ABSTRACT
Workplace discourse can take different forms in different situations – e.g., spoken or written, formal or colloquial, ritualized or improvised, computer-mediated or social media-mediated – and therefore encompasses a variety of (sub)genres. All of these (sub)genres tend to be goal-oriented and geared towards producing outcomes in workplace tasks and institutional missions. Workplace discourse can be shaped by both specific institutional conventions and more general social and cultural ideologies and norms. Workplace discourse in Chinese-speech communities may also be subject to different influences – e.g., Confucian traditions regarding interpersonal (power) relations, collectivism and group-oriented principles and, modern management styles and company cultures (see Hwang, 1987; Kong, 2013; Zhu et al., 2006). Research into Chinese workplace discourse probes the actual sociocultural practices in professional settings to extend both our linguistic and sociological understandings.
