Language management and language work in a multilingual call center: An ethnographic case study

• Johanna Woydack ^[1]
  1. [1] Vienna University of Economics & Business, Àustria
• Localización: RIO: Revista Internacional de Organizaciones, ISSN-e 1886-4171, ISSN 2013-570X, Nº. 23, 2019, págs. 79-105
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
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• Resumen

  • Drawing on long-term ethnography and interviews, I investigate language work and language management in a London multilingual call center. Using long-term participant ethnography and interviews, I examine how language issues are managed day to day, specifically in three previously overlooked areas: i) how multilingual agents are recruited, ii) how agents are trained in language management, and iii) how their performance on the phone in multiple languages is evaluated and monitored. I re-examine the value of scripts, particularly in relation to knowledge management, and I challenge the idea that working language fluency on the phone is the principal skill required. Instead, I demonstrate that successful agents utilize a variety of skills learned with the help of scripts. I conclude that the term ‘interactive professional’ rather than ‘language worker’ better describes the skill set required by agents for this work