Two Sides of the Same Coin: Conceptualizing Dominant Group Theory in the Context of Co-Cultural Theory

Of Changing Needs and Mismatched Expectations: Teaching Business Communication in Indian Business Schools

“…Conversely, participants who attempted to converge to the instructors’ styles, i.e., to the norms of Standard English, would be considered as more amenable to course correction, more competent and receptive to learning. In keeping with this, the instructors’ WhatsApp status message (as stated earlier), was a reassertion of the boundaries of linguistic acceptability, a communication approach that rationalised existing values through ‘aggressive reinforcement’ (Razzante & Orbe, 2018, p. 363), and attempted to maintain the status quo. It was in the Business Communication class that they could ask their students to ‘sanitise’ and ‘standardise’ their sentence structures in accordance with established norms, since only in the context of the classroom did they have the authority and autonomy to set the rules of acceptability.…”

“…Co-Cultural Theory focuses on the way in which co-cultural groups, i.e., groups that have been historically marginalised, interact with dominant groups that have been historically privileged (Orbe & Roberts, 2012). Using concepts similar to that of Co-Cultural Theory, Dominant Group Theory (Razzante & Orbe, 2018) throws light on sociocultural power dynamics in communication contexts. Issues of dominance and control also undergird the Structuration Theory of Giddens (1979, 1984), wherein he exposits on the power that social systems and structures confer on dominant groups in society by providing them access to allocative and authoritative resources.…”

“…Nonetheless, it is possible for dominant groups to use power productively (Allen, 2014; De Turk, 2011; Foucault, 1979), and even be ‘interpellated as allies’ of co-cultural group members (De Turk, 2011, as cited in Razzante & Orbe, 2018). That is, power and privilege may be deployed by dominant groups to create a level playing field and establish greater sociocultural equality.…”

“…That is, power and privilege may be deployed by dominant groups to create a level playing field and establish greater sociocultural equality. Razzante and Orbe (2018) indicate that the adoption of an assertive dismantling communication approach enables dominant group members to facilitate change in society. Notably, this can be undertaken mainly by people who have self-assurance and our comfortable with their identities (Razzante & Orbe, 2018).…”

“…Employing a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, it researches the importance of inclusiveness in educational contexts, and attempts to demonstrate how classroom interactions are the site for interplay of multiple social and cultural forces. The purpose is to understand the changing patterns of English usage in the business school context primarily through theoretical lenses from Communication Studies literature and Sociology, namely, Co-Cultural Theory–Dominant Group Theory (Orbe, 1998; Razzante & Orbe, 2018), Communication Accommodation Theory (Gallois et al, 2018), Speech Codes Theory (Katriel & Philipsen, 1981; Philipsen, 1976) and Structuration Theory (Giddens, 1979, 1984). The study questions the overemphasis on correct usage and English grammar in a Business Communication class, and highlights the mismatch between the expectations of the instructors and those of young management students.…”