Available online at www.aucjc.ro
Annals of the University of Craiova for
Journalism, Communication and Management
Volume 5, 139-158, 2019
ISSN 2501-3513
LISTENING IN VERBAL COMMUNICATION: ASPECTS
REGARDING ACTIVE LISTENING IN THEORETICAL
MODELS OF SOCIAL WORK
Simona RODAT
Professor, PhD, Adventus University, Cernica, Ilfov, Romania, Email:
simona.rodat@uadventus.ro
Abstract
In communication between people, listening plays an important role.
Active listening, which implies giving the full attention to the speaker and
showing interest to the communication by using a variety of verbal and nonverbal signs, maintains the communication relations and contributes to
mitigating conflicts in different social contexts. Moreover, active listening is
the most desirable form of response in the interaction between interlocutors, in
activities where communication and comprehension are essential, as is the case
with social work. Starting with the delineation of the place of listening in the
verbal communication and the outlining of the characteristics of the active
listening, this paper deals further with the ways in which the importance and the
140
roles of listening and active listening are highlighted in the theoretical and
methodological models of intervention developed in social work.
Keywords: listening, active listening, verbal communication, nonverbal communication, social work
Introduction
Listening is fundamental in communication. In a sequence of
communication, more than half is listening (Dinu, 2000). But not all the
receptive behaviours that refer to or involve listening are similar. Such
behaviours can be ranged on a continuum from simple hearing to active
listening. The latter involves a form of activism on the part of the receiver,
he/she expressly following the full decoding of the received message and
providing an eloquent feedback in this regard.
Active listening contributes to keeping the communication relations,
informs about the expectations of other individuals and can mitigate and stop
many of the social conflicts. But although active listening is the most fulfilling
form of listening, it is not present in all communication contexts. In fact, in
many social situations active listening is absent.
The present paper addresses active listening as essential component in
the process of communication. After delineating the place of the listening in the
verbal communication, being highlighted in this regard the connections with
speech, respectively with langue and parole, the different types of listening are
outlined, and then special emphasis is placed on the active listening. The paper
discusses mainly the verbal and non-verbal messages or signs of active
listening, as well as the techniques and qualities of this form of listening.
141
Further, the place and roles of listening, especially those of active
listening, in social work are highlighted. The paper outlines, chronologically,
the theoretical and methodological models of intervention developed in social
work and, within them, there is underlined the importance given by each to the
listening and active listening in their intervention procedures.
Listening in verbal communication
Over time people needed to use conventional ways to denote
experience, in order to be able to cooperate with each other, or simply to cope
with the demands of the environment. The sounds associated with certain
experiences have begun to have certain meanings, and as a result of this
association, their utterance generates the image of the object of experience.
The fact that language has emerged in response to a common environment is
supported by the observation of the similarity of languages in time and space,
and of their relative stability (Ștefănescu, 2009: 52). The events of human life
throughout the relatively short human existence are generally universal and
give rise to the same processes of perception and reaction.
Verbal communication can be defined in a broad sense as the
communication that uses articulated language. The origins of language have
remained obscure to this day, and evidence of its evolution is scarce (McQuail,
1999: 72). However, we can understand the process of its appearance by
observing the contemporary social life, which allows us to see how variations
and modifications of linguistic use appear and how language works in social
interaction. In this way we can assume that the origins of language are in the
interaction of people living in a common environment, on which they act. In
the conception of D. McQuail (1999), language is the specific faculty or
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aptitude of humanity to construct sign systems that allow expression or
communication. It is non-translatable or universal.
Moreover, verbal communication has a symbolic character, which
clearly distinguishes it from all the sound signalling systems within the animal
world (Dinu, 2007). Only human speech proves capable of achieving that
“displacement” (DeVito, 1988: 81) consisting of the possibility of referring to
absent objects and persons or to past or imaginary situations.
According to the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure ([1916] 1974),
language is a pluriform, heterogeneous phenomenon, both physically/
physiologically and psychologically, and belongs to both the individual and
social fields. It cannot be placed in any other category of human facts (apud
Caune, 2000: 26). Saussure made the distinction between langue (meaning
language system) and parole (meaning language use, or speaking) (apud
Eggert, 2007), both embodiments of the language. The langue does not differ
from other social phenomena involved in speech acts. It is a component of
language, defined as “a social product of the faculty of language and a set of
necessary conventions, adopted by the social body, to allow the individuals the
exercise of speech” (Caune, 2000: 27). Langue encompasses the abstract,
systematic rules and conventions of a signifying system, being independent of
the individual users, pre-existing them. The langue involves the principles of
language, without which no meaningful utterance, “parole”, would be
possible. Parole refers to the concrete instances of the use of langue. This is the
individual, personal phenomenon of language as a series of speech acts made by
a linguistic subject (Saussure, 1986: 9-10). The structure of the langue is
revealed through the study of parole.
