Abstract
This conceptual paper advances the notion of “English as corporate language” in the multilingual reality of multinational companies (MNC) with novel insights from the English as lingua franca (ELF) paradigm of sociolinguistics. Inspired by Goffman, Erving. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday. dramaturgical metaphor of social life, we develop the notion of English as corporate language by making a distinction between the frontstage official language used in corporate communication and backstage working language used in interactions among MNC employees. We argue that the former approaches the notion of English as a native language and the latter represents ELF in the business domain (BELF); they are different in terms of understanding language competence, multilingualism and role of language in building legitimacy. Our conclusions imply first, that the frontstage English may not always be accessible to the backstage BELF users, due to which employees may feel disadvantaged or disempowered. Second, the use of formal language testing in recruitment and performance appraisal may transform into a gate-keeping mechanism that leads to power inequalities. In our recommendations, we call for an emancipatory language policy accepting different standards of English for different positions and adopting ideas of the Plain Language initiative to better reach all MNC employees.
References
Angouri, Jo. 2013. The multilingual reality of the multinational workplace: Language policy and language use. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 34(6). 564–581.10.1080/01434632.2013.807273Search in Google Scholar
Angouri, Jo. 2014. Multilingualism in the workplace: Language practices in multilingual contexts. Multilingua 33(1–2). 1–9.10.1515/multi-2014-0001Search in Google Scholar
Angouri, Jo & Marlene Miglbauer. 2014. And then we summarise in English for the others: The lived experience of the multilingual workplace. Multilingua 33(1-2). 147–172.10.1515/multi-2014-0007Search in Google Scholar
Bargiela-Chiappini, Francesca (ed). 2007. The Handbook of Business Discourse. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.10.1057/9780230627710Search in Google Scholar
Barnhart, Adam. 1994. Erving Goffman: The presentation of self in everyday life. Available online at http://www.dinicola.it/sit/Erving%20Goffman%20The%20Presentation%20of%20Self%20in%20Everyday%20Life.htmSearch in Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan. 2010. The sociolinguistics of globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511845307Search in Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan, James Collins & Stef Slembrouck. 2005. Polycentricity and interactional regimes in ‘global neighborhoods’. Ethnography 6(2). 205–235.10.1177/1466138105057557Search in Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan & Ico Maly. 2016. Ethnographic linguistic landscape analysis and social change: A case study. In Karel Arnaut, Jan Blommaert, Ben Rampton & Massimiliano Spotti (Eds.), Language and Superdiversity. 191–211. New York: Routledge. Tilburg Papers in Culture Studies 100.Search in Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan & Ben Rampton. 2011. Language and superdiversity. Diversities 13(2). 1–21.Search in Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1991. Language and symbolic power. Harvard: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Brannen, Mary Yoko, Rebecca Piekkari & Susanne Tietze. 2014. The multifaceted role of language in international business: Unpacking the forms, functions and features of a critical challenge to MNC theory and performance. Journal of International Business Studies 45. 495–507.10.1007/978-3-319-42745-4_6Search in Google Scholar
Canagarajah, Suresh. 2007. Lingua franca English, multilingual communities and language acquisition. Modern Language Journal 91. 923–939.10.1111/j.1540-4781.2007.00678.xSearch in Google Scholar
Canagarajah, Suresh. 2013. Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. New York: Routledge.10.4324/9780203120293Search in Google Scholar
Canagarajah, Suresh & Daisuke Kimura. 2017. Translingual practice and ELF. In Jennifer Jenkins, Will Baker & Martin Dewey (eds.), Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca, 295–308. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315717173-25Search in Google Scholar
Cogo, Alessia. 2012. ELF and super-diversity: A case study of ELF multilingual practices from a business context. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 1/2. 287–313.10.1515/jelf-2012-0020Search in Google Scholar
Cogo, Alessia & Martin Dewey. 2012. Analysing English as a lingua franca: A corpus-driven investigation. London and New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Cornelissen, Joop. 2014. Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice, 4th edn. London: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
