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Miscommunication and discourse practices in occupational cultures
Author(s) -
Norlyk Birgitte
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of applied linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.712
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1473-4192
pISSN - 0802-6106
DOI - 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1996.tb00086.x
Subject(s) - sociology , value (mathematics) , point (geometry) , discourse analysis , linguistics , public relations , engineering ethics , epistemology , political science , engineering , computer science , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , machine learning
This article focuses on the contrasting discourse practices and occupational cultures of engineers and marketing representatives, and argues that strong occupational cultures not only have different value systems, but also different discourse practices. To illustrate this point, the article offers authentic examples of how and why miscommunication occurs within a knowledge‐intensive organization. Referring to the specialized discourse practices of engineers and technicians, the article argues that the discourse practices evolving around specialized functions may lead to repeated instances of miscommunication within the organization. To reduce miscommunication, the article argues the need for an interdisciplinary approach based on a combination of linguistic and cultural analyses.