Kultura organizacji z perspektywy lingwistycznej : komunikacja pionowa - asymetria czy symetria?

Abstract

The objective of the study is to present interrelationship between the linguistic behaviour of interlocutors and their social roles. In the collected material speech acts were distinguished and analysed in a comprehensive fashion. The research material consisted of authentic conversations between a superior and a subordinate. At the beginning, basic terminology relevant for the study was presented: organisation culture, communication in the company (vertical and horizontal), asymmetry of communication, identity and asymmetry. In the study, I was looking for the answer to the following questions: What are the characteristics of the interlocutors’ linguistic behaviour? Does communication between the superior and the subordinate aim at the asymmetry of roles, or look in the direction of their symmetry? What acts of speech are used to convey the interlocutors’ social roles? What is the role of presuppositions, contained in the interlocutors’ utterances, in the positive conclusion of a dialogue? How are social ties and interpersonal community formed with the use of language and nonverbal means? The theoretical basis of the study is made by Austin and Searle's theory of speech acts, Wierzbicka’s theory of speech genres, and Bakhtin’s theory of speech genres, as well as A. Awdiejew’s theory of communicative grammar. The study consists of a theoretical and an empirical part. Particular chapters refer to the characteristics of basic terms used in the paper. They contain an analysis of reference books. Then, a classification of individual speech acts in the reference books is discussed. In the empirical part of the study, an analysis of individual speech acts appearing in the interlocutors’ utterances is conducted. The characteristics of the communication loop and the nature of adjacency pairs was taken into account. In the analysis, the semantic stream of research was considered, including the methods of explicating the meaning of language expressions introduced and applied by Anna Wierzbicka. A precise conceptual apparatus and nature of research process have a particularly significant meaning both for the analysis itself and for presenting its results, which is due to the size of the researched material and previous unpredictability of specific problems, which the researcher is always confronted with while dealing with the empirical material. The study examines the course of communication between the superior and the subordinate, it does not focus, however, on the purely descriptive approach, but makes an effort to explain the role of the communication participants, while taking into consideration the problems of identity and communication asymmetry in the context of organization culture, getting an insight into organization culture from a linguistic perspective. Research material consists of 6 conversations between the superior and the subordinate, recorded during a participative observation. The author’s aim was to obtain the exact verbal transcript of the interaction participants’ behaviour. The particulars of the dialogue participants were changed in order to ensure their anonymity and prevent the identification of the individuals taking part in the research. In the material, only the institution where the research was conducted is indicated (corporation, bank, school, etc.) In the first chapter of the study, the issue of communicating within an organisation is discussed, while specifying models of verbal communication, forms of communication within an organisation. A key concept is the concept of organisation culture. In the context of the definition of organisation culture, the role of effective communication in the process of organisation culture formation is discussed. Another issue is asymmetric and symmetric communication. In chapter II, divisions of speech acts are characterised, in search of a classification which would specify a finite collection of illocution types and determine their internal structure. It includes an overview of J.L.Austin and J.R Searle’s concept of speech acts, D. Wunderlich’s classification of speech acts, R. Grzegorczykowa’s classification of speech acts, Paul Grice's theory of conversational implicatures, and the typology of speech acts based on A. Awdiejew’s and E. Laskowska’s classification. The third chapter contains the analysis of speech acts as part of communication between a superior and a subordinate while taking into consideration the following division of speech acts: information and verification speech acts, emotive speech acts and action speech acts. With regard to information and verification speech acts, announcement, inquiry, modal, and modal and emotive acts were discussed. The conclusion includes the summary of the analysis results. The study is directed primarily to linguists. If it attracts the attention of word practitioners, as well as superiors and subordinates, my objective will be fully achieved.