Parole (speech/ speaking) is, therefore, that part of the language that
concerns the subject’s activity and individualizes him/her. Parole or speech is
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the act by which the linguistic function is exercised. It is the most widely used
encoding activity in verbal communication and is inseparable from the bodily
and facial attitude, that seems to facilitate it (Dimbley and Burton, 1985: 4851). The speech has a situational character, which means that each word can
have intrinsic meanings and can refer to something (concrete or abstract).
Parole is a dynamic temporal and spatial construct consisting of a sequence of
sounds and statements. In addition to this characteristic of being successive
(involving a certain string of words, a sequence of them in sentences), speech
is also rhythmic (implies a certain rhythm), and infers addressability, since
speaking is always oriented towards other people.
While, in a language, speech is the activity of encoding, listening is the
activity
of
decoding
the
communication.
Listening
is
essential
in
communication. According to M. Dinu (2000: 33), 53% of the total
communication sequence is listening, while only 16% is speech, 17% is read
and 14% is written. There are three distinct types of receptive behaviours that
are similar and refer to or involve listening: 1. “non-listening” – refers to a
situation in which someone assumes the receiver status without actually
listening; 2. “listening”; 3. “meditation” (or thinking) (Ștefănescu, 2009: 57).
Listening has its own internal gradations, being in fact a continuum that varies
from non-listening to the level of thinking – in which case reflexivity also
appears (Marinescu, 2003: 39). Therefore, listening follows the following
phases:
a) hearing – the automatic act of receiving and transmitting to the brain
of the sound waves generated by the emitter’s speech; expresses the
physiological impact that sound waves produce;
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b) understanding – the act of identifying the communicated informative
content, recomposing the sounds heard into words, and words in sentences and
phrases;
c) translation into meanings – involves the memory, and linguistic,
cultural, and speaking experience of the listener;
d) assignment of meanings to the information received – it is performed
according to the level of operationalization of the language, vocabulary,
linguistic performances;
e) evaluation – making value judgments or adopting value attitudes by
the listener.
Listening fulfils several functions in communication (Watson and Hill,
1993: 104): a) control of understanding; b) encouraging communication – any
receiver must have feedback in the communication; at the transmitter’s level
the reaction of the receiver is as important as the message transmitted; c)
ensuring the correct feedback.
According to the same authors (idem), there are generally three types of
listening:
1. Pseudo-listening – is the situation in which the individual perceives
the message (meaning, the signs used), but does not perceive the entire flow of
messages;
2. Listening;
3. Active listening – is the type of listening that involves assuming the
role of receiver that expressly follows the full decoding of the received
language. It involves a kind of receptor’s activism and cannot exist outside the
idea of feedback. In the real plan it is rarely encountered, and its absence can
lead to conflicts between people.
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Active listening
This type of listening means that the subject actively take part in the
activity of listening, being fully concentrated on what is being said, not just
passively hearing the message of the speaker. In active listening not only the
listener gives the full attention to the speaker, but also he/she must be seen to be
listening. The interest can be conveyed to the speaker by using both verbal and
non-verbal messages or signs.
Verbal messages or signs of active listening include:
Positive reinforcement, by using words or phrases such as “indeed”,
“very good”, “yes” etc. The best positive reinforcement is when the listener
elaborates or explains why he/she is agreeing with a certain point transmitted by
the speaker.
Questioning, which means asking relevant questions or/and making
statements that build or help to clarify what the speaker has said. By
questioning the listener reinforces that he/she is interested in what the speaker
has been saying.
Remembering key points, names, details, ideas and concepts from
previous conversations helps also to reinforce that the attention of the listener
was kept and that the messages sent by the speaker have been received and
understood.
Reflection, by repeating and paraphrasing what the speaker has said, is a
powerful skill that demonstrates attention and understanding and shows the
comprehension of the listener.
Clarification, by using open questions which enable the speaker to
explain or expand on certain points, shows that the listener ensures that he/she
received the correct message or meaning.
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Summarisation, by repeating, usually with own words of the listener, a
summary of what has been said back to the speaker. Such a feedback, through
the reiteration of the message in a summarized, clear and logical way, not only
demonstrates attention and understanding, but also gives the speaker the chance
to correct some points of his/her message, whenever necessary.
Non-verbal messages or signs of active listening imply:
Eye contact, which can show the speaker that the listener pay attention;
anyway, too much eye contact can be intimidating, especially for more shy
speakers, that is why the eye contact should not be too long and should be
combined with other non-verbal signs of listening.
Smile can be also used to show that the listener is paying attention;
combined with nods of the head, smiles can be used as signs that the message is
listened and understood.
Posture is another important way to communicate feedback in
interpersonal interactions. An attentive posture may include that the body is
leaned slightly forwards or sideways while sitting, or the head is a bit tilted or is
resting on one hand.
