Occupation and Language Flashcards
What is a discourse community? And who defined this theory?
A group of people who share a set of common goals, use specialist lexis and have mechanisms of intercommunication amongst members. Defined by John Swales.
What are the three different types of occupational communication and what are each of them?
- Inter-organisational communication - communication that takes place between different organisations
- Intra-organisational communication - communication that takes place within an organisation
- External communication - communication from an organisation, to an external group, such as consumers
What is the main aim of the Plain English Campaign?
To re-write documentation written by companies with over complicated language in, like law firms, to bring about clarity and understanding for all in society
Summarise Drew and Heritage’s theory on occupational language (3 key points)
- Conversations in the workplace often focus on specific tasks or goals
- In some professional contexts (like a courtroom) there are special turn-taking rules in place, however even in occupations when no set rules exist, there is still conversational convention (like a classroom)
- Occupational interactions/communication is often asymmetrical, meaning one speaker has more power than the other
Summarise Koester’s theory on occupational language
Workplace conversations are not solely based around workplace subjects. Phatic talk (small talk) is also used between workers to develop interpersonal relationships and promote a more effective working environment
Who created ‘Accommodation Theory’ and in what year?
Howard Giles, 1973
What is accommodation theory?
The idea that speakers will change their language in order to be more in line with their audience in order to improve communication. There are two forms, convergence and divergence
What is convergence?
When we use language to resemble that used by those around us
What is divergence?
When we use language to distance ourselves from others
