‘Building rapport’ with customers across the world: The global diffusion of a call centre speech style1

This paper identifies a particular ‘rapport‐building’ speech style prescribed to call centre workers in four countries – Denmark, Britain, Hong Kong and the Philippines – irrespective of the language being spoken in the service interaction. It then compares Danish and British call centre workers’ compliance with the prescribed speech style and finds that Danish workers adhere significantly less to it than their British counterparts. It is suggested that this is attributable to the predominance of different politeness norms in the two cultures. The paper then discusses the indexicality of the prescribed speech style and argues that it is more commercially than culturally marked, despite the American origin of call centres. Overall, the paper draws attention to inadequacies in the paradigm focusing on the global spread of English, while lending support to recent theoretical suggestions to focus instead on how practices and styles are exported globally and potentially independently of language. Denne artikel identificerer en særlig ‘relationsskabende’ samtalestil som foreskrives til callcentermedarbejdere i fire lande – Danmark, Storbritannien, Hong Kong og Filippinerne – uafhængigt af hvilket sprog der benyttes i serviceinteraktionen. Herefter bliver danske og engelske callcentermedarbejderes brug af den foreskrevne samtalestil sammenlignet, og det vises at danske medarbejdere gør signifikant mindre brug af den end deres britiske modparter. Det foreslås at dette skyldes at der råder forskellige høflighedsnormer i de to kulturer. Artiklen diskuterer derefter indeksikaliteten af den foreskrevne samtalestil, og argumenterer for at den i højere grad er kommercielt end kulturelt kodet, på trods af callcentres amerikanske oprindelse. I sin helhed gør artiklen opmærksom på utilstrækkeligheder i det paradigme der fokuserer på hvordan engelsk breder sig globalt, mens den underbygger nylige teoretiske forslag om i stedet at fokusere på hvordan praksisser og stile eksporteres globalt og potentielt set uafhængigt af sprog.     

No Longer “One of the Boys”: Negotiations with Motherhood,as Prospect or Reality,among Women in Engineering*

La maternité est généralement considérée comme constituant un tournant dans la carrière des femmes professionnelles, particulièrement chez celles qui occupent des emplois à prédominance masculine. S'inspirant de la documentation dans le domaine des femmes et du travail non traditionnel, l'auteure de cet article tente d'expliquer la signification critique de la maternité, antieipée ou réelle, pour les femmes travaillant dans le domaine de l'ingénierie. Elle va au‐delà des arguments plus conventionnels sur l'équilibre travail‐famille en suggérant que les femmes entreprennent une carrière en génie non en tant que femmes, mais conceptuellement comme des hommes – un statut qu'elles peuvent trouver difficile à conserver en tant que mères. Le défi pour celles qui deviennent effectivement mères est alors de gérer la tension découlant de l'obligation d'équilibrer deux identités potentiellement incompatibles – celle de«mère» et celle d'« ingénieure ». Cette conception est étudiée empiriquement au moyen de données d'interviews de 37 femmes formées comme ingénieures. Motherhood is widely considered to be a watershed in the careers of professional women, particularly those working in male‐dominated occupations. Building on the literature in the field of women and non‐traditional work, this paper seeks to account for the critical significance of motherhood, either anticipated or actual, for women in engineering. The paper moves beyond more conventional work‐family balance arguments in suggesting that women enter engineering not as women, but conceptually as men–a status that, as mothers, they may find difficult to maintain. The challenge for those who do become mothers, then, is to manage the tension of balancing two potentially incongruous identities–“mother” and “engineer.” This view is explored empirically through interview data from 37 women trained as engineers.     

Feedback in a multiethnic classroom discussion: a case study

This article focuses on teaching about and for cultural diversity. More specifically, we look at the manner in which different types of teacher feedback either support or hinder student interaction and student learning. We identified seven types of feedback that were used in classroom discussions with 14–15-year-old students. The discussions and the feedback in these discussions provide insight into teaching about cultural diversity and also the impact of specific content that is focused on a sensitive topic. In this case, content of discussions related to a homework assignment about fear in different contexts.

Artikeln berör undervisning för och om kulturell mångfald. Mer specifikt studerar vi vilka typer av feedback som förekommer i en klassrumsdiskussion mellan elever i årskurs 8 och 9 och vad de innebär för elevers lärande. Vi identifierade sju typer av feedback. Sex av dem stödde elevernas lärande medan en av dem motverkade det som undervisningen syftade till. Diskussionen och den feedback som gavs av läraren under lektionerna bidrar med insikt om undervisning om kulturell mångfald, liksom om den inverkan ett särskilt innehåll kan ha. I det här fallet var innehållet i diskussionen relaterat till en läxuppgift om rädsla i olika kontexter.     