De Swaan, Abram. 2001. Words of the world: The global language system. Cambridge, UK: Polity.Search in Google Scholar
Ehrenreich, Susanne. 2010. English as business lingua franca in a German multinational corporation: Meeting the challenge. Journal of Business Communication 47(4). 408–443.10.1177/0021943610377303Search in Google Scholar
Ehrenreich, Susanne. 2016. English as a lingua franca (ELF) in international business contexts: Key issues and future perspectives. In Kumiko Murata (ed.), Exploring ELF in Japanese academic and business contexts: Conceptualization, research and pedagogic implications, 135–155. London & New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Feely, Alan J. & Anne-Wil Harzing. 2003. Language management in multinational companies. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 10(2). 37–52.10.1108/13527600310797586Search in Google Scholar
Gaibrois, Claudine. 2016. Turning away from national languages: How hybrid forms of language use affect communication in multilingual organizations. Paper presented at the 10th GEM&L Conference, Paris, 7-18 March.Search in Google Scholar
García, Ofelia & Li Wei. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137385765Search in Google Scholar
Ghoshal, Sumantra & Christopher A. Bartlett. 1990. The multinational corporation as an interorganizational network. The Academy of Management Review 15(4). 603–625.10.1007/978-1-349-22557-6_4Search in Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday.Search in Google Scholar
Greer, Rachelle R. 2012. Introducing plain language principles to business communication students. Business Communication Quarterly 75(2). 136–152.10.1177/1080569912441967Search in Google Scholar
Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise. 2014. Multilingualism in European workplace. Multilingua 33(1–2). 11–33.10.1515/multi-2014-0002Search in Google Scholar
Harzing, Anne-Wil & Alan J. Feely. 2008. The language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal 15(1). 49–61.10.1108/13527600810848827Search in Google Scholar
Harzing, Anne-Wil, Kathrin Köster & Ulrike Magner. 2011. Babel in business: The language barrier and its solutions in the HQ-subsidiary relationship. Journal of World Business 46(3). 279–287.10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.005Search in Google Scholar
Heller, Monica. 2006. Linguistic Minorities and Modernity: A Sociolinguistic Ethnography, 2nd edn. London: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar
Heller, Monica. 2010. The commodification of language. Annual review of Anthropology 39. 101–114.10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104951Search in Google Scholar
Hinds, Pamela J., Tsedal B. Neeley & Catherine D. Cramton. 2014. Language as a lightning rod: Power contests, emotion regulation, and subgroup dynamics in global teams. Journal of International Business Studies 45. 536–561.10.1057/jibs.2013.62Search in Google Scholar
Hua, Zhu. 2014. Piecing together the ‘workplace multilingualism’ jigsaw puzzle. Multilingua 33(1-2). 233–242.10.1515/multi-2014-0010Search in Google Scholar
Janssens, Maddy & Chris Steyaert. 2014. Re-considering language within a cosmopolitan understanding: Toward a multilingual franca approach in International Business Studies. Journal of International Business Studies 45(5). 623–639.10.1007/978-3-319-42745-4_7Search in Google Scholar
Jenkins, Jennifer. 2015. Repositioning English and multilingualism in English as a Lingua Franca. Englishes in Practice 2(3). 49–85.10.1515/eip-2015-0003Search in Google Scholar
Jenkins, Jennifer, Will Baker & Martin Dewey ((eds.)). 2017. The Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca. London and New York: Routledge.10.4324/9781315717173Search in Google Scholar
Jenkins, Jennifer, Alessia Cogo & Martin Dewey. 2011. Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca. Language Teaching 44(3). 281–315.10.1017/S0261444811000115Search in Google Scholar
Kangasharju, Helena, Rebecca Piekkari & Säntti. Risto. 2010. Yrityksen kielipolitiikka: Missä se piilee? [The language policy in international firms: Where is it hiding?]. In Hanna Lappalainen, Marja-Leena Sorjonen & Maria Vilkuna (eds.), Kielellä on merkitystä [‘Language matters’], 135–157. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.Search in Google Scholar
Kankaanranta, Anne & Leena Louhiala-Salminen. 2013. What language does global business speak? – The concept and development of BELF. Ibérica, the Journal of the European Association of Languages for Specific Purposes 26. 17–34.Search in Google Scholar
Kankaanranta, Anne & Leena Louhiala-Salminen. 2017. ELF in the domain of business – BELF: What does the B stand for? In Jennifer Jenkins, Will Baker & Martin Dewey (eds.), Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca, 309–319. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315717173-26Search in Google Scholar
