Cover not available

In:Identity Struggles: Evidence from workplaces around the world
Edited by Dorien Van De Mieroop and Stephanie Schnurr
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 69] 2017
► pp. 127–146

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Chapter 7
You’re a proper tradesman mate

Identity struggles and workplace transitions in New Zealand

Published online: 26 April 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.69.07hol
Abstract
Using a broad and inclusive definition of what counts as a professional, this paper explores the struggle of developing an appropriate identity as part of the transition from legitimate outsider to workplace insider. Drawing on naturally-occurring data from two contrasting contexts, an apprentice on a building site and an intern in a corporate organisation, we explore inbound trajectories. For the builder, the transition to insider involves a process which emphasises new skills; for the intern, her status as a newcomer to the country means her struggles with the enactment of sociocultural norms are made salient. Our analysis demonstrates the ways in which the defining boundaries of professional behaviour are acknowledged, maintained, patrolled and defended in interaction.
Article outline
  • Professional identities
    • Identity as a site of struggle
  • Exploring authentic interaction
  • Identity struggles at work
    • The apprentice builder
    • From intern to co-worker
  • Professional identity across contexts
    • Acknowledging and maintaining the boundaries
    • Patrolling and defending the boundaries
  • Implications and conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Appendix
  • References
References (30)
References
Angouri, Jo and Meredith Marra. 2011. Constructing Identities at Work. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baxter, Judith, and Kieran Wallace. 2009. “Outside in-group and out-group identities? Constructing male solidarity and female exclusion in UK builders’ talk.” Discourse & Society 20 (4): 411–429 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The forms of capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, ed. by John G. Richardson, 241–258. New York: Greenwood.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cameron, Deborah. 2009. “Theoretical issues for the study of gender and spoken interaction.” In Gender and Spoken Interaction, ed. by Pia Pichler, and Eva M. Eppler, 1–17. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Coupland, Nikolas. 2001. “Introduction: Sociolinguistic theory and social theory.” In Sociolinguistics and Social Theory, ed. by Nikolas Coupland, Srikant Sarangi, and Christopher N. Candlin, 1–26. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dawson, Shelley. 2014. The complexities of identity co-construction: A case study of two language learners’ trajectories towards a desired future. MA dissertation. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ehrlich, Susan. 2008. “Sexual assault trials, discursive identities and institutional change.” In Analysing Identities in Discourse, ed. by Rosana Dolón, and Júlia Todolí, 159–177. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise. 2009. Professional Discourse. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Handford, Michael. 2014. “Communication in the construction industry.” In Routledge Handbook of Language and Professional Communication, ed. by Vijay Bhatia, and Stephen Bremner, 363–381.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hecht, Michael L., Jennifer R. Warren, Eura Jung, and Janice L. Krieger. 2005. “A communication theory of identity: Development, theoretical perspective, and future directions.” In Theorizing about intercultural communication, ed. by William B. Gudykunst, 257–278. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet, Meredith Marra, and Bernadette Vine. 2011. Leadership, Discourse, and Ethnicity. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. Politeness and impoliteness in ethnic varieties of New Zealand English. Journal of Pragmatics 44 (9): 1063–1076. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet, and Maria Stubbe. 2003. Power and Politeness in the Workplace. London: Pearson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmes, Janet, and Jay Woodhams. 2013. “Building interaction: The role of talk in joining a community of practice.” Discourse and Communication 7 (3): 276–298. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Le Page, Robert B., and Andrée Tabouret-Keller. 1985. Acts of Identity: Creole-based Approaches to Language and Ethnicity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marra, Meredith. 2008. “Recording and analyzing talk across cultures.” In Culturally speaking: Managing rapport through talk across cultures, 2nd ed., ed. Helen Spencer-Oatey, 304–321. London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. “Disagreeing without being disagreeable: Negotiating workplace communities as an outsider.” Journal of Pragmatics 44 (12): 1580–1590. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marra, Meredith, Nicky Riddiford, and Janet Holmes. 2012. “New Zealand’s Language in the Workplace Project: Workplace Communication for Skilled Migrants.” In Current Developments in English for Work and the Workplace: Approaches, Curricula and Materials, ed. by Mark Krzanowski, 93–106. Reading: Garnett Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norton, Bonny. 2000. Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity, and Educational Change. Harlow: Longman/Pearson.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norton Peirce, Bonny. 1995. “Social identity, investment, and language learning.” TESOL Quarterly 29 (1): 9–31. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reed, Michael. 2005. “Reflections on the ‘realist turn’ in organisation and management studies.” Journal of Management Studies 42 (8): 1621–1644. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Roberts, Celia, and Sarah Campbell. 2006. Talk on Trial: Job Interviews, Language and Ethnicity. DWP Report 344, [URL]
Sarangi, Srikant, and Celia Roberts (eds.). 1999. Talk, Work and Institutional Order: Discourse in Medical, Mediation and Management Settings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Styhre, Alexander. 2012. “Identity work in construction industry: Ideal selves, project performance, and disidentification.” Leadership & Organization Development Journal 33 (7): 632–645. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sunderland, Jane, and Lia Litosseliti. 2002. “Gender identity and discourse analysis: Theoretical and empirical considerations.” In Gender Identity and Discourse Analysis, ed. by Lia Litosseliti & Jane Sunderland, 1–39. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tabouret-Keller, Andrée. 1997. “Language and Identity”. In The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, ed. by Florian Coulmas, 315–326. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri. 1974. “Social identity and intergroup behaviour.” Social Science Information 13: 65–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tajfel, Henri, and John Turner. 1979. An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations, ed. by William G. Austin and Stephen Worchel, 33–47. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vaara, Eero. 2003. “Post-acquisition integration as sensemaking: Glimpses of ambiguity, confusion, hypocrisy, and politicization.” Journal of Management Studies 40 (4): 859–894. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wodak, Ruth. 2008. “Controversial issues in feminist critical discourse analysis.” In Gender and Language Research Methodologies, ed. by Kate Harrington, Lia Litosseliti, Helen Sauntson, and Jane Sunderland, 193–210. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (10)

