Multilingualism and Englishization in international business communication: the case of some Italian wine producers

Abstract

It goes without saying that a common culture and a common language make trade easier between individuals and countries, and for this reason the human being has always tried to find a way to communicate with foreign people in order to buy and sell goods and services. But learning as many languages as the market requires has always been a rather difficult issue, so since ancient times some languages have played the role of lingua franca. Throughout history there have been various lingua francas in the world, used as working languages or bridge languages, based on the prestige and economic relevance of some countries in particular phases of history, as is the case with Latin in the Roman Empire; in the Eastern provinces of the Empire Greek served the same purpos

The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe

“…With regard to the Englishization of Belgian culture, van Splunder points to differences between Wallonia and Flanders, because in the former region English-language films are dubbed and in the latter region subtitled. The Englishization of economics implies that the vernacular language of communication in companies and economic transactions is being increasingly replaced by English (Boussebaa et al, 2014;Pierini, 2016;Tietze, 2004). This development is mainly seen as the result of economic globalization.…”

The Englishization of Higher Education in Europe

“…With regard to the Englishization of Belgian culture, van Splunder points to differences between Wallonia and Flanders, because in the former region English-language f ilms are dubbed and in the latter region subtitled. The Englishization of economics implies that the vernacular language of communication in companies and economic transactions is being increasingly replaced by English (Boussebaa et al, 2014;Pierini, 2016;Tietze, 2004). This development is mainly seen as the result of economic globalization.…”

A taxonomic approach to the use of English in the Italian media

“…In contrast, some dissenting voices, including the dictionary author De Mauro ( Dizionario Italiano per il Terzo Millennio ), consider the banning of foreign words as unrealistic, and reminiscent of failed fascist attempts to preserve the language by forcefully Italianizing foreign words (Marello, 2020). When the use of English is assessed positively, Italian linguists describe English as a ‘gracious giver,’ fulfilling the ever‐present need for an international language (Pierini, 2016, p. 49). Pinnavaia (2005, p. 47) goes beyond the need for a lingua franca and points out that English words can enrich the Italian lexicon, not just semantically but also pragmatically: ‘[Italian] journalists can use English words to convey subliminal messages exploiting the associative meanings that those words carry,’ meanings strongly tied to the history of Great Britain and the United States.…”