This module analyses communication in professional settings, approaches to intercultural communication, and the role culture and cultural identities may play in professional contexts. The course will focus primarily on spoken interactions, such as workplace meetings and presentations, media interviews, and various problem-solving interactions in a range of professional settings. Theories and methods that are covered include discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, intercultural communication, management studies, interactional sociolinguistics, pragmatics and gendered discourse. The course aims to build on courses covered in years one and two, and to develop students’ cultural intelligence and employability skills in preparation for their future careers.

Knowledge and Understanding:

• Evaluate different methods of collecting, presenting and analysing data
• Recognise and analyse discursively and culturally significant aspects of professional interaction
• Summarise and evaluate relevant literature on professional discourse and intercultural communication
• Develop a logical argument in relation to an empirical project and reach a conclusion that can be defended as reasonable

Timetabled sessions include 2 lectures and 1 seminar per week.  During seminars, you will be required to make presentations and/or lead discussion, as well as take an active part in discussions.  Lectures are usually supplemented with PowerPoint slides and handouts summarising content at a reasonable level of detail. These are usually made available on Learning Central. Students are encouraged to discuss any specific access needs with staff in advance of taking this module.

• gain understanding of and practice in data collection and analysis
• analyse professional interactions from a variety of theoretical perspectives
• assess notions of ‘culture’ from a critical perspective, and manage potentially intercultural contexts effectively
• compare and contrast theoretical and methodological frameworks
• plan and deliver an appropriate short presentation

The module is assessed by 100% Coursework, consisting of 10% individual presentation and 90% research project. 

The presentation will outline the plan for the research project, and will be delivered in seminars. Students will receive training in presentation skills, and the presentations will be assessed according to the following criteria: relevance of content, organisation of information, and delivery. Feedback will be provided on the presentation, focusing on the proposal for the project.

The project itself will involve collecting and analysing interactional data from either a social or workplace setting, focusing, for instance, on the social function of selected linguistic features and how it may relate to issues of culture and identity. As recording professional interactions may be impossible for some students, a further option is to analyse interactions from media sources, or compare and contrast interactions recorded in social settings to published interactions. The research questions will be specified by Week 2 of the module.  The research project will demonstrate the student’s ability to work independently and to design a piece of research to answer a specific question. 

The module is assessed according to the Assessment Criteria set out in the English Language Undergraduate Student Handbook. The requirement that students demonstrate ability to design, present and execute research on authentic interaction will restrict the availability of alternative forms of assessment as an adjustment for students with disabilities.  Otherwise there are no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Topics covered in the module include:

• Professional discourse: what is it, and how can it be analysed?
• Intercultural communication: moving beyond stereotypes and considering small cultures
• Cultural identity: analysing identities in action
• Face and politeness at work: negotiating obligation and power in the workplace
• Business meetings: genre and corpus perspectives
• English as a Lingua Franca and the workplace: analysis and implications
• Professional interviews: following and breaking constraints
• Conflict and communication: how is conflict discursively constructed?
• Business communication education: implications for the professional context

Benwell, B. and Stokoe, E. (2006) Discourse and Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Drew, P. and Heritage, J. (1992) Talk at Work.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gee, J.P. (2011) An Introduction to Discourse Analysis. Abingdon: Routledge.
Gee, J.P. and Handford, M. eds. (2012) The Routledge Handbook of Discourse Analysis. Abingdon: Routledge.
Handford, M. (2010) The Language of Business Meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Holmes, Janet and Maria Stubbe. (2003) Power and Politeness in the Workplace: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work.  Harlow: Longman.

Schnurr, S. and Zayts, O. (2017). Language and Culture at Work. Abingdon: Routledge.

Further information about recommended further reading will be provided at the start of the module.