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Talking at Work pp 127–153Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

A Corpus-Assisted Investigation of Nonunderstanding in Outsourced Call Center Discourse

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Part of the book series: Communicating in Professions and Organizations ((PSPOD))

Abstract

This study analyzes a corpus of call center interactions between Filipino call center agents and American callers engaged in a range of communicative tasks during a typical workday. Our primary focus is to contribute to the knowledge base surrounding miscommunication in intercultural interactions in Filipino–American customer service calls. Specifically, our study explores how instances of nonunderstanding are initiated and repaired in interactions supported by Filipino agents. As a corpus-assisted research, we analyze a large number of interactions in order to identify linguistic and communicative patterns and draw conclusions from a variety of examples. Qualitative coding of the interactions works to identify how instances of miscommunication occur, while quantitative analysis of these instances helps to visualize patterns and to provide suggestions as to what may be causing or resolving miscommunication between these interlocutors.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Stephen Skalicky, Eric Friginal & Nicholas Subtirelu

Authors
  1. Stephen Skalicky
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  2. Eric Friginal
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  3. Nicholas Subtirelu
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Literature and Languages, Texas A&M University - Commerce, Commerce, Texas, USA

    Lucy Pickering

  2. Applied Linguistics and ESL, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Eric Friginal

  3. English, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

    Shelley Staples

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© 2016 The Author(s)

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Skalicky, S., Friginal, E., Subtirelu, N. (2016). A Corpus-Assisted Investigation of Nonunderstanding in Outsourced Call Center Discourse. In: Pickering, L., Friginal, E., Staples, S. (eds) Talking at Work. Communicating in Professions and Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-49616-4_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-49616-4_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-49615-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-49616-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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