Mirroring or automatic reflection of facial expressions is also a sign of
attentive listening, helping to show empathy or sympathy in more emotional
situations.
Showing no signs of distraction: while active listening, someone
manifests no tokens of distraction such as fidgeting, looking at the clock or the
watch, doodling, playing with the hair or picking the fingernails.
The above-mentioned non-verbal signs are more likely to be displayed
by those who actively listen. However, some signs may not be appropriate in all
situations and across all cultures (SkillsYouNeed, 2019).
147
Active listening involves, thus, using the context of communication, but
it cannot be practiced permanently (Marinescu, 2003: 39). Nevertheless, in
situations where it is necessary to show active listening, a number of active
listening techniques can be used, such as (Şoitu, 2001: 165):
Paraphrasing the speaker – means that the listener is reformulating the
message received with his/her own words. This technique implies that, after
receiving sufficient information, the listener re-communicates the message in
his/her own words, in order to establish real points of communication with the
interlocutor. Paraphrasing ensures a high degree of understanding in
communication.
Asking questions – is necessary to discover the subtext and understand
exactly what the transmitter wants to communicate. Active listening involves
the investigative effort of the listener (the receiver of the message). This does
not mean that the receiver has to often interrupt the interlocutor to ask
questions, as this would fragment the communication and disturb the
transmitter, which may thus lose its string of ideas. This is why it is
recommended that the communication partner should be allowed to present all
his/her ideas, and only afterwards the questions should be asked.
Following the main ideas is required particularly in extensive speeches
and wide discourses full of information and details. This is why active listening
should focus not on the unimportant things or on the details, but on the main
ideas about which, eventually, additional information may be required (by
asking questions, paraphrasing etc.). Also, the focus should be on what is being
said, not on what is not being said, and not on some side effects or collateral/
accidental consequences that may occur in the communication.
Taking notes – can help the listener to more accurately track the ideas
presented and allows him/her to develop a sketch of what has been exposed.
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Expressions of interest – means listening so that it is obvious that the
speaker is being followed. It is recommended that signals in this regard (both
verbal and non-verbal) should be sent to the speaker.
Understanding the speaker’s actual state of mind and supporting
him/her – implies a positive and encouraging attitude on the part of the receiver/
auditor, to enable the transmitter to continue and to help him/her succeed in
his/her approach.
Active listening has a number of qualities which include (ibid.: 160163):
• Can inform about the expectations of other individuals in relation to a
particular person. The type of “Self” closed or open depends on the ability to
listen actively.
• Contributes to the upkeeping of the communication relations that are
established with important persons from the point of view of the individual
involved in the communication.
• It is important to stop and mitigate social conflicts (nine out of ten
conflicts are or can be solved through communication).
Listening and active listening in social work
In the first stage of development of the theory in social work, also called
the phase of investigation (Howe, 2001), which can be placed at the beginning
of the 20th century, the social workers were those who “executed, not those who
thought” (idem). During this period, social work was defined as “the art of
helping” or “using common sense in difficult situations” (Goldstein, 1984).
In the 20-30s years of the twentieth century, along with the development
of psychoanalysis, the theoretical advance in social work entered a second
evolutionary stage, the focus being shifted from the practical to the
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psychological, therapeutic side of helping. Psychoanalytic therapy has shaped
the relationship style of social work, from one directive and based on the
exercise of control, to one permissive, open, based on listening. As
psychoanalysis influenced the shift of emphasis in social work on feelings, and
especially on unconscious factors (and not so much on conscious thoughts and
events), psychoanalytic therapy encouraged, through listening, not so much the
action, but the seeking of explanations and understanding the personality of the
person listened to.
The philosophical current of humanism has also exerted an important
influence on the theoretical developments in sociology, psychology, and also in
social work. The theories and models of practice in social work based on
humanist views focus on the idea that human beings are trying to make sense of
the surrounding environment and to understand the world they are experiencing.
Humanist models take into account the fact that people’s self-interpretations, as
well as the interpretations they give to the social world, are valid and valuable.
Therefore, social workers should help people acquire skills to analyse
themselves and to explore the personal significations they give to the perceived
world, and which affect them (Payne, 2011: 208).
An important humanistic direction of operation in social work, initially
used in counselling, but also in working with families and small groups, is the
client-centred approach, which is based on the idea that each client should be
treated as a unique individual (Rogers, 1951), and social work should focus on
the persons and their subjective experience (Wilkes, 1981; Goldstein, 1984;
England, 1986). In this perspective, the social worker’s approach should be
non-directive, tolerant, involving “active listening”, “pure empathy” and
“genuine friendship”. Humanistic therapy in social work should be based on
discussions (Howe, 2001: 76), because people, wherever they are, are looking
150
for other people to listen to their problems, and to share their problems. But
beyond listening, human beings must also feel warmth, love, understanding and
empathy. In this vision, there is nothing intellectual or complicated in helping
others; the basis is, in fact, simple: help is done out of love and goodwill.
