In this chapter, I will set out the background for the analysis that will come in Chapters 3 and 4. Firstly, I consider learner autonomy and language learning in communities, and the particular model I adopt, that of communities of practice. I then move on to norms being set through language practices, and discuss how computed-mediated communication is changing our view of norms in the English language. Finally, I go into more detail into the types of reduced forms and interactive functions of ellipsis that have been proposed in the literature.