Research Thrusts

Research Groups

  • K-Pop Culture
  • Past Research Thrusts

    Current Projects

    Earlier Funded Projects

    Non-funded Projects

     

    Workplace Communication


    Full Title : Workplace Communication – Food Stalls, Construction Sites and Spa Therapy Businesses

    Project Number :

    Start Date : January 2014

    End Date : December 2016

    Project leader : James McLellan

    Team member : Hjh Dayang Fatimah Hj Awang Chuchu

    Brief Outline

    Migrant workers on construction sites in Brunei Darussalam may not have full proficiency in the languages used by their supervisors and overseers. Anecdotal evidence from those working in the construction industry, as well as the research conducted in Brunei by Santoso (2009), suggests that workplace multilingualism, and the need for effective communication in a lingua franca, may have linguistic consequences, such as the development of pidginised or simplified speech forms. There may also be negative economic consequences arising from workplace miscommunication: delays in project completion, and substandard work arising from instructions that are not fully understood.

     

    This project investigates language choice and use in construction sites, one private house construction business, small retail stores, as well as in the catering and spa therapy businesses, using survey methods, and semi-structured interviews and observations to generate narratives, to be analysed manually.