Affiliation:
1. English, Ateneo de Manila University
2. English, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Abstract
Abstract
At a time when varieties of English are being increasingly accepted as mainstream and tolerance of deviations from standard English are on the rise, the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, specifically contact centres, is far less tolerant of variation from standard English. This chapter problematizes the position of varieties of English in Southeast Asian contact centres. Englishes are examined in light of business practices at recruitment, communications training agendas, communication performance benchmarking, and coaching support. Furthermore, this chapter examines the relationship between Englishes and the seemingly deficient English that needs to be addressed where contact centre customer service representative (CSR) support is concerned. We argue for the need of BPOs to anchor their practices on developing the meaning-making skills that ensure customer service call success.
Reference38 articles.
1. Bautista, Ma. Lourdes S. (2009). ‘Investigating the Grammatical Features of Philippine English’, in Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista and Kingsley Bolton (eds), Philippine English: Linguistic and Literary Perspectives. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, 201–19.
2. Bolton, Kingsley, and Susan Butler (2009). ‘Lexicography and the Description of Philippine English Vocabulary’, in Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista and Kingsley Bolton (eds), Philippine English: Linguistic and Literary Perspectives. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, 175–200.
3. How Customer Service Representatives Lose Control of the Call: A Metafunctional Analysis;Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice,2021