The death of the non-native speaker? English as a lingua franca in business communication: A research agenda

Nickerson, Catherine

doi:10.1017/s0261444815000129

Cited by 25 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Extending Piekkari et al's (2014, p. 244) recent conclusion that ''the pervasive effects of language need to be taken more fully into account in explanations of international business activity'', we argue that a more profound understanding of its effects will have a very positive impact on business and management studies as a whole. Lauring and Klitmøller (2014) Lauring and Selmer (2010, 2012a, b, 2013 Nickerson (1998Nickerson ( , 2005Nickerson ( , 2015 Oh, Selmier, and Lien (2011) Okamoto (2011) Peltokorpi (2010Peltokorpi ( , 2015aPeltokorpi ( , b, 2016 Peltokorpi and Clausen (2011) Vaara (2012, 2014 Tenzer and Pudelko (2015, 2016a, 2016b …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

2017

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A fast growing number of studies demonstrates that language diversity influences almost all management decisions in modern multinational corporations. Whereas no doubt remains about the practical importance of language, the empirical investigation and theoretical conceptualization of its complex and multifaceted effects still presents a substantial challenge. To summarize and evaluate the current state of the literature in a coherent picture informing future research, we systematically review 264 articles on language in international business. We scrutinize the geographic distributions of data, evaluate the field's achievements to date in terms of theories and methodologies, and summarize core findings by individual, group, firm, and country levels of analysis. For each of these dimensions, we then put forward a future research agenda. We encourage scholars to transcend disciplinary boundaries and to draw on, integrate, and test a variety of theories from disciplines such as psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience to gain a more profound understanding of language in international business. We advocate more multi-level studies and cross-national research collaborations and suggest greater attention to potential new data sources and means of analysis.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

2017

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“…Last, going forward it would perhaps be fruitful to have less focus on NS as a problem, and like the in-terviewees in the present study, display a more positive and constructive attitude towards these interlocutors in BELF interaction. Whereas there has been a growth in research on (B)ELF interaction in later years, as well as a greater focus on the linguistic factor in business, there is still a dearth of studies and much ground to cover (Nickerson 2015, Tenzer et al 2017. The questions addressed here need to be pursued further; for instance a close study of context-specific BELF discourse, especially of demanding tasks like meetings, could give even more depth of knowledge on this important topic.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Norwegian Business Professionals´ Need for and Use of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in Multinational Corporations

Nielsen¹

2019

HJLCB

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English is now the corporate language of many multinational corporations (MNCs) worldwide. However, when English is used as a shared language resource, a lingua franca, its use may be both fluid and local, and the characteristics of its local use should then be explored. This article therefore investigates English used as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in MNCs in Norway through task-based interviews with Norwegian business professionals about their need for and use of BELF. The findings indicate that business professionals need to use it frequently, and for both routine and more complex tasks, like demanding business meetings. While getting the job done was paramount to all, several associated NS-like ‘correct’ usage with ‘professionalism.’ Their BELF use was characterized by local, ‘company speak’, translingual practices and the accommodation of both non-native (NNS) and native (NS) speakers of English, and the ways in which the latter were accommodated displayed a more positive attitude to these interlocutors than has been found in similar studies. This article argues that English used as a corporate language is a complex phenomenon requiring business professionals to have a wide set of communication resources and the ability to use the language flexibly.

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“…Many studies focus on English as the language of choice in business environments and research corporate language policies [15] or Business English as a lingua franca (BELF) [16]. BELF is sometimes considered to be a hybridized language that is neutral in the sense that it is not owned or influenced by a specific culture [17], [18]. It may even include elements from other languages and emerge from the co-existence of multiple languages in multinational corporations (MNC), thus mingling and forming 'linguascapes' [19].…”

Section: Language In Virtual Teamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language Proficiency and Media Synchronicity Theory: The Impact of Media Capabilities on Satisfaction and Inclusion in Multilingual Virtual Teams

Fleischmann¹,

Aritz

Cardon

2019

Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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Virtual teams that use integrated communication technologies are ubiquitous in cross-border collaboration. This study explored media use and communication performance in multilingual virtual teams. Based on surveys from 96 virtual teams (with 578 team members), the research showed that more time spent in synchronous communication channels such as online conferences increased inclusion and satisfaction. Team members with lower language proficiency felt less included in synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, whereas team members with higher language proficiency felt less satisfied with asynchronous collaboration. Also, limited language proficiency speakers were significantly less likely to view synchronous tools as helpful for their teams to reach a mutual decision. Our data supports Media Synchronicity Theory (MST) for native and highly proficient English speakers. However, MST needs to be adjusted to account for different levels of language proficiency. MST's assumptions. Furthermore, we assess the level of inclusion and satisfaction of team members when using different communication media. We expect both satisfaction and inclusion to be higher when using richer, synchronous communication channels. We anticipate that this effect is be stronger for team members with a high level of language proficiency. Our study contributes to the body of research on communication media in virtual teams by adding the dimension of language proficiency to MST. Specifically, our contribution is threefold: First, our study advances research by showing which communication channels team members of differing levels of language proficiency consider effective for conveyance and convergence of meaning in multilingual virtual teams. Second, we include inclusion and satisfaction as variables of communication performance and show that synchronous communication increases feelings of inclusion and satisfaction within a multilingual virtual team. Lastly, our study provides evidence that team

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The death of the non-native speaker? English as a lingua franca in business communication: A research agenda

Cited by 25 publications

References 33 publications

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Language in International Business: A Review and Agenda for Future Research

Norwegian Business Professionals´ Need for and Use of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF) in Multinational Corporations

Language Proficiency and Media Synchronicity Theory: The Impact of Media Capabilities on Satisfaction and Inclusion in Multilingual Virtual Teams

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