meaningnegotiation

Meaningnegotiation is a term used in linguistics to describe the collaborative process by which interlocutors establish shared meaning during interaction. It arises when participants encounter misunderstandings due to linguistic ambiguity, lexical gaps, or cultural references. It is often treated as a variant of “negotiation of meaning,” or as a coined form in some writings.

Origin and scope: The concept stems from interactional sociolinguistics and second language acquisition research. Long (1983) and other scholars described how speakers negotiate form and meaning when comprehension is at stake. Meaningnegotiation encompasses repairs to both language and meaning in spoken and written discourse, especially in multilingual contexts.

Mechanisms include clarification requests, confirmation checks, reformulations or recasts, paraphrasing, repetition, explicit explanations, and the use of nonverbal cues. Participants may adjust vocabulary, syntax, or register to align with the other’s knowledge. The process is typically iterative and collaborative.

Contexts and evidence: It occurs in classroom interaction, intercultural communication, workplace multilingual teams, and online forums. Researchers study it with conversation analysis, discourse analysis, and experimental methods, often linking negotiation steps to learning outcomes or communicative success.

Critique and notes: Some view negotiation as essential for mutual understanding and language development, while others warn that excessive negotiation can disrupt task flow. It remains a topic of debate how best to operationalize and measure its effects in different settings. See also: negotiation of meaning.