In regard to language use, "context" refers to the circumstances, conditions, or
background information surrounding an act of communication that help to
determine its meaning. This includes the physical setting, the cultural and
social environment, the relationship between the speakers, the preceding
discourse, and the specific situation in which the language is being used.
Context plays a crucial role in interpreting the intended meaning of words,
phrases, gestures, and sentences, allowing speakers and listeners to understand
each other beyond the literal meanings of the words used. It encompasses
everything from the immediate conversational setting to broader cultural and
societal norms that influence how language is understood and conveyed.
ASL is capable of making use of context to become extremely efficient.
If a signer wants to discuss a person or an object and if that person or object
is in the immediate vicinity the signer can simply point at or sometimes even
just look at or nod toward the person or object instead of referring to the
person or object with a sign or via fingerspelling.
A signer can create context in the form of an absent referent by identifying an
absent person or object via fingerspelling or using a known sign for that person
or object and then point to a specific location in space (usually initially
slightly off to the signer's dominant hand side). For the
remainder of the conversation the signer can then simply index (point toward)
that same location to refer to the absent referent.
For example, a right-handed person could spell B-O-B and then point off to their
right side as if Bob were standing there. Then for the rest of the conversation
either of the participants in the conversation can point toward or otherwise
refer that same location in space to refer to Bob. It is as if there were
a hologram of Bob and the signers can simply point to "Bob" instead of having to
spell out the name Bob. While that may not seem like a big deal for Bob --
the usefulness (and efficiency) of an absent referent will become more obvious
the next time you need to discuss someone named Nathaniel or Mongomery.
Notes:
Also see: High-context and low-context:
The role of context in ASL communication
Classrooms are low-context / artificial context, high-ratio (example: 1:25 = one
teacher to 25 students or more) environments where students figuratively consume
"multi-vitamins" of sign language and ride a bus traveling on a sign-language
highway.
Learning sign language via community interaction is high-context / natural
context, variable ratio (often 1:1) where students consume a wide variety of
sign language "food" (requiring chewing) and drive a motorcycle along
back-roads.
The student who does BOTH will outpace and out-learn a student who does only
"one" approach.