Adverse ‘native speaker’ effects on Anglophones in the multilingual workplace

Abstract

In order to explore the social effects of the differentiation between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ varieties of English, the present qualitative study followed six Anglophone trainees in an EU institution in Luxembourg. Data were gathered in 2018/19 and 2020/21, combining on-site observations with longitudinal and one-off interviews. Research incited participants’ reflections on language practices at work and mapped their discursive positioning. Conclusions drawn from a sociolinguistic analysis of stances show that, despite the vagueness and lack of clearly definable linguistic characteristics for the category, being labelled as ‘native English’ brought distinct negative effects to the experience of the ‘native English’ participants. The contribution highlights the social constructivist character of the native/non-native dichotomy and draws attention to its adverse effects in the multilingual workplace and beyond.