English for International Business in Europe

1
Using English for international business a
European perspective Dr Pamela Rogerson-Revell
(pmrr1_at_le.ac.uk) CELTEAL University of Leicester
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English in Europe

• After Babel, a new common tongue
• Aug 5th 2004 RIGA From The Economist print
  edition
• It turns out to be English
• IN THE 17th century, educated people across
  central Europe could still communicate with each
  other in Latin. By the mid-19th century, the
  handiest language for a traveller through
  Mitteleuropa was the German spoken by the
  Habsburg monarchs who reigned over Hungarians,
  Czechs and many others. A little more than 100
  years later, the dominant tongue was Russian.
• Now the region's new language of choice for the
  21st century is percolating upwards through the
  education system, and downwards from the business
  and political elite. It will be English, studied
  by three out of four secondary-school pupils from
  the Baltic to the Balkans.
• Most central European countries have just joined,
  or are waiting to join, the European Union, and
  their accession is already reinforcing the
  dominance of English as a language for the EU as
  a whole. In central Europe, as in much of the
  world, knowledge of English has become a basic
  skill of modern life comparable with the ability
  to drive a car or use a personal computer.

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Growth of English in Eastern Europe (From The
Economist Aug 5th 2004 After Babel, a new common
tongue)
4
English in Europe

• In Europe, as elsewhere in the world, the use of
  English as a lingua franca continues to spread.
  The main reason is its econcultural function
• World English is the product of the development
  of a world market and global developments in the
  fields of science, technology, culture and media
  (Brutt-Griffler 2002).
• The choice of English has been made easier by
  the demands of foreign investors. The first to
  move east were the most international European
  companies, which tended to use English as their
  international working language regardless of
  their base. The biggest foreign direct investor
  within central Europe for most of the past
  decade, Siemens AG of Germany, an engineering and
  telecoms firm, made English its main corporate
  language in 1998. German companies are very
  pragmatic, confirms Bernhard Industry. They
  value a single language for business, he says,
  even if it is not their own.
• (Aug 5th 2004 The Economist After Babel, a new
  common tongue)

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A common language for international business

• Many languages have been used around the world as
  contact languages for international trade and
  communication
• The word pidgin is is said to be derived from
  the Chinese pronunciation of the English word
  business and Pidgin English was the name given to
  a Chinese-English-Portuguese pidgin used for
  commerce in Canton during the 18th and 19th
  centuries.
• Pidgin or lingua franca?
• Historically. European lingua franca have
  included eg Greek, Latin, French, German.
• Currently, the most widespread is English but
  there are others, eg Russian and Scandinaviska
• EIL ELF EIB BELF

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The concentric circles of European English(from
Berns 1995)
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Functions of English in Europe
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English for International Business in Europe

• ELF speakers are ....not primarily concerned
  with emulating the way native speakers use their
  mother tongue within their own communities, nor
  with socio-psychological and ideological issues.
  Instead, the central concerns for this domain are
  efficiency, relevance and economy in language
  learning and language use. The reasons why the
  linguistic imperialism school has had little
  impact on mainstream ELT are rather obvious
  people need and want to learn English whatever
  the ideological baggage that comes with it, a
  fact acknowledge even in Canagarajahs 1999
  Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English
  Teaching (Seidlhofer 57)

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English for International Business in Europe

• The importance of effective international
  communication is highlighted in much of the
  international business literature. For example
• It is probably better to have mediocre technical
  skills and excellent international business
  communication skills than to have excellent
  technical skills and poor international business
  communication skills (Victor 1992246).
• Good communication creates good relationships,
  high morale, increased productivity and profit.
  Bad communication, on the other hand, can lead to
  inefficiency, waste and loss of profit (Mead
  19905).
• What is lacking is... an analysis of
  international differences in the nature,
  structure and use of English and their impact on
  cross-border trade. (Bloch and Starks 199980)

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Research aims

• Theoretical
• Provide thick description of how English is
  actually used as a lingua franca in international
  business settings to support corpus-based
  codification of ELF
• Investigate linguistic and cultural phenomena
  which underlie smooth and disrupted
  communication particularly with regard to
  unilateral idiomacity and linguistic
  redundancy (Seidlhofer 2005)
• Further explore the nature of the third space
  discourse of EIB as used between AMT and ELF
  speakers (Rogerson-Revell 1998, 1999).
• Practical
• Relay findings back to the international business
  organization in order to help it improve
  communications in future international events.
• Use relevant findings to inform future
  International Business English materials
  development (St John 1996, Rogerson-Revell 2003,
  1999)
• Use findings to support status of EIL in European
  language policy as a lingua franca alongside
  rather than threatening other European languages
  (Seidlhofer 2003)

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GCAE meetings
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GCAE meetings
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GCAE meetings
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GCAE meetings
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GCAE internal report

• Report of the Task force
• Reasons why Non-Native English Speakers do not
  Play a More Active Part in the IAA
• There are a number of reasons why NNE do not play
  a more active part in the IAA, to mention a few
• 1. Cultural
• There are differences in working styles and many
  members must be given enough time to consider the
  issues in
• question, perhaps to discuss them with colleagues
  and then to formulate their reply in an actual
  meeting.
• Sometimes you are even used to listening to the
  more senior ones and accept their proposals etc.
• 2. Organizational
• In a number of countries the future actuary is
  educated more or less exclusively at a
  university, and/or actuarial
• organizations are more loosely knit organizations
  compared to the Anglo-Saxon way.
• A fair number of the IAA member associations are
  comparatively small and many of them are NNEs.
  On top of the
• language problem, the small associations have the
  problem of resources. The limited resources
  explains why the small
• associations cannot participate so extensively in
  the IAA work as they might have wanted to, but
  must concentrate

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GCAE internal report

• Report of the Task force
• Reasons why Non-Native English Speakers do not
  Play a More Active Part in the IAA
• 3. Language Barrier
• This is an evident problem. The knowledge of the
  English language varies quite a lot from fluent
  to barely
• understandable.
• To change some of these reasons/causes is of
  course, if not impossible, but a very long term
  project and frankly we
• think that this diversity is important for the
  development of the IAA as an international
  organisation.
• The language problem is an important one to solve
  because, if we cannot communicate, then how can
  we expect to
• work together?
• At the same time, we would all like to improve
  the situation right now as much as is practically
  possible.
• As far as we can see, it is the oral language
  barrier that we must try to lower as much as
  possible.

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GCAE annual meeting - participants
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GCAE questionnaire results (1)
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GCAE questionnaire results (2)
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GCAE questionnaire results (3)
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Do you have any difficulties understanding other
speakers (native or non-native English speakers)
in international meetings?
22
Do you think it is necessary to modify your
English in international business contexts? If
so, please explain
23
Do you have any particular difficulties
communicating in international meetings? (eg
understanding some speakers, interrupting
speakers, giving a report or presentation)
24
Do you have any particular difficulties
communicating in international meetings? (eg
understanding some speakers, interrupting
speakers, giving a report or presentation) cont.
25
Please add any other comments you wish to make
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GCAE solutions

• Report of the Task force on
• How to Encourage More Active Participation of
  Non-English Speakers Within the IAA
• For native English speaker a short list could be
  as follows
• Speak slowly and loudly enough
• Use simple words
• When possible try to provide, at least
  beforehand, a written summary of what the speaker
  intends to say.
• For the non-native English speaker a short list
  could be
• Try to rehearse if possible
• Bring a dictionary / write down keywords you
  anticipate will be used
• Do not hesitate to ask when you do not
  understand (you are probably not the only one who
  has not understood what it is all about).
• For any meeting chairperson a short list could be
• Try to speak before the start of any meeting
  with the NNE present to establish whether there
  are any particular areas they would like to
  contribute to.
• Make sure that the seating arrangement is well
  adapted for the number of expected participants.
• Most meetings are on more or less technical
  subjects so an introduction by the chairperson on
  different technical terms/abbreviations that
  might be used would be very helpful (one solution
  is that they are written on a billboard for
  everyone to see)
• Remind all present (especially native-English
  speakers) about what to think of when making an
  oral contribution, i.e., speak slowly and loudly
  enough (without shouting).
• Give any NNE speaker ample time to speak.
• Be very active in encouraging especially the
  NNE to participate in the discussions.