Globalization, communication and the workplace
Subtitle: talking across the world
By: edited by Gail Forey and Jane Lockwood.
Contributors: Forey, Gail, 1961-; Lockwood-Lee, Jane.
Publisher: Continuum Logo; Continuum
Published: 2010
Place of publication: London; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780826446077
Subjects: Interpersonal communication; Intercultural communication; Discourse analysis; Communication in organizations
Description: The global developments in Information Technology Enabled Services have transformed customer service encounters which were until recently face-to-face. The major business areas of healthcare, insurance, banking and media are increasingly moving their customer processes to call centres, web-based interaction, and email. ITES is set for explosive growth over the next decade, alongside being increasingly outsourced to non-English speaking destinations. The need for good English language communication skills is becoming ever more acute.

This book looks closely at interactive communication in customer-facing services, featuring the voices of academics and those in industry. It aims to integrate the work of applied linguists, teachers, trainers and businesses. After an initial discussion on the value of research to applied training, the major issues of ITES communications are addressed with either an academic analysis being followed by a training example derived from it, or with an analysis of a workplace problem followed by a research-based solution proposal. Each section is introduced and summarized by the editors.

The volume strikes a balance between academic discussion of language description, needs, teaching and research and aspects of language that businesses and their trainers see as crucial. These theoretical and applied perspectives (on service encounters that are essentially dependent on the linguistic aspects of communication since other aspects such as gesture and eye contact are absent) open up other important avenues of research. This volume will appeal to a wide readership in both academic and business training and HR departments.

Gail Forey is Associate Professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

Jane Lockwood is Head of the Language Centre at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong. --Book Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: English in tiers in the workplace: a case study of email usage / Li Lan  and Lucy MacGregor; title: English as aákey resource to business and development / Catherine Nickerson; title: Communication skills in contemporary service workplaces: some problems / Anna Kristina Hultgren & Deborah Cameron; title: Managing the telephone relationship with the customer: interpersonal complexity : "I was so angry. It was unbelievable" a comparison of written and spoken customer service complaints / Jon S.Y. Hui; title: Naming and negotiating relationships in call centre talk / Susan Hood; title: Call centre discourse: graduation in relation to voice quality and attitudinal profile / Jenny Yau Ni Wan; title: Researching and understanding differences among call centre agents / Claire Cowie & Lalita Murty; title: Language, culture and training in the globalised workplace : talking about talking: comparing the approaches of intercultural trainers and language teachers / Jane Hayman; title: Reconceptualizing culture for workplace communication / Neil Elias; title: India rising: call centre communication and the need for two way training / Barry Tomalin; title: Call center training and language in the Philippines / Eric Friginal; title: What causes communication breakdown in the call centres? The discrepancies in the communications training and research / Jane Lockwood; title: Communication skills: assessment and its uses: consulting assessment for the business processing outsourcing (bpo) industry in the Philippines / Jane Lockwood; title: Language assessment in call centres: the case of the customer service representative / Alan Davies; title: Beyond the workplace: social implications: language globalisation and the workplace: education and social implications / Gail Forey.