Kankaanranta, Anne, Leena Louhiala-Salminen & Päivi Karhunen. 2015. English in multinational companies: Implications for teaching ‘English’ at an international business school. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 4(1). 125–148.10.1515/jelf-2015-0010Search in Google Scholar
Kankaanranta, Anne & Brigitte Planken. 2010. BELF competence as business knowledge of internationally operating business professionals. Journal of Business Communication 47(4). 380–407.10.1177/0021943610377301Search in Google Scholar
Kankaanranta, Anne & Lu. Wei. 2013. The evolution of English as the business lingua franca: Signs of convergence in Chinese and Finnish professional communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication 27(3). 288–307.10.1177/1050651913479919Search in Google Scholar
Kingsley, Leilarna. 2013. Language choice in multilingual encounters in transnational workplaces. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 34(6). 533–548.10.1080/01434632.2013.807271Search in Google Scholar
Koester, Almut. 2006. Investigating workplace discourse. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203015742Search in Google Scholar
Kogut, Bruce & Udo Zander. 1993. Knowledge of the firm and the evolutionary theory of the multinational corporation. Journal of International Business Studies 24(4). 625–645.10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490248Search in Google Scholar
Krzyżanowski, Michal & Ruth Wodak. 2010. Hegemonic multilingualism in/of the EU institutions: An inside-outside perspective on the European language policies and practices. In Heike Böhringer, Cornelia Hülmbauer & Eva Vetter (eds.), Mehrsprachigkeit aus der Perspektive zweier EU-Projekte: DYLAN meets LINEE, 115–135. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.Search in Google Scholar
Lauring, Jakob & Klitmøller. Andres. 2015. Corporate language-based communication avoidance in MNCs: A multi-sited ethnography approach. Journal of World Business 50. 46–55.10.1016/j.jwb.2014.01.005Search in Google Scholar
Logemann, Minna & Rebecca Piekkari. 2015. Localize or local lies? The power of language and translation in the multinational corporation. Critical Perspectives on International Business 11(1). 30–53.10.1108/cpoib-02-2014-0011Search in Google Scholar
Lønsmann, Dorte. 2011. English as a Corporate Language. Language Choice and Language Ideologies in an International Company in Denmark. Unpublished PhD thesis, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark.Search in Google Scholar
Lønsmann, Dorte. 2014. Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion. Multilingua 33(1-2). 89–116.10.1515/multi-2014-0005Search in Google Scholar
Lønsmann, Dorte. 2015. Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language: ‘it has to be English’. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 36(4). 339–356.10.1080/01434632.2014.921187Search in Google Scholar
Lønsmann, Dorte. 2017. Embrace it or resist it? Employees’ reception of corporate language policies. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 17(1). 101–123.10.1177/1470595817694658Search in Google Scholar
Louhiala-Salminen, Leena, Mirjaliisa Charles & Anne Kankaanranta. 2005. English as a lingua franca in Nordic corporate mergers: Two case companies. English for Specific Purposes, Special issue: English as a lingua franca international business contexts 24(4). 401–421.10.1016/j.esp.2005.02.003Search in Google Scholar
Louhiala-Salminen, Leena & Anne Kankaanranta. 2011. Professional communication in a global business context: The notion of global communicative competence. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 54(3). 244–262.10.1109/TPC.2011.2161844Search in Google Scholar
Louhiala-Salminen, Leena & Anne Kankaanranta. 2012. Language issues in international internal communication: English or local language? If English, what English? Public Relations Review, Special edition on Internal Communication 38(2). 262–269.10.1016/j.pubrev.2011.12.021Search in Google Scholar
Luo, Yadong & Oded Shenkar. 2006. The multinational corporation as a multilingual community: Language and organization in a global context. Journal of International Business Studies 37. 321–339.10.1007/978-3-319-42745-4_4Search in Google Scholar
Ly, Anne Lise. 2016. International internal communication in the workplace: A transdisciplinary approach. NHH – Norwegian School of Economics doctoral dissertation.Search in Google Scholar
Makoni, Sinifree & Alastair Pennycook. 2012. Disinventing multilingualism: From monological multilingualism to multilingua francas. In Marilyn Martin-Jones, Adrian Blackledge & Angela Creese (eds.), The Routledge handbook of multilingualism, 439–453. London and New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Marschan-Piekkari, Rebecca, Denise Welch & Lawrence S. Welch. 1999a. In the shadow: The impact of language on structure, power and communication in the multinational. International Business Review 8. 421–440.10.1016/S0969-5931(99)00015-3Search in Google Scholar
