english language = OCCUPATION

• John Swales


  -Swales suggested colleagues are part of a discourse community, and will speak similarly (using specialised lexis). - people speak internally within small groups

  within occupations and exclude people outside this group. - we are all part of ‘discourse communities’. These are groups of people who share and communicate their discourses
• inferential framework


  where knowledge is built up over time and used in order to understand meanings
• Drew and Heritage


  -members of a discourse community will share the

  same inferential frameworks to make it easier to communicate swiftly. -in workplace conversations, there is always somebody with more authority/knowledge who will have more control and power in conversation. - strong hierarchies of power within organisations, with many asymmetrical relationships
• LEIDNER=styling 


  -Receptionists and hairdressers work in a relaxed environment and the language used tends to include Q and A structures (styling) -This is where employees follow an implicit script and therefore when they are at work, the language they use is not their own. -Styling helps to maintain the minimum level of politeness and helps situations to remain non emotive if they become difficult, such as a complaint.
• why is styling effective?

  • is designed to include outsiders, for example question and answer invites a responded - styling aims make things polite and straightforward. -contradicts the claim that occupational language is designed to exclude outsiders.
• Codes

  -Coded language relies on exclusive shared knowledge and understanding, and the link to discourse communities is very clear. -All retail and hospitality outlets, for example, use coded tannoy announcements

  -expected to only be understood by staff e.g.= ‘this is a staff announcement. We have a code 3’ or less obvious by using a name to signify a situation
• Codes in emergence services


  Used by police to describe people of different origins
• British police codes


  • IC1 - white person
  • IC5 - Chinese/South-East Asian person
• American police codes


  • 211 - robbery
• KIM AND ELDER


  - occupational language can cause miscommunications because it is culturally specific. -majority of miscommunications between Korean and American air traffic controllers was due to unhelpful abbreviations and misleading idioms.
• Pragmatics

  Refers to the idea of assumed meanings, where people know how things work because they share inferences – unspoken understandings
• Pragmatics

  Strongly interconnected with power because there is power in knowledge – if you know the rules of a community, you can participate in it
• Periods in history

  • After the Norman invasion of 1066, the language of official life was French, so it was impossible to take a legal case to court without knowing French. Non-speakers of French would have paid someone to speak for them.
• Periods in history

  • Being able to use Latin was a sign of status and power for many centuries because of its prevalence in education and the Church
• Pragmatics and power are strongly interconnected because there is power in knowledge – if you know the rules of a community, you can participate in it
• Legal Language

  -Legal English has been referred to as a “sublanguage” -legal English differs from ordinary language “not just in vocabulary, but also in morphology, syntax, semantics -

  1. Legal language is quite distinctive – it has its own lexis.
  2. The syntax is often complex, with lots of subordinate clauses. It’s also repetitive.
• How does legal language gives some power? - as its complex, knowledge of this language gives specialists a distinct advantage over non-specialists. - means lawyers have a lot of power – if their clients don’t fully understand the difficult jargon-have to trust that their lawyers understand it and deal with their case properly.
• Jargon

  Language that is difficult for non-specialists to understand
• Jargon can cause real problems when it's used inappropriately
• Different measures are taken to avoid jargon
• Some of the language used in the civil courts has been changed to make it easier for non-specialists to understand


  Since 1999
• Latin terms replaced

  • in camera -> in private
  • subpoena -> witness summons
• Using plainer language


  • Promotes equality
  • Means everyone has more chance of understanding what's being said
  • Specialists can't use jargon to intimidate non-specialists
• The plain English campaign was set up in 1979 to combat the use of confusing and unnecessary jargon.

  It advises organisations on how they can use plainer language.

  Organisations can apply for the Crystal Mark, which shows that the Plain English Campaign has approved their documents
• Advantage of Plain English Campaign


  • Promotes equality
  • Everyone has more chance of understanding what's being said
  • Specialists can't use jargon to intimidate non-specialists
• Using specialist lexis to a non-specialist is usually confusing
• Example of specialist lexisused by doctors

  • Acute myocardial infarction was changed to Heart attack so patients can understand
• A doctor telling a patient they have an increased risk of 'acute myocardial infarction' is unlikely to be understood, whereas if the patient was told they are at risk of a 'heart attack' they would
• Using specialist lexis to non-specialists shows a lack of sensitivity to the needs of their audience
• disadvantages of plain english campaign


  -there may be a deliberate desire to confuse; demonstrate superiority; or exclude from an exclusive group. -There may also be a desire to keep clients, patients, customers or other outsiders ‘in the dark’ so that it becomes difficult for them to question or criticise
• education

  -language of power is seen in schools, colleges and universities. The

  language of education reflects the power structures in schools.

  -There’s often an imbalance in address terms – students might use respectful address terms to the teacher like sir, or title + surname -teachers just use the students first name.

  -understanding that the teacher has authority.
• education-teachers professional discourse eg=


  -‘William is a lively pupil, who is keen to participate during class discussion. William needs

  to listen more carefully if he is going to improve in this subject. Good progress has been

  made, but with a more concerted effort, he could go much further.’
• Irving Goffman= face


  -Suggested that we present a particular image of ourselves to

  others -This ‘image’ is called presenting ‘face’. -FACE= a persons self-esteem/ emotional needs
• Conversation is co-operative


  Generally speaking we accept the face that other people present/offer to us
• All part of co-operating in conversation
• Sometimes we don't


  Rare occasions, we might reject the 'face' that someone presents to us/we might accuse them of being insincere or mock them for trying to be more knowledgeable than they actually are
• Face threatening act


  If you say something which challenges or rejects someone's 'face'
• Brown and Levinson


  -Face Theory=First used by Goffman, expanded by Brown and Levinson

  -Positive Face=An individual’s need to feel valued, liked and appreciated

  -Negative Face=An individual’s need to not feel imposed on or have their freedom or action threatened
• tactfulness = face

  -Tactful: Most of the time we tend to be more tactful and will keep our reservations to ourselves in order to ‘save’ the other person’s ‘face’ because we are being tactful and hope that they would also save our face too. 
• what is the purpose of face?


  -The purpose of face work is to maintain status either within the conversation or within society. - People with lower status tend to be more attentive to the face needs of  those who are higher status than vice versa.