‘Could I have an appointment for a viewing?’
-
Inke Du Bois
Abstract
This paper represents a novel approach to the study of discrimination in the housing market. Beginning with detailed discourse analyses of several excerpts of apartment application conversations, it highlights how Standard German, Standard American and Turkish accents interact and how power relations are reproduced on a micro-level through interruptions and repair initiations. Furthermore, it includes the statistical report of the viewing appointments resulting from almost 300 phone calls placed in four different city districts of the city of Bremen, Germany, with Turkish, Standard American, and German names and accents. The neighborhoods, not the city per se, are a crucial aspect for predicting linguistic discrimination: in the more prestigious neighborhood, Turkish accented callers had significantly lower chances of receiving a viewing. In all but one city district, the Standard German callers received the most viewing appointments, and the American English accented callers had more chances than the Turkish callers speaking Standard German.
Abstract
This paper represents a novel approach to the study of discrimination in the housing market. Beginning with detailed discourse analyses of several excerpts of apartment application conversations, it highlights how Standard German, Standard American and Turkish accents interact and how power relations are reproduced on a micro-level through interruptions and repair initiations. Furthermore, it includes the statistical report of the viewing appointments resulting from almost 300 phone calls placed in four different city districts of the city of Bremen, Germany, with Turkish, Standard American, and German names and accents. The neighborhoods, not the city per se, are a crucial aspect for predicting linguistic discrimination: in the more prestigious neighborhood, Turkish accented callers had significantly lower chances of receiving a viewing. In all but one city district, the Standard German callers received the most viewing appointments, and the American English accented callers had more chances than the Turkish callers speaking Standard German.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- The pragmatics of accents 1
-
Part 1. Ideologies of accents in national contexts
- Attitudes to accents 19
- Urban youth accents in France 41
- Encountering accented others – and selves – in provincial Japan 63
- ‘Could I have an appointment for a viewing?’ 85
-
Part 2. Accents in second language education teaching and learning
- The pragmatic force of second language accent in education 117
- A lack of phonological inherentness 141
- English-language attitudes and identities in Spain 163
-
Part 3. Accents in the media and the workplace
- From I’m the One That I Want to Kim’s Convenience 189
- Divine intervention 205
- In the ear of the beholder 229
-
Concluding remarks
- From sound to social meaning 247
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- The pragmatics of accents 1
-
Part 1. Ideologies of accents in national contexts
- Attitudes to accents 19
- Urban youth accents in France 41
- Encountering accented others – and selves – in provincial Japan 63
- ‘Could I have an appointment for a viewing?’ 85
-
Part 2. Accents in second language education teaching and learning
- The pragmatic force of second language accent in education 117
- A lack of phonological inherentness 141
- English-language attitudes and identities in Spain 163
-
Part 3. Accents in the media and the workplace
- From I’m the One That I Want to Kim’s Convenience 189
- Divine intervention 205
- In the ear of the beholder 229
-
Concluding remarks
- From sound to social meaning 247
- Index 263
