Questions about Heller's article

[Linnea Micciulla]

Hi Hala,

Yep, I would agree with your assessment - very well put!

It is ironic that non-native speakers with "prestige" dialects would be
considered better candidates for bilingual jobs than native speakers
with non-prestige dialects.  It may be a question of class/education as
well; it seems that people who use the call centers prefer to speak with
someone who they perceive to be of their class -  they would rather
speak with a non-native speaker who appears to be of their class than a
native speaker who appears to be lower class.  That was one of the more
interesting (although tangential) points of the article for me.  I find
it interesting to see the judgments people make about accents different
than their own - and the parallel process in which people adjust their
speech to match their interlocutors.  I imagine that there would be a
strong correlation between power differentials and the change in speech
by interlocutors.

You had mentioned that Heller was one of your favorite authors - are
there any other papers of hers that you have read and would recommend?

Good to hear from you!!
Linnea


Hala Jawlakh wrote:

>hi,
>
>Ok, here is my impression of what's going on, if anyof you
>think some of this stuff is inacurate, or disagree with me,
>pls. e-mail me.
>
>Heller usually works w/ English/French bilingualism since she
>is in Canada.
>
>Like every regional variety, French in Canada has a more
>formal and a less formal form. So, what the francophone
>(Quebecois) kids learn at school is a standardized (more
>formal/ High) version of the variety that they speak on the
>street with their peers.
>
>The town that Hellerstudies with regards the phone call
>centers is Bilingual. An asset in a world that sells
>bilingualism.
>
>However, The variety of french that that town speaks is a
>stigmatized one. Callers from Quebec complain about the "bad"
>(ie: different) French that these people use.
>
>But, on the other hand there are schools (bilingual programs)
>that teach French to Anglophone speakers. And there is a move
>in the Fr. community to consider even 2nd language learners
>of Fr. as bilingual. (c.f.the definitions of francophone in
>the article targetted at raising money for community
>programs). The English kid who learns Fr. in an immersion or
>some other bilingual program, will have an advantage over hte
>Fr. kid who learns fr. at home and on the street. He only
>learns the Standard, Educated, Formal variety and not the
>nonstandared one that is stigmatized.  Which means that
>conceivably, at one point, firms might perfer to hire an
>Englophone who learned french at school to do these jobs.
>
>This theory works because in Canada, unlike the US, they have
>the good bilingual programs. Their programs are intended to
>teach teh other language, as opposed to the bilingual
>programs in the US that are mostly replacive. They want to
>make the studnet forget the other language and use English
>instead.
>
>One problem with saying that Anglophone bilinguals will
>replace the fracophone ones is that regardless who's doing
>this, we are talking about dead end jobs that people who are
>not so highly trained are taking. For an anglophone speaker
>to speak good french, they need a lot of training. (same
>fora  francophone to speak good English). They are not paid
>so well, so, someone with a lot of training will look for
>another job. Hence these dead end jobs go to this town which
>is uniquely bilingual.
>
>I hope this is not a lot of crazy ramblings.
>
>
>---- Original message ----
>
>
>>Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 17:47:06 -0400
>>From: Noriko Akimoto Sugimori <sugimori at BU.EDU>
>>Subject: Questions about Heller's article
>>To: CDA-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>>
>>Dear all:
>>
>>The following are some discussion questions about Heller
>>
>>
>(2003).
>
>
>>1. Have you spoken with operators at call centers who speak
>>
>>
>languages
>
>
>>other than English? Have you found tendencies similar to
>>
>>
>what Heller found
>
>
>>about French/English bilingual voice operators? Heller
>>
>>
>wrote, "While they
>
>
>>[bilingual voice operators] say that monolingual
>>
>>
>francophones, especially
>
>
>>those from Quebec, complain about their French, we noted a
>>
>>
>tendency to
>
>
>>standardize their performance when on the lines" (p.484). Do
>>
>>
>you have any
>
>
>>complaints about the language use of the operators? If so,
>>
>>
>in what ways?
>
>
>>How can concepts, such as "authenticity" and "legitimation,"
>>
>>
>explain your
>
>
>>complaints?
>>
>>2. Heller wrote," Whether students coming out of the
>>
>>
>region's immersion
>
>
>>schools can compete for the area's bilingual jobs, indeed
>>
>>
>whether or not
>
>
>>they want to, given the limited career opportunities
>>
>>
>attached to them,
>
>
>>remians to be seen" (p.484). What is your prediction for the
>>
>>
>future
>
>
>>direction?
>>
>>
>>If you have some questions or discussion topics on Heller's
>>
>>
>article,
>
>
>>please feel free to post them. Thank you.
>>
>>Sincerely,
>>
>>Noriko Sugimori
>>
>>
>* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
>
>Hala Jawlakh
>University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
>
>
>
>