English Pronunciation for Customer Service Representatives

Human language in the age of the telephone

Until the end of the 19th century, there were no telephones.  People nearly always talked face to face, and body language had always been an important aspect of human communication.  Naturally, telephone conversations occur without these non-verbal cues, which means that extra care has to be taken to avoid misunderstandings.

Politeness ordinarily expressed by means of body language probably won’t be noticed over the phone.  People who work as customer service representatives might even come across as rude if they’re not careful.  These problems are compounded by the fact that the sound quality is often poor over the phone, and comprehension is frequently made even worse when the representative speaks with a thick accent.  The following paragraphs address these problems, with a special emphasis on speakers of South Asian languages such as Hindi.

SEE ALSO: Accent Discrimination, Language Prejudice and the Workplace

Get your intonation right

Since telephone conversations lack non-verbal cues such as body language, it is extremely important to make your verbal cues as clear as possible.  The importance of intonation is often underestimated by learners of English, yet it is extremely important in forming questions and expressing politeness.  This is especially true on the phone, which is why customer service representatives should take the time to learn more about this important aspect of pronunciation.  Most pronunciation issues relate to individual sounds, but intonation operates at word and sentence levels.  For example, a yes-no question in English has a rising intonation.  Speakers of South Asian languages, when making a polite request (which is a yes-no question), might employ a rising intonation with a sudden drop in pitch at the end, creating a somewhat peremptory question and coming across as demanding and rude.  Consider the following examples:

May I go to the BATHROOM please?

May I go to the BATHROOM PLEASE?

In the first example, the pitch rises on bathroom and drops on please, making the speaker sound impatient and demanding.  In the second example, the pitch begins to rise on bathroom and continues to rise on please, which is the correct way to form a yes-no question in English.  This type of mistake might not present problems when non-verbal cues are present (the speaker’s face would indicate that it’s a polite request).  However, this would not be true on the phone.

Accent reduction improves comprehension

Customer service representatives from India are advised to sharpen their English pronunciation skills as much as possible.  Sound quality and distance make phone conversations hard enough, so pronunciation needs to be relatively good.  Below I will set forth a few of the pronunciation issues particular to South Asian languages:

1.  /d/ and /t/ are often pronounced with the tongue curved back (retroflex).

This is one of the most obvious markers of an Indian accent.  English /d/ and /t/ are pronounced with the tongue just behind the front teeth (alveolar), and the tip of the tongue should not be curved back.

2.  Words are pronounced according to the spelling. For example, the plural /s/ in English, which is pronounced [z] and [s], ends up being pronounced [s] all the time.  A word such as falls would therefore end up sounding more like false.  English spelling does not always reflect pronunciation.

3.  Consonant clusters are often broken up by inserting vowels. For example, the /l/ /m/ cluster in film will be broken up, making the word sound more like fill ‘em.  Some clusters are broken up by simply dropping one of the consonants.  This type of cluster reduction can make comprehension very difficult, so it should be minimized as much as possible.

4.  Speakers have difficulty making a distinction between /v/ and /w/.

5.  “Dark” /l/ in words such as calm is pronounced more like the /l/ in little.

All of these issues can be dealt with through the study and practice of proper pronunciation.  Customers served by those who have undertaken such study are much more likely to enjoy a satisfactory experience when having contact with a business over the phone.