The aim of this study is to explore and describe linguistic strategies that help to create and maintain social cohesion in the workplace. Recent changes in the workplace have resulted in greater diversity within the workforce and changes in working patterns. This has led to nascent recognition of the importance and value of interpersonal communication at work. Many studies focus on miscommunication and pre-defined, normative notions of culture are often referred to in explaining communication difficulties. I argue that focus on effective communication and the individual's use of language is of greater value. Individuals are viewed as multifaceted rather than as adhering to one culture, whilst the notion of dynamic, emergent cultures within specific contexts replaces that of essentialist cultures. The study deals with native speaker and non-native speaker discourse in meetings. It draws on the roles of politeness, solidarity, affect and relational and transactional language in creating a suitable working atmosphere for goals to be achieved effectively. Module 2 deals with methodology and the pilot study, based on discourse analysis and a grounded approach. Module 3 focuses on exploring and analysing a narrow range of linguistic features relating to social cohesion in the workplace.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:442639 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Stark, Patricia Pullin |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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