Page 189 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

Humour across cultures: joking in the multicultural workplace 167

6. Conclusion

As Wenger (1998) has noted, learning how to operate successfully within a par-
ticular community of practice is like an apprenticeship involving learning ap-
propriate verbal behaviours that characterize the group and distinguish it from
others, and acquiring its shared repertoire. Research which analyses day-to-day
interactions in relevant communities of practice can help identify the range of
patterns that workers may encounter, and can provide materials to help prepare
them to participate and contribute to the on-going interaction, including the hu-
morous exchanges which often seem especially problematic on initial entry.
While some lessons can only be learned “on the job”, there is an important place
for research and education in preparing people for the range of different cultural
patterns that they may encounter in a new workplace. Focusing on workplace
humour, this paper has provided brief examples of such patterns from authentic
talk in New Zealand workplaces.

Appendix: Transcription Conventions

Yes Underlining indicates emphatic stress
RATION Small caps for names of organizations
[laughs] : : Paralinguistic features and editorial comments in square
brackets, colons indicate start/finish
+ Pause of up to one second
... /..... Simultaneous speech
... /.....
(hello) Transcriber’s best guess at an unclear utterance
– Incomplete or cut-off utterance
… … Section of transcript omitted
=
= Speaker’s turn continues
All names used in examples are pseudonyms.

Notes

1. See also Holmes (2000), Holmes and Marra (2002a, b, c).
2. See Holmes and Meyerhoff (1999) for further discussion of this point.
3. See appendix for transcription conventions.
4. See also Daly et al. (2004), Stubbe (1999, 2000, 2002, forthcoming), Holmes and
Marra (2002b).
5. This example is also discussed from different perspectives in Holmes (2006) and in
Stubbe (2002).