Steven Sacco | San Diego State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Steven Sacco

Global Business Languages, 2022

In this essay, the authors describe the results of a study that measured the use of English and F... more In this essay, the authors describe the results of a study that measured the use of English and French as perceived by one group of female managers and employees working in logistics and global supply chain management positions in Francophone Africa, Women in Logistics-Africa. The goal was to determine if "mandating English as the common corporate language," sometimes called Englishnization (Neeley, 2012), has attained a significant presence within corporations operating in Francophone Africa. The 124 subjects from 94 companies in Francophone Africa, responded to a 14-question survey; 24 subjects participated in follow-up interviews. The results indicate that English is highly valued among the vast majority of respondents and is mostly used in exchanges between the French-speaking employees and their English-speaking bosses, clients, and suppliers. French, however, remains the dominant workplace language used overall as the 124 French-speaking professionals communicate almost exclusively in French with co-workers and French-speaking clients and suppliers. Consequently, English is not always the business lingua franca as claimed by Neeley (2012, 2017), and other Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) researchers (see e.g., Kankaanranta et al., 2015, 2018). Instead, the findings in the current study add to an increasing pool of evidence of multilingual workplace settings, even among multinational corporations where English is the

Foreign Language Annals, May 1, 1987

%is article describes a course designed to increase the intercultural communication skills of Ame... more %is article describes a course designed to increase the intercultural communication skills of American postsecondary students. Activities include readings and moyies illustrating cross-cultuml conflicts; application of the Gudykunst and Kim model to a crosscultuml case study; panel discussions; anda culruml simulation. Suggestions are provided for adopting the course or parts of it in the foreign h g u a g e or genemi education curriculum.

Foreign Language Annals, Feb 1, 1987

This paper describes a thme-part a p pmach to the enhancement of critical-reading and thinking sk... more This paper describes a thme-part a p pmach to the enhancement of critical-reading and thinking skills. In particular, this paperpmposes I) a rationale for emphasizing the skill; 2ia spec19c role foreign language can play; and3) two chsnwm-tesrad activities presented in French. This active and problem-solving approach to reading a second language advocates the use of authentic and unsimplified non-literary texts for use by advanced high school and intermediate college students. It is hoped that this approach will encoumge foreign language students to think more active&, objectivelu, and critically when reading both native-and secondlanguage texts. In recent years, numerous privately and publicly sponsored commissions have studied the c a w for the failure of American education. One of the most frequently cited factors is the inability of American students to read and think critically. In an alarming report on the status of American education, the National Commission on Excellence in Education reported that "[mlany 17-year-olds do not possess the 'higher order' intellectual skills we should expect of them .... Nearly 40 percent cannot draw inferences from written materials; [andlonlyone-fifth can writeapersuasive essay..!' (6, p. 7). In another alarming report, two LaRouche candidates, running on the Democratic ticket, were unwittingly nominated for Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State in the 1986 Illinois Primary by an electorate who selected them based on

French Review, May 1, 2023

French Review, Mar 1, 2023

French Review, Dec 1, 2022

The Modern Language Journal, 1985

The proposed paper features a qualitative pilot study that monitored and assessed workplace langu... more The proposed paper features a qualitative pilot study that monitored and assessed workplace language use within a U.S. multinational company where English is the official language of business. The qualitative pilot study examined language use by Hispanic immigrant workers employed at a rice mill in a rural northwestern U.S. community. In the weeklong needs assessment, the author interviewed 26 nonnative English speaking coworkers, 2 native English speaking coworkers, and 10 mid-and senior-level managers. The author also observed daily operations in all departments of the rice mill, participated in safety training and testing, and shared his findings with senior officials at the company's world headquarters in the U.S. Although English is the lingua franca at this U.S. agribusiness giant, Hispanic mill workers (a majority in most mills in the U.S.) worked almost exclusively in Spanish. Hispanic mill workers used Spanish in everyday work situations from daily team meetings to report writing. Communication with senior mill managers required the use of a translator. Nearly all reports were written in Spanish, requiring an English translation as mandated by OSHA. Senior officials are keenly concerned about (1) addressing safety issues when two languages are intertwined during daily operations in their mills nationwide and (2) finding an effective solution to enforce the use of English as a lingua franca of business.

