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All dressed up and nowhere to go: Linguistic, cultural and ideological aspects of job interviews with second language speakers of Danish
Abstract
This dissertation is a sociolinguistic, data-driven study of authentic job interviews with second language speakers of Danish. The job interviews are part of a Danish governmental initiative aimed particularly at immigrants and newcomers to Denmark, who are assumed to experience linguistic and cultural difficulties at the Danish labour market. The particular designs of the job interviews as well as the explicitly stated evaluations of language and culture create an unusual frame. On the one hand we deal with "traditional" job interviews as institutional gatekeeping instruments; on the other hand we face a tailored selection process meant to address the needs of the vulnerable. These contradictory practices produce certain tensions: although the job interviews in focus are meant to accomplish the target group's special needs, they exemplify a practice in which the good intentions are all dressed up but have nowhere to go.
... In this paper, we study recruitment interviews for jobs in ILMs. A recruitment interview is an essential gatekeeping encounter for recruitment in the workplace (Kirilova, 2013;Komter, ensure profitability. Thus, recruiting organisations struggle with the question of 'who to hire' (Smith et al., 2013). ...
... To form a detailed understanding of how identity construction happens in this particular setting, close analysis of recorded authentic recruitment interviews is crucial. A few discursive studies have previously analysed this kind of data and described specific challenges in recruitment for programmes targeted at people with immigration backgrounds (Kirilova, 2013(Kirilova, , 2017Tranekjaer, 2009). Our study focuses on an ILM setting targeted at people who have been unemployed for a prolonged period due to various reasons. ...
... Second, when interviewers explicitly topicalise candidates' foreign national origin, they treat it as an essential part of the candidate and highlight the difference between themselves and the candidate (Van De Mieroop and De Dijn, 2020). Third, it has been pointed out that the recruitment interview norms and 'ideals' are cultural matters, and candidates with immigration backgrounds may not have been socialised into similar norms and ideals (Campbell and Roberts, 2007;Kirilova, 2013Kirilova, , 2017Roberts and Campbell, 2005;Roberts, 2011). Roberts and Campbell call the marginalising practices that stem from culture-specific interview rituals a 'linguistic penalty' and call into question the need for interviewing altogether in cases where the needed discursive competence is not related to the job (Campbell and Roberts, 2007;Roberts and Campbell, 2005;Roberts, 2011). ...
Intermediate labour markets (ILMs) provide fixed-term work opportunities and coaching for people in disadvantaged positions in labour markets. We study 46 sequences from six audio-recorded recruitment interviews for an ILM job targeted at people who have been unemployed for a prolonged period. Using an ethnomethodological approach to identity, membership categorization analysis and conversation analysis, we study how interviewers and candidates construct and negotiate who is fit for the ILM job. We present interactional moves through which the participants jointly construct the 'fit for the ILM job' category and treat the candidate's membership in it as a positive matter. Further, we demonstrate how the candidates are put in an interactionally difficult position in the interview as there are contradictory and ambiguous expectations about the ideal candidate. We discuss the results in relation to the interactional and institutional logics of a recruitment interview and suggest that enhancing the transparency might reinforce ethics of recruitment in ILMs.
... Kielitaidon vaikutus työllistymiseen ei ole yksiselitteinen, vaan kielitaidon määrittelyyn ja arvioimiseen yhdistyvät herkästi myös muut työnhakijaan liittyvät ominaisuudet (ks. Kirilova 2013). Kielitaitovaatimukset ovat hyvin tilannesidonnaisia ja monitasoisia: ne määrittyvät työtehtävien vaatimusten lisäksi esimerkiksi työyhteisön kielikäytänteiden ja rekrytoijien mieltymysten mukaan. ...
... Työhaastattelu on sosiaalisesti haastava vuorovaikutustilanne, jossa on pystyttävä luomaan itsestään kuva hyvänä työntekijänä; jos hakijalla on vaikeuksia suoriutua haastattelusta kielellisesti, on myös hyvän työntekijän kuva haastavampi luoda (Roberts 2013). Onkin aiheellista pohtia, onko työhaastattelu paras valintamenetelmä etenkään sellaiseen käytännön työhön, jossa työtehtävät eivät edellytä hyvää kielen osaamista (Kirilova 2013). ...
