occupational language

Question 1

what is form?

Answer 1

the form of occupational language is the type of language used (question, instruct, order, advise, inform, consider etc)

can be individual words or phrases, sentences, abbreviations, code

Question 2

what is the explicit form?

Answer 2

language that must be used and is easily identifiable as part of an occupational dialect, eg ‘You have the right to remain silent’

Question 3

what is the loose form?

Answer 3

where language choices are flexible and not subject to strict rules eg ‘Was there anything else today?’ ‘Can I help you with anything else?’ ‘Is that everything?’

Question 4

what are the functions of occupational language?

Answer 4

communicating info
requesting help
confirming arrangements
instructing to do something
making things happen or enacting them

sometimes a combo of these are used

Question 5

what is jargon?

Answer 5

specialist occupational language

specialist words used in a profession that are not part of a person’s usual lexicon

Question 6

example of jargon used by air traffic controllers?

Answer 6

say ‘taxi’ instead of ‘the movement of an aircraft on the ground’

Question 7

what is restricted lexis?

Answer 7

vocab only used in specific job

eg subpoenia, covenant, habeas corpus are legal terms

Question 8

What is John Swales’ Discourse Community theory?

s c u p

Answer 8

Swales developed the idea of an occupational group being a discourse
community which has members who –
* Share common goals
* Communicate internally (to each other – not to the public)
* Use specialist lexis and discourse
* Possess or learn a required level of knowledge and skills to be part of the
community

Question 9

Paul Drew + John Heritage’s theory?

gtapsa

Answer 9

in 1992, they came up with the theory of institutional talk, which refers to six characteristics that appear in speech in the workplace or within an occupational group:

• goal orientation (people conversing will want to reach the same outcome from their interaction)
• turn-taking rules (some may have more power and so therefore are allowed to interrupt more often)
• allowable contributions (constraints on what someone may contribute in institutional talk)
• professional lexis
• structure (eg in a business meeting being led by the highest-ranking person in the room, who then invites people to talk at different intervals)
• asymmetry (one speaker has more power so can speak for longer without being interrupted)

Question 10

Almut Koester’s theory?

Answer 10

Koester’s research found that:
*Phatic language can be important to get jobs done. Being sociable can build solidarity – the ability to connect with one’s workmates and can make interactions with customers, clients, patients, etc more effective.
*Although some employers discourage non-work related talk, Koester found that such language can be useful.

Question 11

Charles Ferguson’s theory?

Answer 11

Ferguson developed the idea that people can effectively use workplace language that is so different it counts as a different language to the one they use in life
outside work. These are called diglossic communities.

Examples of this are the military and air traffic control. There can be significant differences in language within groups, such as the language of officers and lower ranks in the military.

Question 12

herrgard’s theory

Answer 12

Herrgard’s research focussed on how useful jargon can be in
occupational settings where time is limited and working at speed is
important.
For example, this can be seen in work conducted by the emergency
services and by medical staff in operating theatres.

Question 13

example of jargon used in the profession of computer programming?

Answer 13

javascript (programming language)
linux (operating system)
PHP: hypertext preprocessor, a script language and interpreter

Question 14

example of legal lexis?

Answer 14

acquittal (not guilty verdict)
plaintiff (a person who brings a case against another)
caveat (a warning)

Question 15

example of dental lexis?

Answer 15

abutment, arch, biscuspid

Question 16

positives of occupational language?

Answer 16

• generally, everyone in the workplace will share the same knowledge of their occupational language, and so using it will allow for clear and concise instruction/communication
• can be used to exert power
• can be used to differentiate people within a social hierarchy in a workplace. ie the boss is likely to have the most knowledge and therefore use the widest variety of workplace-specific lexis, making it clear they are someone who can provide knowledge and answers when needed
• can create a sense of professionalism and integrity in the workplace. can then encourage a better work/life distinction as a person’s language use may differ greatly between work an home

Question 17

criticisms of occupational language?

Answer 17

• new member to a workplace may feel excluded and unmotivated at work as they may be unfamiliar with how the new team functions and communicates
• can be hard for laymen to understand what is meant
• can leave laymen feeling confused and frustrated if they encounter occupational lexis when there is nobody around to help. Eg when having to read and fill out any legal documents which may have confusing wording, or even when following a recipe

^^ – eg when reading a recipe, words such as ‘blanche’ may leave people not knowing what to do if they are not a frequent cook or a French-speaker

Question 18

what did Michael Nelson find about business language?

Answer 18

he compared the corpora of business English with the more generic English corpora and found that business lexis exists

concluded that business lexis coincides with a semantic field of business, including categories such as business, people, companies, money etc

in business lexis, people were found to avoid personal topics

significant lack of negative lexis in business communication. Instead, a lot of the language used was neutral and used with the main goal of being informative

Question 19

what did Robert Herbert and H. Stephen Straight find?

Answer 19

in 1989, they found a link between compliments and authority

people of higher authority were more likely to give compliments to those of lower authority than the other way round

in workplace settings, this means that compliments are used as a form of praise from someone higher to someone of a lower rank

if the reverse were to happen, lower rank may be seen as being condescending or self-important, potentially harming workplace relationships

Question 20

kim and elder’s theory?

Answer 20

2009

Studied the language of American pilots and Korean air traffic controllers using English as a lingua franca.

Found that communication difficulties were not due to a language barrier, but to the American pilots not observing predetermined communication patterns, abbreviating, elaborating, or employing idiomatic expressions

for example, one American pilot in the corpus was said to have used Plain English inefficiently when communicating with a Korean interloculator. He used the clause of reason ‘Due to operational requirement’, instead of simply ‘Due to fuel’, when trying to communicate the reason behind needing to divert the plane to the interlocutor.