IBC Sample MK

Which of the following best sums up Grice's (1975) conversational maxim of manner? (2)

"Be brief and orderly, and avoid ambiguity."

Which of the following statements is an example of hyperbole? (4)

"I promise you this is the most amazing cocktail you have ever drunk in your entire life."

Select the correct completion to the following statement. Every individual has their own personal way of speaking and writing, with certain identifiable features, which is called their ... (2)

... idiolect.

Select the correct completion to the following statement. Brown and Levinson's concept of negative face refers to ... (2)

... the desire for freedom of action and from imposition.

Jack wants to speak to his boss about a recent meeting that did not go as planned. He approaches the boss and says, "I wonder if I could possibly have a word with you. It'll only take a minute." Which two linguistic devices is Jack using in order to reduce the antagonistic effect of his request? (4)

A downtoner and an understater

Which of the following is NOT typically included in a stakeholder communication plan? (2)

A full list of shareholders

Which of the following statements best describes what we mean by saying that discourse has become naturalised? (2)

A new way of describing and performing a certain identity has become standard practice.

Smartphones have become so widespread that older cellphone models without internet or app functions are sometimes referred to as dumbphones. Which of the following is this neologism an example of? (4)

A retronym

Which of the following is NOT included in Copyblogger's list of "The 5 Things Every (Great) Marketing Story Needs"? (2)

A secret

Which of the following terms refers to the idea that someone in a position of power must be able to justify their use of that power? (2)

Accountability

Claire Underwood is the head of an international NGO dealing with environmental protection and water rights. Her team has proposed a local freshwater project in Africa that would require a total budget of 1.5 million USD. Claire therefore organises a fundraiser in order to make contact with potential investors. Which of Mintzberg's managerial roles does Claire play in this example? (4)

Liaison

Which of the following is NOT the name of a logical fallacy? (2)

Litotes

In the sentence "Five hundred employees were laid off last year", which of the following devices has been used to conceal agency? (2)

Passivisation

Which of the following is NOT given by Perloff (2008) as one of the five major ways in which the changing communications environment has affected attempts at persuasion? (2)

Persuasive messages no longer rely on rhetoric.

Which of the following statements about power is TRUE? (2)

Power can be exercised through coercion, but need not be.

Popkeys, a medium-sized catering firm, is facing falling profits, and motivation at all levels of the company's hierarchy is low. (4)

Restructuring the company to make production more efficient

As the head of HR at his company, Jasper is in charge of overseeing employee incentives. As a result, he is in a position to choose one of the company's staff as its "employee of the month". According to French and Raven's (1959) classification, which type of power does this give Jasper? (4)

Reward power

Which of the following is the technical name for the study of signs and how they make meaning? (2)

Semiotics

Spencer is to take charge of a subsidiary in a country which, according to Hofstede, scores high on power distance. On that basis, which of the following can she reasonably anticipate? (4)

That her new staff will accept her instructions without question.

Which of the following statements about English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) is TRUE? (2)

The concept of ELF places particular importance on the notion of communicative competence.

Which of the following would be a logical reason for a speaker to engage in code-switching into a standard variety? (2)

To portray themselves as well-educated

Which of the following statements best describes the concept of dog-whistling? (2)

Using certain 'code' words that the speaker knows will trigger a range of associations in the target audience

Which of the following statements adequately describes Osland and Bird's (2000) concept of 'cultural paradox'? (2)

Values imparted by culture can be overridden by other values.

Which of the following statements about identity is TRUE? (2)

We often define ourselves in relation and in contrast to others

According to Yule (2006), which of the following statements about human language is NOT TRUE? (2)

With the help of rules, words are combined into a fixed set of texts.

Jack and Jane are talking about one of their subordinates. Jack refers to him as "one of our staff", while Jane refers to him as "one of our team". Which of the following statements is true in the terms introduced by Ogden and Richards? (4)

Jack and Jane use different symbols to refer to the same referent.

__GAP1__ typically depends on the use of two words which exhibit __GAP2__, that is, they sound the same but mean different things. Which of the following pairs of words or expressions best fills the gaps in the above statement? (2)

GAP1: A pun; GAP2: homophony

By __GAP1__ we mean converting a message into a form that can be transmitted through a chosen __GAP2__. (2)

GAP1: encoding; GAP2: channel

Annika and Angelo are discussing the recent developments relating to Brexit. Annika has been talking for some time when Angelo suddenly says "Oh! Before I forget, have you booked the tickets for that new British film?" In technical term, what has Angelo done?(4)

He has signalled topic shift.

Which of the following statements about modes of communication is TRUE? (2)

In general, written language uses more complex, embedded sentences than spoken language.

_____ is the notion that individuals are not defined by membership of a single social group but in fact belong to several overlapping groups, especially if these groups are all disadvantaged (or occasionally advantaged) in some way. Which of the following best fills the gap in the definition above? (2)

Intersectionality

Which of the following 'ears' features in Schulz von Thun's Four-Sides model? (2)

Appeal ear

The English word lake, German See, Spanish lago and Russian озеро are all equally 'non-natural' representations of the thing they describe. Which of the following terms is used to describe this characteristic of human language? (2)

Arbitrariness

According to Whetten and Cameron (2011), what proportion of a typical manager's waking hours is spent on verbal communication? (2)

At least 80%

Which of the following is an example of a declarative sentence? (4)

Canada's economy is booming.

Language patterns that have developed over time are sometimes recorded in dictionaries and grammar books. Which of the following terms best describes the recording process? (2)

Codification

What is typically defined as the set of attitudes, values and standards of accepted behaviour that distinguishes a business organization, together with its accumulated history? (2)

Corporate culture

Which of the following is an example of communication management within an organization? (2)

Deciding to use Instagram as a marketing tool

Which of the following terms is used to describe resistance to identity assignment? (2)

Disidentification

One of the ways in which rhetorical appeal is created involves the speaker establishing their credibility as someone who is reliable and can be trusted. (2)

Ethos