Bridget Jones's Diary meets The Office. Madison Lee is a fresh college grad, ready to take on the world of print media. But she has zero luck landing a job. Unemployment is at ten percent and on the rise. Desperate and left with no other options, she accepts a position as a service rep at a call center in Pocatello, Idaho. At the Lightning Speed call center in Spudsville, Maddy plunges into the wild and dysfunctional world of customer service where Sales is prided over Service and an eight hour shift is equivalent to eight hours of callers bashing her over the phone. Oh sure, the calls are...

This fascinating study of languages in contact introduces new insights from popular culture, the globalised new economy and computer-mediated communication.

In this ground-breaking collection of essays, the authors develop a notion of Linguistic Citizenship, highlighting practices whereby vulnerable speakers themselves exercise control over language, and detailing ways in which alternative voices can be inserted into processes and structures that often alienate those they were designed to support.

In this ground-breaking collection of essays, the authors develop a notion of Linguistic Citizenship, highlighting practices whereby vulnerable speakers themselves exercise control over language, and detailing ways in which alternative voices can be inserted into processes and structures that often alienate those they were designed to support.