<div> ENGLISH IN THE CALL CENTRES OF PAKISTAN</div> <div>English is endowed with linguistic capital everywhere in Pakistan but not as much as in the transnational call centres of this country. Moreover, whereas in other jobs it is writing which is valued, in the call centres speaking skills have the highest marketability. Two types of accents are learned, the British and the American after a course specifically designed to teach them. Although this is called 'neutralization' of accent, it is actually a change of accent to hide one's foreign identity. Names too are changed for the same reason so that the young people working in these centres have Anglo-Saxon names generally in an abbreviated form. The study is carried out in the call centres of Islamabad though some call centres in Rawalpindi have also been studied. Questionnaires were filled out by the workers
in the centres on the spot; managers and workers were interviewed and the researcher also observed the taking and making of calls as well as the way English is taught in the call centres.</div> <div>TARIQ RAHMAN Ph.D</div> <div>Distinguished Professor</div> <div>Quaid-i-Azam University</div> <div>Islamabad</div> <div>Pakistan.</div> <div>Dear Professor King,</div> <div>My abstract is attached. The articlel will reach you before the deadline.</div> <div>Tariq Rahman<BR><BR><B><I>Kendall King <akk25@georgetown.edu></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">CALL FOR PAPERS: LANGUAGE POLICY SPECIAL ISSUE</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Call centers: Language policy and language ideology in action</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">The journal
Language Policy (edited by Elana Shohamy and Kendall</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">King) welcomes original research papers for an upcoming special issue</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">of the journal on language policy, ideology, and interaction in call</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">centers around the world. As international business, out-sourcing,</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">and globalization have intensified in recent years, call centers have</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">emerged as a major and dynamic sites of regulated talk. This special</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">issue of Language Policy will explore how such talk is restricted,</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">invented, and negotiated in the workplace and the broader</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">implications for language policy, education and society. We welcome</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">papers that document and analyze language policies in call centers</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">and/or
consider the wider implications of these phenomena for</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">language policy, ideology, and use.</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Deadlines and dates:</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">September 1, 2007: Submission of 250-word paper abstract (send to</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><A href="mailto:akk25@georgetown.edu">akk25@georgetown.edu</A>)</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">January 1, 2008: Submission of full paper for regular, external peer</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">review (submit online through website).</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Please contact the editors directly with any questions.</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">Please see the journal website for more details about Language Policy.</DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><A
href="http://www.springer.com/west/home/generic/search/results?">http://www.springer.com/west/home/generic/search/results?</A></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">SGWID=4-40109-70-35756061-0</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px">PLEASE FORWARD TO ANY POTENTIALLY INTERESTED PARTIES. THANK YOU!</DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 17px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 14px Helvetica"><BR></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Lucida Bright" color=#8045ea><B>*****************************************************</B></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Lucida Bright" color=#8045ea><B>Kendall King</B></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><A href="http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/akk25/"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Lucida Bright"><B>http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/akk25/</B></FONT></A></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Lucida Bright"
color=#8045ea><B>******************************************************</B></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MIN-HEIGHT: 14px; MARGIN: 0px; FONT: 12px Helvetica; COLOR: rgb(193,68,127)"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#c1447f><BR></FONT></DIV> <DIV style="MARGIN: 0px"><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p>
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