Leadership As Communicative Practice: the Discursive Construction of Leadership and Team Identity in a New Zealand Rugby Team
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Leadership as Communicative Practice: The discursive construction of leadership and team identity in a New Zealand rugby team by Nicholas Andrew Wilson A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Victoria University of Wellington 2011 ii Abstract In sports teams, the way in which leaders such as coaches and captains communicate with players is vital to the success of the team. However, despite extensive psychological and sociological research on sport, it has rarely been a site of linguistic research. Like many sports, rugby has many traditions and ideologies that influence the way in which teams form identities. This thesis explores the way in which leadership is enacted and group identity forged through communicative practice in a New Zealand rugby team. Using authentic interactions collected using an ethnographic methodology, an analysis is presented of how discourse strategies are negotiated within the team, establishing practices that signify membership of communities of practice (CofPs) and creating identities for individuals as leaders. Leadership discourse is itself viewed as a sociolinguistic practice and defines one of the CofPs within the team. Using the concepts of front and back-stage (Goffman 1959; Richards 2006) to describe different conceptual spaces in which interactions occur, I suggest that discourse in the rugby team is a spatialised practice; the performance of a particular style of leadership constructs the space in which it takes place as public or private, with each contributing to an effective leadership performance. The construction of leadership identity is analysed in terms of stance and indexicality, linking locally constructed identities and discourse strategies to macro identity categories and socio-cultural ideologies. One of the ways in which this is examined is through the role of ritual and formulaic language in the team, showing that while communicative practice is negotiated in the back stage, in the front stage its performance serves to construct team identity while aiming to motivate the players. Furthermore, the structural nature of the game of rugby (i.e. players’ positional requirements) is examined in relation to the different communicative strategies adopted by positionally segregated groups. It is suggested that these groups, although institutionally defined, create meaning for themselves as CofPs by negotiating a shared way of communicating in enacting their role in the team. In sum, this research uses CofP theory to examine how leaders emerge through their linguistic practices. Furthermore, it locates leadership as a spatialised practice and examines how leaders influence the discursive construction of group identity. Finally, the analysis also makes a valuable contribution to the field of sociolinguistic research on sport, a small yet growing area. iii iv Acknowledgements I am thankful for the support and guidance provided my two supervisors, Professor Janet Holmes and Dr Meredith Marra, whose mentoring and constant feedback on my writing has been absolutely crucial in steering my academic development. The speed at which they work coupled with a sometimes unnerving attention to detail has been a source of inspiration to the way in which I have approached my research. Thanks also to the supportive environment of LALS and the LALS thesis group in particular, who have provided moral support, in particular the various office mates who have all contributed in their own unique way to my PhD experience. Special thanks to Kieran for the being the “other sports linguist”, to Brian for always being one step ahead of me, and to Ewa for introducing me to multimodality. This thesis was completed with the aid of a Victoria University of Wellington Doctoral Assistantship, for which I am truly grateful. In addition I must thank the School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies for providing me with part-time employment, a necessity in PhD life which often goes under-reported. Thanks also to all the rugby people who participated in this research, without whom it literally would not have been possible. I could not have completed this thesis however, without the support of my wife Fiona and the welcome distractions from work provided by our son, Ronan. Thank you. v vi Contents List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................................... x List of Examples ................................................................................................................................................xi Transcription Conventions ........................................................................................................................ xii Chapter 1 Introduction........................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Why research language in sport? .......................................................................................................3 1.2 Why rugby? ...................................................................................................................................................5 1.3 The language of rugby .............................................................................................................................6 1.3.1 The coaching register ......................................................................................................................7 1.3.2 Player language ..................................................................................................................................9 1.4 Rugby in New Zealand.......................................................................................................................... 10 1.4.1 The place of club rugby in New Zealand ............................................................................. 11 1.5 Thesis structure....................................................................................................................................... 14 1.6 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2 Literature Review ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Identity ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 2.1.1 Stance and indexicality ................................................................................................................ 19 2.1.2 Ordered indexicalities .................................................................................................................. 20 2.1.3 Framing ............................................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.4 Drama and the metaphor of stage .......................................................................................... 23 2.2 Leadership ................................................................................................................................................. 25 2.3 Communities of Practice ..................................................................................................................... 30 2.4 Research questions ................................................................................................................................ 37 2.5 Interactional Sociolinguistics as a methodological framework ....................................... 37 2.6 Linguistic Anthropology and Linguistic Ethnography .......................................................... 40 2.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................................... 43 vii Chapter 3 Methodology.................................................................................................................................... 45 3.1 The Role of ethnography ..................................................................................................................... 45 3.2 Research design....................................................................................................................................... 47 3.2.1 Pilot study .......................................................................................................................................... 47 3.2.2 Constructing my role as an ethnographer.......................................................................... 47 3.2.3 Gaining access .................................................................................................................................. 50 3.2.4 Initial observations and interviews ...................................................................................... 51 3.3 Recording ................................................................................................................................................... 53 3.3.1 Ethics .................................................................................................................................................... 53 3.3.2 Recording equipment ..................................................................................................................