Legitimizing Security in the Ivory Tower: Canadian University Corporate Security Services’ Public Quest for Legitimacy

This article examines how university corporate security (UCS) services engage in legitimation work in their attempts to make their university communities (i.e., faculty, staff, students) and political masters (i.e., university administrators, boards of governors, senators) believe that they are honest, trustworthy, and caring and have authority that should be deferred to. This is accomplished through the analysis of interview and observational data collected as part of a research project exploring UCS services at five Canadian universities and an examination of how UCS services at 14 Canadian universities communicate using the social media service Twitter. These UCS services were found to primarily use Twitter for the purposes of soliciting or requesting information and for networking. In communicating through Twitter, UCS services engage in public legitimation work in which they make claims about and attempt to demonstrate their expertise, authority, and accountability. This article argues that both UCS services’ particular legitimacy problem (i.e., their possession of both private and public attributes) and the interactive nature of public legitimation work create tensions that may serve to disrupt UCS services’ ability to attain legitimacy. Cet article examine la manière dont les services de sécurité d'entreprise à l'université (SEU) s'engagent à légitimer leurs tentatives de persuader leurs communautés universitaires (c'est‐à‐dire le corps professoral, le personnel et les étudiants) ainsi que la haute administration (c'est‐à‐dire les administrateurs de l'université, le conseil des gouverneurs et les sénateurs) qu'ils sont honnêtes, attentifs, dignes de confiance, et qu'ils possèdent un niveau d'autorité auquel quiconque devrait se référer. Ceci sera accompli en analysant un corpus d'entrevues et d'observations dans le cadre d'un projet de recherche examinant les services de type SEU dans cinq universités canadiennes, ainsi qu'une étude sur la manière dont les services de SEU dans quatorze universités canadiennes gèrent leurs communications sur le réseau de médias sociaux Twitter. Il a été établi que ces services de SEU utilisent principalement Twitter pour la sollicitation ou la demande d'informations, et pour le réseautage. En communiquant par Twitter, les services de SEU s'engagent dans un processus de légitimation par lequel ils revendiquent et tentent de démontrer leur expertise, autorité, transparence et responsabilité. Cet article propose l'argument suivant: la question de la légitimité particulière des services de SEU (c'est‐à‐dire leur possession d'attributs à la fois privés et publics) combinée avec la nature interactive du processus de légitimation publique crée des tensions qui peuvent en fin de compte perturber la capacité des services de SEU à atteindre réellement cette légitimité.     

Signs of child maltreatment. The extent and nature of referrals to Swedish child welfare agencies Barnavårdsanmälningar i Sverige: omfattning,källor och problembilder

This article addresses an area of Swedish child welfare work that has not previously been researched, i.e. the prevalence and nature of referrals to Swedish child welfare agencies. Four issues are addressed in the article: (1) the number of referrals to Swedish child welfare agencies; (2) case workers’ workload; (3) report sources; and (4) conditions reported.

The main findings are the following. The majority of referrals concern adolescents, which indicates that addressing youth problems—such as delinquency—is a substantial part of Swedish child welfare work. In the younger age group, it seems that the referral rate in Sweden occupies a medium position in an international context. The level of personnel resources designated to process these referrals is remarkable high, indicating that the Swedish child welfare system operates differently from the system in, for example, the USA. Mandated reporters submit the majority of the referrals, which holds particularly for the adolescent group. Despite relatively high referral rates in Sweden, reported conditions are markedly vague and rarely concern the abuse and neglect dimension. Results are discussed with particular attention to the Swedish child welfare context and the concept of child maltreatment.

Föreliggande artikel behandlar ett svagt utforskat område inom svensk barnavård, nämligen omfattningen av och egenskaper hos anmälningar till socialtjänsten där barn misstänks fara illa. Fyra frågeställningar avhandlas: (1) anmälningsfrekvens; (2) socialarbetares arbetsbelastning; (3) vilka som anmäler, samt; (4) vilka typ av problem som anmäls.

