The language used in five-star hotels

Abstract EN

The purpose of this study is to investigate the language used by the receptionists and the guests of three five- star hotels in Amman (Jordan).

It has been observed that they use both English and Urban Arabic regardless of their social backgrounds in their speech, while the guests display a readiness to use English regardless of their level of proficiency of the language.

English and the Arabic dialect which is considered the supra dialectal low of the speaking Arabic world are used as tools to exhibit levels of prestige in these luxurious hotels.

Code-switching quite evident in the language of the employees even when the interlocutors (i.e.

the guests) show readiness to use English.

Ninety percent of the employees exhibit a readiness to codeswitch and sometimes even to code-mix.

It is very clear that English is found to be the preferred language once the guests began using it.

That is to say, the language used by the receptionists is launched and determined from the beginning by the language used by the guests.

Linguistic accommodation and cost and reward principle are to be considered.

The guests’ perceptions of the quality of service are obviously affected by the language used in the hotels.

Eighty-two percent of the guests believe that the use of English in the hotels reflects the fact that they are in a prestigious five-star hotel