Interpersonal workplace interaction provides many challenges for workers with intellectual disabilities. While these workers are generally able to handle well the tasks required of them at work, the social interaction which others manage with ease often presents unexpected hurdles to such workers. This paper analyses tape-recorded workplace small talk collected in a range of New Zealand workplaces, including workplaces employing workers with intellectual disabilities. The topics, the distributional patterns, and the functions of small talk are described, and aspects of the management of small talk which may present problems to workers with intellectual disabilities are illustrated and discussed. Finally, some suggestions are provided concerning ways in which teachers and trainers may be able to assist workers acquire some of the basic sociolinguistic skills in small talk needed to operate effectively in their workplaces.
Handling Small Talk at Work: Challenges for workers with intellectual disabilities
Reprints and Corporate Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:
Academic Permissions
Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?
Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:
If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.
Related Research Data
Related research
People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.
Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.
Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.