Small Talk at Work: Potential Problems for Workers With an Intellectual Disability

It is commonly assumed that communication in the workplace is primarily transactional talk, that is, task-oriented interaction focusing on information exchange. The research of the Wellington Language in the Workplace Project indicates, however, that workplace interaction is unlikely to proceed smoothly without the crucial small talk that oils the social wheels. Although competent native speakers have been socialized over many years to "do" small talk appropriately at work, successfully engaging in small talk in different work contexts presents serious challenges for some workplace novitiates. This article explores some of the problems presented by small talk for workers with intellectual disabilities. The way such workers negotiate workplace interactions provides valuable insights into the taken-for-granted assumptions that underlie much of our day-to-day interaction at work. The analysis examines 2 distinct aspects of small talk at work, namely the way small talk is distributed and the complex functions of small talk in workplace interaction.