Occupation

Question 1

Jargon

Answer 1

Language specific to a certain job or profession that is difficult for others to understand

Question 2

Phatic talk

Answer 2

Social conversation with no real meaning, small talk

Question 3

Acronym

Answer 3

An abbreviation using intitial letters eg NASA

Question 4

Initialism

Answer 4

An abbreviation using initial letters pronounced seperately eg BBC

Question 5

Codify

Answer 5

A language’s natural variation being reduced and features becoming more fixed or subject to prescriptive rules

Question 6

Drew and Heritage- institutional talk

Answer 6

Communication in institutional settings is more structured than everyday conversation
Observe differences between ordinary talk and institutional talk
Topic selection/control- topics are often predefined and controlled by the institutional role holder eg the doctor at an appointment asks questions relevant to that situation
Enforced turn taking- usually regulated with specific speakers having the power to ask questions or interrupt eg a judge in a courtroom
Language use- formal and filled with jargon

Question 7

Kim and Elder

Answer 7

English is the lingua franca of aviation
Miscommunication between native speakers of English and non native speakers due to pronunciation and phrasing
Meant people resorted to ‘plain English’- made it worse
A native english speaker said ‘we are now at take off’ meaning they were in the process of taking off whereas a Korean controller interpreted this as being at take off position
Caused a crash killing over 500 people
Specialist jargon reduced the miscommunication as it was understood by everyone

Question 8

Howard Giles (1973) - accommodation theory

Answer 8

Convergence- speaker adapts their language to be more like who they’re speaking to, usually due to psychological desire to be approved of and liked
Divergence- speaker changes their language to be less like who they’re talking to, usually due to disapproval to distinguish themselves from them

Question 9

Purpose of police jargon

Answer 9

Keeps communications short and concise
Also for safety- interactions with dispatchers are brief so officer can remain engaged with threat in front of them
eg 10-8 = an officer is available for calls, 10-20 = refers to location of an officer or call, 10-4 = means affirmative, can answer yes to a question

Question 10

John Swales (2011) - Discourse communities

Answer 10

A group of individuals who share a set of discourses and ways of communicating about their goals
These communities often have a shared goal or common interest and use communication to achieve this goal
Use specialist language and discourse
A required level of knowledge and skill is required to engage in these conversations

Question 11

Norman Fairclough (2001)

Answer 11

Unequal encounters- instances where there is a difference in power between speakers, one is the powerful participant and the other is the less powerful participant
Normal conversational conventions do not apply, the powerful participants places constraints on what is allowed
These constraints include:
-interruptions= stopping less powerful participant by talking over them
-enforcing explicitness= powerful participant can enforce a more detailed answer if the less powerful participant is ambiguous
-topic control= more powerful participant can decide what topic is being discussed
-formulations= repeating or summarising what the less powerful participant has said

Question 12

Michael Nelson (2000)

Answer 12

Observed what topics were not a part of business lexis
All the weekdays featured but saturday and sunday did not
Also little reference to personal issues, society, family, etc.
Words to express deep profound thoughts occurred significantly less (eg ‘truth’ occured nine times less in the business corpus than the general corpus)

Question 13

Almut Koester (2004)

Answer 13

Phatic talk in the workplace is important to establish interpersonal relationships which allows the job to get done
Being sociable is an important aspect of effective working as it encourages a sense of solidarity

Question 14

Plain English Campaign (1979)

Answer 14

Started by Chrissie Maher who publicly shredded hundreds of official documents in Parliament Square, London
Campaign against jargon and misleading language
Believe everyone should have access to clear and concise information

Question 15

Examples of wordy job titles

Answer 15

Ambient replenishment controller= shelf stacker
Technical horticultural maintenance officer= gardener
Knowledge navigator= teacher

Question 16

What did the Plain English Campaign survey find?

Answer 16

Some people would rather have a grander job title than a pay rise