Comments on: Linguistic discrimination at work

By: Micaella Geneza

Micaella Geneza — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 01:07:34 +0000

Dr. Ingrid Piller’s article was eye-opening in that it demonstrated that linguistic discrimination still occurs globally, as it did to the Croatian woman who was only fulfilling her work. In my perspective, the Employer treated their employee unfairly based solely on her limited use of language by pressuring her into learning their language; the fact that her position as a pool cleaner was offered to her without requiring the credentials of someone who speaks German already proved that she was competent of doing her job effectively.

Furthermore, miscommunication with other people the woman encounters is not uncommon, as language barriers can cause miscommunication. Still, I’m not sure if the customers or the supervisor were patient enough to comprehend her. People have told her to speak German because she is in Germany has made me believe that the woman should have a personal motivation to learn the language, as learning a language is not always easy. However, it is beneficial that she does understand the basics. Perhaps, she has tried to learn the language and is having difficulty, so there is no need to force the woman to learn the language as it was not required in the first place.

This reminded me of a time when a Filipino actor judging a talent show told a Korean performer who was using a translator that “you are in the Philippines, so speak in Tagalog.” “The performer publicly apologized and stated that he would learn the language next time.” The citizens of the country, including me, were outraged because the judge humiliated someone who was extremely talented. Despite the language barrier, the performer had a translator with him, indicating that he tried to understand the judge and wanted the audience to understand him well. Overall, this serves as a reminder to attempt to understand people’s histories and where they are coming from, as not everyone has the same level of language speaking ability. As long as they are performing their jobs properly and to the fullest potential, they are capable of completing their jobs well.

By: Marvi Quirong

Marvi Quirong — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 13:22:49 +0000

Firstly, I found the court’s ruling to be ridiculous if they did not have any advice for linguistic experts or any individual knowledgeable enough to give a grounded and factual basis of conclusion rather than just relying on “common sense.” The display of thinking among the German people involved was a more common reason denoting linguistic discrimination. Most importantly, The fact that the employee was already accepted, with their current linguistic state, means there has not been any specific agreement on a required linguistic competence for the job, which results in the employer’s fault. Hence, the latter does not have the right to instigate or trample on the linguistic freedom of the employee. As stressed in the article, communication is a two-way process, so maybe the employer may instead find other alternatives for understanding between the employees and the customers. Or better yet, clarify the job requirements before hiring because we cannot blame an individual who just wants to earn a living in a world that can be harsh and judgemental.

By: Ruslana Westerlund

Ruslana Westerlund — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 01:42:21 +0000

In reply to Jenny Zhang. Linguistic discrimination is rampant all over the world. There are cases of ethnolects being discriminated against in the USA, such as the AAVE - African American Vernacular English or Spanglish or other ethnolects that belong to specific speech communities. Standard American English is the norm and everything else is less desirable by the employers.

By: eduardo

eduardo — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:28:05 +0000

i wonder if i should do something about it. i’ve being working for this company for over 8 years. new york city, New York. One year ago is being a little bit annoying a new supervisor every time she is approaching to me and in front of others employee; she starts remarking that i should take English courses to speak English. i do feel so embarrassed in front of the others co-workers. is anything someone can suggest? please i really appreciate it.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:33:17 +0000

Looking at job ads, I saw ads here in Sydney in which they asked for salespeople and wrote that they must be native English speakers. I thought that a slight accent would not prevent someone from being a good salesperson. I think I did complain to fair trading, but they weren’t interested. You are not allowed to say that you want only women for example, but you can say you want only native speakers.

