English Language Teaching in its Social Context

112 CELIA ROBERTSthc personal may differ markedly from that of the majority gatekeepers. In this instance,onc of the difficulties for Marcello is the relatively inconclusive way in which the interviewappears to end. Whereas counsellors see such interviews as an opportunity to discuss workprcferences, minority workers are more likely to expcct to be given specific informationabout particular jobs. Once this information has bccn given, they expect the interview tobe terminated. But in this instance, the counsellor ends the encounter once someinformation has been elicited from the clicnt and some advice given.Another frequently occurring example of difference surrounds the issue of thecategorisation of work experience around skills and responsibilities and often, therefore,around social status. In the next cxample (from Bremer et al., 1996, p. 63), Ilhami, aTurkishworker from Germany, is interviewed for an apprenticeship in a garage and is asked whatjob his father does:Data Example 21234567891011T: e was arbeit’ denn dcin vater was macht der von bcrufwhat work doesyourfather do what is his jobI: metallberuf [und]metal lobT. [ja] undok andI: (wxxx) schnellprcsse (wxxx) stamping presT: in der schnellprcsse in w.in the stamping press in w.I: [ja] mhmYesT: (ja] und dort tut er metalland he does metal thereI: metall [und]metal andT: [aha]I: die machen auch das macht auch papicrthey also make it makes paper tooT: mhm ah so ist dasmhm ah its like that(For transcription conventions see Data Example 1 .)This question and answer sequence is unsatisfactory because Ilhami is unaware ofthe underlying question which is about the social status of his father’s job and so of hisfather’s class position. The garage owner intcrrupts on scveral occasions to elicit a morespecific reply but nevcr makes explicit what he wants to know. Thcse are examples of‘socio-pragmatic failure’ in Thomas’ terms (Thomas, 1983). But this tcrm tends toemphasise the pragmatic difficulties rather than highlight the process of language socialisationwhich in this instancc concerns the discourse around class position in a gatekeepinginterview.