Language and Occupation
In order to gain your AO2 marks, you need to know key theories:
John Swales (2011)
Included 6 characteristics in his definition of ‘The Concept of Discourse Community’
1. Has a broadly agreed set of common public goals
2. Mechanisms of intercommunication among its members
3. Uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback
4. Utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its
aims
5. Has acquired some specific lexis
6. Community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise
Drew and Heritage (1992)
Claim that members of a discourse community show inferential frameworks
Proposed 6 distinctive features of workplace conversation:
Goal Participants usually focus on specific tasks and goals in workplace conversation
orientation
Turn-taking In some professional contexts, there’s specific turn-taking rules in operation
rules e.g. court
Allowable There may be restrictions on what is considered allowable in one’s contribution
contribution e.g. length/content
s
Professional The vocabulary used, such as special lexis and jargon, may reflect the workplace
lexis context
Structure Workplace interactions may be structured in some way to fit the context
Asymmetry Workplace conversations often occur between two people who hold different
power in conversation, in the form of status and knowledge
, Almut Koester (2004)
Claimed that social interactions form an important part of the inferential framework and
discourse community
Being sociable and actively engaging in personal chat makes for effective working
Phatic talk helps form solidarity with workmates which is important for the professional
environment – workers need to have interpersonal relationships that are not just based
around work
Hornyak (1994)
Suggested the shift from talk to personal talk is always initiated by the highest ranked person
in the room
(e.g. CEO / Boss)
Holmes (1998)
Found that women managers seem to be more likely to negotiate consensus than male
managers, and take time to ensure all members agree
Holmes (2005)
Found that, contrary to popular belief, women used just as much humour as males, and for
the same reasons; to control discourse and contest superiors, but are more likely to
encourage supportive and collaborative humour
Herring (1992)
In an email discussion, which took place on a linguistics ‘distribution list’
5 women and 30 men took part
Men’s messages were twice as long, on average, as women’s
Women tended to use a personal voice
Men adopted the dominant tone
In order to gain your AO2 marks, you need to know key theories:
John Swales (2011)
Included 6 characteristics in his definition of ‘The Concept of Discourse Community’
1. Has a broadly agreed set of common public goals
2. Mechanisms of intercommunication among its members
3. Uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback
4. Utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its
aims
5. Has acquired some specific lexis
6. Community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise
Drew and Heritage (1992)
Claim that members of a discourse community show inferential frameworks
Proposed 6 distinctive features of workplace conversation:
Goal Participants usually focus on specific tasks and goals in workplace conversation
orientation
Turn-taking In some professional contexts, there’s specific turn-taking rules in operation
rules e.g. court
Allowable There may be restrictions on what is considered allowable in one’s contribution
contribution e.g. length/content
s
Professional The vocabulary used, such as special lexis and jargon, may reflect the workplace
lexis context
Structure Workplace interactions may be structured in some way to fit the context
Asymmetry Workplace conversations often occur between two people who hold different
power in conversation, in the form of status and knowledge
, Almut Koester (2004)
Claimed that social interactions form an important part of the inferential framework and
discourse community
Being sociable and actively engaging in personal chat makes for effective working
Phatic talk helps form solidarity with workmates which is important for the professional
environment – workers need to have interpersonal relationships that are not just based
around work
Hornyak (1994)
Suggested the shift from talk to personal talk is always initiated by the highest ranked person
in the room
(e.g. CEO / Boss)
Holmes (1998)
Found that women managers seem to be more likely to negotiate consensus than male
managers, and take time to ensure all members agree
Holmes (2005)
Found that, contrary to popular belief, women used just as much humour as males, and for
the same reasons; to control discourse and contest superiors, but are more likely to
encourage supportive and collaborative humour
Herring (1992)
In an email discussion, which took place on a linguistics ‘distribution list’
5 women and 30 men took part
Men’s messages were twice as long, on average, as women’s
Women tended to use a personal voice
Men adopted the dominant tone