By: Pepe

Pepe — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:28:42 +0000

I see you’re talking about linguistic discrimination only in one way, that is, you only talk about being discriminated for speaking with not enough profficiency a major language. The case is really interesting, although I think when one person goes to live to another territory has to learn the language/s of that territory. I don’t like, for example, the people that have lived for a long time in my city (Barcelona) and have not even tried to learn catalan.
I think it would be interesting to discuss as well the discrimination for being native-speaker of one language. I know people that are perfectly proficient in spanish but have some kind of catalan accent (but just accent, so there’s no communicative problem) and have been discriminated for that. Or the linguistic prejudices and discriminations that exist for speaking minority languages. “He speaks galician… what a boor” or “you can work here but please never speak basque to our customers”. PS:Sorry for my english!

By: Ingrid Piller

Ingrid Piller — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 12:56:39 +0000

In reply to Mary. Without knowing anything about the details of your case, there is certainly evidence that the "your English isn't good enough" argument is sometimes used as a cloak for racial discrimination; see, e.g., Racism Without Racists or Multilingualism and Social Exclusion. Best wishes!

By: Mary

Mary — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 11:24:42 +0000

My managers discriminated against me because I do not speak like the native as my english language is my second language and reprimanded me, “You should never been given the job, you will never be acceptable” refering to my English.
“What about your english, is that not an incapability?”
HR and me often sniggered at your English”
They then used their substandard work for me to correct and then cite that as my incapabilities for an eventual dismissal.
They then plotted my dismissal.
Dont you think that is racial discrimination?

By: Zak

Zak — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 23:49:07 +0000

I work for a premium German Auto manufacturer and I work mainly with international colleagues and use English most of the time. My boss cannot speak good English and has told me I have no future in the company without perfect German. I think My case is more Xenophobia than language discrimination? Interestingly we sell over over 80% of our cars to non German speaking people and most of them speak English.

By: xiaoxiao

xiaoxiao — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:30:02 +0000

This reminds me of a report years ago about some talk show hosts in CCTV (China Central Television) who failed to pass the the highest level of standard mandarine test and were said to be leaving CCTV. They finally managed to stay, partly because they were quite popular with the audience, but in the meantime they had received sort of warning notice from their employer. We might argue that talk show hosts, unlike news anchors, needn’t speak perfect manderine because their primary task is to get the guests and the audience to be engaged in communication. It seems that linguistic discrimination at work exists not only in bilingual context but also in some professions which usually deem the standard pronunciation of a language as a prerequsite.

By: Jenny Zhang

Jenny Zhang — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:35:23 +0000

Linguistic discrimination at work is also often seen in EFL countries where English is highly prized and legitimized as a gatekeeper for employment. While Beijing was preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games, the authority not only spent a lot of manpower, financial power and material resources in order to promote English among Beijing residents but also developed rules to require employees in the service sector to have an English proficiency certificate for employment. I wonder what the probability for those employees to serve foreigners is, not to mention how hard it is for them to “master” a foreign language as an adult leaner and a full-time worker.

By: vittoria

vittoria — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:36:57 +0000

A very interesting piece. I wonder how often, like other forms of discrimination, linguistic discrimination in all its possible guises, goes unreported or occurs in covert ways that makes reporting or proving it very difficult.

By: Joerg Reiher

Joerg Reiher — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:27:13 +0000

Hello,
I think there is an important fact missing in your description of the case (I just read the link to the “Deutsches Anwaltsportal”):
The plaintiff also worked as a fill-in at the cash desk of the public swimming pool.

Greetings,
Jörg

By: Lab Rat

Lab Rat — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:52:32 +0000

Great post! One of the things I always notice at conferences is how much more difficult it is for people to do presentations when they are not very proficient with English. As with the pool-worker “Because they don’t speak english very well” would probably count as a valid, or at least not-looked-down-upon reason not to give someone a presentation slot.

By: Rosina Lippi Green

Rosina Lippi Green — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:26:03 +0000

I just came across your website and blog, and I’m so glad I did. Two things:

I hadn’t heard about the German case, and I’m wondering if the EU has any guidelines on language discrimination, and

I’m currently working on the (long overdue) revised second edition of English with an Accent. Just FYI.