Later, a number of theoretical models used in social work, such as role
theory, communication theory, narrative theory, were developed within the
framework of the constructivist perspective. Constructivism played an
important role in the revival of social studies in the 70’s of the twentieth
century, through the innovative character of its endeavours. This theoretical
current claims both explanations for the microsocial space (individuals and
small groups) and the macrosocial space (institutions, social norms, society). In
the constructivist view, the world is made up of institutions, norms, customs,
ideas or opinions that precede situations, and that is why the social actors’
competences are important in making sense of these situations.
The constructivist practice of social work, especially that developed by
the narrative theory (White and Epston, 1990), which argues that the “stories”
of life make sense only when they are exposed, having the role of structuring
people’s experience, is based, thus, on dialogue, and on listening to life stories
and rebuilding them. Following the vision of M. White and D. Epston (1990),
N. Parton and P. O’Byrne (2000) developed a theoretical narrative model and a
proposal for intervention that aims to build the positive aspects of people’s lives
and experiences. The starting point in their theoretical development is the
notion of narration. They have noticed that, when describing an event, people
try to make the story fit their idea of reality; therefore, their narration represents
reality (apud Payne, 2011: 195). The narratives or stories told by people take
the public into account, thus the representation of reality is affected by the
narrator’s perception of those who listen to him/her. Also, the public reaction
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affects the narrative and, by extension, the representation of reality. Thus, it can
be said that each narration is a social relationship. It describes and represents an
event, but the event is interpreted in a social relationship.
Parton and O’Byrne underline that the evaluation in constructivist social
work must emphasize the careful listening of the client’s narratives and their
validation. R. A. Neimeyer (1993) argues that people “make sense” of the
surrounding world and their experiences through narrative structures, that is, by
“narrating”. He talks about the storytelling technique, a procedure by which the
interviewer helps the storyteller to get deeper into the complex implications of
some self-statements. Another method inspired by this theory is that of oral
history, which can help with the structured examination of the meanings and
constructs associated with the client’s experiences, and which has proved
especially useful in working with migrants and those who are part of a different
culture compared to the majority.
Since the 1960s, a new trend has increasingly made its presence felt in
social work, namely the tendency towards concise, structured and concentrated
theories that deal with immediate concrete problems. Thus, there were
developed the theoretical and methodological perspectives of individualized
social work, i.e. casework models, such as crisis intervention theory, taskcentred practice, and problem-solving model. Such models are part of the
individualist-reformist tradition, which has not paid too much attention to social
change, but which reflected the need for short intervention methods in social
work practice (Rodat, 2016: 207).
Depending on the number of steps envisioned and the detailing and
variety of the steps to be taken, there are several models of crisis intervention.
One of these is the model of the six-step crisis intervention proposed by R. K.
James and B. E. Gilliland (2001). This model emphasizes the importance of
152
ensuring the protection against the risks, attacks and emotional reactions that
can lead to extreme situations, including suicide. As shown in Figure 1, the first
three steps of the model are based on listening:
• Defining the
problem
• Ensuring client
Listening safety
• Providing support
Action
• Examining
alternatives
• Making plans
• Obtaining the
commitment
Evaluation
Figure 1: The six-step crisis intervention model proposed by R. K.
James and B. E. Gilliland (2001)
Thus, defining the problem, ensuring client safety and providing support
must be based on listening. Only after completing these first three sub-stages,
there can be moved on to the following three steps, which are based on the
action: examining alternatives, making plans, obtaining the commitment. James
and Gilliland point out that, during crisis intervention, there is a need for
ongoing evaluation, as emotions undergo rapid changes (apud Payne, 2011).
In the model of crisis intervention in seven-stages of A. R. Roberts
(1991) listening appears also as an important element, especially in the fourth
stage, which involves analysing feelings and offering support. This is possible,
according to the author, through active listening on the part of the social
153
worker, which can facilitate the self-disclosure of the client in difficulty. The
seven stages or phases proposed by Roberts for crisis intervention are as
follows:
1. Evaluation of the crisis (including the extent to which lethality is
involved) and the individual’s perception of the crisis;
2. Establishing a relationship based on trust and respect between the
client and the social worker;
3. Identification of major problems and of precipitating events or
factors, as well as of common but inefficient methods of overcoming the crisis;
4. Analysis of feelings and offering support through active listening, and
facilitating the utterance in a familiar and secure environment that encourages
self-disclosure;
5. Exploring possible alternatives by examining past reactions (less
suited to crisis events) and defining appropriate behaviors for crisis resolution;
6. Formulating an action plan by restoring the cognitive function and
reinforcing the will to deal with problems;
7. Ensuring readiness to work together in other future crisis situations;
agreement and establishment of a monitoring plan.
