1. +
Connie Sargent
Nail Technicians
in New York City
English for Specific Purposes
Vicki Hollett and Evan Frendo
November 2, 2010

2. +
Industry Overview

Nail salons are often owned by highly educated
immigrants whose skills are not valued for jobs in
the United States.

There are over 10,500 licensed nail technicians in
the New York City area, the majority of whom are
immigrants from Korea and China.

New York State licensing requires a 250-hour course
of study plus a written and practical examination.

3. +
Industry Overview

Employees are under pressure to rotate customers
through quickly while giving customers a feeling
that the experience is relaxing.

This is one of the few times when diverse immigrant
women have intimate social interaction with native
English-speaking American women.

Interaction is made more complicated by physical
contact.

4. +
Industry Overview

M. Kang (2003) found that there are different
expectations depending upon race and social class, and
different language needs to go with them:

Upper-class white women in upscale neighborhoods
expect physical pampering and emotional attentiveness.
English language needs are high.

Working-class African and Caribbean Americans in low-
income neighborhoods expect artistic technical skills and
respect. English language needs are basic and technical.

Middle-class mixed races expect efficiency and courtesy
with minimal emotional engagement. English language
needs are basic.

5. +
Needs Analysis Surveys and Interviews

My focus was on the basic, no frills nail salon where
nail technicians usually speak limited English.

5 different sources were interviewed for information:

Nail salon owners

Non-native speaking nail technicians

Native speaking nail technicians

Beauty schools

Customers

6. +
Results
All nail technicians and salon owners agreed:

There is no need to read or write in English.

All social and business interaction in the workplace is conducted in English as
a lingua franca because employees speak many different languages (Korean,
Chinese, Spanish, Russian).

Non-native speaking technicians also said:

They feel insecure speaking and understanding English, with their clients and
their boss.

Their clients rarely speak to them and they rarely speak to their clients.

7. +
Results

Native English speaking nail technicians all said:

Contrary to the non-native speakers, their clients
come to relax and often talk about their personal
lives.

Clients do all of the talking and nail technicians mostly
listen and ask leading questions.

8. +
Results

Nail salon owners, nail technicians, and beauty
schools were all disappointing sources of
information.

Non-native speaking salon owners and technicians
did not have enough English to adequately express
their needs.

None had the metacognitive ability or interest to
analyze what language they use or need.

All were suspicious of my motives and extremely
pressed for time.

9. +
Results

Customer interviews provided a huge amount of
quality information.

Customers felt that non-native speakers are rough,
curt, and treat them like an object.

Every interview referred to a fear that nail
technicians are talking about them to other nail
technicians.

Some customers thought they would tip more if
they felt more connected to the person doing their
nails.

All customers wanted their nail technician to make
basic small talk with them.

10. +
Interpretation of Results

Coworkers: Learners need basic English skills for communicating
among other employees and their boss.

Communicative needs: Nail technicians need safe opportunities to
practice speaking and listening.

Customers: Even basic pleasantries in English would make technicians’
customers feel more relaxed and connected, and would increase their
chances of making more money in tips.

11. +
Curriculum: English for Co-workers

Learn concepts that will help communication with
their boss.

Money and time: numbers, making change,
understanding tips, telling time, prices

Learn vocabulary that will help them in their job.

Technical terms like: backfill, base coat, bonding, decal,
foil manicure, gel wrap, glue, colors, linen wrap, quick
dry, tips

Instrument names like: buffer, cuticle nipper, emery
board, scissors, brush, clipper

Learn how to make pleasantries.

Small talk skills for making friends

12. +
Curriculum: Communicative Activities

Create activities that are focused on speaking and
listening.

Ask students to think about small talk in their own
culture and language. See if the subjects are
transferrable.

Review what is inappropriate in the United States to
discuss in small talk.

Play games that require having to think quickly,
change subjects, and speak often.

13. +
Curriculum: English for Customers

Teach American ideas of relaxation and indulgence.

Practice small talk skills.

Learn how to compliment sincerely.

Teach American manners and gestures.

Review modals and how they can soften speech acts.

14. +
Bibliography

Lofstrom, Magnus. "Labor market assimilation and the self-employment decision of immigrant
entrepreneurs", Journal of Population Economics 15.1 (2002): 83. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Web. 18 Oct. 2010.

Nussbaum, E. “A Stranger’s Touch”, New York Magazine, November 25,
2007,http://nymag.com/print/?/beauty/features/41280/, taken October 18, 2010.

Greenhouse, Steven. “At Nail Salons, Beauty Treatments Can Have a Distinctly Unglamorous Side”, The
New York Times, August 19, 2007.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/nyregion/19nails.html?, taken
October 18, 2010.

Pearce, Susan. “Today’s Immigrant Woman Entrepreneur”, The Diversity Factor, Summer 2005, New
Frontiers, Volume 13, Number 3.

Pratt, M. “The ABC’s and 123’s of Customer Service”, Nails Magazine, Nails Career Handbook
Supplement, 2009, http://www.nailsmag.com/careerHandbook/, taken October 18, 2010.

Kang, M. “The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean Immigrant-
Owned Nail Salons,” Gender and Society, Vol. 17, No. 6, December 2003.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3594672, taken September 29, 2010.