Contextualization in
sociolinguistics refers to the use of language and
discourse to signal relevant aspects of an interactional or communicative situation.
Basil Bernstein (1990 [1971]) uses (re)contextualization when referring to the reformulation of scientific knowledge in pedagogical contexts, for instance in
textbooks.
John Gumperz (1982a, 1982b) and others in
interactional sociolinguistics study subtle "contextualization cues", for instance
intonation, that allow language users to infer contextually adequate meanings of discourse (see also Eerdmans, Prevignano & Thibault, 2002).