Workplace Discourse Research Articles

Perception of Impoliteness in Counter Service Discourse

Literature has shown that the interaction patterns in many types of workplace discourse including service encounters are transactional in nature because speakers are primarily concerned with getting things done. Literature on cross cultural communication of local service encounter interaction between library counter staff and international students proves that the orientation of counter talk is indeed transactional and much of the interaction are direct literal translation phrases from Bahasa Melayu to English. This study explores how impoliteness is perceived by counter service staff at the International Office of a local premier university in Malaysia because the interactions are considered more critical as they involve immigration issues when international students come to apply, extend or terminate their student visas. Dissatisfaction can affect student enrolment. This study used an ethnographic approach and the researcher was a participant observer. Besides field notes, data for study was also gathered from its website and through interviews with the International Office staff. Findings reveal that because the duties of counter staff are routine, working at the counter can be stressful due to a number of factors including unfulfilled expectations and the level of language proficiency of both staff and students. Therefore, it is indeed more critical to study counter service discourse at the International Office as problems that occur sometimes go directly to the top management due to distrust of counter service staff. When there is awareness of what is perceived as impolite, interventions can be introduced to reduce perceptions of impoliteness and minimize stress at work.

Review of linguistic approach in the workplace management research

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to review the use of linguistic methods such as narrative and discourse analysis in workplace management research. Design/methodology/approach – Ten journals are reviewed in a time period of six years between years 2004-2010. The journals are categorized into three linguistic methodological journals and seven journals on built environment. Additionally articles were gathered with search words of workplace management, discourse and narrative analysis. Out of the total 2,245 articles, 40 articles were considered to be relevant for this research. Findings – The linguistic methods of narrative and discourse analysis are not recognized in the workplace management research in a comprehensive way by combining the research on built environment to the research on organization and culture. In the workplace management research methods of narrative and discourse analysis were applied to the processes of built environment. Additionally methods were applied to the research of space and place as means of communication and means of identity construction. Practical implications – Linguistic approach would reveal underlying messages behind evident structures of workplace and give new insights on understanding and developing workplaces both in design and in use. Originality/value – The linguistic methods of narrative and discourse analysis are rarely used in workplace management research and should be considered as a new resource in the research of WPM.

International medical graduate doctor to doctor telephone communication: A genre perspective

Few English for Medical Purposes studies focus on the spoken communication between doctors in the professional setting. This study examined the effectiveness of telephone calls from International Medical Graduate (IMG) doctors to a more senior doctor as part of simulation training to increase patient safety and well-being.We adopted genre analysis to examine 12 telephone consultations about a critically ill patient made by junior IMG doctors to a senior doctor. With the assistance of the senior doctor informant, two successful calls were identified and analysed functionally for their generic structure and linguistic features. Feedback comments from the senior doctor on all the calls were transcribed and analysed thematically. The findings from the genre analysis of the successful calls as well as from the senior doctor feedback informed the development of an analytical tool to examine the less effective calls.Insights from the senior doctor highlight the institutional, professional, and situational variables contributing to the effective calls. A generic structure of nine stages was identified for the effective calls. In the less effective calls, the findings show difficulties with sequencing, realisation of stages, and interactional management with shifts from workplace discourse to apprenticeship discourse features.Implications of the findings for EMP course design are discussed.

Multilingualism in European workplaces

AbstractThis state-of-the-art article includes a review of past and recent studies on multilingualism at work in European environments. One aim is to provide the reader with a cross-cultural picture of workplace studies on various languages in Europe, another to discuss both positive and problem-based accounts of multilingualism at work. The overview covers studies on workplace interaction in multilingual regions in Europe, on English as a lingua franca workplaces, on cross-cultural encounters in global businesses, and on workplaces with workforce diversity. The conditions for workplace discourse in Europe have been influenced by a series of changes taking place in recent decades. Globalization and technological advances have created new types of cross-cultural networks, at the same time as political changes and turmoil have led to migration and new and more complex multilingual workplaces throughout Europe. In the discussion section, the scope is enlarged and workplace discourse is related to various contextual frameworks. Finally, some key topics for future studies are sketched.

Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies

AbstractThis paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about language to constitute positioning for or against a particular social, moral or political order (Cameron 2012), the paper contrasts state- and institution-authored university language policies. The overall aim is to understand what the different actors mean when they invoke ‘parallellingualism’. Supplementary data consist of a corpus of newspaper articles on the topic of the use of English and Danish at Danish universities published in the same period as the university language policies. It is argued that while both state and institution-authored policies overtly advocate ‘parallellingualism’ as a guiding principle for managing multilingualism at Danish universities, in the state-authored policies, this seems to mean ‘more Danish’, while in the institution-authored policies it seems to mean ‘more English’. Some underlying ideologies of each of these positions are proposed before the implications for workplace discourse are discussed.

“I can't remember them ever not doing whatI tell them!”: Negotiating face and power relations in ‘upward’ refusals in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong

Abstract This paper explores how refusals are constructed and negotiated in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong. A particular focus is on the ways in which Hong Kong Chinese subordinates negotiate issues of face and power relations when refusing their expatriate superiors. Despite abundant research on refusals in a variety of contexts across cultures, there are very few studies of multicultural workplaces. This is particularly surprising considering that refusals have been described as a frequent “ ‘sticking point’ in cross-cultural communication” (Beebe et al. 1990). This paper addresses this gap by drawing on more than 80 hours of authentic audio- and video-recorded spoken workplace discourse and a corpus of emails collected in multicultural workplaces in Hong Kong. Findings of this exploratory study indicate that refusals are complex communicative activities that are carefully negotiated among participants. We argue that in contrast to earlier studies, participants' socio-cultural backgrounds do not appear to be the main determining factor of how issues of face and power relations are negotiated in upward refusals. Rather, a range of other factors, including media of communication, normative ways of interacting in a workplace, the relationship between interlocutors, as well as the content of the refusal, are more relevant for explaining participants’ communicative behavior.

An empirical cross-cultural study of humour in business meetings in New Zealand and Japan

Transactional or work-related discourse is highly valued in the workplace because of its obvious relevance to workplace objectives. However, relational or social talk plays an equally valuable role by contributing to good workplace relations (e.g., Fletcher, 1999; Holmes and Stubbe, 2003; Schnurr, 2005). The research literature indicates that humour makes a particularly important contribution in this area. Most research, however, has been conducted in English-speaking societies and/or Western countries.This article fills a gap in empirical cross-cultural studies, drawing on authentic Japanese workplace discourse. It reports a qualitative analysis of humour in Japanese and New Zealand business meetings, describing its manifestations and functions. The first section reviews the relevant literature and outlines the conceptual frameworks used for the analysis and the methodology adopted in the analysis. The results of the analysis are then discussed. The analysis indicates that (1) though humour serves as Relational Practice, its manifestations are distinctive in each CofP, and (2) meeting members enact Relational Practice through humour in ways that meet the underlying expectations of each CofP.

Trivial, mundane or revealing? Food as a lens on ethnic norms in workplace talk

Talk about food has often been overlooked in existing investigations of workplace discourse. In earlier research, we established that food talk clearly ‘indexes’ interactional boundaries and informality in typical New Zealand workplaces. In this paper we identify the very different status of food as a legitimate topic in Māori workplaces. Within the normative constraints of the meeting genre, analysis compares food talk asmundanein a Māori organisation, buttrivialin a Pākehā (majority group) context. Food talk thus provides an unexpected means of accessing information about distinctive cultural norms, offering an innovative lens on areas of cross-cultural sensitivity.

