Pragmatic perspective

The pragmatic perspective makes sense to think of communication as patterned interaction. If I am focusing only on the interaction and each step as a move that will eventually become a pattern it makes me think of how my husband greats me when he gets home from work. The first move is walking in the door and a saying, “I’m home”. I in return say, “Hi, honey how was your day”. I know it sounds corny but this is what we do and it has become a pattern.

I think Trenholm (2008) gave a great example of communication as a game with this example, “One of the factors that makes the game analogy appropriate is the interdependence of game players. Each player is affected by what another player does.” This makes sense to me because my interaction can be based on how those react to my interaction or what we can call a move in the game.

To think of communication different from a game is when we involve all the other aspects of human interaction such as personality and culture. This makes communication more intricate and personalized. The process is not as simple as I make a move you make a move.