ABSTRACT
Context is crucial to understanding language-in-use and for doing discourse analysis. Context includes the physical setting in which communication takes place; the bodies, eye gaze, gestures, and movements of those present; what has previously been said and done by those involved in the communication; and any shared personal, social, and cultural knowledge. Context in writing is obviously different than context in speech, because writer and reader are not face to face, physically encountering each other. Context raises a big problem both for hearers and discourse analysts. The problem is that context is too big. Any aspect of context can affect the meaning of what is said. Frameworks can be formal theories in science or theory-like connected sets of claims and beliefs held by everyday people, often as part of their affiliation with different Discourses. Meaningful reflective discussions across different frameworks in science, religion, politics, or culture are not about vetting individual claims.
