Language policy and social change: A critical examination of the implementation of an English-only language policy in a Danish company

Abstract

The article examines the introduction of English as a corporate language in a Danish consultancy company from a critical angle. Based on analyses of language policy documents and interviews with language policy makers in the company, we investigate the underlying assumptions of the policy-making process, and explore how the language policy functions as a means of exerting power beyond the domain of language. The article shows how the language policy is heavily influenced by the language ideology of English as the natural language in global business as well as by neoliberal ideals of international expansion. Drawing on the notion of language commodification, the article investigates how the language policy reconfigures the social space of the organisation. The analysis shows that while the language policy aims to change the company culture towards a more ‘global mindset’, it also effects social change by legitimising certain types of employees while marginalising others. (Language policy, social change, English as a corporate language, language ideologies, linguistic market, language commodification)*

Embrace it or resist it? Employees’ reception of corporate language policies

“…One question that comes to mind is why CONSULT DK is introducing English as a corporate language when there is no immediate need (according to these informants). The answer can be found in exactly the long-term strategic perspective taken by Erik in the above excerpt: CONSULT wants to be an international company, and English is the way to get there (for an elaboration on this see Lønsmann and Mortensen (in review)). One concrete reason for the strategic need for English is given by the informant who says that English makes offshoring in India possible, and ‘that is the whole idea’.…”

An outline for an integrated language-sensitive approach to global work and mobility: cross-fertilising expatriate and international business and management research

“…Research on the inextricable link between language and power illustrates that employees performing global work could be embedded in language-dependent power structures. Scholars have argued that official language choices in MNCs are rarely neutral (Boussebaa and Brown, 2017; Lønsmann and Mortensen, 2018; Tietze, 2004), as native speakers or highly proficient employees will gain position and have the opportunity to utilise their linguistic resources to gain an upper hand over their less proficient colleagues (Beeler and Lecomte, 2017; Neeley, 2013; Tenzer and Pudelko, 2017). In inter-unit relations, language policy has also been proposed as an element of subsidiary control (Björkman and Piekkari, 2009), which may however be countered through subsidiary translation practices (Logemann and Piekkari, 2015).…”

Kielenvaihto monikielisissä kokouksissa - osallistujien kielitaito ja vuorovaikutuksen sujuva eteneminen

“…esim. Lønsmann & Mortensen, 2018): työtilanteissa puhutaan esimerkiksi pelkkää lingua franca -englantia tai valtion enemmistökieltä -suomalaisessa kontekstissa siis suomea. Näissä tapauksissa jää kuitenkin hyödyntämättä kielenvaihtojen potentiaalinen kommunikaation ja ylipäänsä työnteon tehokkuutta lisäävä vaikutus.…”