Clarke, R. J (2001) S951-03: 1

Critical Issues in Information Systems

BUSS 951

Supplement 3Language in the Workplace

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Agenda

this supplement examines a major case study establishing the importance of communication in the workplace

use the results of a study conducted into a motor repair in Denmark and the Postal Giro in Sweden

we will then look at a Simple Payroll system and try to look deduce what texts might be occurring from a SFL perspective

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Work LanguageTheoretical & Methodological Issues

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Work LanguageClassification: Speech vs Writing

we know that language patterns are different if we are using written or spoken texts!

written and spoken texts use different linguistic resources and encode different types of meanings (that is why we have writing as well as speech in most cultures)

spoken texts are especially bound to the situation in which they are found- the material setting or physical space in which a text occurs is very important for speech

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Work LanguageHow are texts related to each other (1)

in order to make sense of the language activity we also need to know how texts relate to each other or are associated to each other in the workplaceeg. how does a spoken text such as a

service encounter with a customer relate to a written text in the form of a bill!

what language or action glues these together

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Work LanguageHow are texts related to each other (2)

their might be direct references to texts- intertextuality links between different texts in workplaces

or texts might be directly implicated with each other by the actions that people perform in workplaces

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Work Languageat the Postal Giro

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Work Language

the following classification of work language is based on a work langauge study of the Postal Giro in Sweden by colleagues (Berit Holmqvist and Peter Andersen)

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Work Language

for work situations in general, the following properties are important:the organisational tasksthe means of production: tools, raw

materials,the social relations,the roles: authority or skill based,profitability, efficient exploitation of

resources

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Work LanguageClassification

we can classify the kinds of language that we see in the workplace based on purpose

this would be not much different to what an analyst might do

when doing this kind of analysis in workplaces we need to know:

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Work LanguageClassification

based upon the purpose of communication, related to:work organization, task, and social relationsthe roles of the speakersthe economic aspects are also

important in understanding work communication.

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Work LanguageOrganization of Work (1)

establishing and maintaining specific types of cooperation. allocating tasks to the employeeswork distribution aims at dividing a task or set of tasks

among several persons, some of the employees are idlethe amount of work is too large to be finished within

the deadlineutterances used to organise workers to take over a

part of a job for some reasonwork coordination on the same taskchanging work priority of tasks

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Work LanguageOrganization of Work (2)

control language aims at verifying that the task is carried out correctly or in the manner ordered

supervisory language aims at controlling the manner and speed of the work

reporting language aims at informing the person in charge about the current the work state

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Work LanguageProblem Solving; Teaching and

Instructiontask-problem solving denotes

utterances that are used to solve an unexpected problem in the workplace

formalized teaching and casual instruction occurring among employees on the shopfloorinstruction aims at giving an employee

knowledge about tasks or work organization

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Work Language Talk-in-the-work (1)

reproduction of Social Relations, Common Knowledge, and Solidarity

does not refer to the actual work in which it is embedded, but its topic is still events in the place of work

serves to reproduce common knowledge and social relations

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Work Language Talk-in-the-work (2)

Examples include:Greetings aim at reproducing social

relationships and keeping the channels of communication open

Comments on a specific problem serve to establish a common understanding of what is the problem or its solution

Exclamations are used as outlets for emotions and at the same time as signals to co-workers about work progress.

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Work LanguageWork Machinery and Tools; Questions

Requesting tools serves to give information about the availability and location of tools.

