Fup og fakta i debatten om domænetab [Truisms and fallacies in the debate about domain loss]

I Nyt fra Sprognævnet 2008/2 skelner Ole Ravnholt på frugtbar vis mellem to forskellige betydninger af det omdiskuterede fænomen ’domænetab’. I dette indlæg bygger jeg videre på denne skelnen i et forsøg på at forstå hvad det egentlig er man frygter når man taler om ’domænetab’. Samtidig beskriver jeg et igangværende forskningsprojekt på Center for Internationalisering og Parallelsproglighed (CIP) ved Københavns Universitet som har til formål at undersøge hvorvidt ’domænetab’, hvad det så end er, er eller kommer til at blive en realitet

Vocatives as rationalized politeness: Theoretical insights from emerging norms in call centre service encounters

This study offers an extension of existing politeness theories by illuminating how changes in politeness conventions come about as a result of contextual specificities. Despite a surge in mediated service encounters, few studies to date have considered the linguistic enactment of politeness in call centres, mainly due to restrictions on access. Drawing on a linguistic ethnography of an onshore call centre in Scotland and data in the form of authentic service interactions, interviews, on-site observations, and institutional documents, the study combines quantitative and qualitative discourse analytic techniques to explore how the call centre-specific tension between efficiency and customer care is managed in theory and practice. It is found that while the institution accords equal importance to efficiency and customer care, in actual service interactions, agents prioritize efficiency. Furthermore, in the few cases where agents do orient to customer care, vocatives appear to be used as a shortcut; documenting the emergence of a novel – rationalized – type of politeness. The study contributes the theoretical insight that new politeness conventions emerge, not so much because of the imposition of one culture on another, but because they are shaped by the particular context in which they arise

Parallelsproglighed på danske universiteter: En statusrapport 2013 [Parallel language use at Danish universities: A status report 2013]

Der har i den sidste tiårsperiode været rettet stor opmærksomhed mod den stigende brug af engelsk ved danske universiteter. I den forbindelse har det ikke altid været nemt at få fat i oversigter over hvor udbredt brugen af engelsk egentlig er. Der findes ganske vist opgørelser over brugen af engelsk på forskellige delområder, som fx undervisning og publicering, eller på enkelte institutioner og universiteter. Indtil videre har der dog ikke eksisteret nogen samlet, lettilgængelig oversigt over brugen af engelsk på de forskellige områder ved Danmarks otte universiteter. Denne rapport er et forsøg på at skabe en sådan oversigt for tre udvalgte delområder: undervisning, publicering og tilstedeværelsen af udenlandske studerende og ansatte. Hvert delområde udgør et selvstændigt kapitel, og hvert kapitel opdeles i to: først gives en beskrivelse af situationen på nationalt plan og derefter en beskrivelse af situationen opdelt på fagområde. Beskrivelsen på nationalt plan giver et samlet overblik over udbredelsen af engelsk på danske universiteter, som kan sammenholdes med de andre nordiske lande (se nedenfor). Den fagopdelte beskrivelse er vigtig fordi det har vist sig at der ofte er store forskelle mellem brugen af engelsk inden for forskellige fagområder. Håbet er at oversigterne kan give et reelt billede af den faktiske udbredelse af brugen af engelsk (og dansk) ved danske universiteter og være til gavn for politikere, universitetsadministratorer og andre beslutningstagere samt den stigende gruppe af forskere som arbejder inden for dette område. Udover at kortlægge den faktiske udbredelse af brugen af engelsk og dansk giver rapporten også et indblik i relevante sprogpolitiske dokumenter, som siger noget om hvordan forskellige aktører på politisk og universitetsmæssigt plan mener at den sproglige situation bør se ud. Disse præskriptive dokumenter diskuteres og sammenholdes sidst i rapporten med den deskriptive fremstilling af hvordan situationen ser ud i realiteten. Titlen på nærværende rapport er Parallelsproglighed på danske universiteter. Parallelsproglighed er et begreb der har været på den sprogpolitiske dagsorden i Danmark i hvert fald siden 2003 (Kulturministeriet 2003). Helt overordnet kan parallelsproglighed forstås som en anerkendelse af at både engelsk og dansk (og måske også andre sprog) er i brug inden for et givent område, i dette tilfælde på universiteterne

