1. Unequal Englishes in the Philippines.
- Author
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Tupas, Ruanni and Salonga, Aileen
- Subjects
ENGLISH language in foreign countries ,ENGLISH-only rules in the workplace ,CALL center agents ,PRIVILEGE (Social sciences) ,CALL centers ,GLOBALIZATION ,GATEKEEPING - Abstract
In this paper, we show how the notion of unequal Englishes can be deployed as an alternative way of accounting for the global spread of English. Through our data, we show how call-center agents in the Philippines espouse conflicting ideologies in the workplace that invoke unequal Englishes. On the one hand, they espouse ideologies of privilege by seeing themselves as being able to exploit the resources of English in the call-center workplace, thus celebrating themselves as proficient users of the language. On the other hand, they also espouse ideologies of delegitimization borne out of pressures to subscribe to American Standard English and the belief in the inherent superiority of 'native speaker' Englishes and their varieties. By mobilizing the paper towards unpacking inequalities of Englishes as invoked in the statements of call-center agents, we hope to contribute to critically engaged discussions of the role of English in the world today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2016
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