2This article introduces translation studies in order to theorize about the ways in which multiple languages in international companies can be combined. Its purpose is to develop different language strategies based on different theoretical perspectives within translation studies. Considering the historical developments in this discipline, we identify three perspectives each with a different conception of translation and language use. These conceptions are the theoretical basis on which we develop three language strategies: a mechanical, cultural and political language strategy. For each strategy, we discuss the selection of language(s), the role of translators and the validation method, and formulate proposition about the types of texts being produced. These propositions indicate that, through their international communication process, international companies become scripted as a particular type of multilingual organization, be it a uniform, a culturally sensitive or a hybrid text. & Johansen, 1994). Second, consumers in countries where the primary language is not English expect information and support in their local languages, as will business partners (Tayeb, 2000). Third, at the societal1eve1, as countries outside the Western sphere continue their economic resurgence, other major languages will be studied in school. People from different cultures will use these languages with each other and English speakers will find more resistance to the expectation that they use English with them, as well (Huntington, 3 1996).These trends all indicate that international companies are multilingual organizations in which multiple languages not only coexist side by side but also are in combination with each other.The purpose of this article is to increase our understandings of the ways in which multiple languages can be combined. Specifically, we address the question which language strategies can be chosen by international companies to organize their international communication process. A language strategy refers to several components: the decision which language(s) can be spoken, the role of translators in creating multilingual texts, the method used to validate the translation process and, consequently, the types of texts that are expected to be produced. To develop different types of language strategies, we rely on insights from translation studies. We have turned to this discipline for three reasons. First, the focus of this discipline is to theorize on the use of multiple languages. This discipline represents a whole tradition of thinking, reflected in different conceptions of translations which draw on particular assumptions on language and culture (Venuti, 2000). We rely on these theoretical conceptions and assumptions to develop different types of language strategies.

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The fact that the position of "business translation" within Translation Studies remains unclear is probably symptomatic of the discipline as a whole. In this article, business translation is approached from a new point of view; namely, that of social organization and management in business environments. The situation under observation — the "translation market" in Belgium — is limited, and does not warrant any general conclusions. However, the rather predictable findings concerning the peripheral position of translation and translators in business life seem to indicate that it is not translation as such which is at stake here, but more general views on language, discourse and communication. Résumé: Le fait que la position de la "traduction commerciale" reste mal définie au sein de la recherche sur la traduction est sans doute symptomatique en rapport avec la discipline dans son ensemble. Dans l'article qui suit, la question de la traduction commerciale est abordée sous un angle très différent, c'est-à-dire en termes d'organisation sociale et en termes de management dans le cadre commercial. La situation observée — le "marché de la traduction " en Belgique — est certes limitée, et l'approche ne justifie pas de conclusions globales. Il semble néanmoins que les conclusions, en fait prévisibles, quant au caractère périphérique de la traduction et des traducteurs, soit moins imputable à la traduction en tant que telle qu'à des conceptions plus fondamentales au sujet du langage, du discours et de la communication.

Translation, Systems and Research: The Contribution of Polysystem Studies to Translation Studies — The aim of this article is not at all to examine Polysystems theory nor Polysystems research as such, but rather to discuss the impact Polysystems research has had in the development of a new discipline, i.e. Translation Studies. The ambiguous position of PS research within Translation Studies is due to its interdisciplinary claims and, on the other hand, to the necessity to work in a real world of disciplines where institutionalization is inevitable and even needed. The starting point of PS theory is not translation at all, but rather the dynamic functions fulfilled by translation within (inevitably) heterogeneous cultures and societies. On the basis of such hypotheses about culture(s) a rich panorama of new questions for research on translation has been worked out, as well as methodological models, and individual and collective descriptive research has been started in many countries on many cultural situations. Hence it may be accepted that descriptive research on translation would hardly have existed without the programmatic PS contribution and that the establishment of Translation Studies as an academic discipline is greatly indebted to PS. The gradual extension through various countries and disciplines (film studies, media studies, social organization, etc.) has favoured combinations with other approaches while making less clear the specific profile of the PS approach. It may be said that PS has served research as such, much more than its own sake, but wasn't this exactly the goal it wanted to achieve?Traduction, systèmes et recherche : contribution des études polysystémiques à la traductologie — L'objectif de l'article n'est nullement d'étudier la théorie du polysystème ou les recherches polysystémiques pour elles-mêmes, mais bien plus de déterminer en quoi et comment le PS a exercé une influence dans le développement d'une discipline nouvelle, à savoir les recherches sur la traduction. La position ambiguë des recherches polysystémiques est due à leurs ambitions sur le plan de l'interdisciplinarité, mais aussi à la nécessité de fonctionner au sein d'un monde réel où l'institutionalisation est inévitable sinon même une nécessité. Le point de départ de la théorie du PS n'est point la traduction, mais bien plus l'ensemble des fonctions dynamiques remplies par les traductions dans les cultures et les sociétés, censées être hétérogènes par définition. C'est sur la base d'hypothèses de ce genre qu'un riche panorama de questions de recherche a été mis au point, ainsi que des schémas méthodologiques, puis des projets individuels et collectifs en série dans de nombreux pays et sur des situations culturelles très diverses. Il n'est pas excessif dès lors d'avancer que les DTS (Descriptive Translation Studies) n'auraient pas existé sans le programme des recherches polysystémiques, et que, plus globalement, les recherches sur la traduction n'auraient sans doute pas eu de statut universitaire sans le PS. L'essor du PS dans ...

In the second half of the 20th century, the empire of the mass media has. internationalized social discourse to the point that the question of translation has become a key problem of discourse in general, both from the point of view of Translation Studies and from the point of view of Communication Studies. Translation does not only influence an enormous amount of messages in all language use, it is also hidden and it adopts symptomatic strategies, according to the relationships between the centres of production -their number is reducedand the target groups. In fact, translation is one of the solutions to multilingualism which is one of the main features of the new world map of languages. A few lines on subtitling, in a given culture, illustrate how the new technologies use translated discourse. Résumé: Dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle, les mass-media ont rendu si international le discours quotidien que la question des traductions y est devenue un problème-clef, pour la traduction en général comme pour la question de la communication. Non seulement les traductions sont-elles omniprésentes, elles sont également camouflées et elles suivent des stratégies symptomatiques, en fonction des relations entre les centres émetteurs-leur nombre est réduit -et les milieux d'arrivée. Ainsi la traduction est une des solutions apportées au problème du multilinguisme qui caractérise la nouvelle carte mondiale des langues. Quelques notes sur le sous-titrage indiquent comment, dans une culture donnée, les nouvelles technologies exploitent le discours traduit.C'est devenu une lapalissade d'avancer que la traduction relève de la communication. 1 L'idée que la communication de masse représente un secteur-

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Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is much more than a didactic or technological issue. On the basis of contemporary approaches to culture, it is both an agent and a barometer of culture: culture influences the appearances, models and contents of ODL, but is influenced itself as well by the ODL phenomenon. Illustration of the point is made through an analysis of the historic roots of ODL in comparison with Europe's contemporary transnational and technology based ODL. The analysis results in an agenda for important cultural issues, such as the institutional character of ODL, its contribution to Europe's competitiveness, the shaping of a European citizenship, and the nature of European ODL in terms of its cultural barriers and cultural assets. The ambiguity of culture typically emerges when looking at language. European transnational, and especially technology based ODL, may be hindered by the multilingual societies of Europe, and remain so as long as language policies are imposed. It is advocated that language policies be replaced with language management, applied in a creative way (eg, by implementing appropriate technical solutions). The final question examined here, is whether these problems and solutions are particular to Europe, or whether there are good reasons for acknowledging the cultural origins, barriers and assets of a wider ODL model.

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