One example of grounding in a recent text conversation I had was with my twin brother Elijah. This conversation was primarily about movies on television and music. Our conversation is based on a previously established common ground, so no grounding whatsoever has to take place in order for me to understand what he was talking about. This was our first exchange:
Me: Tnt- the rock. Eric- 1 Elijah-0
Him: Yea I was just watching it.
Immediately we were launched into common ground because we play a game when we're both at home from college. When we flip through the television and stop at a station playing a movie, the first to name the movie wins. Sometimes, as was this example, I'll flip through the television here in Ithaca and find a movie on a station I know he catches. In this case, on Sunday, I was flipping through the channels and on TNT, Nicholas Cage was talking to Sean Connery and they were both decked out in scuba gear. I immediately knew this movie was called "The Rock", and that's what I texted him. By his response, I could tell he knew exactly what I was talking about, but someone else would have no idea what we were talking about. Of course, the game is not as great when we're apart because the person who spots the movie first has the advantage. Later on, this is what he texted me:
Him: The CW, Golden Eye Eric-1 Elijah-1
Me: Shit.
Once again, I knew exactly what he was talking about, but another person would be somewhat lost in our conversation. It just so happen that he won this time. Another text he sent me on another day was this:
Him: The Editors- An End Has a Start
Me: Eh, it was ok. God, remember when the born ruffians came out with hummingbird? I want another hit like that.
Whenever my brother texts me something like this, I know he's talking about music. We always text each other the band name and the song that we really like by that band. Most of the time he texts me, I'm around a computer so I try and listen to the song immediately. According to Clark and Brennan, my brother and I have good communication because we share common ground very often.
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So during the time you are playing this name-the-movie game, it is clear that you have common ground and so you’ll understand the (otherwise cryptic) text messages you receive. If we expand the context, there might still be room for grounding in the conversation as wel. You’d still have to play the game at the same time even if you are in different locations. So I could imagine some initial grounding being done along the lines of “let’s play the game”... “ok sure.”
ReplyDeleteI understand what you are saying when you say there was ‘no grounding’ because of all the prior knowledge and common ground you two share, especially being twins, that’s probably the most common ground you can have, but I feel that every conversation has to start with grounding, no matter how short it may be. If I had to point out the grounding in this conversation it would be the format of the text message. You two share a common text format when you are playing your ‘movie game’: Channel, movie title, current score. This common formatting grounds the conversation without a drawn out initial presentation
ReplyDeleteThe conversations between you and your twin are excellent examples of how important grounding really is to a conversation, as you previously stated, if anyone else had read those messages they more than likely would not know what you were talking about