Language and Occupatin
Language used within iccupatin
Acronyms- common within most occupatonss Eamples- Police: ASBO, ABHs They are
quick and efcient but also can serve a purpose of shutng outsiders outs
Jargon- includes common words or phrases understood by all employers in that
partcular industrys
Codes- Need and eEpectaton of shared knowledge and understanding by a partcular
occupatonal groups Eclusives
Medical jargon/slang = Medical jargon is used by doctors and nurses to make their job seem
less darks Eamples include 'ash cash', referring to the payment to a hospital from the
release of a body or 'bagged and tagged' to refer to a bodys
Leet = a language based on the internet, leet is derived from the word elites Words are
considered substtuton to other wordss Eamples are: 1337 = leet; h4E0r = hacker; n00b =
newbie
HOWARD GILES 1973
Accommodaton theorys
Convergence- how some speakers will try to make their language resemble, and be more in
line with, that of the other speaker/ their audience to improve communicatons
Divergence- some speakers may choose to use language to distance and distnguish
themselves from otherss
In relaton to occupaton, some professions may be need to converges For eEample, a doctor
may need to converge with a patent so they are fully able to understand the situatons A
teacher may need to converge with students so they are able to understand and learns
Not about ‘dumbing down’ language, it is about choosing appropriate jargon for those
around yous
Divergence may also be necessary in a professions A teacher, for eEample, would need to
use formal register when speaking to the parents of a childs
JOHN SWALES (2011)
A discourse community: a group of people trying to achieve specifc common goals, these
are accomplished through intercommunicatons They will communicate through a number of
different ways and develop some specifc leEis special to that
groups
Swales identfed 6 characteristcs that a group must have for
it to be a discourse community:
1) Has a broadly agreed set of common goalss
2) Has mechanisms of intercommunicaton among its
memberss
3) Uses it partcipatory mechanisms primarily to provide
informaton and feedbacks
4) Utlizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicatve furtherance of its aimss
Language used within iccupatin
Acronyms- common within most occupatonss Eamples- Police: ASBO, ABHs They are
quick and efcient but also can serve a purpose of shutng outsiders outs
Jargon- includes common words or phrases understood by all employers in that
partcular industrys
Codes- Need and eEpectaton of shared knowledge and understanding by a partcular
occupatonal groups Eclusives
Medical jargon/slang = Medical jargon is used by doctors and nurses to make their job seem
less darks Eamples include 'ash cash', referring to the payment to a hospital from the
release of a body or 'bagged and tagged' to refer to a bodys
Leet = a language based on the internet, leet is derived from the word elites Words are
considered substtuton to other wordss Eamples are: 1337 = leet; h4E0r = hacker; n00b =
newbie
HOWARD GILES 1973
Accommodaton theorys
Convergence- how some speakers will try to make their language resemble, and be more in
line with, that of the other speaker/ their audience to improve communicatons
Divergence- some speakers may choose to use language to distance and distnguish
themselves from otherss
In relaton to occupaton, some professions may be need to converges For eEample, a doctor
may need to converge with a patent so they are fully able to understand the situatons A
teacher may need to converge with students so they are able to understand and learns
Not about ‘dumbing down’ language, it is about choosing appropriate jargon for those
around yous
Divergence may also be necessary in a professions A teacher, for eEample, would need to
use formal register when speaking to the parents of a childs
JOHN SWALES (2011)
A discourse community: a group of people trying to achieve specifc common goals, these
are accomplished through intercommunicatons They will communicate through a number of
different ways and develop some specifc leEis special to that
groups
Swales identfed 6 characteristcs that a group must have for
it to be a discourse community:
1) Has a broadly agreed set of common goalss
2) Has mechanisms of intercommunicaton among its
memberss
3) Uses it partcipatory mechanisms primarily to provide
informaton and feedbacks
4) Utlizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicatve furtherance of its aimss