5. Culinary Linguistics: The Chef’s Special

1. APERITIVO 2. Overview of the volume (by Frobenius, Maximiliane) 3. ANTIPASTI 4. Food and language - language and food (by Gerhardt, Cornelia) 5. PRIMI PIATTI Genres of food discourse 6. When making pie, all ingredients must be chilled. Including you: Lexical, syntactic and interactive features in online discourse - a synchronic study of food blogs (by Diemer, Stefan) 7. Passionate about food: Jamie and Nigella and the performance of food-talk (by Chiaro, Delia) 8. The addressee in the recipe: How Julia Child gets to join you in the kitchen (by Fischer, Kerstin) 9. Food for thought - or, what's (in) a recipe?: A diachronic analysis of cooking instructions (by Arendholz, Jenny) 10. Recipes and food discourse in English - a historical menu (by Diemer, Stefan) 11. The way to intercultural learning is through the stomach - Genre-based writing in the EFL classroom (by Bubel, Claudia) 12. SECONDI PIATTI Food and culture 13. How permeable is the formal-informal boundary at work?: An ethnographic account of the role of food in workplace discourse (by Holmes, Janet) 14. Comparing drinking toasts - Comparing contexts (by Kotthoff, Helga) 15. The flavors of multi-ethnic North American literatures: Language, ethnicity and culinary nostalgia (by Fellner, Astrid M.) 16. Men eat for muscle, women eat for weight loss: Discourses about food and gender in Men's Health and Women's Health magazines (by Fuller, Janet M.) 17. "Bon Appetit, Lion City": The use of French in naming restaurants in Singapore (by Serwe, Stefan) 18. Talking about taste: Starved for words (by Ankerstein, Carrie A.) 19. DOLCI 20. Bibliography 21. Index

A Study of Language and Power in Persian Workplace Discourse with a Focus on Forms of Address and Politeness Strategies

Terms of address are an important part of “face” (Brown and Levinson, 1987) for colleagues in workplace discourse. This study investigates the ways power relations influence politeness strategies in choosing address terms. In order to determine whether and to what extent the realization of forms of address and the choice of appropriate politeness strategies by Iranian Persian speaking male and female colleagues differ in relation to people with different power status, interactions between English teachers during the fifteen-minute breaks after each class were recorded. Three English teaching institutes were selected to study the effect of gender on applying politeness strategies in addressing the colleagues; male’s, female’s, and mixed gender workplace. Ten conversations from each institute were transcribed. Using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) politeness model, politeness strategies residing in different forms of address employed by colleagues were identified and analyzed based on the power differences between interlocutors. Also address terms were counted according to the situation in which they were used. The findings of this study provide some evidence for the relation between gender and type of address terms and choice of politeness strategies associated with colleagues with different power status. A person with less power would prefer to use negative politeness strategies whereas a person with more power would tend to use positive ones in addressing colleagues at work. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n6p763

I Don't Need Leadership: An Exploration of the Societal Discourse of Leadership

AbstractEven with a myriad of definitions of leadership, we still know little about the discourse of leadership in which those of us without formal leadership education and development are embedded. Through a discourse analysis of interviews with a broad cross‐section of 12 “followers,” the current study begins exploring the idea of a societal discourse of leadership and how that discourse complements and conflicts with the academic and workplace discourses. Analysis shows that although individuals define leadership in a similar fashion to the academic discourse, they identify heroic figures as leaders, and they neither look for, nor feel they need, leadership in their own lives.

Linguistic characteristics of AAC discourse in the workplace

This study examines linguistic co-occurrence patterns in the discourse of individuals with communication impairments who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices in the workplace by comparing them to those of non-AAC users in similar job settings. A typical workweek (≈ 40 hours) per focal participant (four AAC; four non-AAC) was recorded and transcribed to create a specialized corpus of workplace discourse of approximately 464,000 words at the time of this analysis. A multidimensional analysis of co-occurrence patterns along functional linguistic dimensions, following Biber (1988, 1995) [ Variation across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Dimensions of Register Variation: A Cross-Linguistic Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], reveals differences in the macro discourse characteristics of AAC vis-a-vis non-AAC texts. Results indicate that AAC texts make use of more informational, non-narrative, and explicit textual features of discourse than their non-AAC counterparts. Implications to improve the capabilities of AAC devices to produce speech that matches baseline expectations of co-workers in the workplace are discussed.

Colleagues' talk and power after work hours: A community of practice in Facebook Status Updates?

