The collaborative model proposes that conversation requires mutual understanding through presentation and acceptance of colloquial words. Psycholinguistics previously held to the literary model, where speakers retained control over interpretation. Studies support the need for collaboration in understanding conversations. Similar models have been presented for learning, research, and business processes. Collaboration is necessary for achieving goals in various environments.
The collaborative model is a psycholinguistic model first presented by Deana Wilkes-Gibbs and Herb Clark in the late 1980s. According to the model, the parties engaged in a conversation must work together in order for the conversation to have a common meaning for all involved. Clark and Wilkes-Gibbs proposed the model to include the required understanding processes known as presentation and acceptance. In other words, according to the collaborative model, a speaker has to present colloquial words while the listener accepts a mutually understood meaning for those words. It is not necessary to articulate a specific acceptance, but rather expressed through an ongoing conversation based on mutual understandings.
For example, June and Janice have a conversation about dogs. June’s use of the word “dogs,” presented through context and other clues, is meant to indicate both domesticated and wild dog species. According to the collaborative model, both Janice and June need to figure out what June means by “dogs” in order for the conversation to have the same or similar meaning to both women. Throughout the conversation, Janice needs to express a verbal or non-verbal understanding of what the term “dog” means in the context of the conversation. Without Janice’s cooperation, June has no means of judging whether the articulations of her presented are clearly understood by Janice or whether she needs to modify her presentation to make it easier for Janice to understand.
Prior to the introduction of the collaborative model and similar suggestions regarding collaboration in conversation, psycholinguistics held to understandings based on the literary model. One literary model compares conversations to book authors and readers, with speakers retaining complete control over how their chosen words are interpreted by the audience through context clues. Wilkes-Gibbs and Clark, as well as other psycholinguists of the 1970s and 1980s, presented the concept that instead of the speaker determining meaning, conversations were collaborative in that listeners determined their own meaning based on personal experience and to context clues. Speakers then, under the collaborative model, must adjust word choices to compensate for different understandings as the conversation progresses.
Studies conducted in the late 1980s lend credence to the theories behind the collaborative model. Adhering to the literary model, a person listening to a conversation should understand a speaker as well as those conversing directly with said speaker. The results of informal testing in small groups in the late 1980s and early 1990s have been illustrated differently. Instead of understanding conversations, many participants found it difficult to follow conversations in which the individual did not participate directly, even when the listener was hearing every word of the conversation. Thus, the results suggest that even small-scale collaboration between speaker and listener is required for meaningful understanding of any conversation.
Since the introduction of the collaborative conversation model, similar models have been presented to cover learning, research, human interest projects, and other domains. Models and theories such as the collaborative learning model, collaborative teaching model, collaborative practice model, and collaborative leadership model cover everything from education to business processes. Each model illustrates the need or expectation for collaboration in a variety of environments. Teachers, for example, must collaborate with students, therapists, and other education professionals to achieve educational goals. Business leaders require collaborative relationships to be more effective in achieving business goals.
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