English language is widely used in two kinds of communication in workplace. It can be used among members of the same or a closely related profession. In other cases, it can be used when a member of the profession is dealing with a member of the public. In this essay, I will discuss the choice of language, the use of jargon and different features in the use of English among co-workers. Then I will discuss the use of jargon, the handling of communicative problems, the issue of power and control and the strategies used by professionals when dealing with the public. In the last part of the essay, I will analyze the conversations on Video Band 2 to illustrate the features of English in the workplace.
English among co-worker In some countries, English has long been used as a trading language. When English speaking people interact with people with different mother tongues in the trading process, a lingua franca appears and it may evolve into a new language variety called a pidgin. If the children learn the pidgin as their mother tongue, the new language becomes a Creole. The Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea is a good example. The language was used first as a means of communication between the indigenous population and their European colonizers but became the most important lingua franca for Papua New Guineans.
The choice of language among co-workers is affected by some factors. In some places, people choose to use English at work although it is not their mother tongue. In Macau, English is the predominant language in garment industry although it is not the native language of any participants in the trading process. According to Cremer and Willes, it is because using English in the process can ensure international orders and deliver them efficiently. Most of the people in Macau’s trade do not know the language well; they just want to find out “how little English can be made to serve their purposes”. Therefore, the language itself is of a reduced, specialized and highly context-specific kind. Besides, the use of English is confined to specific domains. It is only used in a very limited, related set of contexts, including ordering, manufacture, inspection, shipmen and payment.
Wipro Fluid Power is another example. It is a firm in central southern India where English is used. Although people in the firm speak Kannada as their mother tongue, they have to use English for some of the most important internal communications. The company recognizes the common use of English between Indians and believes using English at work helps to expand its international trading activities.
The choice of language is also affected by the topic being discussed. As English is commonly used at work, it is often associated with more official or formal aspects of life. As a result, code switching from other languages to English occurs when the topic being discussed is moved from local community matters to business matters. The research by Joshua Fishman finds that the two speakers can speak Spanish and English fluently. However, they switch from Spanish to English when they talk about their work since they were in the working relationship of a “boss” and “secretary” which is firmly embedded in the dominant Anglo-American culture.
The speakers’ choice of language at workplace is also affected by their status. In Fishman’s research, code switching to English is determined by the boss, who has a higher status in office. So people with higher status have control over the choice of language.
On the other hand, Nicola Woods suggests that gender plays a more significant role than job status does in shaping conversations in the workplace. In her research, while occupational status did influence the way both men and women organized conversation, male subordinates were still able to dominate the floor in dealing with high-status female boss. She came to the conclusion that gender tends to exert the greatest influence on floor apportionment.
Jargons are often used between people in the same profession. These people know the nature of each other’s jobs and have a common knowledge of their shared workplace. Therefore, they can understand each other without extended explanations when using jargons. However, it may be incomprehensible to outsiders. Jargons include acronyms and words with established meanings which depend on some specific and shared knowledge about the working practices in that profession. Walter Nash points out that jargon words and phrases often become incorporated into the mainstream of English language use. Some examples are “IQ” and “programmed”. Some technical jargon words are borrowed into other languages. According to David Hearst, words such as “lizing” (leasing) and “bankrotia” (bankruptcy) are incorporated into Russian business speech.
In the workplace, rationality, rather than emotion, is needed in implementing tasks. Therefore, the style of many written English’s is impersonal and unemotional. For example, passive voice without subject is often used. However, in some professional communities, emotions can be expressed through the use of a professional slang. Kathleen Odean points out that a large number of slang is used by Wall Streeters in New York. These slang terms and phrases serve different functions, social and emotive. Some nicknames are of sexual or violent references. The underlying theme is dominance. Since Wall Streeters have so little control over the market, they want to project an image of being in control, winning the war or conquering the female. In some cases, slang is used to vent hostility against customers behind their backs.
There are different special communicative needs in different field of work; it leads to different features in different professional discourses. In some unusual working circumstances, people are inventive in their use of English due to communicative needs. For example, because of the noisy working environment, women workers in the cotton mills of Lancashire speak with exaggerated mouth movements and lip-read what the other say. On the other hand, as the Channel Tunnel between France and England was opened in 1994, a set of vocabulary of specialized terms has to be developed in police reporting. Words are chosen from French and English so that they are comprehensible to both English and French police.
English between workers and the public When communicating with “lay” people, to avoid using jargon can facilitate communication. However, professionals may still use jargon because of habit or the technical nature of their profession. In some cases, professionals can maintain control and exert power over “lay” people by the use of jargon. As lay people do not understand those jargon terms, professionals become experts and the gatekeepers to powerful knowledge. Very often problems arise in communication between professionals and clients. According to Roberts and Sayers, problems may be due to the lack of shared understanding of the ground rules for carrying out the specialized kind of conversation, or the client’s lack of fluency in English. They also suggest that the reaction of the professionals on the client’s lack of fluency in English is a determining factor. In their research, interviewers (professionals) did not intend to clarify misunderstandings caused by interviewees’ (lay people) lack of fluency in English. Therefore, they fail to grasp the key points of the interviewees and caused misunderstanding.
Issues of power and control are very important in the communication between professionals and clients. The above research of Roberts and Sayers is an example. The interviewers have the control over the content of the conversations. They can choose to ignore or pursue topics in ways that interviewees would not dare. Another example is telephone selling. The sales staffs are well prepared to deliver the message and thus have control over the conversation in the beginning. However, the clients have the ultimate control to the conversation because they have the right to accept or deny the offer. However, in the interaction between doctors and patients, control always remains in the doctors’ hands. It may be due to the status and authority of the medical profession of doctors.
There are different strategies used by professionals when dealing with laypersons. In Maynard’s research, the doctor employed a generic conversational strategy in the interaction with the client. The doctor explored the patient’s own understanding of the condition, then confirmed the patient’s own perspective, and lastly reformulated the patient’s explanation of events.
In the research of Longman and Mercer, other strategies were used by the professional adviser when dealing with the interviewee (lay people). When information was being recorded on the form, the adviser filtered out nearly all of the information about the interviewee’s doubts about his own ability and experience. He also reformulated the interviewee’s statements in the way to make it sounds more positive and formal. Filtering and reformulation is often used by police officers to transform statements from suspects’ spoken words. It is also used by lawyers to prepare “last will and testament” documents and contracts on behalf of their clients.
English is a language widely used in the workplace. It takes on a range of distinctive forms and has different features when it is used in different discourse community. Features are especially different between English among co-workers and English between profession and client.
When English is used among co-workers, the choice of language is influenced by practical needs, topic, status and gender. Jargon is used frequently. When English is used between professionals and clients, the use of jargon serves special purposes. Power and control is always in the hands of professionals. They can decide on the topic. Different strategies are used to obtain information.
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