Negotiating Meaning

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Strategies

• Ask a clarifying question
• Rephrase
• Reread/double check
• Explain context
• Say if you don't understand

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Polysemy

• Words get meanings from words, contexts, people.
• Words have different means that are constantly changing.

Converse about personal topics before you move on to “business.” Doing so creates a “safe space” where “linguistic peculiarities can be negotiated in English” (Canagarajah p. 405).

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Tips

• Meaningful communication is the job of both writer AND reader
• Writers have divers options and resources
• Miscommunication is natural
• Err on the side of caution. Look for cues