In Exploring professional communication: Language in action, Stephanie Schnurr innovatively takes an applied linguistics perspective to explore professional communication. This book follows a structure of first presenting professional problems, then proceeding to a discussion of intervention and engagement with these problems, and finally theorizing the issues. This applied perspective offers invaluable information for scholars interested in professional communication.
The chapters in this book make use of various authentic examples of professional communication in different settings, and employ numerous conceptual models to illustrate how the issues of professional communication may be explored in meaningful ways. Most creatively, in addressing the various topics of professional communication, the book mainly takes the perspective of applied linguistics, ‘which is supplemented with theoretical and empirical insights gained in several other disciplines, including communication studies, sociology, anthropology, business and management, organizational sciences and leadership studies' (p. 1). The research methods and analytical linguistic frameworks cover ethnography, conversation analysis (CA), genre analysis, interactional sociolinguistics, and critical discourse analysis (CDA).
Chapter 1 first defines ‘professional communication’ by taking into account Erving Goffman's frontstage and backstage encounters, transactional and relational aspects, workplace discourse and institutional discourse. Specifically, professional communication is conceptualized very broadly as ‘interactions which may take various forms and which take place in a context that is broadly related to work, and involve at least one participant who is engaged in some work-related activity’ (p. 17). This chapter then outlines three changes that have affected professional communication in a variety of ways and that are crucial for an understanding of how communication is done in any workplace, namely, the internationalization and globalization of the economy, technological advances, and what has been described as the ‘new work order’.
Chapter 2 presents different genres of professional communication, which are reflected by specific interactions between professionals and lay people, exchanges among professionals, as well as one-way communication between an organization and its members and clients. Then genre analysis is introduced as an approach to systematically describing the specific features and functions of different kinds of professional communication.
Chapter 3 further explores some of the differences in communicative behaviour displayed by members of different workplaces. The author attempts to figure out the reasons underlying these differences in communication habits that typically characterize different workplaces. Then the notion of workplace culture is introduced to help conceptualize differences, and its high relevance for professional communication is discussed. Finally, it presents three approaches to workplace culture, namely, models by Edgar Schein, Geert Hofstede, and Etienne Wenger, which can help us gain insights into the complexities of the culture(s) of a workplace.
Chapter 4 continues to address the issue of culture, and explores the role of national culture in professional encounters, with a particular focus on the complex relationship between culture and politeness: ‘Because of the increasing globalization and mobility of workforce, multicultural and often multilingual workplaces have become the norm’ (p. 79). The chapter thus raises the question of whether culture is an issue at work and what role politeness plays in these contexts. Moreover, this chapter challenges essentialist assumptions that tend to treat culture as the default explanation for a wide range of phenomena. Based on close scrutiny of the data sets, the author finds that culture is often at play in workplace practices and in those cases where miscommunication occurs, culture (and in particular, cultural stereotypes) tends to be regarded as the reason for these mismatches by lay people. The author proposes that in many instances of miscommunication, participants' face needs are often particularly vulnerable and issues of politeness become relevant. Therefore, the author suggests that we should take a critical stance towards culture, move beyond stereotypical assumptions, and consider other factors when explaining specific events. Accordingly, two frameworks, that is, politeness theory and rapport management, are introduced to help understand the role of face and politeness in intercultural and cross-cultural contexts.
Chapter 5 illustrates the complex notion of identity, and examines some of the ways in which the notion of ‘who we are’ is particularly relevant in a professional context. The chapter first points out the fact that issues of identity are omnipresent in professional (and other) contexts, as ‘notions of who we are constitute important aspects of an organization's self-perception and self-representation, which in turn affects members' identities in multiple ways' (p. 127). Second, this chapter discusses how identities are constituted, negotiated, and verified at work in terms of subject position, roles, and power. Schnurr finds that participants create, negotiate, and sometimes challenge their own and each other's identities and roles, which are always to some extent related to issues of power. Third, the author introduces the influential paradigm of social constructionism and proposes a specific framework for analyzing identity construction in professional communication with the support of five principles of identity construction (proposed by Bucholtz & Hall Reference Bucholtz and Hall2005).
Chapter 6 illustrates some of the ways in which gender is an important aspect of workplace realities, and how it interacts with professional communication in myriad ways. Section 1 deals with gender stereotypes and reality. Based on a discussion of gendered speech styles and discourses, the author proposes that gender stereotypical expectations may have implications for the often discriminatory perception and treatment of women in specific workplaces and professions. Section 2 discusses how gender is enacted, reflected and sometimes resisted and challenged in a workplace context. As ‘some the disadvantages that women are faced with are the double-bind and the glass ceiling’ (p. 142), it is proposed that the discourses of hegemonic masculinities should be replaced by more egalitarian and gender-neutral ones for the purpose of creating an egalitarian working environment. Section 3 discusses research on gender issues at work. The author introduces critical discourse analysis (CDA), which is frequently used to identify and expose discriminatory practices (and the ways in which they are reinforced in and through discourse). The main aim of CDA is to ‘expose hidden agenda of discourse and to contribute to changing social inequalities and problems by making people aware of them and by pointing to the discursive mechanisms through which they are recreated and constantly reinforced’ (p. 149).
Chapter 7 discusses the topic of leadership. The first section explores leadership discourse, where Schnurr first approaches the question of what leadership is by focusing on discourse, and then explores how leadership is accomplished through communication. Section 2 conceptualizes leadership, providing analysis of examples from various workplaces (such as meetings, emails, one-to-one interactions, and a wiki collaboration), which illustrate that, in addition to traditional hierarchical and often asymmetrical relationships, there are various alternative leadership constellations where power and responsibilities are more equally shared among participants. In addition, various factors have an impact on how leadership is performed, including the working teams of the leaders, the cultures of their workplaces, the wider sociocultural context in which they interact, gender, and the medium or channel of communication. Section 3 approaches leadership discourse. The author argues that discursive leadership acknowledges the central role of communication in leadership processes and provides a useful framework for approaching the complexities of leadership discourse, especially when combined with discourse analytical approaches, such as conversation analysis or interactional sociolinguistics. These approaches offer valuable tools for analyzing leadership discourse and for exploring how leadership is actually done on the micro level of communication.
Chapter 8 provides a brief conclusion by bringing together some of the arguments provided in the previous chapters, and by outlining some avenues for future research in professional communication.
All in all, this book takes an applied linguistics perspective to approach topics related to a variety of language-related professions, which follows a famous definition of the field of applied linguistics by Christopher Brumfit: ‘The theoretical and empirical investigation of real-world problems in which language is a central issue’ (Brumfit Reference Brumfit, Cook and Seidlhofer1995:27). The three sections of each chapter can help readers enhance their understanding of questions, prompt their reflection, and lead them to combine theory with practice. It is true that this book lacks more in-depth analysis of examples with the support of applied linguistic theories. It is also true that this drawback is just a gap for future research to address. In a word, this book is a must-read for students and scholars who are interested in studies of professional communication and applied linguistics, for it provides an invaluable resource for probing into professional communication and many related topics such as identity, gender, leadership, and culture.
