Effective communication requires a context supplied by circumstances, mutual understanding and expectation. These variables are actively studied by discourse analysts, who not only have acknowledged the importance of context in communication, but also have studied it extensively and discovered that, in many ways, conversations--exchanges between speakers--are as constrained and predictable as other aspects of language, such as phonology and syntax. Discourse analysts have developed a theory called "script theory," which takes context and speakers' expectations into account. This research will define and discuss script theory and examine its potential as a tool in the teaching of English as a second language.
Script theory involves the assumption that much of human conversation--human interaction in general--revolves around common expectations of what others are supposed to say and/or do in a given context. It is not so much that interaction is precisely plotted but rather that efficient and successful communication and interaction follow particular patterns, in which the participants "fill in the blanks" with the information unique to their situation.
Schank and Abelson (1977) define scripts as follows:
A script is a structure that describes appropriate sequences of events in a particular context. A script is made up of slots and requirements about what can fill those slots. The structure is an interconnected whole, and what is in one slot affects what can be in another. Scripts handle stylized everyday situations. They are not subject to much change, nor do they provide the apparatus for handling totally novel situations. Thus, a script is a predetermined, stereotyped sequence of actions that defines a well- known situation. Scripts allow for new references to objects within them just as if these objects had been previously mentioned; objects within a script may take 'the' without expli...