The main role of English as international language and the impact of language in International Relations (original) (raw)
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This article outlines the content of an elective university course designed for domestic and international students, combining language and international relations. The course is intended to make students more sensitive to the linguistic intricacies of a specialist variety of English. The focus is on its written modes, particularly writing and reading academic (professional) texts dealing with complex foreign policy issues. As a result, students are expected to enhance their academic writing skills. The linguistic component of the course is backed up with a review of world affairs. Conversely, the field of international relations theory is enriched by a systematic study of language effects observed in the respective discourse. The interdisciplinarity of this enterprise benefits students with different academic and cultural backgrounds.
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Journal of Language and Cultural Education, 2015, 3(3)
The paper deals with the use of English as a lingua franca. It concentrates on the environment of international meetings where English is used as a lingua franca. The aim of the research conducted through a survey of members of a NATO working group is to find out how native and non-native speakers feel about English used as a lingua franca during international meetings and how these two groups of speakers see each other in multinational interaction from the point of view of linguistics. The sections dealing with non-native speakers concentrate on the level of knowledge of English and on how native speakers cope with the English used during the meetings. The sections dealing with the views of English native speakers should establish the approach they take towards mistakes made by non-native speakers, whether native speakers should adjust the way they speak at international meetings and how they generally view the fact that their mother tongue is used all around the world. Introduction English has a unique position in the world today. It has become a global language, a new lingua franca. It is a new communication tool for a lot of people all around the world which is so well connected today thanks to new technologies such as the Internet and air travel, as was never the case in the past. International communication has become a daily routine for hundreds of thousands if not millions of people. This paper focuses on one particular area of international communication: international business meetings-meetings of a NATO working group, to be more precise. It deals with English used as a lingua franca at these meetings, it attempts to discover how native and non-native members of the group feel about the English used during the meetings that they attend and how these two groups of speakers see each other in multinational interaction from the point of view of linguistics. It should be noted here that international communication can be described from a lot of different angles as it has many aspects, but this paper is primarily oriented towards linguistics and does not cover other factors of international communication such as the cultural and social identities of participants, their social or cultural background, gender issues, positions of delegates in the structure of the group or power relations within it. As these factors are inseparable from those of linguistics, it is not possible to avoid mention of them completely, but the main focus of the paper pertains to the linguistics of English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF).
1. Defining diplomacy and its language Diplomacy is the art of negotiating, so it underlies every person's life. Notably, diplomacy exists in the life of people who pursue their goals, and goals can only be achieved by coming to terms with others. Technically, the word refers to the negotiating activity among representatives of states and communities, e.g. a deal between trade unions and a company is part of the diplomatic activity, but the term is mostly associated with the relationships between countries and with other political entities. As Berridge says, "diplomacy is an essentially political activity" (Berridge 2002: 1). But if diplomacy is to be considered a part of politics, is there a language of diplomacy or does diplomacy make use of the typical elements characterising political discourse? Bayley affirms that "there is no such thing as political language, but a wide and diverse set of discourses, or genres, or registers that can be classified as forms of political language" (2005: 3) and, that being the case, in this study we will analyse a diplomatic formal speech, as an isolated genre, in order to see the main features of this set of discourse or genre.
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Ten nations make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and they officially adopted the ASEAN Charter in 2009. While Article 2 of the Charter urges ‘respect for the different languages of the peoples of ASEAN,’ Article 34 makes English the sole official working language. It states, simply, that, ‘the working language of ASEAN shall be English.’ In this chapter we shall consider the implications of the role of English as the sole working language of ASEAN for diplomacy and communication among the peoples of ASEAN. Using data drawn from the Asian Corpus of English (ACE), a million-word corpus of naturally occurring spoken English as used as a lingua franca between Asian multilinguals, we shall investigate how Asians use English to discuss topics of mutual interest and importance. After some reflections on excerpts of such naturally occurring utterances, suggestions for classroom application of the insight afforded by these are offered. The chapter will conclude with proposals for necessary communication skill sets for diplomats and other professionals who wish to communicate successfully through English with Asian multilinguals. These communication skills are likely to be particularly important for people whose first language is a native variety of English, as they need to learn how English can be adapted to suit different cultures.
Translation, international relations and diplomacy
The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Culture, 2018
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Language Matters in Global Communication: Article Based on ORA Lecture, October 2006
Journal of Business Communication, 2007
In the past few decades, it has become widely accepted that the lingua franca of international business is English; witness the way companies increasingly choose English as their official corporate language. Although this would seem to facilitate communication, this article argues that the choice of language(s) used is a delicate issue, highlighting the complexities of any split into native/nonnative speakers, and thus requiring considerable people management skills. This article discusses research from the Helsinki School of Economics on language and communication in multinational corporations based in non-English speaking countries. It suggests a reconceptualization of English lingua franca as business English lingua franca (BELF), and argues that BELF is a mostly oral language through which power is wielded in multinationals, and perceptions of self and others created. Moreover, it is not a "cultureless" language, but rather creates new operational cultures. Language choice thus has implications for management, HR, and employee satisfaction.
Communication: An Essential Aspect of Diplomacy
Communication is generally regarded as an essential aspect of diplomacy. Proceeding from an understanding of diplomacy as a transhistorical phenomenon, this article distinguishes a number of pertinent dimensions of the communicative aspects of diplomacy and proffers examples taken from different eras and geographic regions. With a focus on continuity and change, the article analyzes the basic aspects of diplomatic communication and the gathering and transmission of information, as well as two important options in the diplomatic repertoire: verbal versus nonverbal and public versus private communication. Two processes of continuity and change-the ritualization of diplomatic communication and technological development-are discussed. The article concludes that today's diplomatic communication cannot be seen as the result of any unilinear process. Variations within the distinguished dimensions do not follow an evolutionary pattern but reflect historical contingency.