The research on a workplace communication concerning identity

1. Introduction

This paper adopts one approach-the narrative approach to conduct a research on an example of workplace communication. The example is concerning a one to one career consultation between a student job seeker （the author） and the UCL career consultant. The data was collected and transcribed with the consent of the career consultant. The reason of conducting this research derives from the student job seekers strong resolution for demonstrating herself that she wants to seek for an occupation as a broadcast journalist. Thus， it is of vital importance for the author to adopt the above approach to analyse how the student constructs her identity through narratives. The research question is：

How does the student job seeker use narratives to construct particular identities that could be regarded as reasons for becoming a broadcast journalist？

2.The Narratives Approach

According to Labov （2013：14）， “a narrative is the presentation in discourse of a sequence of past events.” Consensus that “temporal order is the fundamental criterion that distinguishes narratives from other forms of discourse” （Mishler 2006：31） has been reached by scholars. In fact， narrative， as defined by “temporal juncture”， is only one of many ways of dealing with the past . So why does the author adopt this approach？ The major reason is that narratives are inherently related to identity construction due to the way they position different characters and the narrator （Ibid）. Thus， the author could adopt it as an approach to analyze how the student constructs her identities. Besides， the classic model of Labov and Walesky （1967） provides clear analysis of sequence of stories told by the narrator， shedding light on how the narrator constructs her identities. The classic model of Labov and Walesky （1967） includes six core features： the abstract-a summary of a story; The orientation-information of the time， the place， the persons， and the behavior involved; The complicating action-the main focus leading to a climax; The evaluation-the interpreters assessment of what had taken place; The resolution-an outcome that brings the elements of the story together; The coda-the end of the story， connecting the story to the present.

3. Data

The data consists of a verbal transcription of the audio recording concerning a one to one career consultation between a student （me） and the UCL career consultant. The data context is regarding the career consulting context. The data is partly transcribed by using Jefferson （2004） Transcription System.

4. Data Analysis-Identity Construction by the Student

In this section， the personal story of the student job seeker will be analyzed with reference to the classic model of narratives （Labov & Waletsky， 1967）， following this the identities constructed by the student job seeker will be discussed. The line of the excerpt is marked by numbers.

Excerpt 1：

4. L： I want to be famous， I want to live a life with accomplishment and money and fame.

5. C： And you think being a broadcast journalist is the only way？

6. L： Yep. For me， its the only way. Well （.） I need to start from my high school. When I was in my high school， my friend， um， and I， we {uh we} decided to be {a journalist， uh， I mean} a broadcast journalist who can appear on television， who is famous. Then we can earn enough money and live a life like a movie star.

7. C： Thats appealing and motivated

8. L： But I unfortunately （.） failed to choose broadcasting as my major because it was interfered by my parents. I used to think that I can {you know I can} just graduate from this notable university and I can find a job as an English teacher back to China. But two things have changed me recently. =C： okay. For one thing， my friend， um， she now has a radio programme↑， a channel， not television， but thats still amazing. For another， my mom talked to me several days ago that she wanted me to go back and find a job as a teacher， and to get married and have a baby， and live a pathetic life as she did. And I DONT WANT THAT HAPPEN！

9. C： =Well （1.2） {We} we can try. But why broadcast journalist？ Why on television， I still dont understand.

10. L： Because then I can be famous， and she cant control my life. I can do whatever I want. I can earn a lot of money to enjoy life. I can {I dont know} feel a strong sense of accomplishment. I can feel secure and free.

The extract is indicated in line 4. As abstract is “a summary of a story” （Wilson & Stapleton， 2010：287）， it is obvious that the student summarizes the main reasons for her to become a broadcast journalist， and they are about “accomplishment”， “fame” and “money”. It could then be inferred that the student is probably straight-forward， somewhat brave， realistic， but also childlike. On the one hand， she seems to recognize the motivations for her to become a broadcast journalist and she talks about them directly， demonstrating that she possesses straight-forward and brave identity. On the other hand， the reasons for her to become a broadcast journalist are concerned with “fame” “money” and “accomplishment”， which are all realistic. Also， the use of the informal words such as “money” instead of “salary” shows that she is childlike to some extent.

