Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Examination of Discourse Practices in an I.T. Training Room

 

Context control, in relation to the training environment, may be defined as the control of aspects such as the social setting, the discourse types to be employed in that setting, the participant roles, opinions, attitudes and goals. Controlling context can be identified as having control of over one or more of these categories. The issue this raises, is does the trainer control the context by determining the communicative setting, the topics and learning outcomes or are these just necessary factors of the job? Can participants in the training environment resist the roles given to them by the trainer and oppose this factor of control? .
             Fairclough (2001) argues that texts can interpellate (Althusser, 1971) readers positioning them in clearly identifiable relations of power and agency in relation to the texts. This positioning is not an instant phenomenon but occurs over a passage of time as individuals construct their identity. Fairclough sees identity as being fluid and multi-faceted. People can react to different texts in a variety of ways. This research aimed to examine whether and why either the trainer or the trainees may react or adapt their discourse type and social values to facilitate the learning environment. .
             Holmes (2001) suggests that language is important in the construction of social identity and points out that language not only reflects and expresses our membership of social categories it also contributes to the construction of social identity' (p317, Holmes, 2001). Although, Holmes uses this idea in a much broader sense it is equally applicable in the classroom environment of which the training room is an example. Holmes sociolinguistic ideas are useful in investigating how the trainer adapts the language used in the training room to suit the audience and how delivery and pace are adjusted by the linguistic roles adopted by the trainer and trainees.
             Critical discourse analysis conventionally focuses on text analysis in relation to how texts represent a selective view of the world and how social positions are established by those texts (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 1990).


Essays Related to Examination of Discourse Practices in an I.T. Training Room