2. WORKPLACE INTERACTION IN
MULTILINGUAL REGIONS IN EUROPE
ELF IN SCANDINAVIAN ENTERPRISES
CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN
GLOBAL BUSINESS
WORKPLACE WITH WORKFORCE
DIVERSITY THE CASE OF SWEDEN
INTERACTION BETWEEN ELF & NATIVE
SPEAKERS
ELF WORKPLACES IN CONTINENTAL
EUROPE
LANGUAGE POLICY IN LARGE
ORGANIZATIONS
PRESENTATION PLAN
3. WORKPLACE INTERACTION IN MULTILINGUAL
REGIONS IN EUROPE
Usage of foreign languages in Europe
at least one foreign language at least 2 foreign languages
at least 3 foreign languages
(Extra & Gorter 2008: 40–41).
Key points:
1. Business people are able to strategically use
a language that suits their needs and their
partners.
2. English as a lingua franca may be
predominately used, but a host of other
languages play a subsidiary role.
3. Broad spectrum of languages are
represented in the daily work-related
interaction in multilingual regions in
continental and northern Europe.
4. WORKPLACE INTERACTION IN MULTILINGUAL
REGIONS IN EUROPE
English is the
official
language
• the United Kingdom, Ireland (together with
Irish), and Malta (with Maltese)
Mono- and
multilingual
countries
• French in France, German, Dutch and French
in Belgium, Luxembourgish and German in
Luxemburg, German, Italian, and Romantsch in
Switzerland, German in Germany and Austia
In the rest of Europe a great number of other languages are spoken by the majority of people,
e.g., Dutch in the Netherlands, Swedish in Sweden, Danish in Denmark, and Finnish and Swedish
in Finland (cf. Extra & Gorter 2008: 5).
5. WORKPLACE
INTERACTION
IN
MULTILINGUAL
REGIONS IN
EUROPE
Studies on communication in multilingual regions in Europe
◦ Poncini (2003)
Foreign language in business: study reveals a European perspective on multilingualism
“English as a lingua franca may be predominately used, but a host of other languages play a
subsidiary role.”
◦ Mondada (2004) and Markaki & Mondada (2012)
Bilingual interactional order in international work meetings & how managers from several
European branches in a corporate meeting made ‘national categories’ relevant.
◦ Lüdi (2010)
The pharmaceutical industry and agrobusiness shows a positive account of the linguistic
diversity of Swiss-based global companies.
◦ Bothorel-Witz & Choremi 2009; Franziskus 2012; Kingsley 2009; Lüdi et al. 2009;
Mettewie & Van Mensel 2009; Angouri & Miglbauer
Multilingual staff in service-oriented enterprises – banks, insurance companies, travel
agencies, railway ticket offices, supermarkets in countries like Belgium, Luxemburg and
Switzerland
6. WORKPLACE INTERACTION IN MULTILINGUAL
REGIONS IN EUROPE
Multilingualism in the Nordic countries
Sweden
• Swedish
• Danish
Norway
• Norwegian
Denmark
• Danish
Finland
[bilingual]
• Finnish
• Sweden
English
7. Language policy in large organizations
corporate/ official
language
language of major
documents
an elite language
used at top level
meetings
8. Language policy in large organizations
63 of the 100 advertisements
were written in Swedish
32 were in English and 5 were in
both Swedish and English (mixing
the two languages)
in 34 of the total 100 Swedish is
stipulated as a qualification for
employment
2 of 23 advertisements mention
Swedish as a requirement
Sweden
Gunnarsson (2009a)
11. ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA IN SCANDINAVIAN
ENTERPRISES PLACE
• Firth (1995) – an unproblematic use of ELF
between Danish cheese sellers and wholesale
importers in the Middle East.
• Wagner (1995) - successful telephone interaction
between Danes and Britons.
successful ELF
interaction
• Tange (2008) - discrepancy existed between
language workers’ global commitment to language
management and respondents’ local practices.
• Lønsmann (2011) – values the employees attached
to different languages.
problems relating to the
adoption of English as
a corporate language
12. ENGLISH AS A LINGUA FRANCA IN SCANDINAVIAN
ENTERPRISES PLACE
ELF
External/i
nternal
usage
Informal
usage in
the office
Video-
recorded
internal
meetings
Cross-
border
meetings
Interviews
13. INTERACTION BETWEEN ELF & NATIVE SPEAKERS
Jämtelid (2002)
Non-Native English speakers deliberately avoid
difficult words, and that people shouldn’t feel
ashamed at all if they use bad grammar in an
internal memo in English’ (p. 44;).
Franklin (2007)
‘The English aren’t always sympathetic to Germans
when they speak English. To begin with, the
English speak slowly, but then fall back into
speaking the same speed and slang as if the listener
is a native.’ (2007: 273)
14. CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN GLOBAL
BUSINESSES
CULTURAL
DIFFERENCES
COLLECTIVISM &
INDIVIDUALISM
CONTEXTUAL
FRAMEWORK
15. WORKPLACES WITH WORKFORCE DIVERSITY:
THE CASE OF SWEDEN
At the hospital
Swedish: communication
with patients
English: for academical
research & cleaning staff
In the Swedish Company
Swedish: informal usage
English: corporate language
& non-native Swedish
speakers
16. WORKPLACES WITH WORKFORCE DIVERSITY:
THE CASE OF SWEDEN
Engineers
1/3 mainly use English
2/3 use their mother tongue and English
All use written English more often than spoken
Factory Floor Workers
Swedish is a main language at work
17. WORKPLACES
WITH
WORKFORCE
DIVERSITY:
THE CASE OF
SWEDEN
Lack of language skills therefore hinders
promotion in both environments: at the
hospital, good Swedish is necessary for a
career and in the company, both English and
Swedish are required.
The studies on immigrants in Sweden give
insights into what workplace interaction
entails in different environments in a
country where the majority speak a non-
global language.
18. SECONDARY SOURCES
Baker, et al. "The Workplace The Great English Divide". BUSINESS WEEK, 2001
Gunnarsson, Britt-Louise. "Multilingualism in the Workplace". Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 33 (2013):
162-189.
Workplace Exposure to Vibration in Europe: An Expert Review.Luxembourg: Office for Official Publ. of the
Europ. Communities, 2008.
Pakiela, Alan. "English Only : A Workplace Dilemma: A Workplace Dilemma". Management Communication
Quarterly, 15.4 (2002): 616-618.
