Abstract Ensuring newly arrived migrants gain fluency in the language of their host country has challenged governments worldwide. Whilst many governments provide settlement and language programs for migrants, a critical site for language development and cultural integration is the workplace itself. However very few studies have explored how different worksites and job types in the new globalised economy may facilitate migrants' acquisition of the language of a target community with which they need to communicate. Drawing on a long-term ethnographic study and sets of interviews, this research explores how a multilingual call centre based in London facilitates such language acquisition. This site uses English as well as a number of other European languages to market mostly IT products into Europe and beyond and we discuss how the training and provision of scripts contributes to agents being able to develop their language skills. This study revealed a number of facilitators for language acquisition including the spatial layout of the worksite where communication, both socially and professionally, takes place; but perhaps most surprisingly, we learned that the way in which the agents use scripts to scaffold their exchanges on phones plays a significant role in language acquisition.

中文翻译：

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在呼叫中心学习语言的可能性

摘要 确保新抵达的移民能够流利地使用东道国的语言，这对世界各国政府提出了挑战。虽然许多政府为移民提供定居和语言计划，但工作场所本身是语言发展和文化融合的关键场所。然而，很少有研究探讨在新的全球化经济中不同的工作场所和工作类型如何促进移民获得他们需要交流的目标社区的语言。本研究利用长期的民族志研究和一系列访谈，探讨了位于伦敦的多语言呼叫中心如何促进此类语言习得。该网站使用英语和其他一些欧洲语言，主要向欧洲及其他地区销售 IT 产品，我们讨论了脚本的培训和提供如何有助于代理商提高他们的语言技能。这项研究揭示了语言习得的一些促进因素，包括进行社会和专业交流的工作场所的空间布局；但也许最令人惊讶的是，我们了解到代理使用脚本来支持他们在电话上的交流的方式在语言习得中起着重要作用。发生；但也许最令人惊讶的是，我们了解到代理使用脚本来支持他们在电话上的交流的方式在语言习得中起着重要作用。发生；但也许最令人惊讶的是，我们了解到代理使用脚本来支持他们在电话上的交流的方式在语言习得中起着重要作用。