The orientation is indicated in line 6. As orientation provides the “information of the time， the place， the persons， the behavior involved” （Labov， 2013：27）， it can be seen that the student presents identities which are persistent and somewhat stubborn. In line 5， the career consultant responds to the students narrative in the line 4 by asking “and you think being a broadcast journalist is the only way？”， suggesting that it may not be the only way. But the student tends to ignore the illocutionary meaning （Austin， 1962）， and keeps stating “Yes”， and “For me， its the only way”. It indicates that the student realizes the illocutionary meaning （Ibid.） provided by the career consultant， showing that she is somewhat stubborn. In order to persuade the career consultant “it is the only way”， the student starts from her high school， demonstrating how persistent she has been for years. Besides， “famous” and “money” are stressed by her again to show her understanding that being a broadcast journalist means possessing material wealth and sound reputation.

The complication action is indicated in line 8. As “the complicating action refers to the main focus leading to a climax” （Wilson and Stapleton， 2010：290）， the crucial identities constructed by the student are provided in line 8 from “but two things have changed me recently”. The first reason is that the student knows that her friend “has a radio channel” which inspires her to pursue her ideal job. But she also says， “I can find a job as an English teacher back in China” and then changes her mind when she knows her friend is still on her way to broadcast journalist. Thus， it can be inferred that the students presents a competitive identity. Besides， the second reason implies that the student may not prefer to a mundane life， as she regards “find a job as an English teacher”， “get married” and “have a baby” as “pathetic” lifestyle. It can be suggested that the student also demonstrates challenging identity， as she wants to seek unusual life style.

The resolution is indicated in the last sentence of line 8. As the resolution “is an outcome that brings the elements of the story together” （Ibid.）， the students resolution- “I DONT WANT THAT HAPPEN” shows her strong resistance to follow her mothers suggestions. It can be implied that the student carries a rebellious and decisive identity. Notably， even though the student emphasizes “famous” in her narration （as can be seen in the notes of paralinguistic markers）， her voice is not as extremely loud as she says “I DONT WANT THAT HAPPEN”， presenting an emotional identity.

The evaluation “which is the interpreters assessment of what had taken place” （Ibid.） will be arguably analyzed as it is not distinctly indicated. The evaluation could be further divided into the “internal evaluation” which is implicit in narrative choices such as linguistic devices， and the “external evaluation” which is the explicit statements of what the point of story is （Labov&Walesky， 1967）. It could be that the line 4 and the line 10 are explicit evaluation as they show clearly what the student identifies herself as， and that the line 6 and the line 8 are internal evaluation as the student expresses her identities relatively implicitly. But， it is certain that the student presents self-aware identity as she seems to know what she wants exactly.

The coda “which indicates the end of story， connecting the story to the present” （Wilson and Stapleton， 2010：290） is arguably presented in the line 10. It shows the possible end of the story： the student would be “out of her mothers control”， “secure” and “free” if she became “famous” and “earned a lot of money”. The identity constructed here is the immature and independent identity. In the line 9， the career consultant wants the student to explain more explicitly about why she wants to be a broadcast journalist， and the explanation provided by the student continues her former reasons that she wants to be “famous”. Apparently， as a mature consultant， he may not regard “to be famous” as the major reason of becoming a broadcast journalist. By contrast， the student is still immature. Positively， she demonstrates her independent identity as she wants to be “out of control”， “free”， and “do what she wants to do”.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion， the student job seeker narrates a story about herself that she keeps dreaming of becoming a broadcast journalist. She explicitly and directly clarifies the reasons such as reputation， salary and accomplishment for her to become a broadcast journalist. Through her narration， her straight-forward， somewhat brave， realistic， childlike， persistent， stubborn， competitive， challenging， decisive， rebellious， emotional， self-aware， immature and independent identities are presented to the audience. The possible limitation may reflect in the participant as she is also the author， resulting in subjective analysis to some extent. But the strength also lies in the participant as she knows the context well.

References：

[1]Austin， J. L. How to do things with words[J]. Oxford： Clarendon， 1962.

[2]Jefferson， G. Glossary of transcript symbols with an Introduction. In G. H. Lerner （Ed.）， Conversation Analysis： Studies from the first generation （pp. 13-23）[J]. Philadelphia： John Benjamins，2004.

[3]Labov， W.， & Waletzky， J.Narrative analysis. In J. Helm （ed.）， Verbal and Visual Arts （pp.12-44）[M]. Seattle： U. of Washington Press，1967.

[4]Labov， W. The Language of Life and Death： The transformation of experience in oral narrative[M]. Cambridge： Cambridge University Press，2013.

【作者簡介】路凌霄（1994.11-），女，內蒙古包頭人，倫敦大學學院，碩士研究生，研究方向：應用語言學。