language diversity: ocupation

Question 1

Eakins and Eakins (1976)

University Meetings

Answer 1

• studied 7 university meetings.
• found that men spoke for longer during these meetings, with men’s turns ranging from 10.66 to 17.07 seconds and the women’s from only 3 to 10.
• suggests that men are more dominant in some occupations as they are the ones who spoke for longer.

Question 2

Occupational language

LAWYERS

Answer 2

• lawyers have a restricted occupational lexis, using latin phrases such as habeas corpus, prima facie and subpoena, that they would only use in a professional setting.
• latin is seen as the language of law and procedure, intellectuals and scholars, so it creates a strong professional identity within this discourse community, as they continue to use the same language as the founders of this prestigious profession.
• lawyers refer to phrases from a language that began to die in the 6th century, their occupational lexis has become so restricted, it renders the average man powerless, as they would be unable to defend themselves in any court setting, having not been a part of this discourse community

Question 3

Swales (1990)

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY

Answer 3

• there’s a professional discourse community in which people working in the same field, will use the same professional genres and specialist lexis

Question 4

Michael Nelson (2000) — business English

Answer 4

• Found the word ‘TRUTH’ occurs nine times less in business English than in general language
• words expressing negative states and profound feelings also occurred less
• in business English used words premises, department and boardroom, instead of town, country and village

Question 5

Swales (1990)

DISCOURSE COMMUNITY

Answer 5

• there’s a professional discourse community in which people working in the same field, will use the same professional genres and specialist lexis

Question 6

CORPUS V CORPORA

- explained

Answer 6

• a collection of searchable language data stored on a computer – it’s used to identify patterns in specialist domains

Question 7

Drew and Heritage (1993)

DISCOURSE COMMUNITIES

Answer 7

• members of a discourse community share inferential frameworks (unwritten rules - know the boundaries) w/ each other, consisting of implicit ways of thinking, communicating and behaving
• this may be governed by asymmetrical relationships/ strong hierarchies (clear power imbalance) : may get fired for what you say on social media

Question 8

Drew and Heritage (1993)

Titles

Answer 8

• Titles exemplify the hierarchy, creating a sense of formality
• e.g. Teachers and Students – student would feel as if they’re in amore informal setting if there were no titles
• Titles highlight boundaries and maintains power, as assistants are called by their first name – they have less power
• when there’s no hierarchy, then it’s everybody’s responsibility, then it’s nobody’s responsibility

Question 9

Drew and Heritage (1992)

‘Institutional Talk’

Answer 9

• Found these common features in institutions:
• Goal orientation
• Turn taking rules or restrictions
• Allowable contributions (what you can and can’t say, tone etc.)
• Professional lexis (jargon)
• Structure (meetings, interviews, customer service etc.)
• Asymmetry (knowledge and power)

Question 10

V.K. Bhatia (1993)

‘GENRE’

Answer 10

• ’ a recognisable communicative event characterised by a set of communicative purposes identified and mutually understood by the members of the professional or academic community in which it regularly occurs’

Question 11

Michael Nelson (2000)
'semantic field of business'

Answer 11

• found what he describes as a ‘semantic field of business’ involving a limited number of semantic categories: terms to do w/ ‘business people, companies, institutions, money business events, place of business, time, modes of communication and lexis concerned w/ technology)

Question 12

Koester (2004)

PHATIC LANGUAGE

Answer 12

• found they used phatic language – lang. devoid of content, but supporting social relationships e.g. small talk
• shows that workers need to establish solidarity, connection, interpersonal relationships and mutual support to work effectively together
• establish rapport

Question 13

How does the military apply Koester’s (2004) work

Answer 13

• purposefully unequip soldiers, so they’re more dependent on others for their safety – fighting for somebody they know is more powerful
• will work harder if they feel they’re working for each other

Question 14

Brown and Levinson (1987) — face needs

Answer 14

• negative face: wants of every ‘competent adult member’ that his/her actions be impeded by others
• positive face: the want of every member that his/ her wants to be desirable to at least some others
• face threatening acts: impositions to negative face; criticism or disagreement to positive face
• positive/ negative politeness: indirect verbal strategies used to mitigate positive/ negative face threatening acts

Question 15

Herbert and Straight (1989) — compliments

Answer 15

Compliments used in the work place:

• Male to Male = 228 compliments
• Male to Female = 258 compliments
• Female to Female = 330 compliments
• Female to Male = 246 compliments

Question 16

conclusions drawn from Herbert and Straight’s findings — compliments
(1989)

Answer 16

• compliments usually from a person of higher authority to a person of lower authority (boost morale)
• way of upholding the structure (evening out hierarchy)
• they’re at the same level as the person giving them the compliment (don’t need validation – asserting their strength)
• women seen as being lower authority – are more men at the top of the hierarchy
• women seen as in more need of validation vs men who are more competitive
• compliments directed toward women may be about appearance – women use lang. to support each other

Question 17

Lave and Wenger (1991) — occupational language is natural

Answer 17

• they argue there’s less of a force behind occupational language, rather this specific lexis is a product of working with others in a close environment for long periods of time.
• people will change their lexis, to suit others that they surround themselves with, since it is by the fluency you have with that jargon, in an occupation setting that people will highlight your level of acceptance-