Code-Switching in the Workplace
Code-switching has become an important talking point recently because of its connection to Racism. Articles like black Americans and the Peril of Code-switching talk about the racial issues of code-switching because of the manner it was portrayed in the movie Sorry to Bother You. As a senior manager at a corporate software company, I have been guilty of preferring job applicants who don't have immigrant accents. This is primarily because of what a professional American accent brings to a person's profile. It allows me to assume that your education is from America and most likely received a professional degree. I will know what to expect from my applicants with an education from America being a graduate of an American institution myself and will able to relate to you on a more personal level. The education also allows me to put more confidence in your abilities as you had the resources to complete an American education and grow in society. Using phrases like "My man" would be an immediate indicator of unprofessional workplace language and is something that would show your not ready for a job on a corporate level. This is because the formality that is generally assumed with large companies like ours and what the customers expect from us. Our customers expect a certain standard because of the professional image corporate companies have, and any behavior that indicates customers won’t be given this treatment would be assumed as not performing the job correctly.
The cultural withering that has been referenced in the article I also feel is misled. When Cassius is given a tip to use his "White voice", this suggestion is just one of the ways he can show his formality. Cassius still remembers his culture and speaks using his normal language outside of the workplace. This temporary change in language should be looked as office attire and when he gets home he will remove this attire. This analogy is best explained through traditional clothes people wear at cultural gatherings. These clothes are worn only on these special occasions and not taken to work or other formal settings. This same philosophy can be applied to Code-switching as he is choosing words with a more formal connotation but talking with his most comfortable language when he is at home.
The cultural withering that has been referenced in the article I also feel is misled. When Cassius is given a tip to use his "White voice", this suggestion is just one of the ways he can show his formality. Cassius still remembers his culture and speaks using his normal language outside of the workplace. This temporary change in language should be looked as office attire and when he gets home he will remove this attire. This analogy is best explained through traditional clothes people wear at cultural gatherings. These clothes are worn only on these special occasions and not taken to work or other formal settings. This same philosophy can be applied to Code-switching as he is choosing words with a more formal connotation but talking with his most comfortable language when he is at home.
As a black man myself working in a corporate company, I can see what you are saying Derrick. I often code-switch when I am in a professional workplace. I grew up in a small suburban town where most of the people also didn’t speak formal English and I became accustomed to using this kind of language. However, when I got to college, I automatically picked up an entirely new way of speaking from professors and peers. This change was slow but the new language became ingrained into my head and would automatically work itself into my conversations when I was in a formal setting. I think that this change really helped me sound more credible when I was speaking and land more jobs. Even when my family visited my office, they were genuinely impressed with the way I talk to my coworkers. According to them, it made me sound like a
ReplyDelete“Businessman”, which I took as a resounding compliment. The one place though that I do agree with McWilliams is how the media portrays this way of speaking as of a “white man’s voice”. A formal tone should be self-reliant on itself and should not be connected with race or ethnicity. The best way to get rid of this connection is by promoting more colored men to use code-switching instead of opposing it. This will create an image of code-switching in the workplace that is free of race and ethnicity.
Hello Adam and Derrick, I am Daniel, a man of color who has migrated to America from Nigeria. Since I was a little kid my peers have always told me about the great oppurtunities that lie in the United States of America because of their numerous rules to let every American achieve their highest potential. I have learned my English through my few relatives that already live in a small town in Dallas. They weren’t fortunate enough to have a proper education and for that reason speak with double negatives and other incorrect gramar techniques. Being my only source of English interaction, I picked up on their way of speaking and since then used it as the foundation for my ability to speak English. I wasn’t fortunate enough to ever find a way to speak with my so-called “white voice” which always made me feel like I was inferior. This made me strongly agree with McWilliams in that people shouldn’t have to code-switch to be seen as credible and taken seriously. This kind of thinking puts an automatic impediment on the nature of which many Black Americans communicate and linking our way of communication with a lower standard. This unfair advantage should be removed by teaching citizens that code-switching isn’t important. As an employer, Derrick I hope you can empathize with my situation as I also have dreams that I don’t want impeding by my inability to code-switch.
ReplyDelete