On the context of situation

Those of us who are active practitioners of sociolinguistics have often talked about the importance or made use of the concept of 'the context of Situation' äs if it were all clear to everybody. But when we come to think of it in greater detail, it appears to be rather uncertain at times to many of us who are seriously engaged in the actual construction of a sociolinguistic theory, because in such an endeavor the concept becomes a vital part of the theory, so much so that it can no longer be subsumed indifferently in vague terms or even ignored äs we have done in the past. The reason for our negligence or inertia in this regard may vary from one practitioner to another but chief among others is probably the difflculty involved in characterizing or delineating what the context of Situation is. Certainly, it must not be construed äs a static or physical setting without the involvement of human participation; rather, to be of use, the context of Situation must be, at least in microsociolinguistics, part and parcel of human interactions that take place in a small group. In other words, the context of Situation construed äs such must necessarily be a dynamic concept. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to modify or characterize the concept in light of its historical perspectives on the ground that the concept has been around for quite some time, not at all a new creation of mine; my contribution is merely to make it more explicit by extending the concept to suit the contemporary sociolinguistic framework from where it was used by previous investigators. In so doing, I shall also exemplify the notion so äs to show its usefulness äs a theoretical construct in sociolinguistics.