Language and Occupation LO: to understand some key ideas and concepts surrounding language and occupation Starter: what language concepts have we already met which might be relevant to this topic?

How might an occupation affect the way people use language?  Technical, specialised terms (jargon)  Slang  Sociolects We will be asking the following questions over this unit: -What forms does specialised occupational language take? -What are the purposes and effects of these uses of language? -How do various occupational groups communicate with members of the public who are their customers/clients?

If you have worked part time or otherwise, take a few moments to share your experiences and observations of some of the linguistic ‘practices’ at your place of work.  Any specialised terminology you had to learn, and why this is essential  Ways in which colleagues address one another, and their seniors and juniors within the organisation  Any training you may have received in terms of how you should talk to customers/clients, and how you have had to adapt your ‘normal’, or non- occupational, language use  Any ‘in-house’ slang that you have found yourself adopting when talking with other employees If you haven’t worked part time, look up some ideas about how language might be adapted for occupation on your iPads.

How do your findings compare with these ideas?  Specialist terms/ special lexis – technical terms for specific objects and processes involved  Acronyms, abbreviates.  Why do you think these terms are important?  Forms of address – how hierarchical, e.g. the military, is the organisation?  How might you deal with ‘tricky’ customers, complaints etc.?  What policies are in place?  Is there any unofficial slang? For example, catering staff might have a private ‘ code ’ to describe different types of customer according to their appearance, behaviour or likelihood to tip generously.

Ongoing presentation/research task  Over the next two weeks, you will be completing some individual research on how language is used in different occupational contexts.  You can choose which occupation to examine: it could be a corporate environment, the law, schools, politics, transport etc.  You will need to collect data, analyse it, and then present your answers to our ‘unit questions’: -What forms does specialised occupational language take? -What are the purposes and effects of these uses of language? -How do various occupational groups communicate with members of the public who are their customers/clients?

What sort of data could I look for? D Data (primary) Such as transcripts of talk in occupational/professional situations, between colleagues and with the public, written texts such as official correspondence, training manuals, job descriptions and the like. A AttitudesSuch as letters and articles about professional jargon and the uses and abuses of language in the workplace. T TextsSuch as fictional representations of work situations and scripted dialogue in TV programmes A Academic studies Such as surveys or summaries of observation and research

Introducing a few key language concepts: acronyms  Research clearly shows that almost every occupation has its own special lexicon – a vocabulary that is specific to the occupation.  On the Metropolitan police’s website there is an extensive glossary section – there are 61 entries under A alone!  ASBO, ABH – familiar to most!  ASAP, A&E – used more generally  ASU (Air Support Unit), AFR (Automatic Fingerprint Recognition) – less likely to be understood widely Just a few from teaching: NQT PGCE CPD G&T NEET FLA TA SEN Can you guess what they stand for? There is some lexical change with some words: for instance, Ofsted. This was initially a noun phrase (Office for Standards in Education), it became an acronym (Ofsted), and then a verb (‘The school was ofsteded.) Another example is ASBO. Why do you think this happens?

Introducing a few key language concepts: jargon or occupational register There are several different purposes for jargon in occupational contexts:  Being deliberately obscure or vague to avoid a difficult question or ‘issue’  We have an ongoing tactical review situation at this moment in time  Disguising an unpleasant reality with euphemistic or periphrastic words  We are downsizing the firm and we’re letting you go  Making a relatively unimportant job sound much grander than it is  Vertical personnel distributor  i.e. lift operator…  The opposite: bringing someone above you in the company hierarchy down to earth by belittling their role  Describing office staff as ‘pen pushers’

TASK: examine the transcript of a consultant and a group of student doctors as they visit one of the patients on the word.  Pay particular attention to the use of jargon, and when a non-specialist register is used, to answer the following questions: -What forms does specialised occupational language take? -What are the purposes and effects of these uses of language? -How do various occupational groups communicate with members of the public who are their customers/clients?

Plenary  1 thing you have learnt that you did not know before  1 thing that surprised you  1 question that you have

Homework – presentation on 29 th Jan  To choose your occupation and to gather data and complete some wider reading/research on the topic.  Be ready to feed back what you have found so far at the beginning of our next lesson.  Remember that you can look for the following sources of information: D Data (primary)Such as transcripts of talk in occupational/professional situations, between colleagues and with the public, written texts such as official correspondence, training manuals, job descriptions and the like. A AttitudesSuch as letters and articles about professional jargon and the uses and abuses of language in the workplace. T TextsSuch as fictional representations of work situations and scripted dialogue in TV programmes A Academic studies Such as surveys or summaries of observation and research