Another casework model of intervention in social work is the problemsolving model. Based on the idea that life itself is a continuous problem-solving
process, the intervention proposed by this model focuses on the social worker’s
concern to help the client and, where appropriate, to teach him/her to define
his/her problem and goals, and to acquire and practice the skills needed to reach
those goals. Another fundamental idea of this perspective is that the social
worker and the client are able to communicate with each other about problems,
goals, resources, planning and implementation.
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This theoretical model discussed also a number of roles that social
workers can assume in the intervention process, depending on the client’s
situation and needs. Among other contributions, various techniques for
implementing roles have been developed and perfectioned in this model, such
as modelling and identification, logical discussion, raising awareness of one’s
actions and other people’s behaviour, orienting and giving advice, encouraging
etc. In order to succeed in applying all these techniques, a positive atmosphere
of the meetings between the social worker and the client is needed, the latter
being given the freedom to express any kind of feelings and thoughts. The
social worker must offer understanding and support, convey confidence in the
client’s abilities, and show patience, reflection of the messages received, respect
and, of course, active listening.
Conclusions
In verbal communication listening is essential, fulfilling several
fundamental functions, such as controlling of understanding, encouraging
communication, ensuring the correct feedback. In fact, in a total
communication sequence, listening represents more than half. There are,
however, several forms of listening, socially the most fulfilling being the
active listening. When a subject is actively listening, he/she is not just
passively hearing, but is paying the full attention to the speaker, and is
conveying his/her interest to the speaker by using both verbal and non-verbal
messages or signs. That means, the feedback is visible and suggestive for the
fully taking part in the activity of listening.
In social situation, in communication contexts, active listening is the
most desirable form of listening. This is because active listening maintains the
communication relations and the interest to communicate further, informs
155
about the expectations of other individuals, and contributes to mitigating and
stopping social conflicts.
Given that the entire process of intervention in social work involves
fundamental sequences of verbal communication, the importance of listening,
and especially of active listening, is highlighted by most theoretical and
methodological models developed over time in this field. Thus, since the early
twentieth century, psychoanalysis, whose therapeutic methods were also taken
into social work, emphasized the listening to the feelings and unconscious
thoughts of the assisted person, encouraging not so much the action, but the
search for explanations and understanding the personality of the person listened.
In the humanistic perspective, the social worker’s approach should be nondirective, tolerant, involving, beside empathy and friendship, active listening.
Moreover, the theories developed within the framework of the constructivism,
and the constructivist social work practices and methods inspired by these
theories, such as for example oral history, underline the significance of careful
listening of the client’s narratives and their social validation. Furthermore, the
casework models, such as crisis intervention theory, task-centred theory, and
problem-solving model, developed since the 1960s based on the social work
practice, which have proposed concise, structured and concentrated intervention
processes, include clear steps to be followed, some of them specifying listening
and active listening as basic activities for identifying and defining problems,
analysing the feelings and encouraging self-disclosure, ensuring client’s safety,
and providing support.
In conclusion, listening and active listening are fundamental in all social
contexts of communication, and are also basic sequences in the communication
between social worker and client. Moreover, as outlined above, active listening
represents an activity, or a clearly specified step in most theoretical models and
156
intervention practices developed in social work, that points out its significance
in the field.
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Available online at www.aucjc.ro
Annals of the University of Craiova for
Journalism, Communication and Management
Volume 5, 159-171, 2019
ISSN 2501-3513
LANGUAGE AS A POWER VECTOR IN BUILDING
REALITY - APPROACHES TO THE ANALYSIS OF
WORKPLACE DISCOURSE
Ana BIRTALAN
Assistant Professor, PhD, The Ecological University of Bucharest,
Romania
Abstract
This article aims at analysing the natural occurrence of institutional talk
in workplace environments, focusing on its characteristics, such as goal
orientation, specific constraints, institutional role, but also on the interpersonal
dimension it always includes. Workplace talk occurs in a wide range of settings
from talk between co-workers, to international business communication. We
have focused on the unidirectional and decision-making discourse genre ,
providing illustrative examples of this frequently used genre in our attempt to
show the way in which speakers signal and negotiate genre in the pursuit of
transactional goals. Moreover, I have also examined the relational features of
workplace discourse, as an ever present
159
component of specific workplace
genres. My final aim has been to show that the existence of relational markers
carry out important functions within the workplace discourse, proposing
different examples for investigating the participants’ both transactional and
relational goals.