2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication o f eith... more 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication o f either blurred copy because o f movem ent during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials tha t should n o t have been filmed For blurred pages, a good image o f the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame.

The Modern Language Journal, 1986

The proposed paper features the results of a survey and follow-up interviews that assessed workpl... more The proposed paper features the results of a survey and follow-up interviews that assessed workplace language use within 20 multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in French West Africa. Participating corporations, headquartered in nine different countries, operate in over 100 countries and represent 13 major industries. Sixty-six French West African engineers identified (1) their corporation's official workplace language, (2) the percentage of time employees speak English versus French, (3) the weaknesses in nonnative employees' English skills, and (4) recommendations for ESL instruction at French West African universities. The present study confirms that English is the official language of nearly every MNC operating in French West Africa; however, employees in none of these MNCs work exclusively in English as both English and French are intertwined during daily operations. The results support Janssens & Steyaert (2014) call for a multilingual franca workplace, where mixed language use is tolerated. The results also confirm Sacco's (2017) findings that the exclusive use of English as the lingua franca of international business within multinational corporations is unrealistic in many contexts. 1 1 This is my second foray into BELF research. Sacco (2017) in GABC is the first. I believe we applied linguists and Language for Specific Purposes researchers have much to contribute to BELF research in collaboration with experts in the field.

Journal of Teaching in International Business, Jul 3, 2014

This paper describes the importance of foreign languages and cultures and their integration into ... more This paper describes the importance of foreign languages and cultures and their integration into U.S. international business programs. The author juxtaposes globalization strategies of European and American business schools and highlights pre-university foreign language study in Europe and the U.S. The paper goes on to describe model U.S. undergraduate and graduate international business programs and their use of strategies that lead to professional proficiency. The author concludes with a discussion of strategies to be considered by U.S. business schools.

Global Business Languages, 2013

The authors would like to thank the students of French 423 for their inspiration and dedication t... more The authors would like to thank the students of French 423 for their inspiration and dedication to creating case studies and the staff of the Language Acquisition Resource Center (Stevie Choate and Trevor Shanklin) for their technical assistance.

Global Business Languages, 2010

Innovation in curriculum development is difficult to accomplish anymore without the pursuit of ex... more Innovation in curriculum development is difficult to accomplish anymore without the pursuit of external funding. My own experience began with an ultimatum back in 1987 when, as a junior faculty member, my chair instructed me to generate grant funding matching my annual salary in order to be reappointed. I had no idea what a grant was and needed to look up the word in the dictionary. Fortunately, with help from colleagues, I was able to generate grant funding worth twice my annual salary. Thus began a career in the pursuit of external funding to create curriculum development opportunities for my university and my students. Many of us were raised with the belief that the dean or provost should provide any new funding needed for program development. After all, doctoral programs taught us how to produce research-not grant funding. After gaining a modicum of maturity I came to realize that a dean was similar to a parent handcuffed with nine children and only three ice cream cones. Instead of deciding how to split the three ice cream cones, I realized that external funding would allow me to generate my own. "Ice cream cones" come in the form of external funding opportunities, spearheaded by the US Department of Education Title VI and the Fulbright-Hays Programs. These programs have funded hundreds of business foreign language and international business programs since the early 1980s. Within recent years, other federal, foundation, and corporate sources have joined the US Department of Education to sponsor curriculum development, faculty development, and student scholarships. Why should institutions of higher education (IHEs) seek external funding? External funding can contribute to the development of a new international business program within a business school sporting few international education assets. Conversely, grants can also fund the upgrading of a mediocre international business program. Some business schools are developing other types of forward-thinking global education programs such as a NAFTAfocused MBA, a major in global entrepreneurship or a certificate program in international agribusiness. These types of programs are the vanguard of the global education movement among US business schools designed to safeguard America's economic pre-eminence.

The Wilson Bulletin, 1992

... TC Grubb, Jr., Keith Bildstein and an anonymous reviewer helped to improve an earlier draft o... more ... TC Grubb, Jr., Keith Bildstein and an anonymous reviewer helped to improve an earlier draft of the MS. ... of Wisconsin Zoological Museum) for the loan of the study skins, W. Feeny for drawing the figures, JP Hailman for recording some of the trials, MH Clemmons for assistance in ...

Foreign Language Annals, 1987