English in multinational companies: implications for teaching “English” at an international business school
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Anne Kankaanranta
Anne Kankaanranta , PhD, EMBA, MSc (Econ), works as Senior University Lecturer in Organizational Communication in the Department of Management Studies at the Aalto University School of Business. Her main research interests include English as the business ELF (BELF), intercultural business communication, and corporate communications in global contexts.
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Leena Louhiala-Salminen
Leena Louhiala-Salminen , PhD, Lic.Phil, MSc (Econ), works as Professor of International Business Communication in the Department of Management Studies at the Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki. Her main research interests include the new genres of business communication, global corporate communication, and the role of English as the business lingua franca.Päivi Karhunen , DSc (Econ), works as Academy Research Fellow in the Center for Markets in Transition at the Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki. Her research focuses on international business strategies in emerging economies, particularly Russia, including the role of cultural and linguistic differences in foreign subsidiary management.
Abstract
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.
Viime vuosina englannin käytöstä on tullut monikansallisten yritysten arkipäivää ja sitä on tutkittu kolmella tieteenalalla: soveltavassa kielitieteessä, kansainvälisessä johtamisessa ja yritysviestinnässä. Näitä kaikkia aloja tutkitaan kauppakorkeakouluissa. Perehtymällä tähän kirjallisuuteen kysymmekin: millaista tietoa tutkimus tuo kauppakorkeakoulujen englannin kielen opetukseen? Tässä artikkelissa otamme esimerkiksi pienessä ei-englanninkielisessä maassa sijaitsevan kansainvälisen kauppakorkeakoulun ja tarkastelemme sen koulutusympäristöä ja valmistuneiden kauppatieteilijöiden tarpeita. Esitämme kolmen tieteenalan tutkimuksen perusteella englannin kielen esiintyvän eri muodoissa jatkumolla, jonka ääripäissä ovat toisessa päässä ‘virallinen englanti’ ja toisessa arkipäivän työssä käytettävä englanti (BELF, English as Business Lingua Franca). Tämän jatkumon avulla on mahdollista kuvata erilaisia käyttötilanteita monikansallisissa yrityksissä ja opiskelijoiden tulevissa työtehtävissä. Pohdimme lopuksi sitä, miten nämä eri tavat käsitteellistää englannin kieli vaikuttavat sen opettamiseen kansainvälisissä kauppakorkeakouluissa.
About the authors
Anne Kankaanranta, PhD, EMBA, MSc (Econ), works as Senior University Lecturer in Organizational Communication in the Department of Management Studies at the Aalto University School of Business. Her main research interests include English as the business ELF (BELF), intercultural business communication, and corporate communications in global contexts.
Leena Louhiala-Salminen, PhD, Lic.Phil, MSc (Econ), works as Professor of International Business Communication in the Department of Management Studies at the Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki. Her main research interests include the new genres of business communication, global corporate communication, and the role of English as the business lingua franca.
Päivi Karhunen, DSc (Econ), works as Academy Research Fellow in the Center for Markets in Transition at the Aalto University School of Business, Helsinki. Her research focuses on international business strategies in emerging economies, particularly Russia, including the role of cultural and linguistic differences in foreign subsidiary management.
©2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Munich/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Teaching ELF, BELF, and/or Intercultural Communication? – Introduction
- Culture and complexity through English as a lingua franca: rethinking competences and pedagogy in ELT
- Culture, curriculum design, syllabus and course development in the light of BELF
- Intercultural awareness, (B)ELF, and bridging the gap between theory and practice: a response to Baker and Pullin
- Negotiation as the way of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication: frames of reference and Interculturality
- Understanding and misunderstanding in the Common European Framework of Reference: what we can learn from research on BELF and Intercultural Communication
- English in multinational companies: implications for teaching “English” at an international business school
- Complexity, negotiability, and ideologies: a response to Zhu, Pitzl, and Kankaanranta et al.
- Reprints
- Precursors: introductory remarks on Smith (1976, 1983 [1981]) and Knapp (1987)
- English as an International Auxiliary Language
- English as an international language: No room for linguistic chauvinism
- English as an International lingua franca and the Teaching of Intercultural Communication
- Topic & Comment
- Criticising ELF
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Teaching ELF, BELF, and/or Intercultural Communication? – Introduction
- Culture and complexity through English as a lingua franca: rethinking competences and pedagogy in ELT
- Culture, curriculum design, syllabus and course development in the light of BELF
- Intercultural awareness, (B)ELF, and bridging the gap between theory and practice: a response to Baker and Pullin
- Negotiation as the way of engagement in intercultural and lingua franca communication: frames of reference and Interculturality
- Understanding and misunderstanding in the Common European Framework of Reference: what we can learn from research on BELF and Intercultural Communication
- English in multinational companies: implications for teaching “English” at an international business school
- Complexity, negotiability, and ideologies: a response to Zhu, Pitzl, and Kankaanranta et al.
- Reprints
- Precursors: introductory remarks on Smith (1976, 1983 [1981]) and Knapp (1987)
- English as an International Auxiliary Language
- English as an international language: No room for linguistic chauvinism
- English as an International lingua franca and the Teaching of Intercultural Communication
- Topic & Comment
- Criticising ELF
- Book Reviews
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
- Book Review
