Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: Language Policy in Multilingual Organisations

Abstract

A number of language policy researchers have discussed language needs of business, while nearly all of the scant literature on what a corporate language policy would look like has been conducted by human resource management scholars and published in management journals. This lack of attention in the academic literature is surprising, since corporate language policy (presumably) affects everyone who works or will work in a corporation. From a language management theory perspective, ‘language’ presents particular resources and challenges in multilingual organisations, such as how to reconcile power implications of language choice with organisational need for effective communication. In order for an international organisation to have an effective language management policy, it must carefully consider its linguistic needs and be able to develop and capture the linguistic knowledge of its employees to surmount communication barriers. Language management as a form of knowledge management is proposed and recommendations are made with regard to language management practices.

Keywords:

• intercultural communication
• language attitudes
• multilingualism
• sociolinguistic awareness
• knowledge management
• language management theory