Socio-pragmatic skills have been identified as important components of communicative competence in the workplace, yet relatively few studies have undertaken an evaluation of the effects of classroom-based support in developing both cognitive control and social competence in these areas of language proficiency. This paper reports on a collaborative…

Narratives are often overlooked in workplace talk, but they contribute in crucial ways to relationship building and identity construction in workplace interaction. In this article we analyse narratives told by skilled migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds during a workplace internship conducted as part of a Workplace Communication course.…

Drawing on a database of over 300 interactions collected in a range of New Zealand professional workplaces, this article identifies some potentially problematic areas for those who are expected to communicate in English at work when English is not their first language. Discussion focuses on small talk and social talk in the workplace. (Author/VWL)