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Gendered Talk at Work
Janet Holmes

 This book explores the ways in which gender contributes to the interpretation of meaning in workplace interaction, and examines how women and men negotiate their gender identities as well as their professional roles in everyday workplace communication. Using original and insightfully analysed data, Janet Holmes focuses not on how women and men differ in the ways they communicate power and authority, but rather on the ways in which both draw on gendered discourse resources to enact a range of workplace roles. How do we talk at work? Are there distinctively 'feminine' or particularly 'masculine' ways of interacting in the workplace? If so, who uses them, and in what contexts? This book explores the ways in which gender contributes to the interpretation of meaning in workplace interaction, and examines how women and men negotiate their gender identities, as well as their professional roles in everyday workplace communication. Using original and insightfully analysed data, Janet Holmes focuses not on how women and men differ in the ways they communicate power and authority, but rather on the ways in which both draw on gendered discourse resources to enact a range of workplace roles.

Table of Contents:

1 The role of gender in workplace talk - pg 1
2 Gender and leadership talk at work - pg 32
3 Relational practice - not just women's work - pg 74
4 Humour in the workplace - not just men's play - pg 108
5 Contest, challenge and complaint - gendered discourse? - pg 140
6 Women and men telling stories at work - pg 174
7 Giving women the last word - pg 208

Available from Blackwell Publishing

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Power and Politeness in the Workplace
Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe

Power and Politeness in the Workplace provides insights into the way we all talk at work. The book contains a wealth of material illustrating the way people communicate with each other in their ordinary everyday encounters in their workplaces. The analysis focuses, in particular, on how and why people "do" power and politeness in the workplace, and examines the discourse strategies involved in balancing the competing demands of meeting workplace objectives and getting things done on time with maintaining good collegial workplace relationships. Drawing on a large and very varied corpus of data collected in a wide range of workplaces, the authors explore specific types of workplace talk, such as giving advice and instructions, solving problems, running meetings and making decisions. Attention is also paid to the important contribution of less obviously relevant types of workplace talk such as humour and small talk, to the construction of effective workplace relationships. In the final chapter some of the practical implications of the analyses are identified.

This book aims to provide useful information to those interested in the many functions of talk at work. It should be useful to those teaching business or interpersonal communication courses, language in the workplace courses, courses on discourse analysis, communication studies, pragmatics and sociolinguistics. It should also be of interest to workplace practitioners, and especially those involved in Human Resources training, communication skill development, and professional development and education.

You can buy or order a copy for delivery from Vic Books either by ringing + 64 4 463 5515, or via their website at www.vicbooks.co.nz Price: $59.95 plus delivery cost.

International ordering information

Also available from Pearson Education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting Things Done at Work
The discourse of power in workplace interaction
Bernadette Vine

 The linguistic study of workplace language is a new and exciting area of research. This book explores the expression of power in a New Zealand workplace through examination of 52 everyday interactions between four women and their colleagues. The main focus of this research is the expression of three types of "control acts", i.e., directives, requests and advice. The women include two Managers who demonstrate an interactive participative style of management. They tend to minimise rather than exert power, although their status is still evident in their speech.

The study is original in its combination of a quantitative and a qualitative approach, as well as in its combination of a detailed categorisation of head acts and an analysis of context and role relationships. Through the design of the study and the methodology used, the results which are brought forward challenge earlier research both on power and on control acts.

Available from John Benjamins Publishing Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
16 December, 2009
©2009 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
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