what is robin lakoff’s theory?
in her work on womens language in the 1970’s, she regarded many of these adjectives as ‘empty’ , conveying an emotional value but little real meaning.
she regarded this as a characteristics of womens language, a sign of womens need to boost the strength of their utterances because of their conversational insecurities
Huckin’s study of homelessness (2002) ?
Looked at 163 articles
Topics that were foregrounded : causes, effects and demographics of homelessness
Topics that were omitted or textually silent : treatment or prevention of homelessness
what is restricted occupational lexis?
specialist vocab that is only used in specific occupation
exclusivity makes…
acronyms powerful. they create a discourse community of those who may feel powerful as they have the knowledge others do not
John Swales (1990) ?
defined a discourse community as having members who…
Swales defined a discourse community as having members who :
- share a set of common goals
- use specialist lexis
- possess a required level of knowledge and skill to be part of a community
Holmes and Stubbe (2003)
they discuss the idea of…
They discuss the idea of ‘communities of practice’ - a group of people who regularly engage with each other - so communicate in a kind of ‘verbal shorthand’
This is difficult for outsiders to penetrate
Found that small talk is important because its interpersonal function but also in the way it may be used in work contexts in terms of ‘doing power’
Penelope Eckert (2006) ?
argued that…
Argued that language in work communities creates a sense of identity for those incolved
Bernard Spolsky (1998) ?
says ‘a specialised…’
Says ‘a specialised jargon serves to establish bonds between people of the “in group” and enforces boundaries for outsiders
Anndrezej Kollataj (2009) ?
Argues that using jargon is not stigmatised when compared to other language choices e.g. slang, that marks group boundaries. Thus, it is accepted which makes it powerful
what is jargon?
(noun) specialist vocab for a particular subject or profession
functions of occupational texts?
- communicating information
- requesting help
- confirming arrangements
- instructing employees / colleagues to do something
- making things happen or enacting them
- sensitive info you dont want to expose other people
- ease
what is corpus (plural corpora) ?
a collection of searchable language data stored on a computer
Nelson (2000) ?
- Michael Nelson’s research at Manchester Uni in 2000 on business English compared a corpus of business language with more general corpus to see if there is such thing as business language.
- He found that semantic fields to do with business people, companies, money, places if business, time, technology
- He also found that certain lexis to do with personal issues, society, family, home, house and personal activities were rarely used
- Lexis he did not find : town, county, village, opera, prison, castle, library, palace
- He also found lexis to describe negative states.
what is an imperative verb?
these create a tone of instruction
what is a discourse marker?
ok / so / well / but / right used in spoken discourse to change the topic of conversation
what are americanisms?
words which we have borrowed from america due to the rising prestige of american language
what is a goal orientation?
ppts in workplace conversations usually focus on specific tasks or goals
what are allowable contributions?
there may be restrictions on what kind of contributions are considered allowable
what is asymmetry?
workplace and professional interactions are often asymmetrical, that is often one speaker has more power than the other
e.g. boss and employee
what are constraints?
ways in which powerful ppts may block or control the contributions made
what is a repressive discourse strategy?
a more indirect way of exercising power and control through conversational constraints
what is oppressive discourse strategy?
linguistic behaviour that is open in exercising power and control
Drew & Heritage & Asymmetry (1993) ?
suggest there are strong hierarchies of power within organisations, with many asymmetrical relationships marked by language use
compliments tend to…
Herbert & Straight (1989) ?
- compliments tend to flow from those a higher rank to those of lower rank
- hierarchy has a recognisable impact on language used in organisations