Domænetab i Danmark: en undersøgelse af sammenhængen mellem 'engelsk i stedet for dansk' og 'engelsk i dansk' [Domain loss in Denmark: an investigation of the relationship between 'English instead of Danish' and 'English in Danish']

This article attempts to shed light on a distinction which has been particularly prominent in the Danish debate on domain loss: ’English instead of Danish’ (language shift) versus ‘English in Danish’ (loan words). Data consists of naturally occurring spoken Danish scientific language recorded at bachelor level in chemistry, physics and computer science at the University of Copenhagen, and the analysis combines quantitative and qualitative sociolinguistic methods. Results suggest first of all that there does not appear to be a causal correlation between the use of English and the extent of loans from English into Danish. Secondly, the analysis raises questions about the possibility of upholding an operational distinction between ’English’ and ’Danish’ at individual word level. Finally, the results are discussed in light of the Danish domain loss debate

Whose parallellingualism? Overt and covert ideologies in Danish university language policies

This paper aims to contribute to the study of multilingualism in the workplace by analysing top-down language policies advocating parallellingualism at Denmark’s eight universities. Parallellingualism, a key concept in Nordic language policy, has been suggested as a way to ensure an equitable balance between English and the Nordic language(s) without the former encroaching on the latter. Drawing on theories which consider discourses about language to constitute positioning for or against a particular social, moral or political order (Cameron 2012), the paper contrasts state- and institution-authored university language policies. The overall aim is to understand what the different actors mean when they invoke 'parallellingualism'. Supplementary data consist of a corpus of newspaper articles on the topic of the use of English and Danish at Danish universities published in the same period as the university language policies. It is argued that while both state and institution-authored policies overtly advocate 'parallellingualism' as a guiding principle for managing multilingualism at Danish universities, in the state-authored policies, this seems to mean 'more Danish', while in the institution-authored policies it seems to mean 'more English'. Some underlying ideologies of each of these positions are proposed before the implications for workplace discourse are discussed

Linguistic Regulation and Interactional Reality: A Sociolinguistic Study of Call Centre Service Transactions

This thesis aims to contribute to the study of workplace talk, language and gender, and the sociolinguistics of globalization by exploring the phenomenon of ‘linguistic regulation’ in call centres. ‘Linguistic regulation’ refers to the practice, now widespread in the globalized service economy, of codifying and enforcing rules for employees’ use of language in service interactions with customers. Drawing on authentic service interactions from call centres in the UK and Denmark, and interviews and communication material from both those countries as well as Hong Kong and the Philippines, this study shows that linguistic regulation exerts a significant influence on the language used by call centre agents, and suggests that this has implications for all three areas of inquiry. In relation to the study of workplace talk, the findings raise questions about the degree of local management and individual speaker agency that has often been asserted in previous work. In the area of language and gender studies, the finding that female speakers in both countries show a higher degree of compliance with linguistic regulation than male ones is related to ongoing debates about the local variability of gender. It is argued that the field may benefit from supplementing the currently favoured locally-based methods with one which seeks to link linguistic behaviour with supra-local systems of inequality. Finally, in relation to the sociolinguistics of globalization, this thesis documents the existence of a distinct, globally prescribed, call centre style which is culturally marked as North-American. In practice, this style is locally inflected, with British agents exhibiting greater conformity to the prescriptions than their Danish counterparts. It is argued that this may be because the prescribed style conflicts with the Danish cultural preference for ‘getting to the point’. These findings highlight the importance of considering language in the context of a global system. The thesis concludes by considering what the research it is based on may contribute, not only to academic debates in sociolinguistics and the sociology of work, but also to professional discussions within the call centre industry