Artikeln presenterar följande huvudsakliga resultat. För det första rör majoriteten av anmälningar ungdomar. Detta tyder på att tyngdpunkten för svensk barnavård skiljer sig markant från flera andra länder. För det andra befinner sig prevalensen av anmälningar rörande yngre barn i ett mellanskikt vid en internationell jämförelse. För det tredje förefaller svensk barnavård i ett internationellt perspektiv ha markant större personalresurser avdelade för arbetet med de inkomna anmälningarna. Detta tyder på att arbetssätten i svensk barnavård skiljer sig åt i jämförelse med till exempel USA. För det fjärde framkommer att majoriteten av anmälningarna görs av aktörer som omfattas av anmälningsplikt. För det femte är de förhållanden som anmäls—trots en relativt hög prevalens av anmälningar i Sverige—tämligen vaga och rör i låg utsträckning olika typer av misshandel samt vanvård. Resultaten diskuteras med särskilt tonvikt på såväl specifika egenskaper i svensk barnavård som det—i anglosaxisk forskning och praktik—centrala begreppet ‘child maltreatment’.     

Student attitudes towards diversity in Sweden

The aim of the research reported in this paper was to study and analyse student attitudes towards ethnic diversity and their expectations regarding the school in creating positive attitudes. The results show that the majority of the students embrace a positive attitude towards multicultural society. However, this attitude varies when the variables of gender and tracking level are examined. Most students support a strong stand for taking an active approach against racism in school. There is an undertone of an appeal to teachers to remove flyers and other signs of discrimination and racism. Students with a negative or monocultural attitude need teachers who can act as active role models in creating a multicultural attitude.

Den forskning som rapporteras i föreliggande artikel syftade till att studera och analysera elevers attityder till etniska relationer samt deras förväntningar på skolans roll med avseende på skapandet av positiva attityder. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av eleverna har en positiv inställning till det multikulturella samhället. Denna attityd varierar emellertid mellan olika grupper beroende på kön och studieinriktning. Majoriteten tar stark ställning för en aktiv hållning mot rasism från skolan. Det finns en underton av vädjan till lärarna att hjälpa till att få bort flygblad och andra tecken på diskriminering och rasism. Elever som har en negativ eller monokulturell attityd behöver lärare som kan vara aktiva förebilder för i skapandet av en multikulturell attityd.     

Lexical change and language contact: Faetar in Italy and Canada

I examine patterns of lexical variation in the homeland varieties of Faetar and Cellese, endangered Francoprovençal dialects spoken in two villages in southern Italy, and in Toronto, one of their largest émigré communities. While lexical change due to borrowing has been in progress for some time in Faetar and Cellese, cross‐generational and diatopic comparisons within a sample of 80 speakers surprisingly indicate that the lexicon is currently quite stable. The lack of systematic patterns of differentiation across age, sex, social class, and regional groups indicates that diachronic lexical variation may not be reflected synchronically in the same ways as the structural variables that form the majority of quantitative sociolinguistic investigation. This suggests the need for further comparisons across types of variables, while maintaining consistent methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Esamino gli schemi di variazione del lessico nella varietà di faetar e cellese, dialetti francoprovenzali in via di estinzione parlati in due paesi dell’Italia meridionale e a Toronto, dove risiede una delle più grande comunità emigrate. Se da un lato, vi sono stati per un po’ di tempo mutamenti lessicali dovuti ai prestiti, dall’altro, i confronti inter‐generazionali e diatopici in un campione di 80 locutori suggeriscono che il lessico del faetano è attualmente abbastanza stabile. La mancanza di modelli sistematici di differenziazione attraverso l’età, il sesso, la classe sociale ed i gruppi regionali indicano che la variazione del lessico diacronica non possa essere riflessa in sincronismo negli stessi sensi delle variabili strutturali che formano la maggior parte di ricerca sociolinguistica quantitativa. Suggerisco l’esigenza di ulteriori confronti attraverso i tipi di variabili, coi metodi costanti di raccolta di dati, di analisi e di interpretazione. [Italian] J’ésamene lò sestème de variaziun de le parole pe faetar e cegliaye, dialèt francpruvenzale che i stunt pe muriye e ché se parlunt ancore a dò paiye de l’Italye méridionale e a Toronte, addou a y at une de le cumunetta mé rose a l’èstre. Si de na pare, de le parole faetare e cegliayse i stunt cangian da bunariel de tén pe toche i venunt cangia tò parole d’ate lén e dialèt de n’ata banne, lu cunfrunt diatopeche e de defferént generaziun ghyòcche un grup de 80 crestian ché i parlunt faetar o cegliaye i proue ché le parole de lu faetar e de lu cegliaye òre nun tan i cangiunt. La mancanze de modèl prècise pe fa destenziun a second de la yettà, de si se tratte de muén o fén, de la classa sociale e de lò grup de crestian de Faite e de Toronte, i demostre ché lu cangemmén diacroneche de le parole i puot pa étre refletti sincronecammén a la stéssa maniére de le variable strutturale ché i furmunt la para mé rose de la recérca sociolinguisteche quantetative. Su ò vint a dire chéò abbesugne fare mé de cunfrunt tra lò tipe de variable, tò lò stésse sestème pe recchitre lò date, pe fare le analese e l’enterpretaziun. [Cellese. A recording of this Cellese abstract is available at http://projects.chass.utoronto.ca/ngn/sounds/abstract_Arcangelo.wav ] ¹     

