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Language at work redux!
Jan. 22nd, 2010 05:19 pmSo, a week or so back I posted about my current assignment for the OU, looking into 'Workplace Discourse Communities'. Now, my workplace has a number of good examples I can use for my essay, but I was talking to my Dad about it the other day and got to wondering about how language is used in other workplaces.
So I'm putting it out there to my flist; are there any unique or unusual ways in which you use language to communicate in the course of your working life? Think about, for example, the kind of language you hear when you listen to specialists like doctors, engineers, lawyers, where if you didn't know the 'lingo' (so you're not part of that particular discourse community) you wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about. Are there examples of this kind of thing in the work you do? Does the way you speak to a colleague differ to the way you speak to a client, or someone outside the company but still connected to your work?
It's not just limited to the spoken language either, as there's all sorts of terminology that's used in written english too; abbreviations that would be understood by someone else in the company, the formality of official letter writing, that sort of thing.
'Discourse Communities' are everywhere, in fact, not just in the workplace. For example, here on the internet we're part of any number of such communities just by virtue of understanding abbreviations like 'WTF', 'FTW' and 'ROFLMAO' *grins* When we use phrases we picked up from TV writers like Joss Wheadon or Aaron Sorkin, or simply get into a deep discussion about our favourite book, movie, record etc. that would leave any 'outsider' staring blankly at us like we're talking another language, that also makes us part of specific discourse communities.
I find it quite interesting to think about :-) Just hope I can do it justice in the essay!
So I'm putting it out there to my flist; are there any unique or unusual ways in which you use language to communicate in the course of your working life? Think about, for example, the kind of language you hear when you listen to specialists like doctors, engineers, lawyers, where if you didn't know the 'lingo' (so you're not part of that particular discourse community) you wouldn't have a clue what they were talking about. Are there examples of this kind of thing in the work you do? Does the way you speak to a colleague differ to the way you speak to a client, or someone outside the company but still connected to your work?
It's not just limited to the spoken language either, as there's all sorts of terminology that's used in written english too; abbreviations that would be understood by someone else in the company, the formality of official letter writing, that sort of thing.
'Discourse Communities' are everywhere, in fact, not just in the workplace. For example, here on the internet we're part of any number of such communities just by virtue of understanding abbreviations like 'WTF', 'FTW' and 'ROFLMAO' *grins* When we use phrases we picked up from TV writers like Joss Wheadon or Aaron Sorkin, or simply get into a deep discussion about our favourite book, movie, record etc. that would leave any 'outsider' staring blankly at us like we're talking another language, that also makes us part of specific discourse communities.
I find it quite interesting to think about :-) Just hope I can do it justice in the essay!