Workplace discourse analysis (WDA) has gathered momentum to researching how people interact and manipulate power in face-to-face workplace talk under the Communities of Practice (CofP) framework. However, WDA studies have seldom touched on how colleagues talk after work and outside the workplace; nor have these studies questioned whether the CofP framework can conceptualize such an emergent form of workplace talk. Drawing on empirical data collected from one Hong Kong branch of an Italian restaurant, this study aims to (1) explore how its employees communicate workplace issues and negotiate power in Facebook Status Updates after work and (2) examine use of the CofP framework in their talk which takes place outside the workplace. Adopting methods of discourse analysis, we find that colleagues individualize their talk in Status Updates for highlighting professionality, suggesting administrative changes, managing colleague relationships, and releasing work-oriented tension. In these processes involving Netspeak, institutional authority, official hierarchy and predetermined status are largely fluctuating or collapsing. Simultaneously, there are often ambiguity or invisibility in relation to the indispensable substances in a CofP, namely the strength of joint enterprises, form of mutual engagements and use of shared repertoire. We conclude by arguing that (1) Status Updates can be strategically used after work, usually in a more casual and personal manner, to attain workplace-oriented goals and re/negotiate power among colleagues, and that (2) it remains questionable whether the online workplace talk by a group of colleagues after work can be appropriately conceptualized by the existing use of CofP framework in WDA.

Multilingualism in the Workplace

This survey article presents studies on multilingualism in the workplace carried out in different regions. One aim is to give a cross-cultural picture of workplace studies on different languages, and another is to discuss both positive and problem-based accounts of multilingualism at work. The conditions for workplace discourse have been influenced by a series of changes taking place in recent decades. Technological advances have led to new types of networks and workplaces, making linguistic issues salient, at the same time as many low-paid workers are found in traditional jobs, for which the face-to face interaction is central. A model is presented, the aim of which is to grasp the complex and dynamic interplay between workplace discourse and its various contextual frames. Overviews of studies on multilingualism at work are discussed with a focus on workplaces in the inner, outer, and expanding English circles; in transnational companies; and in multilingual regions and English lingua franca workplaces in Europe. Workplaces with workforce diversity are also dealt with. In the discussion section, the scope is enlarged and workplace discourse is related to various contextual frameworks. Finally, some key topics for future studies are sketched.

Construction of institutional identities by male individuals in subordinate positions in the Japanese workplace

This study qualitatively examines how male individuals in subordinate positions in a Japanese workplace construct institutional identities in superior-subordinate interactions in the workplace. The analysis demonstrates that the male subordinates’ use of the masu form (the addressee honorific form) in conjunction with their epistemic stance contributes to the display of different facets of institutional identities. It also shows that individuals in subordinate positions draw on various discourse strategies, such as incomplete phrases and the plain form (the non-honorific form), so as to obscure the social relationships between superiors and themselves, as well as to avoid performing the role of buka ‘work subordinate’, who is obligated to obey superiors. Confirming the findings of previous research on identity construction, this study demonstrates that by strategically manipulating their linguistic resources, male subordinates can display different institutional identities on a moment-by-moment basis in a given context. Furthermore, the study contributes to the examination of power relations in workplace discourse, as well as touching upon a gender difference in language use.

Managing disagreement in problem solving meeting talk

Problem solving (PbS) talk has been associated with disagreement and conflict as interactants oppose each other's views and express diverse opinions. Although disagreement and conflict have been regarded in earlier work as potentially negative acts more recent work points to the importance of context and local practices instead of a priori categorizations of what the interactants perceive as un/acceptable linguistic behaviour. The paper draws on data from two projects on workplace discourse, one focusing on multinational companies situated in Europe and one on small/medium firms (SMEs). The dataset consists of recordings of meetings, ethnographic observations and interviews. The analysis of the data shows that ‘deviating opinions’ are not only ‘acceptable’ but also unmarked and they form an inherent part of the PbS process. At the same time linguistic behaviour perceived as face threatening or intentionally impolite is typically rare. The paper closes by drawing a theoretical distinction between marked and unmarked disagreement. The latter is perceived as task bound and does not pose a threat to the management of the meeting participants’ complex identities and relationships.