The local political economy of languages in a Sámi tourism destination: Authenticity and mobility in the labelling of souvenirs1

In this article we use ethnographic and discourse analytic approaches to examine how the labelling of tourist souvenirs affects, and is in turn affected by, the local political economy of language of a tourist destination, which is also a minority language space. We begin by arguing for the importance of our particular focus of study, souvenir labels, in the process of global and local tourism, and consequently as evidence of the interplay of languages, politics and economics. We then consider the distinctive features of the local political economy of language in our particular case study, the multilingual Sámi village of Inari in Northern Finland. In a related discussion, we describe how Inari functions as a site of experiential cultural tourism, and how the purchase of souvenirs is part of the tourist experience. We then go on to describe a number of practices that we have observed in the choice and use of linguistic and visual resources for the labelling of souvenirs in Inari, the delicate balancing act that takes place in these practices between authenticity and mobility, and how this reflects and is reflected in the local political economy of language. Tutkimme tässä artikkelissa etnografiaa ja diskurssianalyysiä hyödyntäen miten matkamuistot ja niiden kuvaukset nimilapuissa rakentuvat kielten paikallisessa poliittisessa ja taloudellisessa konteksteissa samalla niitä rakentaen. Tarkasteltavana oleva turistikohde on alkuperäisenä saamelaiskylänä markkinoitu Inari, joka sijaitsee uhanalaisten saamenkielten kotiseutualueella Pohjois‐Suomessa. Aluksi kuvaamme matkamuistojen tarkastelun kiinnostavuutta kielten, politiikan ja talouden tutkimuksen risteymässä. Seuraavaksi tarkastelemme Inarin kieliympäristöä ja sen nivoutumista paikalliseen poliittiseen talouteen. Tämän jälkeen kuvaamme Inarissa myynnissä olevien matkamuistojen ja niiden nimilapuissa tehtyjä kielellisiä ja visuaalisia valintoja. Matkamuistojen multimodaalisen diskurssin analyysimme kuvaa, miten niihin liittyvät käytänteet tasapainottelevat autenttisuuden ja liikkuvuuden rakentamisen välillä samalla kun ne nivoutuvat paikalliseen kielten poliittiseen talouteen. [Finnish] Mii dutkat dán artihkkalis, mo mátkemuittut ja daid govvideapmi gilkoriin ?addet gielaid báikkála? politihkala? ja ekonomala? konteavsttas nu, ahte dat seammás huksejit daid. Geavahit dutkanvuohkin etnografiija ja diskursaanalysa. Geah?adit turisttaid mátkemeari Anára, mii márkanastojuvvo originála sápmela? gilá?in. Anár lea gilli áitojuvvon sámegielaid ruovttuguovllus Davvi‐Suomas. Álggos mii govvidit, man bero?tahtti mátkemuittuid geah?adeapmi lea gielaid, politihka ja ekonomiija gaskkas. ?uovvova??an mii geah?adit Anára giellabirrasa ja dan, mo dat ?atnasa báikkála? politihkala? ekonomiijai. Dán ma??á mii govvidit, makkár gielala? ja visuálala? válljemat leat dahkkon dain mátkemuittuin ja daid gilkoriin, mat leat vuovdinláhkai Anáris. Min analysa mátkemuittuid multimodálala? diskurssas govvida, mo vierut, mat laktásit mátkemuittuide, dássádallet autentala?vuo?a ja lihkadeami huksema gaskkas seammás go dat ?atnasit gielaid báikkála? politihkala? ekonomiijai. [Northern Sámi]     

