TY - JOUR AU - Elmes, David PY - 2018/09/04 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - COACH-PLAYER COMMUNICATIONS: AN ANALYSIS OF TOP-LEVEL COACHING DISCOURSE AT A SHORT-TERM ICE HOCKEY CAMP JF - Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews JA - HSSR VL - 6 IS - 2 SE - Education & Assessment DO - 10.18510/hssr.2018.626 UR - https://mgesjournals.com/hssr/article/view/hssr.2018.626 SP - 44-51 AB - <p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> This study sought to analyze the instructional discourse of top-level coaches to identify the specific language content of coaching discourse in practice.</p><p><strong>Methodology:</strong> The study analyzed the recorded discourse of four coaches of the West Coast Hockey Prep Camp in Port Alberni, BC, Canada, between 2012 and 2016. Transcriptions of on-ice instructions were analyzed using Provalis QDA Miner v5.0.1 and Provalis WordStat v7.1.6 software to determine word-type and frequency.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Main findings</strong>: The processed corpus of 21,376 words produced 1,022 quantifiable words which were classified into one or more of the categories of single-category language (i.e. General (G), General Slang (GSl), Sports Specific (SS), and Sports General (SG)), or the eight additional multi-category sub-categories (i.e. G/GSl, G/SS, G/SG, SS/SG, GSl/SG, G/SS/SG, G/GSl/SG, and GSl/SS/SG).&nbsp; Analyses revealed that single-category vocabulary (i.e. G, GSl, SS, and SG) made up 75.2% of the categorized language, with SS (4.6%) and SG (11.1%) making up 15.7% of the total.</p><p><strong>Applications:</strong> An understanding of the linguistic framework of instructional language in short-term training camps allows athletes to invest greater focus in their athletic performance in camp.&nbsp; The results offer athletes contextual reference for preparatory language study and authentic linguistic insight for the counter of potential target language anxiety.</p><p><strong>Novelty/Originality:</strong> Results indicate that top-level coaches relied significantly less on sports-specific word-type to facilitate their instruction and suggest that a general comprehension of English can provide a strong foundation for understanding top-level coaching discourse.&nbsp; This provides significant insight for athletes harboring concerns for English proficiency and coach-player miscommunication.</p> ER -