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Article published In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 22:2 (1999) ► pp.1–17

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Women at work

Analysing women’a talk in New Zealand workplaces

 | Victoria University of Wellington
Published online: 1 January 1999
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.22.2.01hol
Over the last ten years, evidence of gender difference in the use of language has been re-examined from a social constructionist perspective. This approach emphasises the extent to which we actively “perform” or construct aspects of our social identity in interaction with others. Drawing on an extensive database of workplace interactions recorded in a wide range of New Zealand workplaces, this paper uses a social constructionist framework to examine the strategies used by women managers to perform their professional identities at work. The analysis examines the ways in which these women draw on a range of discourse strategies to effectively manage meetings and achieve their workplace objectives.
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