The (Un)Hidden Turmoil of Language in Global Collaboration (original) (raw)
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For multinational corporations, the need for efficiency and control has motivated the choice for a corporate language. However, increasing internationalisation has forced corporations to rethink their language policies to cater to the changing demands of the multicultural and multilingual workplace. This paper explores two related issues. First, it addresses the influence of mode of communication (English as a Lingua Franca [ELF] vs. L1–L2 interactions) on task efficiency. Second, it investigates the use of communication strategies in the different types of interactions (ELF vs. L1–L2). In a within-subject experimental design, the present study explores the effectiveness of language use in dyadic, computer-mediated communication between non-native speakers of English (ELF) and native and non-native speakers of German and Dutch (L1–L2). In three consecutive chat sessions, 60 participants performed a problemsolving task in English, German or Dutch. Findings indicate that in L1–L2 interactions, the participants were more effective in realising communicative goals than in ELF interactions, and that participants made use of different communication strategies in L1–L2 interactions than in ELF interactions. Consequently, international organisations which implement a corporate language may benefit from condoning multilingual practices on the work floor.
When English does not take: A work team’s response to imposed anglicization
2013
"This paper uses an ethnographically-inspired methodology to look at the dynamics of anglicization and resistance against it in a culturally and linguistically homogeneous project team. We show that changing working language can be extremely disruptive to team work. Over the surface, efficiency is impaired as working in a foreign language restricts speakers’ accuracy, fluency and willingness to speak. The team leader’s important and difficult role is to limit “losses”. Under the surface, the language change turns out to strike a new balance of power, in response to which potentially harmful individual strategies emerge to in- or decrease the weight of English in team work, notably through language-switching. Ambiguity as a policy reaches its limits there, although explicit negotiation may not be an option. Corporate language policy should in any case be thought of as dialectically co-constructed by decision-makers and language-users themselves."
Multilingualism at the workplace
International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2007
The Language Policy ReN is organizing colloquia and sessions at forthcoming congresses and conferences:
have confirmed the importance of multilingualism in the workplace. They provide evidence that a multilingual environment increases the diversity and the quality of projects, while monolingualism can mean a loss of markets. Since the '80s, English as a lingua franca (ELF) has been accepted as the international business language. Although English is not considered a threat to multilingualism (House, 2002, 2003), tensions exist between these two forms of communication: ELF and multilingualism. In this paper, I present an analysis of Airbus employee interviews using argument formulas (Anscombre, Ducrot, 1983). The initial analysis of what is said before and after the connector " but/pero/aber/mais " within interviews in four languages indicates tensions between the use of English and multilingual exchanges in daily work activities. The combination of " enunciation frames " (Charolles, 1997) and the role of personal pronouns (Benveniste, 1974) shows that the employees adapt their communication according to workplace structures: they tend to use English at an executive or a departmental level, while at team and face-to-face levels their communication benefits from multilingual skills.
Multilingualism in the workplace: the voice of professionals
2016
Esta tesis se centra en el multilinguismo en las empresas de una region bilingue, concretamente en el Pais Vasco. La globalizacion ha llevado a una situacion en la que las empresas sienten la necesidad de utilizar, aparte de las lenguas oficiales de la region, tambien lenguas extranjeras para poder comunicarse en el mercado internacional. Sobre todo el ingles ha ganado en importancia en el Pais Vasco como lengua extranjera. Relacionado con ello, tambien la ensenanza de idiomas en educacion se considera cada vez mas importante, para preparar a los futuros profesionales con las competencias linguisticas necesarias. Por lo tanto, esta tesis tiene como objetivo, por una parte, analizar el papel del multilinguismo en las empresas vascas que operan en el mercado internacional y, por otra parte, analizar las percepciones de los futuros profesionales sobre el uso y la importancia de los idiomas en su futuro puesto de trabajo. Para facilitar el estudio del multilinguismo en la empresa, propo...
Ten reasons why corporate language policies can create more problems than they solve
Current Issues in Language Planning, 2018
An increasing number of multilingual organisations such as multinational corporations (MNCs) choose to address linguistic diversity through corporate language policies, for example by adopting a common corporate language. Although a common corporate language may improve efficiency of communication at the front-line level, previous research has demonstrated that there are several potentially negative consequences associated with the implementation of such policies. This conceptual paper reviews the role of language policies in multilingual organisations, and identifies ten crucial language policy challenges in international business and management.
Language Policy in Multilingual Organizations
Little academic research on how language is used in corporations has been conducted in the field of language planning and policy. A number of language policy researchers have discussed the language needs of the business world, while virtually all of the scant literature on what a framework for corporate language policy would look like has been conducted by human resource management scholars and published in business management journals. This lack of attention in the academic literature is surprising, since corporate language policy (presumably) affects everyone, either directly or indirectly, who works in or will work in a corporation. Language presents particular resources and challenges in multilingual organizations. One particular challenge looked at in this paper is how to reconcile power implications of language choice with organizational need for effective communication. In order for an international organization to have an effective language policy, it must carefully consider its linguistic needs and be able to develop and capture the linguistic knowledge of its employees to surmount communication barriers. Language management as a form of knowledge management is proposed, and recommendations are made with regard to best practices, directions for language research, and opportunities for corporate-higher education partnerships.
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 2018
When multiple non-native speakers (NNSs) who share the same native language join a group discussion with native speakers (NSs) of the common language used in the discussion, they sometimes switch back and forth between common language and their native language to reach common ground. However, such codeswitching makes others feel excluded and thus not considered appropriate during formal meetings. To offer NNSs more flexibility to code-switch in a group discussion while minimizing the cost of excluding others, we introduced a language support tool that automatically detects between two pre-defined spoken languages, and then transcribe as well as translate them into another language (common language or NNS's native language). In a within-subject study involving 19 quads (two Japanese and two Chinese) in a collocated setting, participants were asked to perform a series of decision-making tasks with and without the tool. Results showed that the language support tool encouraged diverse use of language during a meeting, resulting in more equal participation from each group member. Although the perceived quality of collaboration became lower, it also elicited helping behaviors among the NNS pairs. CCS Concepts: • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in HCI; • Human-centered computing → Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing