Communicativeness

Communicativeness is the extent to which information is effectively conveyed and interpreted within a communication process. It encompasses not only linguistic clarity but also the relevance of content, the appropriateness of tone and style, the management of turn-taking, and the use of nonverbal signals. A communicative act succeeds when the sender's intended meaning is understood by the receiver with minimal ambiguity, and when feedback and adjustments occur in a timely manner.

Dimensions of communicativeness include clarity (choice of words and structure), relevance and sufficiency of information, tone (emotional valence and politeness), responsiveness (ability to answer questions and adapt to feedback), and nonverbal cues (eye contact, gestures, facial expressions). Context matters, as audience, purpose, channel, and cultural norms shape how messages are crafted and interpreted. In psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics, communicativeness relates to communicative competence, pragmatic language skills, and discourse abilities.

Assessment typically involves measures of pragmatic language use, conversational skills, and the ability to tailor messages to different listeners. In education and healthcare, high communicativeness supports learning, informed consent, and patient engagement. In organizations, it underpins collaboration and leadership; in digital media, it affects clarity of written posts, interfaces, and automated responses. Challenges include noise, cognitive load, cultural differences, and mediator technologies that alter feedback loops. The term spans linguistics, psychology, sociology, and information science, reflecting the broad aim of understanding how effectively people and systems convey meaning.

See also: communicative competence, pragmatics, discourse analysis, intercultural communication.