6-27).
Tannen rightly points out some of the ways we may address the problems that can arise in conversation. She notes first that we can alter our conversational style with some people, and we can try to clarify our intentions by explaining them. However, as she also notes, these things are often not possible because we do not realize there is a miscommunication in the first place.
One of the points made by Tannen that is of interest is the fact that much of what is said in conversation is not necessarily important in terms of the meaning of the words, and here Tannen makes a distinction between the message and the metamessage:
Information conveyed by the meanings of words is the messages. What is communicated about relationships--atti
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