Professor Rankin Natalie Hasselbacher
Cata 101
13 February, 2004
Understanding Communication Settings

Recently I ventured outside of the Monmouth College campus to more familiar surroundings, my household. The reason for my visit was, of course, to not only wash the usual three loads of laundry but also to talk
to my parents about what has been going on in my life. I usually look forward to getting a chance to talk to my parents. The six types of context were present in this particular conversation, but the most influential and
important type was situational context.
Situational context had the most influence on our communication. Because I was at home and I was conversing with my parents, I was able to feel very comfortable with whatever I had to say. Situational context
allows me to label the act that I was involved in as hanging out with my parents. When I hang out with my parents, I can be myself without holding back. For instance, during this conversation with my parents, I was able to come in the house and say, "Hey what's up?" Because I was able to approach the conversation with this casual greeting, as oppose to saying, "Hello, how are you," I am able to adapt to the situation and act appropriately.
The second most important type of context was relational context. Relational context also allowed me to feel comfortable and to be myself. During my conversation with my parents, I was honest and told them problems
that I had been dealing with. Because relational context came into play, I depended on my mom and dad to give me advice and help me come up with solutions to my problems. I felt like I could depend on my parents because
of the parent-child relationship. I said, "I hate my dorm, and I don't really feel like I fit in at all." I was able to say this because of my relationship to whom I was speaking. If it had been someone else, I would
not have been able to share my feelings quite so honestly and openly. It wouldn't have been appropriate conversation to hold with for example, a stranger who sits next to me in Communication class.
The next important type of context was physical context. Again, because I was at home, I was able to feel relaxed with my setting. Our conversation was held mostly in the kitchen, a medium sized room with a
table and chairs. The fact that we were sitting at the table while holding our conversation made it easy for me to make good eye contact with my parents. Also, while sitting at the table, I felt like I had their complete
attention and not like they were preoccupied and paying half attention. Being at my house, and not in public, made it an appropriate place to discuss anything we wanted to. I would not feel comfortable sharing my
thoughts with strangers and eavesdroppers. The warmness of the kitchen also influenced our conversation positively. My parents and I were able to focus on our conversation and not how cold we were.
The fourth most important type of context was inner context. There is no place like home. I truly believe in that last statement from "The Wizard of Oz". I felt happy to be at home talking with my parents. Being happy
allowed me to have a good and meaningful conversation. Our inner feelings influenced our conversation positively because they were happy to see me, and I was happy to see them. The fact that I was happy made me interpret anything as better than it probably actually was. My mom told a really corny joke, but because I was feeling very happy, I laughed my head off and interpreted the joke as hilarious.
The next most important type of context was symbolic context. My parents knew that I was not very happy living in the dorm that I was living in because of previous discussions. My parents were able to understand this
conversation better because they already knew I was not happy with where I was living. When I said, "I am still not happy with my dorm room," my mom shook her head because she understood. What I had told her before about not liking my dorm influenced her understanding in this conversation.
The least important type of context was cultural context. Because my parents and I are from the same culture, we didn't experience any problems conversing with each other. The three of us have the same rules and
patterns of communication. I do think it played a role in our conversation because we do have the same patterns of communication and we hadn't, our conversation would have been influence greatly.
During my conversation with my mom and dad, the six kinds of context influenced our communication. Some kinds of context played a much larger role in our conversation than others. The kinds of context that influenced
our conversation greatly had to do with a relaxed environment and a comfortable setting. Situational, relational, and physical contexts were the most important kinds of context. Inner, symbolic, and cultural contexts played a smaller role when influencing our communication, but they were still present.