This year’s Finnish conference of linguistics (Kielitieteen päivät) was organized as an on-site event at the university of Turku. As encouraged by the organizers, we approached the conference’s theme – contacts, corpora, and variation – open-mindedly and creatively, which led us to look at our data a bit differently from how we usually do. In our presentation “Emergent texts: instructing work practices at construction sites” we explored new avenues. This time, we did not focus on our video-recorded data of workers accomplishing different tasks, but instead on the linguistic landscape that constantly surrounds the people at the worksite.
For the last half year, we have followed the construction of an apartment building. What we found immediately fascinating was the abundance of handwritten scribbles and notes that we met everywhere at the worksite. The conference in Turku was a perfect place to present our observations on the different categories of emergent texts: texts bound to specific places, tasks, and recipient groups. These texts appear suddenly and can disappear again in the same way once the relevant activity (for example, installing a dry wall or adding more screws to a plank) is done. Our audience seemed as fascinated by the texts as we were, and the presentation provoked good discussions about everything related to linguistic and semiotic landscapes.
So, no need to be afraid, but keep your eyes open for new exciting insights into language at the construction site!
Esittelimme konferenssissa myös meneillään olevaa tutkimustamme rakennusalan työtilanteissa käytettävistä direktiivivuoroista – tällä kertaa erityisesti imperatiiveista. Imperatiivit ovat raksalla taajaan käytössä: alustavien havaintojemme mukaan niillä koordinoidaan etenkin meneillään olevien fyysisten ja manuaalisten työtehtävien etenemistä.
Teksti ja kuva: Nathalie Schümchen & Niina Lilja