Misunderstanding skills as part of language socialization (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, LMU Munich (LMU Muenchen), course: Proseminar, language: English, abstract: The Importance of Language: An Introduction

Communication is perhaps the one thing that brings and keeps human beings together. It is through talking to each other that we are able to belong. Without language this wouldn't be possible. The most striking example in world literature, that could prove this statement is the monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Because of his looks, he is completely shut out from society. Only with time does he understand that the only way for him to become part of this very same society is through language and communication, through trying to understand people and be understood. Only after gaining enough skills to articulate his thoughts and feelings in a way not to be misunderstood, is he able to take part in social life.
It is then natural to assume that the ability to express ourselves, as well as the ability to comprehend what is expressed, is one of the major criteria for socializing. It allows us to belong to a community. This ability develops throughout our lives. We start from zero as infants and become more and more skilled as we grow up.

This "gain[ing] of competence in sense-making", as Elinor Ochs (1991: 44) calls it, has been a major research topic for linguists. Ochs tries to show in her article, "Misunderstanding Children", how close this process of developing language skills, in order to understand/comprehend, is connected to the social and cultural development of individuals, because "[e]very society establishes norms of competence and all members of society, including infants and children, are evaluated in terms of them" (Ochs 1991: 44). Children become linguistically and culturally competent members of their communities through interactions with caregivers and other more competent members of their community (cf. Ochs & Schieffelin, 1984; Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986). Through this language socialization, children learn the behaviors that are culturally appropriate in their community (cf. Schieffelin & Ochs, 1986).