Language and Power Theorists Flashcards
Become super familiar with the theorists and what they actually theorized.
Who propounded that when an individual comes in contact with other people, that individual will attempt to control or guide the impression that others might make of him by changing or fixing his or her setting, appearance and manner? At the same time, the person that the individual is interacting with is trying to form and obtain information about the individual. He also believed that all participants in social interactions are engaged in certain practices to avoid being embarrassed or embarrassing others.
Goffman (1955)
Who defined a co-operative principle which states, “Make your contribution such as it is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.” Though phrased as a prescriptive command, the principle is intended as a description of how people normally behave in conversation.
Grice (1975)
Who described the interaction between the teacher and students as following a regular pattern? The teacher will initiate some form of action, usually a question, the student will respond, and the teacher will acknowledge the student’s response. This mode of interaction is described as Initiation-Response-Feedback.
Sinclair and Coulthard (1975 and revisited in 1992)
Who demonstrated that humour can be used to used to criticise authority?
Winnick (1976)
Who defined Politeness theory as the theory that accounts for the redressing of the affronts to face posed by face-threatening acts to addressees.
Brown and Levinson (1978)
Who set out to examine advertising as a form of communication in contemporary society and also places it in its wider cultural and economic context?
Dyer (1982)
Who suggested that humour was used in the workplace to maintain good working relations?
Morreal (1997)
Who claimed that imperatives are used frequently when power relationships are clear and stable in an organisation?
Bernsten (1998)
Who developed Critical Discourse Analysis; concerned with how power is exercised through language. CDA studies discourse; this can be texts, speech, video, etc…
Fairclough (2001)
Who provided insights into the way we all talk at work? Referenced a wealth of material illustrating the way people communicate with each other in their ordinary everyday encounters in their workplaces. The analysis focuses, in particular, on how and why people “do” power and politeness in the workplace, and examines the discourse strategies involved in balancing the competing demands of meeting workplace objectives and getting things done on time with maintaining good collegial workplace relationships.
Holmes and Stubbe (2003)