Warnings serve to protect tools, raw materials, or humans from damage or accidents.

how to account for these various modes of language use?

we need to account for these many different forms of language activity we need to understand that language changes situationally and culturally

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Some theory behind Language in the Workplace

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Context of Situation

we understand that field, tenor and mode are related to the immediate situation- the so called Context of Situation

linguists refer to the kind of language patterns associated with Context of Situation as Register

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Register versus Dialect (1)

Register is related to, but distinct from, Dialect

Register is an important aspect of what Systems Analysts do (although they are completely unaware of it)

Register can be used to formally identify different groups in organisations

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Register versus Dialect (2)

language variety according to use

what you are doing, the nature of activity in which language is functioning

language variety according to user

what you habitually speak determined by who you are geographically and socially

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Register versus Dialect (3)

reflects social order in the sense of social process (types of social activity)

registers differ according tosemantics, thereforelexico-grammar (but

rarely phonology)

reflects social order in the sense of social structure (types of hierarchy)

dialects differ according tophoneticsphonologyvocabulary (lexis)grammar (slighly)

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Simple Payroll ExampleSource: Walker 1994, 131

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Simple Payroll Example

to give us an idea of how detailed an work language analysis might be we can attempt to deduce the kinds of texts which might be collected associated with a simple system

strictly speaking this is an invalid way of conducting an analysis

because we should be actually collecting texts and analysing them!

but we can use our knowledge of what these systems are like in order to come to some conclusions

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Amend Pay

Awards

Amend Employees

Details

Produce Group

Certificate

Calculate Wages

Pay Taxes

Pay Health

Insurance

Arrange Payment

Record Times

Arbitration Court

Bank

Health Fund

Taxation Office

6

Employee

Pay Awards

Amend Tax Scales

Tax Scales

New Tax Scales

New Tax Scales

Tax Payments

Insurance Payments

Withdrawal

New Award

New Award

AwardPay

Payments Made

Changed Details

Changed Details

Group Certificate

Tax Scales

Wage Rate, Deductions

Employee

Times Worked

Checked Times

Payroll

Wages and Taxes Paid

Payroll

Payroll

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Simple Payroll ExampleLocate Texts, Identify Field, Tenor & Mode

our aim is to infer or deduce the kinds of texts that are involved in each part of the DFD

we will apply the definition of a text, and field, tenor and mode introduced in the tutorials

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Simple Payroll Examplealso identify Material Setting for each Text

to these terms we add another- each text occurs in a material setting

this can be defined as the place where a text is either produced and/or consumed

a simple example of a material setting for a tax payment enquiry (spoken language text) is the tax office

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Simple Payroll ExampleFunctional Segmentation of DFD

in order to be able to discuss the texts associated with the Payroll DFD we need to break into smaller units- a procedure called functional segmentation

each segment is numbered using Roman Numerals I-VI and colour code the DFD accordingly

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Simple Payroll ExampleFunctional Segmentation of DFD

I Pay Awards

II Employee Wage Payments

III Pay Government Charges

IV Group Certificates

V Employee Amendment

VI Tax Scales

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VV

II

IIII

IIIIII

IVIV

Amend Pay

Awards

Amend Employees

Details

Produce Group

Certificate

Calculate Wages

Pay Taxes

Pay Health

Insurance

Arrange Payment

Record Times

Arbitration Court

Bank

Health Fund

Taxation Office

6

Employee

Pay Awards

Amend Tax Scales

Tax Scales

New Tax Scales

New Tax Scales

Tax Payments

Insurance Payments

Withdrawal

New Award

New Award

AwardPay

Payments Made

Changed Details

Changed Details

Group Certificate

Tax Scales

Wage Rate, Deductions

Employee

Times Worked

Checked Times

Payroll

Wages and Taxes Paid

Payroll

Payroll

VV VIVI

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Simple Payroll ExampleI Pay Awards: MS, Texts,F,T,M

Arbitration Court (1/5)Pay Hearings Agenda:

F: what is to be discussed in forthcoming Pay HearingT: union representatives, managers, industrial relations

personnel, lawyersM: written language

MinutesF: record of what was discussed in the specified Pay

HearingT: union representatives, managers, industrial relations

personnel, lawyersM: written language

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Simple Payroll ExampleI Pay Awards: MS, Texts,F,T,M

Arbitration Court (2/5)

Pay Hearings Contracts Recommendations Negotiations

Judgements