Alan Jones | Macquarie University

Alan Jones

Macquarie University, Linguistics, Department Member

Macquarie University, Linguistics, Department MemberThe Australian National University, Anthropology, College of Asia and the Pacific, Alumnus |

Melanesia (Anthropology)

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I'm currently working on the terminology of emotions, dispositions, customs and values in languages of Central Province, PNG, paticularly Mekeo, a language whose grammar I described for my PhD. I have three papers in the works, all drawing on the relevant lexicographic data and evidence of language in use. This leads me into a consideration of the role of 'gossip' in the sociopolitical dynamics of small scale pre-industrial societies.

I have just finished work on two chapters dealing with discourse and communication in the context or professional accounting practice. I focused in these papers on a) the role of communicative expertise in professional accounting practice and b) on the nature of critical thinking in this field.

I continue translating, analysing and comparing Mekeo, Kuni and Motu folktales and myths. Following certain schools of discourse theory, I link myth to ideology, both in small-scale preliterate societies and in our own 'developed' world. I am using Lacanian theory, especially the concept of fantasy, to throw light on the inner existential meanings of myths, qua fantasies, and on what they mean to/for the individual.

I am also very interested in everyday reasoning, especially accounts and explanations, and the ways in which these are constructed in different types of spoken interaction.

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Books

Generic Skills for Accounting: Competencies for Students and Graduates.

This book draws on a functional theory of language to justify, analyse and explicate the close in... more This book draws on a functional theory of language to justify, analyse and explicate the close integration of meaning with use, function with form, in the discourses of accounting practice. The book's approach to written texts is based on genre theory.Task design has been influenced by language teaching methodologies - this applies particularly to scaffolding exercises designed to activate accounting content knowledge in preparation for problem solving and written task completion.
The initiative on which the book is based is evaluated in the paper below-
Sin, Jones & Petocz (2007). 'Evaluating a Method of Integrating Generic Skills with Accounting Content, based on a Functional Theory of Meaning'.

Jones, A. 1998. Towards a Lexicogrammar of Mekeo: An Oceanic Language of Western Central Papua.

In this book the author identifies and distinguishes for the first time the four main dialects of... more In this book the author identifies and distinguishes for the first time the four main dialects of Mekeo: East Mekeo, North Mekeo, West Mekeo and Northwest Mekeo (also known as Kovio). He describes and contrasts the four dialects in terms of their phonology, morphology and syntax, pressing beyond the clause and sentence to examine discourse relations and some basic pragmatic operations. Throughout the author is alert to the functioning of Mekeo grammar in contexts of use, as defined by a very distinct culture. Mekeo is an Oceanic (i.e. Austronesian) language that is closely related to Motu and Hula and represent the westernmost reach of Austronesian languacultures on the south-east coast of Papua New Guinea and the furthest point reached in a presumed westward expansion along that coast.
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Papers

Why Are Logical Connectives Sometimes Detrimental to Coherence?

Appliable Linguistics

... Alan Jones 12.1 Introduction Applied linguists have long recognized that logical connectives ... more

21. Crossing the boundary between finance and law: The collaborative problematisation of professional learning in a postgraduate classroom

Handbook of Communication in Organisations and Professions, 2011

ABSTRACT The authors, an applied linguist and an academic lawyer, describe how they collaborative... more ABSTRACT The authors, an applied linguist and an academic lawyer, describe how they collaboratively problematise and co-develop conceptual learning materials for finance professionals enrolled in a postgraduate study-unit called Legal Risk in Finance. Activities are designed to function as “boundary objects” bridging the gap between two professional visions. These &quot;objects&quot; are intended to help the finance professionals engage for the first time with categories of meaning and discursive practices that are often represented in terms superficially similar to those of their own professional domain. The authors also document their own cross-disciplinary collaboration, which takes place in sites of engagement that together constitute a “back region” relative to the classroom&#39;s “front” (Goffman, 1959). In this &quot;second site&quot; the applied linguist qua discourse analyst identifies areas of conceptual difficulty and potential misunderstanding. There have been numerous studies of professional acculturation and socialisation, especially in the medical and legal domains; but as yet little in the realms of finance and finance law. Moreover, the classroom is rarely seen as the site of such processes. Yet for many postgraduate students that is precisely where they first confront the categories of a new professional domain. The role of applied linguists in tertiary curriculum development is another neglected research topic involving cross-boundary professional partnerships.

Achieving professional trustworthiness: communicative expertise and identity work in professional accounting practice

In this chapter we focus on accounting professionals as trustees and on their consciousness of th... more In this chapter we focus on accounting professionals as trustees and on their consciousness of their own trustworthiness as a fragile attribute and an interactional achievement. In extended turns taken from interview data,1 practitioners described challenges they had experienced as recipients of trust from various sources and the efforts they invest in being seen to be trustworthy. In a rapidly changing work environment accounting professionals are ‘trusted’ to add value to a firm’s bottom line; they are simultaneously ‘trusted’ to adhere to the high ethical standards of their profession while also complying with stringent government regulations. It emerges from participants’ self-reflective talk that a range of communicative functions, responsively and strategically implemented, are widely seen as the key to successful practice. They allow practitioners to cope with competing expectations and obligations while constructing and maintaining a trustworthy persona.2 These discursive ab...

Towards a lexicogrammar of Mekeo (an Austronesian language of west central Papua)

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