INTRODUCTION TO INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Intercultural business communication has become a contemporary theme due to the current challenges that corporations and individuals face when communicating in a globalised world. In the business environment, there is a general focus on the intercultural aspect of communication skills that business professionals need in order to function effectively in the global village. The need for greater cultural awareness is due to the significant changes that have taken place over the past few decades in the social, economic and cultural global framework. Quick developments in: communication transport information technologies the worldwide circulation of services, goods, and ideas have led to global human interaction. Human communication has been defined in various ways, but generally it refers to the act of conveying meaningful information, and takes place between a sender and a receiver. Intercultural communication is a rather new field of study, and it involves several disciplines: anthropology psychology business studies communication science linguistics sociology geography history Generally, intercultural communication refers to communication taking place between people with different cultural and national backgrounds and who do not share the same mother tongue. Communication skills as well as intercultural skills have become a must in the business environment as people interact with people from various cultures, and the workforce is more diverse and mobile nowadays. Domestic companies are also faced with a multicultural workforce. Each organisation operates within a specific cultural framework that shapes its way of doing business. Therefore, business communication practices are not universal.

UNIT 1 INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH

Reading
English is all-pervasive, from casual small talk to corporate business negotiation. (Seidlhofer, 2005: 160)

English as a Lingua Franca governs the world of international business and communication. The concept of lingua franca is not a new one, and has been defined by researchers as the language used for communication purposes by non-native speakers with different national and cultural backgrounds. In recent years, the term English as a lingua franca (ELF) has emerged as a way of referring to communication in English between speakers with different first languages. Defined in this way, ELF is part of the more general phenomenon of English as an international language (EIL) or World Englishes. (Seidlhofer, 2005: 339) Besides English as a lingua franca, other terms with slightly different meanings have been coined to refer to English used for intranational as well as international communication: English as an International Language (EIL) English as a global language English as a world language World English However, when English is chosen as the means of communication among people from different first language backgrounds, across linguacultural boundaries, the preferred term is English as a lingua franca (House 1999; Seidlhofer 2001), although the terms English as a medium of intercultural communication and English as an international language are also used. If colonisation was considered to be responsible for the spread of English in its early stages and also laid the foundations for its future global development, during the last decades various factors have increased the domination of global English, such as: technological developments economic globalisation high-tech communication channels Consequently, English has established itself as the dominant language at global level: English facilitates communication in various fields of activity, such as international relations, international business and diplomacy, tourism, sport, education, science, computer technology, and media. It dominates the Internet as around 80% of the information stored electronically is in English.

The diffusion of English throughout the world went hand in hand with globalisation. While the English language has sustained the globalization process, globalization has consolidated English as a global language.
The spread, status, and functions of English around the world are impressive indeed. In recorded human history no other language ha s had such a position. [] The contexts for the use of English may be academic conferences, business, commerce, diplomacy, educational institutions, manufacturing, mining, print or audio-visual media, or tourism. (Kachru, Y., Smith, L, 2008: 1)

As a lingua franca, English is being taught and learnt everywhere around the world. This increasing spread of the use of English, especially between non-native speakers, is one of the consequences of peoples need to interact and communicate globally. The global stat us and role of English as a lingua franca is also emphasized by Mauranen:
English has established its position as the global lingua franca beyond any doubt; along with this status, it has become one of the symbols of our time, together with globalization, networking, economic integration, and the Internet. (Mauranen, A., Ranta, E., 2009: 1)

English is now the lingua franca in a wide range of social and cultural contexts. It is used for a variety of purposes, for cross-cultural communication, to access and share information, to do business, etc. Within the general concept of English as an International Language, a more restricted area has emerged, that of English for Specific Purposes or ESP. Business English has developed as an important study field within the ESP. It is the language used in business contexts and where the reason for learning the language relates directly to what the learner needs to do in his/her vocation or job. Business English refers to a wide range of fields such as: economics, management, marketing, finance, etc. It is a specific language used to communicate in specific business contexts, and for business aims. It is used to socialize, travel, deal, analyze, buy, sell, predict, negotiate, market, advertise, produce, predict, so on and so forth. This new lingua franca used within the business world is also referred to as International English for Business Purposes, International Business English (IBE), or Business English Lingua Franca (BELF). Business English Lingua Franca is used in intercultural business contexts to carry out business between businessmen with different cultural and national backgrounds who do not share the same mother tongue. BELF is considered as a neutral professional language (see Louhiala-Salminen, Charles et alii, 2005) which does not strictly follow the native-speaker model and whose role is to get the job done.
Indeed, it could be argued that BELF is a new professional language, which has emerged and occupied its niche in the past two decades. [] it is prima rily a variety which is created in actual use because of its sensitivity to contextual constraints. (Kankaanranta, A., 2009)