‘you have to be adaptable, obviously’

In spite of the increasing globalisation of the work domain and the mobilization of the workforce (Wong et al. 2007) only very little attention has been paid to the interplay between culture and professional identities in workplace contexts. This paper addresses this gap by exploring some of the ways through which professionals are required to construct and negotiate their various identities in increasingly multicultural contexts where notions of culture may become particularly salient. We focus on multicultural workplaces where, we believe, the intricate and complex relationship between culture and identity is particularly well reflected: In these contexts members are on a daily basis exposed to culture-specific perceptions, assumptions, expectations, and practices which may ultimately be reflected in workplace communication, and which impact on how professional identities are constructed. Drawing on a corpus of more than 80 hours of authentic workplace discourse and follow-up interviews conducted with professionals we explore how expatriates who work in Hong Kong with a team of local Chinese construct, negotiate and combine aspects of their professional and cultural identities in their workplace discourse. Our particular focus is on two issues that have been identified in participants’ interviews: Sharing decision making responsibilities and negotiating a work-life balance. Our analysis of these two aspects illustrates the complex processes of identity construction from two different but complementary perspectives: i) the ways in which participants portray themselves as adapting to, negotiating or rejecting the new culture in which they work and live; and ii) the ways in which these perceived identity construction processes are actually reflected in participants’ workplace discourse.

Humor in the workplace: A regulating and coping mechanism in socialization

Professionals transitioning into a workplace face the challenge of socializing into their new working communities. One important factor in this process is humor (Plester and Sayers, 2007). We present a case study of how a newcomer transitioning towards integral status interacts with the use of humor in her new workplace. Using the Communities of Practice framework (Wenger, 1998), we examine workplace discourse collected from a new recruit, Emma, and her colleagues in a Hong Kong firm. The analysis portrays a picture of how humor is a critical element as Emma negotiates relationships with other colleagues and works towards her assigned tasks. Findings suggest that humor can be an indicator to newcomers of appropriate or inappropriate behavior. Humor can be used for newcomers’ integration into the workplace; humor can be used by integral members to mold newcomers into the normative ways of doing things. We argue that humor may be used as a regulating and coping mechanism in workplace socialization.

Politeness and impoliteness in ethnic varieties of New Zealand English

Many aspects of New Zealand English (NZE) have been well described, especially the distinctive vocabulary, phonology, and some syntactic differences in relation to other varieties of English. Building on earlier research describing pragmatic features of NZE, and identifying ways in which politeness is expressed in New Zealand (NZ) workplace talk, this paper extends the socio-pragmatic analysis of NZE in several ways. Using the theoretical model that we have developed to analyse workplace interaction, we adopt an emic approach, focussing on intercultural interactions between Māori and Pākehā, and data from both Māori and Pākehā workplaces to throw light on distinctive features of politeness in NZE workplace discourse. With this goal, we examine the important value of egalitarianism in NZ society, and explore its pervasive influence on the ways in which politeness is interactionally achieved in different NZ communities of practice. We then discuss how this relates to the stylistic dimension of formality, exemplifying some distinctively NZ ways in which formality and informality are indexed in workplace interaction. The analysis illustrates how these influences are manifest in a number of specific aspects of workplace interaction, including small talk, humour, meeting protocols, and in the extension of the distinctive pragmatic particle eh to new domains.

Leadership discourse in a Maori workplace

Masculinist gender norms and majority group ethnic norms are always covertly relevant as important systemic characteristics of interaction at work, subtly influencing people's unconscious interpretations of what is considered appropriate in the workplace and influencing evaluations of the ways in which individuals do gender, ethnicity and leadership. Drawing on material from the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project, we focus on a particular case study exemplifying the construction of a complex and hybridised identity in a challenging socio-cultural context. The discourse of a female M?ori Managing Director of a commercial organization is analysed to illustrate how she negotiates the complex triple bind of gender, ethnicity and leadership in her everyday talk at work. It is proposed that the analysis of such instances of the effective performance of a hybridised identity may contribute to an increased understanding of the complexities of managing workplace discourse in culturally diverse and gendered institutional contexts.