How does the writer use language to deal with both pleasant and unpleasant events and how does the writer attempt to socially construct the image of the company they want?
Answer
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There are several incidents shared by the writer that is pleasant and unpleasant for the company. The writer has used the language effectively to discuss these events and maintain the positive tone of words in the message, the writer states the negative message first and then neutralizes the negative message with the positive actions that have been conducted and that has benefitted the bank (effective use of Semitic Thought Pattern) (Kaplan, 1966), for example, the writer states that 2016 was a difficult year and then neutralizes the negative sentence by stating that the bank has shown a growth of 4% even in the adverse situation. Another example can be drawn, the writer first started the huge loss of 7 billion Euros and stated that the loss is greater than 2015. This unpleasant incident is followed by positive outcomes such as the settlement of regulatory and legal actions that could impact the bank in the long term.
Another language strategy used by the writer is the use of idioms and metaphors (Zhang, 2011; Usunier, 2011) in the message to maintain a friendly tone in the entire message. The unpleasant event such as failing the stress test is neutralized by the writer by stating that this is primarily caused by external factors and the team is already on the right track to achieve the goals. Hence, the writer has effectively shared both pleasant and unpleasant incidents while keeping the entire message tone to be positive (Pilcher and Richards, 2016). The writer has repeatedly stated that despite many challenges and slow growth, the bank is on the right track in achieving the goal of becoming the best customer-focused bank.
The writer wants the image of the bank to be socially constructed (Bargiella-Chiappinni et al., 2013; Gergen & Gergen, 2004) as a bank that provides the best services and simplified banking. To support this, the writer has stated several achievements of the bank such as a discussion of the education program "Money Sense" which provides financial education to the young generation, another achievement shared by the writer is the fundraising effort, and the accelerators that support the entrepreneurs. The tone of the writer is positive and confident which reflects the image that the writer wants to construct for the bank socially.
Another tool of language used by the writer is an idiom, and metaphors to reduce the tension in the report and build a positive tone of message for the team. The use of language theories can also be seen here such as Saussure’s theory of structural linguistics where the use of words like "share", "shareholders" etc. is used which doesn't have a physical presence but is an abstract idea understood as used in the language frequently (Simpson, 2013). Hence, the strategy used by the writer to effectively use language to share the pleasant and unpleasant incidents and construct the image of the bank socially as the bank with the best customer-focused services is through neutralizing the tone of the message by introducing the unpleasant incident followed by positive news and the solutions to manage the negative incident (Rijit and Coppen, 2017).
