4. “This system’s so slow”: Negotiating sequences of laughter and laughables in call-center interaction
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Elizabeth Holt
Abstract
This chapter examines sequences of interaction in calls to a gas-supply company. The sequences follow long silences as employees wait for the computer to access the customers’ account details. Employers then comment on the slowness of the system and are responded to with laughter. In the majority of instances there are further references to the system that constitute a move away from the serious business of the call and are accompanied by laughter. Thus, there is a move from explicitly institutional talk to less formal interaction. In this delicate environment - i.e. where the slowness of the system leads to a hiatus in dealing with the customers’ requests - they evince moments of affiliation and carefully negotiated transitions away from enacting institutional roles. Thus, they demonstrate that what might loosely be called ‘non-serious’ interaction is not necessarily a complete departure from serious interaction: serious actions are achieved. Further, it is possible to see how they are the product of subtle negotiation over turns rather than sudden and absolute transitions.
Abstract
This chapter examines sequences of interaction in calls to a gas-supply company. The sequences follow long silences as employees wait for the computer to access the customers’ account details. Employers then comment on the slowness of the system and are responded to with laughter. In the majority of instances there are further references to the system that constitute a move away from the serious business of the call and are accompanied by laughter. Thus, there is a move from explicitly institutional talk to less formal interaction. In this delicate environment - i.e. where the slowness of the system leads to a hiatus in dealing with the customers’ requests - they evince moments of affiliation and carefully negotiated transitions away from enacting institutional roles. Thus, they demonstrate that what might loosely be called ‘non-serious’ interaction is not necessarily a complete departure from serious interaction: serious actions are achieved. Further, it is possible to see how they are the product of subtle negotiation over turns rather than sudden and absolute transitions.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction 1
- 1. Language play in conversation 11
- 2. Playing with turns, playing with action? A social-interactionist perspective 47
- 3. The shape of tweets to come: Automating language play in social networks 73
- 4. “This system’s so slow”: Negotiating sequences of laughter and laughables in call-center interaction 93
- 5. Laughter as a “serious business”: Clients’ laughter in prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome 119
- 6. Jocular language play, social action and (dis)affiliation in conversational interaction 143
- 7. “Everything he says to me it’s like he stabs me in the face”: Frontstage and backstage reactions to teasing 169
- 8. Cities, conviviality and double-edged language play 199
- 9. Building rapport and a sense of communal identity through play in a second language classroom 219
- 10. The first English (EFL) lesson: Initial settings or the emergence of a playful classroom culture 245
- 11. The emergence of creativity in L2 English: A usage-based case-study 281
- 12. Teaching language learners how to understand sarcasm in L2 English 317
- 13. Anti-language: Linguistic innovation, identity construction, and group affiliation among emerging speech communities 347
- 14. Celebrations of a satirical song: Ideologies of anti-racism in the media 377
- Index 403
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Contents v
- Introduction 1
- 1. Language play in conversation 11
- 2. Playing with turns, playing with action? A social-interactionist perspective 47
- 3. The shape of tweets to come: Automating language play in social networks 73
- 4. “This system’s so slow”: Negotiating sequences of laughter and laughables in call-center interaction 93
- 5. Laughter as a “serious business”: Clients’ laughter in prenatal screening for Down’s syndrome 119
- 6. Jocular language play, social action and (dis)affiliation in conversational interaction 143
- 7. “Everything he says to me it’s like he stabs me in the face”: Frontstage and backstage reactions to teasing 169
- 8. Cities, conviviality and double-edged language play 199
- 9. Building rapport and a sense of communal identity through play in a second language classroom 219
- 10. The first English (EFL) lesson: Initial settings or the emergence of a playful classroom culture 245
- 11. The emergence of creativity in L2 English: A usage-based case-study 281
- 12. Teaching language learners how to understand sarcasm in L2 English 317
- 13. Anti-language: Linguistic innovation, identity construction, and group affiliation among emerging speech communities 347
- 14. Celebrations of a satirical song: Ideologies of anti-racism in the media 377
- Index 403
