English in the Southeast Asian Business-Process Outsourcing Industry and Call Centres

• Main Author: Cruz, Priscilla Angela T
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: business process outsourcing; world Englishes; Philippine English; applied linguistics; call centres; business English; customer service; English for specific purposes; Arts and Humanities; English Language and Literature; Other English Language and Literature
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/english-faculty-pubs/212; https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780192855282.013.31
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

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.