Marschan-Piekkari, Rebecca, Denise Welch & Lawrence S. Welch. 1999b. Adopting a common corporate language: IHRM implications. The International Journal of Human Resource Management 10. 377–390.10.1080/095851999340387Search in Google Scholar
Neeley, Tsedal. 2011. Language and globalization: ‘Englishnization’ at Rakuten. Harvard Business School organizational behavior unit case no. 412-002. [online] http://ssrn.com/abstract=1993062 (Accessed 18 May 2016)Search in Google Scholar
Neeley, Tsedal B. 2013. Language matters: Status loss and achieved status distinctions in global organizations. Organization Science 24. 476–497.10.1287/orsc.1120.0739Search in Google Scholar
Neeley, Tsedal B. & Tracy L. Dumas. 2016. Unearned status gain: Evidence from a global language mandate. Academy of Management Journal 59(1). 14–43.10.5465/amj.2014.0535Search in Google Scholar
Peltokorpi, Vesa & Eero Vaara. 2014. Knowledge transfer in multinational corporations: Productive and counterproductive effects of language-sensitive recruitment. Journal of International Business Studies 45(5). 600–622.10.1057/jibs.2014.1Search in Google Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair. 2010. Language as a local practice. Milton Park: Routledge.10.4324/9780203846223Search in Google Scholar
Piekkari, Rebecca, Denise Welch & Lawrence Welch. 2014. Language in international business: The multilingual reality of global business expansion. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.10.4337/9781784710996Search in Google Scholar
Piller, Ingrid. 2016. Linguistic diversity and social justice: An introduction to applied sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199937240.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Piller, Ingrid & Loy Lising. 2014. Language, employment, and settlement: Temporary meat workers in Australia. Multilingua 33(1-2). 35–59.10.1515/multi-2014-0003Search in Google Scholar
Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2017. Creativity, idiom use and metaphorical language in ELF. In Jennifer Jenkins, Will Baker & Martin Dewey (eds.), Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca, 233–243. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315717173-20Search in Google Scholar
Pullin, Patricia. 2010. Small talk, rapport, and international communicative competence: Lessons to learn from BELF. The Journal of Business Communication 47(4). 455–476.10.1177/0021943610377307Search in Google Scholar
SanAntonio, Patricia M. 1987. Social mobility and language use in an American company in Japan. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 6(3/4). 191–200.10.1177/0261927X8763003Search in Google Scholar
Sanden, Guro R. 2014. Language management×3: A theory, a sub-concept, and a business strategy tool. Applied Linguistics 37(4). 520–535.10.1093/applin/amu048Search in Google Scholar
Schnurr, Stephanie ((ed.)). 2013. Exploring professional communication: Language in action. Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics. Abingdon, Oxford, U.K.: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2011. Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Seidlhofer, Barbara. 2017. ELF in prospect. Where do we go from here? Invited panel at the 10th Anniversary Conference of English as a Lingua Franca, 12–15 June, University of Helsinki, Finland.Search in Google Scholar
Steyaert, Chris, Anja Ostendorp & Claudine Gaibrois. 2011. Multilingual organizations as ‘linguascapes’: Negotiating the position of English through discursive practices. Journal of World Business 46(3). 270–278.10.1016/j.jwb.2010.07.003Search in Google Scholar
Susanne, Tietze. 2008. International management and language. Abingdon: Routlegde.Search in Google Scholar
Tange, Hanne & Jakob Lauring. 2009. Language management and social interaction within the multilingual workplace. Journal of Communication Management 13(3). 218–232.10.1108/13632540910976671Search in Google Scholar
Vaara, Eero, Janne Tienari, Rebecca Piekkari & Säntti. Risto. 2005. Language and the circuits of power in a merging multinational corporation. Journal of Management Studies 42. 595–623.10.1111/j.1467-6486.2005.00510.xSearch in Google Scholar
Virkkula-Räisänen, Tiina. 2010. Linguistic repertoires and semiotic resources in interaction: A Finnish manager as a mediator in a multilingual meeting. Journal of Business Communication 47(4). 505–531.10.1177/0021943610377315Search in Google Scholar
Welch, Denise E. & Lawrence S. Welch. 2015. Developing multilingual capacity: A challenge for the multinational enterprise. Journal of Management, Published online before print July 8, 2015.10.1177/0149206315594846Search in Google Scholar
Wilmot, Natalie. 2017. Management of language diversity in international supply chain relationships of UK SMEs. Sheffield Hallam University, Unpublished Doctor of Philosophy thesis.Search in Google Scholar
Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge university press.10.1017/CBO9780511803932Search in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