A new term, Globish, was coined by the French former IBM executive Jean-Paul Nerrire, referring to the language used by non-native speakers of English to communicate and do business worldwide.
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Globish consists of a basic vocabulary of about 1500 words and uses simple, standard grammatical structures. It was conceived as an uncomplicated, culture-free tool to facilitate the communication act in the business environment. Whether or not Globish offers an adequate tool for business participants to achieve their goal is another debate. Business people acting globally need language skills appropriate for their roles and communicative effectiveness in English as a business lingua franca. Since their job involves interaction with both native and non-native speakers of English from different cultural backgrounds and with different degrees of proficiency, they have to learn to deal with cultural differences within the intercultural business communication context. Thus, acting successfully in the global business environment involves not only proficiency in BELF but also good communication and intercultural skills. There is a strong and interdependent relation between the three skills: BELF, communication and culture. The relationship between business English and intercultural communication is a complex and interdependent one. Nowadays communication has achieved a global level due to fast technological development. However, intercultural communication cannot exist without the help of a linguistic tool, a lingua franca, which at present is English. Therefore, in the global business environment, Business English is the lingua franca for all business interactions. Since the business world has developed and surpassed national borders, the need for intercultural understanding has also increased.

Vocabulary practice
I Match the words and phrases with the appropriate definition. development lingua franca intercultural mother tongue cultural at/on (a) global/local level background technology-driven communication 1. the process of sharing information, especially when this increases understanding between people or groups 2. dependent on technology and using it in a practical way 3. relating to the habits, traditions and beliefs of a society 4. relating to or involving more than one culture 5. your family and your experience of education, living conditions, money, etc 6. when someone or something grows or changes and becomes more advanced 7. relating to a particular area in which something happens 8. the first language that you learn when you are a baby, rather than a language learned at school or as an adult 9. the language used for communication purposes by non-native speakers with different national and cultural backgrounds.
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II Complete the passage using the words in the box. acknowledged technological economic facilitates cultural edge prevalent choice language

Over the years, English has established itself as an international ..............1, as a language of wider communication, at both global and local levels, its position and importance being ..............2 worldwide. The ..............3 use of English at a global level is an inherent outcome of the fast global economic and ..............4 development throughout the last decades, and has increased to such an extent that English turns out to be the worlds first ..............5 of lingua franca. Global English ..............6 intercultural and international communication at international level in a wide range of contexts and ..............7 backgrounds. English is perceived as a language of ..............8 opportunities because of its importance in international trade and technological research, finding itself at the leading ..............9 of scientific and technological development. III Complete the table below. Noun communication skill meaning vary use researcher achieve involve domination speak develop predict learner globalisation negotiation lead understanding deal inform
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Verb

IV Choose a word from the box to complete the text below. achieve means interlocutors skills business cultures use language

Business people need English to do ..............1, not just to talk about business. They need to ..............2 the language effectively across a variety of different .............. 3 and alongside a variety of different business ..............4, and in a wide range of business contexts, and with a wide range of ..............5. Consequently, ..............6 is an effective ..............7 of communication used to ..............8 an end and get the job done. V Match each word on the left with a word on the right. business lingua intercultural global technological cultural mother understanding level development environment tongue franca background

PHRASES WITH BUSINESS VI Match the phrases below with the right definition. 1. be in business 2. get down to business 3. do the business 4. have no business 5. like nobody's business 6. in the business of 7. mind one's own business 8. be the business 9. send someone about their business 10. have no business doing sth a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. refrain from meddling in other peoples affairs engaged in or prepared to engage in to have no right to do sth very quickly or very much to start talking about the subject to be discussed do what is wanted or needed to achieve the desired have no right to do something tell someone to go away to be extremely good or skilful to be ready and able to start doing sth you planned

VII Complete the sentences below. world language intercultural skills cultural backgrounds wealthy background developed country working environment intercultural understanding mass communication

