Research On The Interactive Relationship Between Language And Power In Office Politics In Business Context

This thesis attempts to explore the relationship between language and power in office politics in business context through the linguistic device of critical discourse analysis(CDA).Office politics is becoming more and more popular in the society, and the relationship between language and power is also familiar to many people,but not many pay their attention to the two fields from a linguistic perspective.The data analyzed in my paper is from the TV series La Femme Desperado,which is mainly about business stories in Hong Kong,and is quite like the real business life.As a major in business English,with the interest in business English,I choose this interdisciplinary topic as my research field,that is,to analyze the language in business from a linguistic perspective.My research question is how does power influence the daily office conversations in business context and produce office politics.With this research aim,during my thesis,I will use such devices of CDA as discourse structures,language features,and the violation of cooperative principle,and there will be practical materials for each analytical device.After the analysis,It will be found that the power relations between different people in a company determine their different speaking strategies in conversations.The conclusion can be drawn that there is an interactive relationship between language and power,that is,language has power;power chooses language. This power relationship is determined by their social status.It's hoped that the present research will be of much value both in the field of application of CDA,and in the study of power relations in office politics.After the analysis of the relationship between language and power,I want to clarify that office politics is not a negative concept.It is just a strategy that peole sue to reach their communicative purposes.We can regard it as an art,an communicative art.If used properly,people's communication will become more efficient;if not, however,there will be some unhappy results.Office politics exists in every corner of our lives.The sixth chapter in my thesis will introduce the influence of office politics in my practical life.I'd draw readers'attention to my personal experience involving office politics and power relations.The motivation of writing this thesis is to have a preliminary knowledge of office politics in business life in the hope that I will have a general understanding of business communication and have some preparation in my mind.Therefore,my personal application of office politics is of significance not only for my paper but also for my daily practice.In this way I accomplish the aim of writing a theoretical and practical thesis.