Scribd
Upload
12 views19 pages

ESLA90004 - Week 1 Part 2 - Small Talk - S12022

Uploaded by

alexas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
12 views19 pages

ESLA90004 - Week 1 Part 2 - Small Talk - S12022

Uploaded by

alexas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

ESLA90004 Intercultural Professional Communication

Semester 1, 2022

WEEK 1: PART 2
SMALL TALK

Dr Timothy Johannessen
tjohannessen@unimelb.edu.au
How not to
make small
talk?
Small talk  Phatic talk: more about
relationships than content
 Important for fitting in
 Safe topics: weather, sports,
activities, work (not politics,
religion) – personal topics
depending on relationship
 Research on small talk:
 Coupland (2003): general small
talk
 Cui (2012): Chinese migrants &
small talk
“The need for the companionship of others is one of
Coupland the fundamental features of human social nature,
and talk is a primary form of human communion.

(2008) “Small” talk is a type of talk through which we mark


co‐presence, e.g., the mutual recognition provided
by threat‐reducing talk to strangers in a lift or
neighboring airline seat.
This need to commune through speech is also
enacted across distances (intimacy‐confirming
phone calls, texts, emails to significant others, friends,
family). Within small talk, what is talked about may
matter less to participants than the interpersonal
significance of talking at all – in a range of social
contexts – from intimate, playful encounters (e.g.
“pillow” talk) to formal, hierarchical gatherings (e.g.,
in breaking the ice at the beginning of a job
interview)”
Work through Unit 1, A1
& A2

Analyze Discussion
small talk

A3 in class
Diana & Sally
Research on small
talk
 Difference between “phatic” (Malinowski, 1949) or
social talk and transactional talk (Coupland, 2000)
 Phatic talk: maintain relationships => small talk
 Transactional talk: get things done
 Small talk can precede or follow transactional talk, or
stand alone
 Demonstrates interest in the interlocutor, emphasizes
common ground (“positive face”, Brown & Levinson,
1987)
 Small talk at work researched by Holmes (2000, 2003)
Beginning (and end) of the working day,
When does

especially initial encounters
 Beginnings of meetings while waiting for others to

small talk 
arrive; also sometimes at end of meetings
Topics:

occur?  recent (shared) activities (“great concert last


night”, “did you have a good holiday?”),
 weather (“hot today”),
 ritual enquiries (“how’s things?”),
 general work-related topics (“don’t you love
the new computers?”)
 Can transition to work talk: Conversation 10 (p.
17)
Employees at equal level: collegiality
Who makes 

 Bosses and employees: balance


small talk? power and collegiality
 Bosses might
 prefer non-personal topics and
 be the ones to end the small-talk
 Example: Conversation 8 on p. 15
 Note how Hana (the manager)
opens and closes the small-talk
phase
Cui (2012, 2015) collected “critical
Problems 
incidents” from 10 L1 Mandarin
speaking informants
with small  Incidents of failed / problematic
talk workplace small talk
 Respondents reported problems
making small talk with Australian
colleagues
Setting: Don is an Australian man.
Jian’s case 
One afternoon, after our boss left
the office and we were both
working, Don went to kitchen to
make himself a cup of coffee.
When he came back, he started
the following conversation with
me [Jian later added that Don
was in his mid 20s and Jian knew
was gay. He had been working
for the company longer than she
had. They shared the same office
with a few other colleagues].
Jian’s case
(Cui, 2012,
2015)
Different interactional styles in
Cui’s 
Chinese / Australian culture

explanations  Chinese: in-group (close friends) /


out-group (others)
 In-depth communication with in-
group;
limited, formal communication with
outgroup
 Australian: emphasis on
egalitarianism, informality,
“pleasantness” irrespective of
closeness
Small talk
conversations

 Part B, conversations
page 13-17:
 Identify small talk in the
conversations
 How does it begin and
end?
 What is the topic?
 How long is it?
 Compare in class
Small talk  A: It’s Friday lunchtime and there
is a long weekend coming up.
role play 1 You are sitting with some fellow
workers you know a little. Start a
conversation.

 B: It’s Friday lunchtime and there


is a long weekend coming up.
You are sitting with some fellow
workers you know a little. Your
colleague starts a conversation.
Small talk  A: You’re a team leader. As
you’re waiting for the lift, one of
role play 2 your new employees comes up
and stands next to you. Make
small talk.

 B: You’ve just started a job at a


new company. As you’re walking
up to catch the lift, you recognize
your team leader waiting
already.
References
 Brown, P. & Levinson, S. (1987). Politeness: Some unive
rsals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni
versity Press
 Coupland, J. (2000). Small talk. New York: Longman.
 Coupland, J. (2008). Small talk and gossip. In W. Dons
bach (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of comm
unication.
 Cui, X. (2015). Small talk: A missing skill in the Chinese
communicative repertoire.
Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 38(1), 3‐23.
 Riddiford, N. & Newton, J. (2010). Workplace talk in a
ction. Wellington: Victoria University.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy