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Abstract:With the increasing number of business professionals operating globally, knowledge of successful English lingua franca in business contexts (BELF) has become an important element in overall business know-how. Here, we report on a research project focusing on everyday BELF communication at work. It consists of an extensive survey, and related interviews among international business professionals. In addition to offering some quantitative data on communicative situations, the survey results show the respondents' views of situation-specific factors in their communicative situations in relation to each other. Our findings suggest that English in today's global business environment is "simply work" and its use is highly contextual. Thus, knowledge of the specific business context, the particular genres used in the particular business area, and overall business communication strategies are tightly intertwined with proficiency in English, which impacts teaching. Key words:ELF (English as a lingua franca); BELF (English as a lingua franca in business contexts); business communication; international business; globalization IntroductionThe use of English as a lingua franca (ELF) in international business has gained increasing attention among researchers of business communication, business discourse, and English for Specific Purposes (see, e.g. Vollstedt, 2002;Poncini, 2004;Planken, 2005;Charles, 2007; Rogerson-Revell, 2007;Bargiela-Chiappini, Nickerson & Planken, 2007; Gerritsen & Nickerson, in press Poncini, 2004) and second, the focus has moved 2 from language skills to language strategies, i.e. identification of strategies that make the communicative event successful irrespective of the mother tongue of the English speaker (e.g. Planken, 2005). In our earlier study (Louhiala-Salminen et al., 2005), which was presented in the Special Issue, both trends were visible: a communication survey in two merged Finnish-Swedish corporations was followed by an integrated analysis of both spoken and written genres in use.The two trends -focus on contextualized communication and strategic use of language -can also be observed in the present research project focusing on ELF, or rather, BELF that we will discuss in this Research Note. We use the term BELF (English as a Lingua Franca in business contexts) to highlight the overall goal and the domain of use of the language of business professionals operating internationally (see LouhialaSalminen et al., 2005). In addition to being ELF users (see, e.g. Jenkins, 2000; Seidlhofer, 2000Seidlhofer, , 2004, the speakers and writers of BELF are members of the global business discourse community and use the language to do their work. They thus share the "B", i.e. the context of business although their individual jobs may be very different. As ELF users, they also share the "E", i.e. the English language, but are separated by the communicative frameworks connected with their various native discourse practices, and, in particular, the hidden, implicit rules involved in mother tongue c...

This paper explores the assumptions underlying the core concept of language used in the growing field of language‐sensitive research in international management. We reviewed 92 articles on the topic of language(s) in multinational corporations published during the period 1997‐2015, and applied a linguistic lens to uncover how these articles ‘talk about language’. The assumptions found in these articles can be grouped into three complementary categories that take a structural, functional or social practice view of language. We go beyond the review by also reflecting on the consequences that these underlying assumptions have for the study of language in multinationals. We consider the social practice view the most promising one, and propose a future research agenda for advancing it and thereby contributing to theorizing about the multinational corporation more broadly.

Abstract- . English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), has largely been ignored. Our findings indicate that global communicative competence consists of three layers: multicultural competence, competence in BELF (English as a Business Lingua Franca) and the communicator's business know-how. Based on our findings, we present a model for Global Communicative Competence (GCC), which includes language as a key component. Implications for theory, practice and education include the need for a multidisciplinary approach and the acknowledgement of ELF/BELF as the language of global interaction. ELF/BELF assumes a shared "core" of the English language, but focuses on interactional skills, rapport building and the ability to ask for and provide clarifications. Index Terms-English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF), English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), global communicative competence, global professional communication, international business communication.Leena Louhiala-Salminen, PhD, Lic. In recent years, professional communication has experienced dramatic changes due to a combination of societal megatrends, e.g. globalization, gigantic leaps in communication technologies, and the emergence of new types of business structures. In today's complex business 3 environment, the significance of communication has been acknowledged, and although it is important in business activities in general, the role of communication is fundamental to international encounters, because the complexity of interactions increases. Therefore, global professional communication requires a new type of communicative competence, which has recently been addressed from different perspectives. Melton focuses on rapport in global encounters, presenting an interesting case study on localization; he concludes by highlighting the role of relationship building in present day, often virtual, intercultural relationships [1]. More specifically, Ulijn, Lincke and Karakaya investigate the impact of non-face-to-face media on intercultural negotiations. They claim that empathy, or involvement building, in email negotiation is possible; however, it requires specific effort from the communicators, such as particular explicitness through metacommunicative acts [2].At the same time globalization has brought about management research where the context and requirements for global communication are investigated, for instance, as perceived by American and Russian managers (e.g. [3]). An educational perspective is offered by Yu, who performed an ethnographic study to explore the need for technical communication in Chinese education [4]. Yu takes the US concept of technical communication -implying American English as the language used -as the starting point, and suggests that technical communication education is highly relevant for Chinese professionals. Interestingly, however, the language requirements seemed to vary by situation, for example, some "companies did not expect perfect writing from the Chinese employees" [4, p. 108].Although rapid changes in work environments have highlighted ...

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In recent years, the use of English has become everyday practice in multinational companies (MNCs), and it has been investigated in three disciplines: applied linguistics, international management, and corporate communication, all of which can be housed in international business schools. While reviewing research in these disciplines, we ask the question: how does the research inform the teaching of "English"? By taking an example of an international business school located in a small non-English-speaking country, we present the educational environment and the needs of future business graduates before moving on to demonstrating a continuum of English as a shared language constructed on the basis of the disciplines. The continuum extending from "official English" to "working language" BELF (English as Business Lingua Franca) illustrates different uses that English as a shared language meets in the MNC environment and in the students' future work contexts. On the basis of this discussion, we conclude our paper by presenting the implications of the different conceptualizations of English for the teaching of "English" at an international business school. Englannin kieli monikansallisissa yrityksissä: Miten 'englantia' tulisi opettaa kansainvälisissä kauppakorkeakouluissa?Viime vuosina englannin käytöstä on tullut monikansallisten yritysten arkipäivää ja sitä on tutkittu kolmella tieteenalalla: soveltavassa kielitieteessä,