Dialect enregisterment in performance1

This paper explores sociolinguistic enregisterment in two comedy sketches performed by a team of radio DJs. I show that dialect enregisterment works differently in these high performances than in other genres. Unlike the cultural artifacts that have been the focus of previous work, this sort of broadcast comedic performance creates multiple possibilities for the enregisterment of unexpected linguistic forms. Linking locally‐occurring forms to multiple models of speech, behavior, and action, performances like these expand the set of potential meanings of particular forms by linking them with new or additional registers, creating semiotic alignments between different social identities that can be indexed by the same forms. Thus, in addition to describing what an idealized ‘culturally literate’ audience member needs to know in order to understand the performance, it may also repay our effort to ask how actual hearers understand what is going on. Dieser Artikel untersucht die Entstehung von soziolinguistischen Registern in zwei von einem Radio DJ Team aufgeführten Sketchen. Hierbei wird gezeigt, dass sich ‘dialect enregisterment’ in künstlerischen Darbietungen grundlegend von der Herausbildung dialektaler Register in anderen Genres unterscheidet. Im Gegensatz zu in früheren Studien behandelten Kulturprodukten eröffnet die vorliegende Art von Rundfunk‐Sketch mehrere Möglichkeiten für den Einbezug unerwarteter linguistischer Formen in den Prozess des ‘dialect enregisterment’. Da sie lokal auftretende Formen mit multiplen Sprach‐, Verhaltens‐ und Aktionsmustern verbinden, erlauben solche künstlerischen Darbietungen eine Ausweitung des Bedeutungspotenzials spezifischer Formen, indem sie diese mit neuen oder zusätzlichen Registern verknüpfen und damit aus semiotischer Sicht verschiedene soziale Identitäten insofern miteinander verschmelzen, als diese durch dieselbe Form angezeigt werden. Neben der Beschreibung des für das Verständnis der Sketche notwendigen kulturellen Wissens durch einen idealisierten, gebildeten Zuhörer lohnt es daher auch zu fragen, wie andere Hörer die Darbietung verstehen könnten. [German]     

Perceptual dialectology in northern England: Accent recognition,geographical proximity and cultural prominence

Work in perceptual dialectology has argued that listeners’ successful identification of accent areas is facilitated by their geographical proximity to a particular region. Montgomery ( 2007 , 2012 ) argues that this proximity effect is mediated by a ‘cultural prominence’ effect, where localities of high cultural salience seem less distant. We explore these claims using an online survey in which listeners were asked to identify the regional origin of speakers of five accents from England's ‘linguistic north’ (Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe, Stoke‐on‐Trent and Macclesfield) from audio clips of four different sentences. We show that the proximity and cultural prominence effects are partially supported, and that the proximity effect is driven by listeners’ likely contact with/experience of the dialect in question. We also show that listeners react differently to different sentences in the same accent. While some sentences are identified correctly very often, others, even for culturally prominent locations with distinctive accents (i.e. Liverpool), are hardly ever correctly identified. We connect this to the geographical distribution of the linguistic features in the clips, and we argue that the presence, absence and range of individual linguistic features should be systematically considered in all perceptual dialectology work which uses audio stimuli.     

Ethics and social media: Implications for sociolinguistics in the networked public1

As a popular agora for writing identity into being, the networked public of social media sites presents exciting and unprecedented possibilities for sociolinguistic research. At the same time, these sites raise a wealth of unfamiliar methodological and ethical issues, and debate concerning appropriate ethical measures for research targeting online discourse communities is emergent. One of the most pressing debates concerns the visibility of online interaction (i.e. its locus between the public and private ends of the continuum). Although they exist freely online, networked publics are not public forums. They are governed by both personal and communal norms, and they are networked. This combination of factors gives rise to unique ethical challenges, particularly in the case of Facebook, an accessible and data‐rich, yet problematic, research site. This paper reviews the ethical difficulties presented by Facebook, and presents a framework for ethnographic sociolinguistic research that uses this site as a source of data. En tant qu’espace public privilégié pour la création de l’identitéà travers l’écriture, le public ?réseauté? (interconnecté) des sites des médias sociaux présente des possibilités prometteuses et sans précédent pour la recherché en sociolinguistique. Cependant, ces sites soulèvent de nombreuses questions méthodologiques et éthiques qui sont nouvelles, d’où l’émergence de discussions portant sur les mesures éthiques appropriées pour la recherche qui vise les communautés discursives en ligne. Un des débats concerne la visibilité de l’interaction en ligne (c.‐à‐d. sa place entre les extrémités privée et publique du continuum). Bien qu’ils existent de façon libre en ligne, les réseaux publics ne sont pas des forums publics. Ils sont gouvernés à la fois par des normes personnelles et communautaires, et ils sont interconnectés. Cette combinaison de facteurs donne naissance à des défis éthiques uniques, en particulier dans le cas de Facebook, un site de recherche accessible et riche en données, mais problématique. Cet article passe en revue les difficultés éthiques que Facebook présente, et offre un cadre de travail pour la recherche sociolinguistique ethnographique utilisant ce site comme source de données. [French]