Belf Competence as Business Knowledge of Internationally Operating Business Professionals

Abstract

Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) has come to dominate as the shared code used to 'get work done' in international business. In this paper, we explore internationally operating business professionals' perceptions of BELF communication and its "success" at work, based on selected data from an online survey (N=987) and in-depth interviews (N=27) conducted in European multinational companies. The findings show that BELF can be characterized as a simplified, hybridized and highly dynamic communication code. BELF competence calls for clarity and accuracy of content (rather than linguistic correctness) and knowledge of businessspecific vocabulary and genre conventions (rather than only 'general' English). In addition, since BELF interactions take place with NNSs from a variety of cultural backgrounds, the relational orientation is perceived as integral for BELF competence. In sum, BELF competence can be considered an essential component of business knowledge required in today's global business environment.Keywords: BELF (Business English as a lingua franca), international business communication, international business, globalization, communication competence, business knowledge 2 IntroductionIncreased globalisation has meant that not only countries and companies but also individual business professionals now need to collaborate and compete internationally (Friedman, 2006). For globalisation to continue, access to a shared language facility is -and has beenindispensible (Charles, 2007), and it is now beyond dispute that Business English as a Lingua Franca (or BELF, Louhiala-Salminen, Charles & Kankaanranta, 2005) has come to dominate as the language of international business over the past few decades (e.g. Seidlhofer, Breiteneder & Pitzl, 2006;Bargiela-Chiappini, Nickerson & Planken, 2007;Charles, 2007; Rogerson-Revell, 2007;Gerritsen & Nickerson, 2009). BELF is "a 'neutral' and shared communication code for the function of conducting business" (Louhiala-Salminen et al., 2005) and it is this purpose and domain of use, i.e. the 'B', which distinguishes it from ELF (or English as a Lingua Franca; see e.g. Jenkins, 2000Jenkins, , 2007Seidlhofer 2000Seidlhofer , 2001Seidlhofer , 2004. Although we will not elaborate on the 'B' in this paper further, we want to point out that for us it entails the professional domain of internationally operating companies and the people representing various "cultural identities" (Jameson, 2007) who constitute that domain, which can be characterized by its goal-oriented (inter)actions, drive for efficient use of such resources as time and money, and an overall aspiration for win-win scenarios among business partners. For this reason, we will use the term BELF when we refer to the shared language facility of the domain (for a thorough account about BELF, see Gerritsen & Nickerson, 2009; also Du Babcock, 2009). 3The dominance of BELF in the international business arena is supported by the introduction of English as the official corporate language in several Europe-based multi...

Review of developments in research into English as a lingua franca

“…Overall, the research reveals that BELF communication is seen as content-oriented (rather than focusing on form) and requiring domain specific knowledge. For example, Kankaanranta & Planken's (2010) study shows that BELF is an integral part of business knowledge, and that expertise and correctness in terms of NS standards, such as native-like grammar or pronunciation, are secondary to accommodation practices. Ehrenreich (2010) likewise confirms that NS correctness is not regarded as important in spoken communication inside the company, although it is considered important in transmitting a certain corporate image, particularly in writing, where native-like competence is still seen as a matter of prestige.…”

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

“…The role of English constitutes the third facet of language frequently studied in business. Depending on their disciplinary socialization, international business scholars varyingly conceptualize English as a hegemonic force (Tietze and Dick 2013), which recreates postcolonial power structures (Boussebaa et al 2014) or as a more neutral communicative tool in the form of business English as a lingua franca 1 (BELF) (Kankaanranta and Planken 2010). Yet other scholars investigate the interplay 1 International business scholars typically conceptualize lingua franca as ''a common language different from the parties' native language, very often English'' (Cuypers et al 2015, p. 430).…”

Perspectives on Business English as a Lingua Franca in Business Communication

“…BELF language competence can be assessed based on the accuracy and the correctness of the content and the knowledge of business terminologies rather than the linguistic correctness and English knowledge [35]. This means that BELF users fully acquire the knowledge shared by the international business community which results in individual satisfaction [16].…”