Why Context Matters More Than Vocabulary

If they just know more words, then the result will be good, right? Not really. You see, vocabulary is just half the battle. Words don’t exist in a vacuum, there’s a context that determines how they’re used. There’s a time and a place, a purpose, a tone and a relationship between the speakers, and these all play a role in the words that are used. So even if you have a big vocabulary, it won’t always sound natural or clear if you don’t have the contextual framework. And in a professional environment, this can be particularly problematic.

The context will often determine what you need to say. For example, you may need to make a request, but there are many ways you can make the same request depending on whether you want to be formal or informal, whether it’s urgent or not, or whether there are cultural considerations. You might be able to be direct with a colleague in a brainstorming meeting, but in a consulting situation, that same bluntness might be considered rude. The context will determine what words you should use.

In the same way, it’s easier to learn words that are used in a specific context because then it’s easier to recall them when you need them. If you learn words in a vacuum, it can be harder to remember them in the heat of the moment. But if you learn the words within a specific situation, then it’s easy to access them because it’s a mental script that you can just pull up. So if you’ve learned phrases for negotiating a price, explaining a delay, or presenting some findings, it’s easier to pull those up because they’re tied to a context.

Learning words in context also helps you understand their meaning. I’m not talking just about their definition. Words can have different connotations and emotional resonance depending on the context. And sometimes just the tone or emphasis that you use can convey very different meanings. So experienced speakers will often use this subtlety to influence the way their message is received. And it’s much more effective than simply using different words. By mastering these differences, speakers can express complex intentions, soften a message, avoid conflict, and convey agreement or disagreement.

So the bottom line is that to communicate effectively, you need to understand the context as much as the vocabulary. It’s more important to have a repertoire of phrases that fit your needs than it is to know as many words as possible. So the more you can focus on the phrases that emerge from context, the closer you will get to fluent communication. And that ability to use language effectively in context is much more important in a professional or international environment than knowing a lot of words.