was away on
business at the time of her visit. However, unknown to Peter, Kiki disclosed to
Maria what she had told him. So, for the next few months, he remained under
the impression that Maria was unaware of his knowledge of her visit to England.
The following is an excerpt from their chat on the internet in which the assump-
tion that Maria visited England in May, which was already in Peter’s and
Maria’s shared cognitive environment, became mutually manifest to them:
[1] Peter: Are you going on holiday for the New Year and Christmas?
[2] Maria: Haven’t quite made up my mind yet, but I’m probably going to
Barbados to see Sharon and visit some other friends as well.
[3] Peter: Sounds good. Are you planning to visit England again?
[4] Maria: No, I did last June.
[5] Peter: Yeah, when I was in Beijing!
[6] Maria: Yes, when Kiki told you. I almost killed her!

People have clear intuitions about the distinction between assumptions which
are mutually manifest (i.e. presumed shared) and those which are merely shared.
For example, prior to the exchange in (7), the assumption Maria visited England
in June was in Peter’s and Maria’s shared cognitive environment, but it was not
in their mutual cognitive environment. Peter’s affirmative response, [5], indi-
cates that a previously shared assumption has now become mutually manifest to
Maria and to him, and this opened up the possibility of communication on the
topic of her visit to England earlier in the year.
It is important to note that the term (mutual) “manifestness” refers to the
psychological disposition for mental representation. In (7), the assumption that
Peter and Maria had known all along that Maria had visited England in June,
became highly (mutually) manifest to them. Therefore, they represented it
mentally, becoming fully conscious of it. However, the mutual cognitive
environment that people draw upon in communication largely consists of back-
ground assumptions which are presumed shared by all people, or, at least, by all
members of a particular community or group. Following Searle (1980), Carston
(2002) refers to this set of assumptions as Background (with a capital B) and
characterizes it as follows: