ProfessorJanet Holmes

Language and Gender, Language in the Workplace, New Zealand English
Current research projects
The Language in the Workplace (LWP) Project team has published many articles and books, including Leadership, Discourse and Ethnicity, describing the results of a research project which explored cultural differences in workplace communication patterns. The research focusses especially on similarities and differences between Māori and Pākehā leaders in Māori and Pākehā workplaces including the way that people manage meetings, the role of narrative in workplace interaction, and the functions of humour in different workplaces. The LWP team has also been involved in a project which followed skilled migrants into New Zealand workplaces in order to identify the communication issues they encountered as well as the attitudinal challenges which they had to deal with. The team has also undertaken research to assist refugees to manage the challenges of workplace English. They have also investigated intercultural communication challenges in a range of workplace contexts. Most recently they are researching communication in mobile workplaces.