1. The company has employees from many different .............. . 2. They all come from a .............. . 3. The journal aims to provide .............. at global level. 4. The office is spacious and bright - it's a pleasant .............. . 5. A .............. is a language used in many different countries. 6. In order to act successfully in the business environment, good communication and .............. are necessary. 7. The internet allows two-way .............. . 8. A .............. is a country with a lot of industrial activity and where people generally have high incomes. VIII English-only companies Currently, more and more companies are mandating English as their corporate language. Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Japanese company Rakuten, has made his company an "Englishonly" organization. However, experts say employees can experience performance anxiety while making transition to English. While English has long been the de facto language of international business, more multinational companies are now mandating that employees communicate only in English. According to Tsedal Neeley, a professor at Harvard Business School, companies that don't adopt English as a standard for their entire organization will, at some point, "experience some form of bottleneck." "It depends on what the company does, but if you'll have members in different countries needing to collaborate -- whether it's to integrate technology platforms or cater to customers worldwide -- it will become more important that even middle managers and employees with international assignments will need a common language in order to interface with others." Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Nokia, Renault, Samsung and Microsoft Beijing have all mandated English as their corporate language, and more than 70 Danish companies have now migrated to English. In 2010, Japanese internet services company Rakuten made headlines when it announced it would become an English-only organization, with all communication, verbal and email, in English. Hiroshi Mikitani stated for CNN that: "English is the only global language. We're doing a global business. I think this is the only way a Japanese service organization can become a global organization. If you want to become successful in other countries, you need to internationalize the headquarters". To help make the transition, Japanese language signage was removed from cafeterias and elevators. Mikitani even conducts performance reviews with his Japanese executives in English. If this sounds bewildering for employees, it can be. Two years into an English-only implementation at one company Neeley studied, 70% of employees reported feeling
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frustrated with the policy. Businesses must plan carefully before implementing an Englishonly policy. "In the absence of language strategies, you see so many people getting hurt and diminished," Neeley says. "When a company announces a language change without any thought or preparation for employees, many people lose the promotional path that they've spent their whole lives developing." Shifting a company's entire operations into a new language isn't easy. Companies need a clear, well-aligned strategy and "it needs to be supported and implemented at all levels of the organization, from the CEO down to the supervisor/manager of every employee who is subject to having to convert to a new language," Neeley says. The best results come when instruction is customized to employees' roles, with vocabulary geared specifically towards the types of emails they write, for instance. While some companies choose to become bilingual before adopting English wholesale, Neeley says this is "incredibly expensive and unsustainable." Those with English as a first language need to make adjustments too. "Native speakers need to learn how to dial themselves down and how to accommodate others," Neeley says. Managers should adopt a zero-tolerance policy to backsliding, to make it clear that the change to English is not only possible but permanent. Depending on the company's size, resources and the aggressiveness of its pursuit of English, Neeley estimates implementation is "a four to 10-year odyssey", with ongoing maintenance required thereafter. But she says the journey is worth it, pointing out that a company with English proficiency across the board has greater operational agility and "can serve all of their market seamlessly by using all of their human capital worldwide to achieve any end." Immediately after acquiring a Canadian company, Rakuten was able to deploy seven of its top engineers to Toronto, to begin integration processes. "Two years ago they could have never done that," she says. "That shows the extent to which expertise and knowledge flows through the company in ways it wouldn't otherwise." For individuals too, there are benefits. Depending on their fluency and how far their career has advanced, an employee may experience performance anxiety and job insecurity when asked to work in a new language. But, Neeley says, as fluency increases, the emotional strain diminishes and bilingualism becomes something enjoyable; perhaps even profitable. "You also see them starting to shoot up in their careers," Neeley observes. "They begin to take on roles that require more and more communication in the English language."
(Adapted from Rose Hoare, Workers told, ditch local languages for English, CNN, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/18/business/english-language-business)

Match the words in the box to their definitions. multinational backslide cater deploy headline mandate assignment headquarters bottleneck odyssey

1. to tell someone that they must do a particular thing 2. involving people from several countries 3. a delay in one stage of a process that makes the whole process take longer 4. to organize or move someone so that they are in the right place and ready to be used 5. to go back to doing something bad after having improved, especially to stop working hard or to fail to do something that you had agreed to do
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6. to provide a particular group of people with the things they need or want 7. a job that someone is sent somewhere to do 8. the main building or offices used by a large company or organization 9. the title of a newspaper report, which is printed in large letters above the report 10. a long exciting journey Find the appropriate synonyms for the words bellow 1. seamlessly a. universal 2. global b. effortlessly 3. expertise c. confusing 4. cafeteria d. reduce 5. bewildering e. skill 6. diminish f. lunchroom 7. ongoing g. change 8. strategy h. genuine 9. de facto i. scheme 10. convert j. in progress