Keywords: institutional discourse, transactional goal, relational goal,
relational markers, workplace interactions
1.1. Language as social interaction
Social psychologists have long had an interest in language, and,
watching the current social psychological scene, have focused on the so called
“social cognition” (Semin and Fiedler, 1992) Social cognition refers to the
mental processing of information about the social world. The term “social”
refers to the objects of cognition (that is, people) and the psychological
mechanisms which enable the individual subjects to perceive themselves and
other people in particular ways in particular circumstances. A more interesting
and useful approach of the concept is given by Forgas (1981) concerns the way
in which perception and description of the social world are done by people as
members of particular cultures or groups and the way in which the social world
is thought about or described in the course of social interaction. These different
usages of the term “social cognition” have rather different implications for the
study of discourse. Discourse analysis, which refers to the production and
comprehension of language above the level of the sentence. That sense of
discourse is rendered by cognitive processes like span of attention, ability to
make inferences, conversational implicatures, the ability to be sensitive to
textual coherence and cohesion. The sense of discourse seen as a cognitive
work is linked with the social, cultural or political circumstances of its
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production. Van Dijk enumerates a number of classic social psychological
phenomena which seem to depend on discourse: “ After all, there are few
fundamental socio-psychological notions that do not have obvious links with
language use in communicative context, that is, with different forms of text or
talk. Social perception, impression management, attitude change and
persuasion, attribution, categorization, intergroup, relations, stereotypes,
social representations and interaction are only some of the major areas of
current social psychology in which discourse plays a part”.(1990: 164)
Thus, interactional linguists and discourse analysts are quite clear in
their beliefs that social interaction is the place of language use: what we know
and understand about interaction complements our ability to use language. The
central goal is the analysis of “language as it is used in everyday life by
members of the social order, that vehicle of communication in which they argue
with their wives, joke with their friends, and deceive their enemies” (Labov:
1972) Actually, each approach to discourse incorporates this insight into its
specific methods and concepts. Speech act theory focuses upon the linguistic
actions that we perform towards another person (initiating an interaction). The
cooperative principle (on which we will focus later), so important in Gricean
pragmatics is a principle applicable to human interactions, relying on the way
people interpret one another’s meaning during the interaction with each other.
To be more specific, each approach to discourse views language as social
interaction in the sense that it is a process where one person has an effect on
other. Ochs (1988: 15) stated that “activity mediates linguistic and sociocultural knowledge and that knowledge and activity impact one another”.
Moreover, we should add that the activity most pertinent to our understanding
of discourse is interactive activity, which is directed to another person and has a
potential for affecting that other person.
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1.2. Language and power
In what follows, we would like to focus on language seen as, besides a
social interaction, an important tool in the production, maintenance and change
of social relations of power. It is an attempt to increase consciousness of how
language contributes to the labelling, manipulation and domination of some
people by others. We will address and approach the problem of how to relate
speakers’ goals and intention to surface discourse features, the linguistic way
they signal and make inferences about communicative goals.
The framework that we have chosen is the institutional environment,
focusing on analysing the interpersonal dimension of workplace talk associated
with specific institutional roles (employer- employee, manager- subordinate,
employee- employee type).
We will see that in different qualitative analyses of a variety of
encounters, while institutional role and relative power are important factors, the
roles and the identities taken up in the discourse are negotiated , and may or
may not correspond to their institutional roles. Speakers, sometimes, invoke
identities related to their relational goals which are less asymmetrical than their
institutional roles. Relational side sequences, which involve a shift in footing
and alignment, are evidence of such identity negotiation. Using a genre- based
approach we will try to identify a further type of dominance in addition to
institutional dominance or asymmetry: discursive dominance, illustrating the
use of certain linguistic mechanisms to render it, on the one hand, and showing
that there is a tendency for dominant
speakers (due to their superior
institutional role) to reduce discursive asymmetry through the use of politeness
and solidarity strategies, on the other hand. The concept of “intersubjectivity”
might be invoked, assuming that the discourse participants share a co162
conception of the world” (Overstreet and Yule, 1997). Thus, the efforts of the
dominant speakers to reduce asymmetry can be seen as an attempt to achieve
intersubjectivity.
Discourse participants always have a clear goal in any
interaction. Tracy and N. Coupland (1990) claim that the speakers usually have
several goals, and at least two types of goal are evident: “the “transactional”
goals and the “relational” goals. In workplace discourse, the speakers may be
primarily concerned with getting things done , therefore, with transactional
goals. However, taking a multiple goals approach to discourse means
acknowledging that, in most types of discourse speakers orient to both
transactional and relational goals, although one goal might be dominant.
Moreover, many linguists claim that the speakers’ relational goals are
also important
when describing
workplace discourse.
relational goals in institutional environment
Manifestations of
often involve the notion of
“politeness” or “face-work”, concepts developed principally by Goffman (1972)
and Brown and Levinson (1987). “Face” is an “individual positive social value
(Goffman, 1972), that is, maintain in one’s own and other participants’ face in
the course of an interaction, and avoid or correcting threats that arise. Brown
and Levinson n (1987) distinguish between positive and negative politeness,
both of them involving the attempt to keep unimpeded one’s face. Many
instances of a relational orientation involve either positive or negative
politeness, especially when dealing with a boss-employee transactional talk.
