Perspectives in Argumentation and Communication: A relevance-theoretic approach

Abstract

The present paper presents an overview of the theories of relevance (Sperber&Wilson 1985, 1995, 1998, 2002; Wilson & Sperber 2002) with a particular focus on argumentation and human communication. An in-depth analysis of the human communication plays a critical role in accounting for the theory of relevance. Standing in opposition to the traditional model whereby the communication is accomplished by the transmission of an intended message from a sending party to the receiver through a channel, which, in turn, is decoded and some type of signal or feedback is sent back, the Relevance theorists argue that what distinguishes an input from others is its relevance to the receiver since every utterance creates in the addressee an expectation of relevance. Yus (2006) also relates Relevance Theory to human communication since it is established within a broader cognitive framework, which, in turn, makes humans tend to maximize the relevance of the utterance. This paper will contribute to a better understanding of RT as a general linguistic principle organizing the goal-oriented use of language in communication. Any form of communication can hardly be achieved without contributing factors such as relevance, coherence, semantic interconnectedness and intertextuality. In this regard, we will attempt to study the role of relevance in pragmatics, semantics and communication. We end by taking into account the relevance-theoretic model for achieving a successful communication.

Keywords: theory of relevance, argumentation, communication, coherence, pragmatics