Language focus Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns are things like people, animals, plants, objects, or units of measurement. Countable nouns have a singular or plural form. You can count them. trends, books, guests, cars Uncountable nouns are things like substances, materials, and commodities, abstract ideas, and languages. Uncountable nouns only have a singular form. You cannot count them. weather, information, coal, progress Some other uncountable nouns baggage luggage travel cash money information furniture work permission software hardware equipment

accommodation news room (=space) machinery

traffic trouble cotton advice

insurance progress research weather

Many nouns can be used as countable and uncountable nouns, usually with a difference in meaning. The new building has two conference rooms.(place) He moved to make room for his new colleague. (space)

Drinks are usually uncountable. But they can be countable if its a cup or a glass. Wed like two teas and a coffee. Determiners We use different determiners for countable and uncountable nouns. We use a/an with single countable nouns. a book, an article Some, any We use some and any with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns. Some is used in positive sentences and any is used in negative sentences and questions. There are some interesting buildings near here. There is some sand on my dress. There arent any flowers in the room. Is there any food left? Much, many, a lot (of) We use many and a lot (of) with plural countable nouns. many guests, a lot of visitors There are many products on offer. We use much and a lot (of) with uncountable nouns. much influence, much food, a lot of food How much influence do consumers have? Many and much are more common in questions and negatives. We use a lot (of) in positive sentences. I dont have many friends. He didnt drink much water. They put a lot of money into the family business. Few, a few, little, a little We use few, a few with countable nouns. A few restaurants open after 8 am. (= some) We use little and a little with uncountable nouns. He drinks very little coffee. (= not much)

Articles
Uses of a, an We use a before consonant sounds, and an before vowel sounds: a book, a school bus, a unit
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an article, an hour, an MBA We use a or an before unspecified singular countable nouns (a book), to talk about jobs (an attorney), or about frequency (once a month). Uses of the We use the with a specific noun we have mentioned before: I have bought a new car. The car cost less than I expected. We also use the when we add information that defines something (the book I gave you), with superlatives (the most interesting), with adjectives to refer to a group (the poor), to refer to rivers, mountains, seas, and names of countries that include a noun like republic, kingdom, union, etc. No article () We use no article () to generalize about uncountable or plural nouns. Money can't buy happiness. We do not use an article to refer to companies, cities, roads, or lakes. I live in London, and work for JT Group. My office is located on 8A Street.

Language practice
I Countable or uncountable? Write a or some before each word. .......... coffee .......... restaurant .......... friend .......... water .......... money .......... cash .......... news .......... book .......... accommodation II Parts of a mass Mix the pictures below with the appropriate words of measurement. a pint of beer a barrel of oil a slice of bread a sheet of paper a cup of coffee a bottle of water a piece of cake
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.......... furniture .......... luck .......... equipment .......... shop .......... chance .......... advice .......... trouble .......... information .......... language

a litre of milk a tube of toothpaste a bar of soap a kilo of flour a cube of sugar a bucket of water a glass of wine

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III Choose the correct option from the words in italics. 1. As many/much other researchers, I find this concept highly relevant to our analysis. 2. He reinforced the idea that in this area many/much research was needed. 3. I am sure it won't do them too many/much harm on the whole. 4. Hurry up! We haven't hot many/much time left. The meeting starts in ten minutes. 5. How many/much information do you need? 6. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to save many/much money. 7. How many/much people did you meet? 8. They didn't have many/much trouble finding the right apartment. 9. I decided to make many/much changes to the original plans. 10. How many/much weeks do you need to finish the project? IV Fill in the blanks with a/an, the or (no article). NCS is .. international company operating worldwide. It has recently started .. innovative project which will implement .. new communication system, replacing .. old system used by company at .. moment. Daniel is .. project leader, supported by Andrew, who is .. external expert. He is .. most recent member to join .. project team. Hes come directly from . airport. Hes going to meet .. project leader, and the two other members of team, David and Elena, for .. first time. V Fill in with the appropriate article. 1. I got .. interview with a well-known writer. 2. He is .. writer and his wife is in .. computers. 3. They have lunch meetings twice .. week. 4. ..rich get richer and .. poor get poorer. 5. Apple is .. most valuable brand in computers. 6. Have you finished .. report? 7. I have just bought .. new Mac. 8. I work for .. Global Enterprises in .. Seattle. 9. I think he really needs .. MBA in marketing. 10. The delegates discussed the crisis in .. Iran.
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