Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Summary and Concluding Comments

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6. Summary and Concluding Comments

This chapter provides a brief summary of chapters 1 through 5 , as well as concluding comments for the study as a whole. The concluding comments are presented in conjunc- tion with the summary material for respective chapters.

6.1. Chapter 1

As Roy Harris has stated: Every linguistic theory presupposes a theory of communication …. However minimal or inexplicitly formulated such a theory of communication may be, it has an essential role to play because nothing else can provide the conceptual underpinnings necessary for a more detailed account of how an interactive social activity like language works. Harris 1987 :204 This study has provided a detailed analysis of a particular model of communication which has been employed in linguistics for nearly fifty years. The model in question has been called the “Code Model of Communication.” It is a basic model of communication and expresses the idea that communication is the transmission and reception of infor- mation between a human source encoder and receiver decoder using a signaling system. Of this model Edmondson and Burquest 1998 :95–96 comment that in that view “language is a kind of code, and communicating is the process of encoding concepts and its inverse decoding. The notion is quite familiar and so intuitive that the question may be asked whether there is any conceivable alternative to it.” This study has asserted that the code model concept of communication has been fundamental to the metatheory of contemporary linguistics see Crystal 2003 :85.

6.2. Chapter 2

The second chapter of the study has addressed the fact that models are metaphors. Within linguistics, as within any discipline, models play an important role in metatheory. Metatheory, defined as “the underlying beliefs which generate a particular approach” and as “ideology or theoretical presupposition” Figueroa 1994 :4, is typically assumed within a given discipline, and therefore rarely discussed. Metatheory can be examined vicariously, however, through examination of the metaphors employed by linguists. As Lakoff and Johnson suggest in regard to their own study of metaphor, “language is an important source of evidence for what the [conceptual] system is like” 1980 :3. In examining the language used by linguists, one finds a recurring theme reflected in use of a particular theoretical model, the code model of communication. As a means of documenting this recurring theme, the study presented a selection of quotations spanning nearly fifty years of linguistic literature. One need not look far to determine that, indeed, most linguists employ some version of the code model, even though they may vary in regard to the details of its conceptualization and application. 234 6. Summary and Concluding Comments As suggested by Burke 1984 , [orig. 1954 ] and Lakoff and Johnson 1980 , meta- phors serve to shape perspective and experience. This is particularly true of conceptual metaphors see again figure 2.1 .. The code model of communication is a conceptual metaphor which shapes the conceptual framework of most traditional linguists. As such, the code model is, indeed, a powerful metaphor within linguistic metatheory.

6.3. Chapter 3