Laura Callahan 
Spanish and English in U.S. Service Encounters [PDF ebook] 

Service encounters involve communication between strangers. Communication – or, at times, miscommunication – between strangers who come from different groups can foster the formation of stereotypes. This is therefore an area of particular relevance for investigation. Using service encounters as a vehicle, Callahan examines Spanish as social capital in the United States, focusing on who may use this language and under what circumstances. This book contributes to an examination of Spanish in the United States as a language of selected uses and selected users, along with the factors that can influence United States Latinos acceptance of its use by other Latinos and by non-Latinos.

Tabla de materias

Introduction*Acknowledgements*Reciprocal and Non-Reciprocal Language Use*Workers Report on their Language Use * Observing Workers’ Language Use*Codeswitching in Service Encounters*A Comparison of Service Encounters in Person and over the Telephone*Conclusions and Implications

Sobre el autor

Laura Callahan is Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at The City College of The City University of New York (CUNY).