Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- A note on conventions
- 1 Introduction: language and the communication of social identity
- 2 Thematic structure and progression in discourse
- 3 Discovering connections
- 4 Inscrutability revisited
- 5 Negotiating interpretations in interethnic settings
- 6 Strategies and counterstrategies in the use of yes–no questions in discourse
- 7 Negotiations of language choice in Montreal
- 8 Performance and ethnic style in job interviews
- 9 Interethnic communication in committee negotiations
- 10 Fact and inference in courtroom testimony
- 11 A cultural approach to male–female miscommunication
- 12 Ethnic style in male–female conversation
- 13 Language and disadvantage: the hidden process
- Bibliography
- Subject index
- Author index
7 - Negotiations of language choice in Montreal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 November 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- A note on conventions
- 1 Introduction: language and the communication of social identity
- 2 Thematic structure and progression in discourse
- 3 Discovering connections
- 4 Inscrutability revisited
- 5 Negotiating interpretations in interethnic settings
- 6 Strategies and counterstrategies in the use of yes–no questions in discourse
- 7 Negotiations of language choice in Montreal
- 8 Performance and ethnic style in job interviews
- 9 Interethnic communication in committee negotiations
- 10 Fact and inference in courtroom testimony
- 11 A cultural approach to male–female miscommunication
- 12 Ethnic style in male–female conversation
- 13 Language and disadvantage: the hidden process
- Bibliography
- Subject index
- Author index
Summary
Something strange is going on in Montreal. Every encounter between strangers, however casually, especially in public places but by no means exclusively, has become a political act. Buying a pair of socks has become problematic, as witnessed by the following article from The Montreal Star of January 26, 1978, reporting one person's frustration:
The other day I walked into a department store and had a conversation which made me feel foolish. It was also frustrating … It's the kind of conversation I have an awful lot nowadays … The conversation always goes something like this:
I walk up to the counter, intent on buying some socks. “Bonjour,” says the woman behind the counter, smiling. “Est-ce que je peux vous aider?” “Oui,” I smile back. “Je voudrais acheter des bas comme ca.” I point to some socks on display in the showcase. “En beige, s'il vous plaît.” “Yes, of course, Madame,” she responds in English. “What size?” “Er …” I pause, “nine and a half, please.”
Our transaction continues smoothly and I thank her and leave the store. But inwardly, the whole time this pleasant bilingual woman is fishing my socks out of the showcase and putting them in a bag and taking the money, I am cursing. Dammit, I want to say. […]
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- Information
- Language and Social Identity , pp. 108 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1983
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