ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the notion of ‘grammar’, what it really is and does and why it is an important tool for communicating meaning. It introduces some of the complexities and subtleties of human communication. The book compares and contrasts two models of language and communication and explores how ‘meaning’ is co-created – or cooperatively achieved – by interactants in a communicative event, such as a consultation or an interview. It also introduces the notion of ‘context’, physical, social, and cultural, and of ‘co-text’ – the immediate verbal environment of communication. The book illustrates how context, in turn, shapes interaction, the creation of meaning, and (mis)understanding. It explains how narratives are both a cognitive tool that helps people make sense of their lives and an interpersonal one that helps them present a preferred version of themselves, as well as of events.