Over the last couple of decades, working life in Finland has become more multilingual, multi-sited, mobile and digitalised. At the same time, Finland increasingly relies on work-based immigration to fill gaps in the workforce. Since language skills are considered key to employment, language education plays an important role in migrants’ integration into the Finnish labour market and work communities. This article discusses the role of language(s) and language education in increasingly complex working life contexts with particular emphasis on Finnish as a second language. We first provide an overview of ongoing developments in Finnish working life and issues regarding recruitment, language requirements and language practices at multilingual workplaces. Second, we describe how language education in vocational education, integration training and higher education is (re)designed to facilitate migrants’ employment. Finally, we discuss how work communities and language educators can respond to the challenges of an increasingly complex and multilingual work life.
... The teacher's reference to a specific episode in class and the student's recognition of that specific episode here also establishes a common frame of reference and experience (Gumperz, 1982), which in studies of gatekeeper encounters has proven important for success (cf. Kirilova, 2013). We have thus from the beginning of the discussion a starting point of departure where the teacher signals a sense of co-membership (cf. ...
... Language is inevitably what the interaction happens through, and in that sense, it is all about language. Several studies have explored the interrelation of language and culture in gatekeeper encounters in intercultural settings (e.g.Kirilova, 2013;Tranekjaer, 2015;Roberts et al. 2005) and they point to the same conclusion that language and culture are inseparable. Similar to the findings of Breeze and ...
... Ved hjaelp af en avanceret masketest afdaekkede hun således en graduering af de negative holdninger til accentpraeget udtale, som Jens Normann Jørgensen praecist formulerede som "jo laengere vaek vi tror udlaendinge kommer fra, desto dummere, grimmere og dovnere antager vi de er" (Kirilova 2006). Siden beskaeftigede Kirilova i sin ph.d.-afhandling sig med sammenhaenge mellem kultur og sprog og cultural fluency i forbindelse med interkulturelle jobsamtaler (Kirilova 2013) -en interesse, som siden er blevet uddybet og dokumenteret i flere artikler og antologier. En anden markant studerende, som bidrog til fagets viden om sprogholdninger, var Ursula Ritzau, der i sit speciale undersøgte indvandreres holdninger til accentpraeget dansk og påviste, at indvandrere generelt er mere tolerante over for accent på dansk end indfødte dansktalende (Ritzau 2009). ...
This article is a short comprehensive history of the feld of Danish
as a Second Language (DSL) as it has unfolded at the University of
Copenhagen. It takes the reader through the early starts of the research
feld developing into a study that has become mandatory for teachers
of Danish for adults. Over the years, as integration of migrants into
Danish society has been on the political agenda, the study of DSL
has provided research-based education for professionals. Since 2016,
however, the education of this particular kind of language teachers
has attracted political attention, and the article aims at discussing
the continuous need for highly skilled professionals in teaching
Danish to adult migrants, rejecting the politically formed notion
that it is benefcial to migrants and society to lower the educational
requirements for future teachers and at the same time increase the
expectations to migrants’ competence in the Danish language in order
to become self-reliant.
... esim. Kirilova 2013). Tämä näkyy seuraavassa katkelmassa niin, että säätiön esimies Risto toimii siinä ikään kuin haastattelijana ja Georgi vastaa kysymyksiin työnhakijan roolissa. ...
Työelämän monikielistyessä yhä useammalla työpaikalla kohdataan haasteita, jotka liittyvät työntekijöiden rajalliseen kielitaitoon. Erityisesti korkeakoulutusta vaativat tehtävät edellyttävät abstraktien ja monitahoisten ilmiöiden kielentämistä, minkä lisäksi tilanteissa on pystyttävä ottamaan huomioon osallistujien institutionaaliset roolit ja niihin liittyvät odotukset. Tämä artikkeli tarkastelee keskustelunanalyysin keinoin, millaisia ongelmia kakkoskielisten työntekijöiden osallistumiseen liittyy kokousvuorovaikutuksessa. Aineistona käytetään erään kulttuurialan säätiön kokouksia (yhteensä 20 tuntia videomateriaalia), ja niissä tarkastellaan vuorovaikutuksen etenemisen ongelmakohtia, jotka liittyvät suomea toisena kielenä käyttävien työntekijöiden responsiivisiin vuoroihin. Tutkittavia vuoroja voidaan pitää erilinjaisina, sillä ne eivät vastaa edeltävien vuorojen niille asettamiin odotuksiin. Erilinjaisia vuoroja on kolmenlaisia: vuoroja, jotka osoittavat, ettei puhuja ole tunnistanut itseensä kohdistuvia odotuksia, vuoroja, joiden edustama toiminto on epäselvä, sekä vuoroja, joiden edustama toiminto on odotuksiin nähden riittämätön. Analyysi osoittaa, millaisia ongelmia erilinjaiset vuorot aiheuttavat keskustelun etenemiselle: niistä seuraa esimerkiksi taukoja, uudelleenmuotoiluja tai korjausaloitteita. Muut osallistujat tulkitsevat toisinaan ongelman johtuvan kielitaidosta ja esimerkiksi vaihtavat kieltä. Kakkoskielisten puhujien erilinjaisissa vuoroissa limittyvätkin ymmärtämisen ja tuottamisen ongelmat, ja tilanteita saattaa vaikeuttaa myös institutionaalisiin rooleihin liittyvien taustaoletusten tunnistaminen. Artikkelissa osoitetaan, miten kakkoskielisissä kokouksissa tasapainoillaan työrooleja kannattelevan hienotunteisuuden ja ongelmien selvittelyä edistävän eksplisiittisyyden välillä. Mahdollisuus käyttää kieltä antaa joka tapauksessa kakkoskieliselle työntekijälle mahdollisuuden kehittää kielitaitoaan, mistä on pitkällä tähtäimellä hyötyä koko työyhteisölle. Disaligned turns of second-language speakers in workplace meeting interaction An increasing number of workplaces face challenges related to the limited language skills of their employees. This article takes a conversation analytical view of the problems that educated second-language (L2) speakers encounter in workplace meeting interactions. The data employed consists of 20 hours of video recordings taken at a Finnish cultural organisation. The article concentrates on problems in the progressivity of interaction related to responsive turns produced by L2 speakers of Finnish. The problematic turns are seen as disaligned, as they do not meet the expectations projected by previous turns. Three kinds of turn are discussed: 1) turns that show that the speaker has not identified the expectations set by preceding turns, 2) turns that are unclear with regard to the activity they represent, and 3) turns that meet the expectations of previous turns inadequately. The analysis shows that disaligned turns are followed by several problems with regard to the progressivity of interaction: e.g. pauses, reformulations, or repair initiations. Occasionally, other participants interpret the problems as displays of a lack of language skills, and they react by switching language. The article illustrates practices used to deal tactfully yet effectively with problems in the progress of interaction. The article asserts that, despite these problems, the opportunity to use and practice a second language is valuable both to L2 speakers and their work community.
... Solche Arbeiten weisen darauf hin, dass die Sprache ideologisch über eine wichtige sozialstrukturierende Funktion verfügt, welche für die Betroffenen durchaus materielle Konsequenzen nach sich ziehen kann, beispielsweise im Schulwesen (Martin Rojo, 2010), in der Berufsbildung (Daase, 2012;Efing, 2010;Grundmann, 2007), bei Vorstellungsgesprächen (Allan, 2013(Allan, , 2016Kirilova, 2013;Roberts, 2013), Gerichtsverfahren (Eades, 1996;Hoffman, 2015) oder bei Interviews im Asylverfahren ( Ammer et al., 2013;Maryns, 2002;Plutzar, 2009;Walthert, 2016). In diesen Momenten üben insbesondere Sprachideologien von einer einheitlichen und «reinen» Standardsprache einen Einfluss aus, indem sie Einschätzungen zu Sprachkompetenzen mit Einschätzungen zu fachlichen Kompetenzen oder charakterlichen Eigenschaften überlagern 2 Eigentlich redet niemand ohne einen «Akzent», doch wird die von der herrschenden Klasse gesprochene Varietät als Norm verstanden, die unmarkiert bleibt. ...
Migrantinnen und Migranten gelten in Bezug auf Bildungsbeteiligung
und Bildungserfolg ebenso wie auf Erwerbsbeteiligung und Erwerbserfolg als vulnerable Gruppe. Dabei gibt es in jeder Gruppierung je nach
Herkunftsland, Bildungsaspiration und Bleibewahrscheinlichkeit andere Muster und Bedürfnisse. Um zu beurteilen, welche individuellen und
strukturellen Komponenten den Bildungserfolg und die Integration in
den Arbeitsmarkt bestimmen, werden Bildungswahl und Bildungswege
von Migrantinnen und Migranten ebenso analysiert, wie deren Eintritt
in den Arbeitsmarkt und deren Karriereverlauf.
Eine grosse Herausforderung ist aktuell der Umgang mit jungen Flüchtlingen in der Schweiz, deren Integration in die Berufsbildung und in
den Arbeitsmarkt für die Schweiz eine Chance sein kann, aber auch mit
besonderen Risiken behaftet ist. Für ältere Migrantinnen und Migranten gelten andere Bedingungen, insbesondere die Anerkennung von
Abschlüssen, Kompetenzen und Berufserfahrungen spielen hier eine
wichtige Rolle.
Ziel des Buches ist es, einen Überblick über den Forschungsstand im
Bereich Migration und Berufsbildung mit Fokus auf die Situation in der
Schweiz zu geben. Dabei werden Themen wie die Geschichte der Migration in der Schweiz, Sprachkompetenzen, Lernkultur, Schule und Lehrpersonen sowie Bildungs- und Berufsverläufe aus verschiedenen Perspektiven beleuchtet und Aspekte erfolgreicher Integration identifiziert.
We investigate the use of foreign national origin membership categories in four authentic, Dutch-spoken job interviews with first generation immigrants in Belgium applying for blue collar jobs. We draw on Membership Categorization Analysis and use a multimodal, micro-oriented approach. As such, we aim to uncover the many, often subtle, verbal and non-verbal ways in which these national origin categories are negotiated interactionally. Our findings indicate that because of these categorization mechanisms, the gatekeeping-process of job interviews becomes an even more challenging hurdle for candidates with a migration background especially when they have to compete with candidates with Belgian roots.
In many European countries, integration policies focus on getting refugees quickly into the labour market. In order to accomplish this, refugees in Denmark are placed in work internships. Based on fieldwork in an integration programme that combines mandatory Danish language classes with so-called “language internships”, where refugees do work internships for the purpose of learning Danish at work, the present study takes a critical look at discourses and positionings related to refugee access to the Danish labour market. The study finds clear evidence of an employability discourse which emphasises individual responsibility for employment while downplaying structural factors. Paradoxically, the employability discourse positions the refugees on the one hand as unemployable because of their lack of Danish language competence and hence as marginalised and relatively powerless. On the other hand, in this same discourse, they are repeatedly positioned as agents responsible for creating their own opportunities, including employment opportunities, while the language internships are constructed as a means of gaining employment and being able to leave the unemployment system. By investigating acts of positioning by participants in the integration programme and comparing them with discourses on language, work and integration in Denmark, the study concludes that despite intentions about the internships leading to employment and thus empowerment, the language internships lead to decapitalisation and marginalisation for the refugee participants.
This paper offers an ethnographic case study of Tomasz, a Polish construction worker, and his professional trajectory as well as daily work life on Norwegian construction sites. The study is based on observations, interviews, and recordings of Tomasz’s daily workplace activities and interactions. The Norwegian construction industry is characterized by socioeconomic stratification between permanently employed ‘local’ and temporarily leased ‘migrant’ workers. Moreover, due to a high degree of migrant workers in the industry, Norwegian construction sites are often de facto multilingual workplaces. This condition entails that multilingual communication and workers with the ‘right’ language repertoires become valuable. Their value, however, can be volatile and easily appropriated and redefined, as the case of Tomasz will demonstrate. On the one hand, Tomasz, as a worker with the ‘right’ language repertoire, gains agency and social recognition as being indispensable. Yet, on the other hand, this linguistic valuation also enables continued differentiation and distinction between ‘migrant’ and ‘local’ workers. This study contributes to understanding workers’ investments in language learning, the conditions of these investments, and how their trajectories make these investments feasible to the workers but also to the companies that hire and lease them.
Misunderstanding (MU) is a central working category in Intercultural Communicaton (ICC) studies. Generally speaking, MUs have gained the role of a raison-d'être for studying ICC, in particular under the premise that the communication in question is between cultural others, thus transforming MU into intercultural MU. In other studies, conflicts, uncomfortable moments, and miscontextualization in terms of sociocultural knowledge become indicative for ICC. Thus making MU criterial for ICC. Both positions are somehow biased and leave MU mystically underdefined. In order to escape such uncritical allround function of MU, all MUs should be of a comparable kind - under all premises.
