Q3) with relevance to
Text I and relevant ideas from language, explore how language is used to assert
power.
Because Text I is the first page of an Employee Handbook we
can assume that it will be in a formal register, with a high frequency use of
jargon. The text could also contain lots of imperatives, as well as power in
the discourse because it might be written be someone with lots of power and
they might want this known so that they take the handbook seriously.
One way the text creates power over its audience is through
the use of building the consumer, a technique used by advertisers and
identified by Fairclough. Although the handbook is not advert it still uses the
technique effectively. Building the consumer includes knowing who your target
audience is and therefore creating the perfect image of who they should be/
would like to be. The paragraph opens with a declarative about Waterstone being
a ‘’strong brand’’ and how this is due to ‘’commitment and passion everyone in
Waterstone’s has for what they do.’’ The abstract nouns ‘’commitment’’ and
‘’passion’’ is used to describe the kind of people the staff should be, and
could be seen as positive face. By describing the staff as passionate and
committed, it makes them seem hard-working and dedicated. This in turn could
make the staff more loyal to the company as it makes them feel valued. On the
other hand, if the staffs reading this are not passionate or committed the
declarative could then be seen as guideline for the kind of staff they should
be. The pronoun ‘’everyone’’ makes all the member of staff feel included, and
could be a way of building employees confidence; this assumes that everyone is
indeed actually passionate and committed to the company. Although building the
consumer is used for advertising, it is effective here because it creates an
image that some employees can strive for, or empowers those employees who are
already committed and passionate.
Throughout Text I imperatives are used, and coupled with
power behind the discourse these are a very effective way of asserting power.
An example of an imperative in Text I is ‘’ they have to give the highest
levels of customer service.’’ The deontic verb ‘’have’’ creates a sense of
importance and makes the audience feel like they are obliged to do as the text
says. The superlative ‘’highest’’ could be seen as a way of telling the staff
that only the absolute best is accepted by the company. This might show us the
amount of power the writer has, because not only are they using an imperative
but they are also asking maximum effort from their staff. This imperative is
only effective due to the pragmatic understanding the audience would have of
the power the writer holds. At the bottom of the page we can see that it is
written by ‘’Nick Williams- Operations Director’’ because we are not the
intended audience we do not know the amount of power he holds. However we can
assume that he holds a lot of power, and this imperative is an example of him
using the power his role gives him otherwise known as instrumental power. Another
example of an imperative is ‘’please participate fully with your ideas and
suggestions.’’ The adverb ‘’please’’
could be seen as way of softening the imperative, or a way of highlighting its
importance. The adverb ‘’fully’’ again shows that participating is not enough,
and that the staff must ‘’participate’’ to the best of their abilities; further
highlighting that the store will only accept those who are willing to work as
hard as they can.
Divergence is also another technique that can be used in
order to assert one’s power. One way that divergence is achieved in Text I is
through the use of low frequency lexis and hypercorrect grammar: ‘’Over a
series of meetings, the NCST worked together to draw out the key issues from
customer service, their thoughts and ideas, and of their colleagues.’’ The use
of the verb ‘’draw’’ in order to describe gathering data is an example of low
frequency lexis, and could show that the writer is very knowledgeable and
therefore the staff might be more inclined to listen to them. The use of jargon
like ‘’NCST’’ also adds to the importance of the message as it shows that the
organisations is very official. On the other hand some staff might find the use
of overt prestige condescending, making it harder for the writer to achieve its
aim. However overt prestige is a way of asserting power, because only dominant
speakers who already hold power can diverge away from a group. It is another
mean of making sure that people are aware of the power they hold, and because
some people might find it condescending only those who aren’t affected by the
thoughts of other people because of their status can use overt prestige.
Building the consumer is an advertising technique that makes
the target audience feel like the advert is addressed specifically to them,
Text I however use this to make the staff reading the page feel like it is only
targeted at them and maybe therefore makes them feel special. For example the
last paragraph reads: ‘’thank you for your efforts so far. I know you’ll put
everything you have into making your branch customer service better than
ever.’’ The use of the 3rd
person direct address ‘’you’’ makes the reader fell singled out and special,
the repetition highlights this point even further. It might also make the
reader think that even though they are just one person they are responsible for
the image of the branch, which is an example of positive face as it highlights
the importance of each reader. ‘’ I know you’ll put everything you have into
making your branch customer service better than ever’’ could be seen as a
declarative however if we look deeper into it, it is actually a cloaked
imperative, this is because without ‘’ I know’’ the sentence reads as an
imperative, and is another way that the writer is asserting his power. The
intensifier ‘’than’’ shows us that once again the staff need to push themselves
to the best of their abilities in order to achieve the standard of customer
service that the writer wants.
