APPL710 / APPL910 : Professional Communication - Report Writing

Internal Code : MAS4807

Professional Communication Assignment :

1. What is it that is going on in this interaction? What evidence supports your interpretation of what is going on? 2. Where is this interaction taking place? What evidence supports your view? 3. Who’s involved in this discourse? What are their roles? What are they trying to accomplish? 4. As an example of professional communication, what features of this discourse distinguish it from the discourse in other (sites of engagement in) workplace settings? How might someone learn these distinguishing features? 5. Choose one (1) scholar from among Bourdieu, Foucault, Habermas, Goffman and Garfinkel and show how his ideas/concepts can help explain the discourse in this excerpt. None of these scholars is a linguist, but they all have an interest in language. What do you think is the benefit, if any, of exploring language through non-linguists’ eyes? This Assessment Task relates to the following Outcomes:

• An understanding of discourse as a rich, complex phenomenon with qualities that can be understood through a wide range of different theoretical approaches.
• An understanding of how discourse functions in everyday and professional encounters, emphasising the links to be made between social and institutional practices, and discursive practices.
• A basic theoretical and practical foundation for carrying out your own discourse-related research.
• An understanding of how to combine different research methodologies in a multi-perspectival approach.
• An understanding of how to work cooperatively with professionals in different contexts who wish to explore the discourses of their communities.
• In addition to these discipline-based learning outcomes, academic programs at Macquarie seek to develop students’ generic skills, that is, skills that are generally applicable to study and workplace requirements in a range of areas.