Diversity - Occupation Flashcards
what is occupational register?
words or phrases that are used solely in a particular job.
what are purposes of occupational register/jargon?
being deliberately obscure/vague
disguising an unpleasant reality
making an unimportant job sound grander than it is
what are codes?
words or phrases only to be understood by staff e.g ‘this is a staff announcement, we have a code 99’
how are declaratives used in the workplace?
indicate knowledge
to carry authority
how are interrogatives used in the workplace?
may be part of the job role e.g a call center
can set the topic of conversation
how are imperatives used in the workplace?
suggest authority
the producer is assuming authority
what is instrumental power?
some individuals and/or groups in society have legitimate authority to exert power over us. there is an accepted hierarchy. these include: police, lawyers, judges, gov departments, managers and teachers.
Howard Giles’ Accommodation Theory (1973)
Convergence = making your language resemble your audiences to improve communication e.g teachers to students
Divergence = attempting to make your language different to your audience to distinguish yourself e.g teachers to parents
Brown and Levinson Politeness Theory (1987) / Goffman Face Theory (1967)
When we have a conversation we do as much as we can to protect the feelings of the person.
Concerned with ‘face’.
threatening positive face = act that challenges your self-image
threatening negative face = makes you feel as if you have been imposed upon
Sinclair and Coulthard (1975)
people gain conversational control by using the IRF structure:
initiation, response, feedback
Drew and Heritage (1992)
the difference between ‘institutional talk’ and ‘ordinary conversation’ is the participants’ goal orientation.
institutional talk has undergone significant social change e.g doctor to patient or student to teacher, meaning that ordinary conversation is seen as ‘more stable’.
Talbot:
Small Talk:
“employees can tactically use small talk for their own instrumental goals”, such as a lead-in to request leave.
in call-centre jobs, employees will be taught how to effectively use small talk.
Koester (2004):
Relational Talk:
identifies the concept of discourse communities.
semantic fields are created by these communities , by using vocab only use by those ‘in the know’.
Swales (2011)
Discourse Community:
‘groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals’