2. Transactional goal and interpersonal markers
In what follows, we shall provide instances of institutional directive
discourse where the main transactional goals are task-completion delegated by
the manager towards their employees, or decision-making discussions,
providing an overview of a range of linguistic devices dealing with
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interpersonal aspects of language use which are relevant for an examination of
the speakers’ relational goals. We shall investigate a series of interpersonal
markers used in task delegation and decision-making discourses. The following
types of interpersonal markers will be analyzed at the discourse level: modal
verbs, hedges, intensifiers, vague language, evaluative language, idioms and
metaphors. All these lexico- grammatical features could be described as having
modal meanings, as they can all express speaker stance, but we will use the
term “modality” especially for modal verbs (could, must ,should etc), modal
lexical verbs (think, want, believe etc), modal adjectives (certain, necessary,
compulsory etc), modal adverbs (maybe, definitely, probably) and modal nouns
(possibility, opinion, view etc). They all express the speaker’s degree of
commitment and a range of modal meanings: possibility, volition, necessity,
ability etc. A. Koester (2006) investigated in detail the workplace talk, drawing
up a corpus of naturally occurring office conversations recorded in a variety of
workplaces . Modal items, he says, “were the most frequent of the lexicogrammatical markers investigated in the corpus”.
Another way of expressing either commitment or detachment to an
assertion is by using hedges. (words or constructions used to lessen the impact
of an utterance due to different constraints) and intensifiers. Depending on the
context the same adverbs like sort of, just, really, a bit can be used
pragmatically either as hedges or intensifiers .
Example1: “I don’t know what to add. Let’s just say it was nobody’s
fault.”
Example2: “I don’t know what to add. This is just too much!
The adverb just functioned in the first example as a hedge, giving the
discourse a mitigating tinge, whereas in the second example it is used as an
intensifier, emphasizing the speaker’s commitment to what they are saying.
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Another interpersonal marker used in institutional talk is the so called
“vague language”
rendered by vague approximators like around, about,,
vague manners referring to entities ( stuff, thing)and categories like something,
things like that. Their role is to make the speaker’s discourse more or less
specific, accurate. According to
Chanell ( 1994), there are ten possible
communicative functions of vague language , but A Koester reduces the to two
big categories: 1. Those that are related to
the information state of the
participants and serve the transactional function of language and 2. Those
related to the relational aspect of the interaction, including self-protection,
politeness, power.
One of the major functions of interpersonal linguistic devices is
evaluation. Within institutional discourse, evaluative language is mainly used
by the management , referring to speakers’
judgments
of goodness or
desirability , also called appraisal.
Let us examine the following dialogue, part of a business meeting,
where A is the manager of the company).
A: “Hello, Michael! Thank you for coming. I’m sorry to say that the
sales last month were sort of disappointing. Can you tell me why?
B: Well, it has been a tough period, the orders have been very difficult
getting out….I will show you some numbers.
A: Yeah, we’re thinking together on that…… just wanted to tell you
about it. Some action should be taken, right?
This is an instance of a decision-making conversation, covertly
directive, an episodic structure consisting of a series of problem- solution
patterns stressed put by different interpersonal markers.
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Many decision- making conversations follow a problem-solution
pattern. Hoey (1983) identifies a textual pattern with the following phases:
situation→problem→response/solution→evaluation.
Examining the linguistic manifestation of this dialogue, we may argue
that the linguistic system provides the resources for pursuing discourse goals. It
deals, obviously, with a transactional goal, but the relational goals are also
expressed.
At the opening phase of the encounter, the words sorry and
disappointing provide a clear frame for the interaction, where the manager
expresses his feelings, regarding the sales of the previous month. This is a
statement based on a fact and he is entitled by his position in the company to
analyze and evaluate the situation. However, in order to keep up the positive
face, which is a “positive social value”, according to Goffman (1982) of his
addressee, A uses a hedge, sort of, softening the message that is intended to be
delivered to the addressee and, thus, avoiding face-threatening acts , facilitating
the task for both parties and, consequently, conveying the message that what the
addressee is being asked to understand is not so much an infringement on his
freedom of action. Moving on, a query, under the form of a question, introduced
by a modal verb follows. As we have mentioned earlier, the semantics of
modality is very complex, and different types of meaning can be expressed
through modality: possibility, obligation, necessity, volition, intention,
prediction, inclination etc. Lyons (1977) broadly divided them into two
categories: deontic modality, expressing necessity to perform acts and epistemic
modality, expressing degrees of commitment to the truth of a proposition. In the
dialogue above, the modal verb can functions as a epistemic modal, performing
both transactional and relational goals. On the one hand, can introduces a query
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that regards the feasibility of an action, most frequently used in transactional
genres, but, on the other hand, has a relational orientation. The unequal
relationship of the interlocutors (boss-employee), which is common in
unidirectional genres, often results in greater threats to face. Therefore, this use
of the modal can has a so called “politeness” function, which involves avoiding
or mitigating threats to the face.
