Contextualization in sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics

Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...

 refers to the use of language and discourse

Discourse

Discourse generally refers to "written or spoken communication". The following are three more specific definitions:...

 to signal relevant aspects of an interactional or communicative situation. Basil Bernstein

Basil Bernstein

Basil Bernstein was a British sociologist and linguist, known for his work in the sociology of education.-Biography:...

 (1990 [1971]) uses (re)contextualization when referring to the reformulation of scientific knowledge in pedagogical contexts, for instance in textbooks. John Gumperz (1982a, 1982b) and others in interactional sociolinguistics

Interactional sociolinguistics

Interactional sociolinguistics is a subdiscipline of linguistics that uses discourse analysis to study how language users create meaning via interaction. Interactional sociolinguistics was founded by linguistic anthropologist John J. Gumperz...

 study subtle "contextualization cues", for instance intonation

Intonation

Intonation may refer to:*Intonation , the variation of tone used when speaking*Intonation , a musician's realization of pitch accuracy, or the pitch accuracy of a musical instrument*Intonation Music Festival, held in Chicago...

, that allow language users to infer contextually adequate meanings of discourse (see also Eerdmans, Prevignano & Thibault, 2002).