Stacianne.C.

Letang

May 13, 2014

How language is used to gain power?

In this study I will be explaining how language is used to gain
power. This will based on a conversation between a manager
(Jason) and an employee (Joseph) in Sainsburys. As well as a study
on my own spoken language between Chynna, Stacianne and Faye,
using the opinion of two critics, Wareing and Fairchlough.
Wareings opinion on the power gained by use of language is that
your social status and occupation determine the amount of power
you gain and retain during a conversation where as Fairchloughs
opinion is that it depends on how you speak and uses your words
(why,where,when,what,how).

Sainsburys
Jason starts the conversation off with alright joseph you [alright]
in attempt to get josephs attention. This alright is an informal
gesture and abbreviation, which suggests that Jason is trying to
make joseph comfortable in order to get his attention as well as
trying to fit in with joseph. Joseph however doesnt fully respond to
this gaining some power from the conversation by not
acknowledging Jasons attempts to start a conversation. He also
refuses to make eye contact with Joseph and continuously turns his
body away from him. This suggest that there is no relationship or
respect between Jason and joseph, explaining the loss of power
from Jason at the start of the conversation. Jason responds to this
by grabbing josephs arm and saying no, no, no, youre talking to
me now. This quickly shows Jason as the authorative figure. No,
no is repeated four times, emphasising the seriousness of what he is
saying, hence regaining power lost at the start of the conversation.
Jason later tells Joseph that he will be expected to attend a meeting,
hosted by him. Joseph gains power by saying Have you spoken to
Ginger about this-can you clear it w-. This shows Joseph averting
Jason command in order to through him off guard and confuse him
in order to gain power. He also asks if he has spoken to Ginger
about his plans, this shows joseph undermining Jasons authority
and uses another employee to go over his head, despite Jasons
position. The name Ginger is a nickname used by Joseph to again
confuse Jason, by highlighting his poor relationship with his

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May 13, 2014

colleagues. He then goes on to say can you clear it w-. This shows
Joseph really testing Jasons authority, most likely because of
Jasons power loss at the begging of the conversation- giving him
that confidence to test his superior. During this Joseph continues to
stand up tall and straight matching Jasons height despite him
being shorter and maintains eye contact. It gains Joseph power
because it degrades Jason as a superior and puts Joseph on a higher
standing with more power in the conversation.
However Jason regains power by interrupting joseph mid-sentence
by saying no, no, no, quarter past 12 yh. The interruption made by
Jason gains him more power as he sets the agenda back to his
previous topic and averts any contradictions made by Joseph. He
uses repetition once again in order to stress his point. The
abbreviation yh from Jason suggests that he is closing the subject,
signalling to Joseph that his decision is final and that he will be
expected to be there. However it can also be seen as a way to lift the
tension from the conversation in and attempt to give way to an
interruption, therefore gaining Jason more power as he feels he has
enough to allow an interruption by Joseph. During this statement,
Jason turns away from Joseph how continues to match Joseph eye
contact.

My Spoken Language
Stacianne starts the conversation off by setting the agenda with
Manz is ber tired of dem likkle boyz round my endz init. This
quickly gains her power from the agenda setting as it allows her to
choose which direction the conversation goes and what is to be said.
She uses abbreviation as a way to conform to Chynnas dialect,
which loses her power. Init is another abbreviation that is used,
however it is used at the end of the sentence giving way for
interruption. This gains her power as it shows that she has enough
power to give away for an interruption. This is a form of
convergence made by Stacianne. Faye interrupts the flow of
conversation by saying Oh, Im so tired, didnt get much sleep last
night. This shows Faye immediately setting the agenda in order to
gain power. The word Oh is used as back-channelling to show that

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May 13, 2014

she has been engaged with the conversation, but then agenda
setting is used to diverge the conversation. This may be because
Faye is uninterested with the conversation or doesnt not fit in with
why and what is being said, as unlike Stacianne she is unable to
conform into Chynnas dialect. She concludes her sentence with Oh
it was so funny which shows her disregarding the previous
conversation, and trying to make light of the conversation as there
has been no response from either Chynna nor Stacianne to show
that they have listened or engaged with what was said.
Stacianne gains power back in the conversation by setting the
agenda yet again and blocking any other attempts of interruption.
Stacianne then says okay den and looks away from Faye, turning
her attention back to Chynna in order to keep Chynnas attention on
her and not on Faye as a way to gain back any power loss by
demonstrating her lake of respect for Faye and her higher social
position amongst the group. Stacianne then says Okay den which
are fillers used to give her time to think about what she wants to say
and how she wants to retaliate. However this is also very vague
language which may have been used because she had nothing to say
or because of having had no interest towards what was said by Faye.
After having lost so much power previously in the conversation Faye
tries once again to gain it back, but this time she gives feedback to
Chynna and Stacianne and also tries to conform to their language
but is quickly cut off by Stacianne when she says I dont think so.
This shows her gain using fillers and vague language to degrade
Faye in order to gain power and illuminate her authority as well as
setting the agenda once again to control the direction of the
conversation.

Conclusion
In conclusion I agree with both Wareing and Fairchlough as
they have valid arguments concerning the power lost and
gained during conversations. Firstly I agree with Wareings
theory that the power lost and gained in a conversation is based
on your social status e.g. your occupation because power is

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May 13, 2014

mostly determined by what you are and the wealth behind your
last name however it can be forgotten or tarnished by the way
you speak and the use of the 5 Ws as well as how you use them,
hence Fairchloughs theory. Therefore making both theorys
equally important and reliant on each other. Another factor of
power in a conversation is the accommodation theory, this is
how you change the way you speak to gain power based on
where and who you are around. I partly agree with this because
many people base their respect and trust on how much they
know about the other person and this is based on where you
are, which affects the way you speak. Someone is mostly likely
to respect you, giving you more power in a conversation if you
have things in common or are similar in the way you speak and
act towards them. However if you are different you might be
considered to be an outsider, giving you less of a chance. On the
other hand if you are different it might intimidate the other
person giving you the upper hand in the conversation and
gaining you more power. Which is why I think that the
accommodation theory is important to an extent.