Further on, B justifies himself, admits, evaluates and explains the
situation, appealing to the in order to express a high degree of commitment to
the veracity or accuracy of things. It is both used to announce a future action
and to show the commitment of the speaker, implying the idea of volition,
determination and personal orientation.
B replies politely, maintaining the positive face of his interlocutor.
When discourse participants can be seen to make efforts to preserve their own
or others’ positive or negative face, they are clearly oriented to relational goals.
It is exaclt y what A is doing with his reply, reinforcing the addressee’s selfesteem by invoking common ground. Other reason s might be building a
positive relationship or creating a pleasant atmosphere or even a feeling of
intimacy. Expressions of solidarity, as in the example above, go beyond
politeness, and are indicative of an affective dimension of relational goals.
Further on, he adds an instance of vague language, which contributes to
negative politeness, which, according to Brown and Levinson (1978) has the
function of minimizing the imposition caused by a face-threatening act. Thus,
the speaker is attending to the relational aspect of the interaction, even in
explicitly framing their task goals. It is also true that it also initiates a new
phase of the conversation which constitutes an imposition on the addressee’s
freedom of action: ” Some action should be taken, right?”
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Moving on, another another interpersonal marker that usually occurs in
dicision-making and discussing genre is the idiom or metaphor, whose first role
to play is that of evaluation. As discussed earlier, decision-making always
focusses on aproblem which needs to be solved and usually follows a problemsolution pattern (Hoey, 1994): the problem phase ( a bit of pain, a real
headache, rough day, goin’ crazy, hangin’ over our heads, being in the red)
etc), the response/solution phase (come up, cook up, sit down and talk, wrack
our brains, figure out etc) and the evaluating phase (that was close, dead easy,
makes sense, it never hurts, works for me, pay for the course etc).
The fact that these idioms and metaphors are frequently used in different
conversations to discuss solutions to different problems is an indication that
they have become pragmatically specialized as signaling markers..
For instance, in the following example:
A: Can I have a word with you?
B: You can have a word but I am sure it will not do any good!, the idiom
is quite a clear signal that the speaker ,even if, at first, he reluctantly agrees to
have a word, evaluates this negatively as surely unlikely to lead to a solution.
So, idioms like have a word, let’s sit and talk, act, at the discourse
level, as signaling devices , because they draw the attention to themselves and
thus foreground key elements and phases of the discourse; but they also
function interpersonally . Talking about problems and their solution is a highly
evaluative business, thus, the idioms used in problem-solution patterns also
perform an evaluative function, being markers of subjective stance and are used
by the participants in these genres to make evaluations and express judgments
and opinions. But, as Powell (1992) explains and proves, idioms function more
often as negative evaluation. Moon (1998) found that idioms were used for
negative evaluations twice as frequently as for positive ones. She suggests this
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is because idioms allow speakers to express themselves more indirectly than
with literal expressions , and that they are, consequently, useful politeness and
mitigating devices in performing negative evaluation.
Let’s take this example, where two colleagues talk about their boss:
A: I heard that the CFO has resigned!
B: That’s a blow! But he has been in the red for some time now!
A: Yeah, such is life!
The first idiom is used in the dialogue to evaluate the piece of breaking
news. The speaker sustains his first remark using another idiom, explanatory on
the one hand, but also mitigating the impact of the piece of news. By using this
idiom instead of a literal expression, B is being polite in performing a negative
evaluation. By his reply, A creates a bond of solidarity between the speakers.
3. Conclusions
We might argue that institutional talk blends almost always with
relational talk. An overview of a range of linguistic approaches which deal with
interpersonal aspects of language has been provided in our attempt to examine
the participants’ transactional and relational goals. We have identified a number
of functions which interpersonal devices can perform, focusing on one stance in
the institutional environment (manager- employee), among which the most
interesting were the expression of commitment/detachment, judgments,
opinions etc. A wide range of linguistic devices can play the role of
“interpersonal markers”, of which we have analyzed the modals, the hedges,
vague language, intensifiers, evaluative language.
In the analysis of the interpersonal markers, we tried to show that they
play an important role in workplace discourse, illustrating that in decisionmaking and discussing genres or unidirectional genres, linguistic devices like
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deontic modals, vague language, hedges were most frequently used. Even if
they primarily have a transactional goal, all these interpersonal markers also
play an important role in terms of speakers’ relational goals: being vague and
using hedges allow speakers to mitigate or minimize the unequal discursive
relationship in these genres. These devices perform, therefore, a face-saving
politeness function and keeping up the Gricean cooperative principle.
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