Cited by ten other publications

De Dijn, Melina, Dorien Van De Mieroop & Mike Huiskes
2025. Smiling for Effect? Smiling as a Strategic Tool in Recruiters’ Impression Management in Belgian Job Interviews. International Journal of Business Communication DOI logo
Al-Khulaifi, Afra & Dorien Van De Mieroop
2024. “Why not the thoub and the abaya?”An interactional sociolinguistic approach to the interplay between nationality, gender, and professional identity in the Qatari academic workplace. Journal of Arabic Sociolinguistics 2:1 ► pp. 94 ff. DOI logo
Greenbank, Emily
2024. Employable identities. Narrative Inquiry 34:1 ► pp. 106 ff. DOI logo
Reiter, Rosina Márquez
2024. Leveraging Relations in Diaspora, DOI logo
Lazzaro-Salazar, Mariana & Olga Zayts
2023. Migrant doctors’ narratives about patients. Narrative Inquiry 33:1 ► pp. 153 ff. DOI logo
Van De Mieroop, Dorien
2023. Identity gatekeeping in New Work Order organizations. Pragmatics and Society 14:4 ► pp. 519 ff. DOI logo
Marra, Meredith, Bernadette Vine & Janet Holmes
2022. Workplace interaction. In Handbook of Pragmatics [Handbook of Pragmatics, ], ► pp. 177 ff. DOI logo
Holmes, Janet & Bernadette Vine
2021. Workplace Research and Applications in Real World Contexts: The Case of the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project. In Good Data in Business and Professional Discourse Research and Teaching, ► pp. 25 ff. DOI logo
Greenbank, Emily & Meredith Marra
2020. Addressing societal discourses: negotiating an employable identity as a former refugee. Language and Intercultural Communication 20:2 ► pp. 110 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2020. Discursive navigation of employable identities in the narratives of former refugees [Studies in Narrative, 27], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue