Grassroots Diffusion of English in a ‘Blue-collar’ Workplace: The Case of a Multilingual Cleaning Company in New Jersey, USA

Abstract

This chapter adds to the growing literature in sociolinguistics which investigates language practices and multilingual repertoires within blue-collar workplaces. It investigates the ways in which transnational domestic workers within a multilingual cleaning company in New Jersey, USA have learned English from ‘below’ and thus informally and analyses English-language repertoires among both employees and clients. The chapter aims to underscore how effective communication for company external purposes (between employees and clients) often relies on creative, improvised and situation-specific deployment of both linguistic and extra-linguistic resources. Findings from this study deviate from existing literature which promotes English proficiency for reasons of recruitment and social mobility (especially within a US-context). As such, the chapter calls for scholars to look into more context-specific and local practices between individuals who do not share a first/second language in order for effective communication to be achieved.