ATTENTION/WARNING - NE PAS DÉPOSER ICI/DO NOT SUBMIT HERE

Ceci est la version de TEST de DIAL.mem. Veuillez ne pas soumettre votre mémoire sur ce site mais bien à l'URL suivante: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
This is the TEST version of DIAL.mem. Please use the following URL to submit your master thesis: 'https://thesis.dial.uclouvain.be'.
 

Small Talk in English Business Communication Textbooks. To What Extent Do English Business Communication Textbooks Deal with Small Talk : A Comparison Between Textbooks Aimed at Learners of English and Textbooks not Particularly Aimed at Learners of English

Poussiere, Alicia
(2023)

Files

Poussière351921002023pdf.pdf
  • UCLouvain restricted access
  • Adobe PDF
  • 2.5 MB

Details

Supervisors
De Cock, Sylvie
Faculty
Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres
Degree label
Master [120] en langues et lettres modernes, orientation germaniques, à finalité spécialisée: langues des affaires
Abstract
This dissertation sets out to investigate the following research question: what are the similarities or differences between the treatment of small talk in business communication textbooks for learners of English and in textbooks not specifically designed for learners of English? The theoretical part is mainly devoted to the origin, development and definition of small talk and related terms, as well as to its role, presence and impact in the workplace. This part also includes a review of the limited number of previous studies about small talk in textbooks. The data used in this dissertation consist of three English business communication textbooks: Excellence in Business Communication (Bovée & Thill, 2022), Market Leader, 3rd Ed. - Upper Intermediate (Falvey, D., Cotton, D., & Kent, S., 2011) and Business Advantage Intermediate (Koester et al., 2012). The first textbook is not particularly aimed at learners of English, while the other two are. After a close reading, the textbooks are analysed both from a quantitative and a qualitative perspective. Particular attention is paid to the terms used to refer to small talk, the connotations they might carry, the place where they occur in the textbooks and the space they are given. Finally, a comparative analysis of the findings is carried out between the two textbooks aimed at learners of English (Market Leader and Business Advantage) and the third textbook (Excellence in Business Communication), which is not particularly designed for learners of English. It emerges from the findings that all three textbooks mention small talk but not to the same extent and not in the same way.