Abstract:
Where workplace communication is ineffective or problematic there will often be
negative outcomes for individuals, teams or organisations as a whole. This thesis
examines these issues using data from a variety of New Zealand workplaces,
including most importantly an in depth case study of problematic communication in
a multicultural factory team. The thesis provides an illustrative analysis of the
communication issues that typically arise in these workplaces and the discursive
strategies used to manage miscommunication and problematic talk, as well as
exploring some of the analytic and theoretical issues which emerge when we attempt
to identify instances of miscommunication and diagnose how they came about. The
practical implications for workplaces are also discussed.
After evaluating previous approaches, the author proposes a comprehensive working
model for analysing miscommunication or problematic discourse in workplace
interaction which is based on a flexible multi-layered theoretical and methodological
framework. The analytic approach taken is to apply the tools of sociolinguistic
discourse analysis to data from actual interactions along with associated
ethnographic information, in conjunction with a critical analysis of organisational
communication practices and processes as seen from a community of practice
perspective. A multi-dimensional intertextual approach such as this allows analysis
of miscommunication and problematic talk at a number of different levels in order to
relate what is happening sequentially and 'on-line' during particular interactions or
sequences of interaction to factors such as social identity, group membership, team
culture and other aspects of the wider communicative and socio-cultural context.
