Training programmes and materials that aim to enable professionals to function effectively in int... more Training programmes and materials that aim to enable professionals to function effectively in international contexts often draw on Hofstedian approaches to intercultural communication (ICC); in other words, they employ an essentialist framework which puts nationality at the core of conceptions of culture (Piller, Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011). While seductive, they arguably draw on and reinforce stereotypes, and may damage rather than facilitate ICC (Handford, The Language of Business Meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010; Piller 2011). This chapter outlines an alternative approach to ICC training, developed over several years with an engineering multinational based in Japan. The core aim of the training was to change the organisational discourse around ‘internationalisation’. Trainees were introduced to the concepts of discourse, Discourse (Gee, 2005) and stereotypes (Bar-Tal, 1997), and were encou...
An innovative, new multi-level course for the university and in-company sector. Business Advantag... more An innovative, new multi-level course for the university and in-company sector. Business Advantage is the course for tomorrow's business leaders. Based on a unique syllabus that combines current business theory, business in practice and business skills - all presented using authentic, expert input - the course contains specific business-related outcomes that make the material highly relevant and engaging. The Business Advantage Upper-intermediate level books include input from the following leading institutions and organisations: the Cambridge Judge Business School, the Boston Consulting Group, Nokia, Dell, and Havaianas - to name but a few. The Student's Book comes with a free DVD of video case studies.
National stereotypes are inherently evaluative, often negatively, and potentially prejudicial. Wh... more National stereotypes are inherently evaluative, often negatively, and potentially prejudicial. While research has examined stereotypes from an organisational perspective, this is overwhelmingly in experimental settings involving students (Landy, 2008); in other words not in workplaces, and not involving employees doing their jobs. Through a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of 53 authentic business meetings, this study finds that among certain communities, national stereotypes are used in workplace narratives, and argues that such narratives constitute a contextual, situated social practice. The novel methodology pinpoints and categorises all stereotypes in business-meeting narratives, before discussing what role they play in indexing the identities of the stereotyped and the stereotyping. Finally, evaluation, ideology and power are critically engaged with to explain their use or non-use, thus making a theoretical contribution to studies of evaluation, workplace narratives, and ste...
This paper is concerned with the difference between what is possible and what is probable in spok... more This paper is concerned with the difference between what is possible and what is probable in spoken business interactions. In other words, while speakers may have a range of semantically meaningful options when communicating, their choices are very much constrained by the particular context. The first part of the paper will discuss the disconnect between research into spoken business discourse, and the language that is taught in business course books. The issue of “authentic materials” and the difference between “language doing business” and “language about business” are raised here. The second part will give an outline of some of the typical linguistic features in business English, with reference to recent corpus-informed research. The collaborative, convergent nature of much business discourse and the implications for learners will be discussed. I argue that the prescriptive language in business English course books should draw on research from authentic situations, as otherwise l...
This study examines the use of metaphors and idioms (MIDs) in two con-flictual business encounter... more This study examines the use of metaphors and idioms (MIDs) in two con-flictual business encounters from two corpora of spoken business and work-place interactions. As overtly conflictual or aggressive forms of communica-tion are unusual in business encounters, these meetings are ...
Training programmes and materials that aim to enable professionals to function effectively in int... more Training programmes and materials that aim to enable professionals to function effectively in international contexts often draw on Hofstedian approaches to intercultural communication (ICC); in other words, they employ an essentialist framework which puts nationality at the core of conceptions of culture (Piller, Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2011). While seductive, they arguably draw on and reinforce stereotypes, and may damage rather than facilitate ICC (Handford, The Language of Business Meetings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010; Piller 2011). This chapter outlines an alternative approach to ICC training, developed over several years with an engineering multinational based in Japan. The core aim of the training was to change the organisational discourse around ‘internationalisation’. Trainees were introduced to the concepts of discourse, Discourse (Gee, 2005) and stereotypes (Bar-Tal, 1997), and were encou...
An innovative, new multi-level course for the university and in-company sector. Business Advantag... more An innovative, new multi-level course for the university and in-company sector. Business Advantage is the course for tomorrow's business leaders. Based on a unique syllabus that combines current business theory, business in practice and business skills - all presented using authentic, expert input - the course contains specific business-related outcomes that make the material highly relevant and engaging. The Business Advantage Upper-intermediate level books include input from the following leading institutions and organisations: the Cambridge Judge Business School, the Boston Consulting Group, Nokia, Dell, and Havaianas - to name but a few. The Student's Book comes with a free DVD of video case studies.
National stereotypes are inherently evaluative, often negatively, and potentially prejudicial. Wh... more National stereotypes are inherently evaluative, often negatively, and potentially prejudicial. While research has examined stereotypes from an organisational perspective, this is overwhelmingly in experimental settings involving students (Landy, 2008); in other words not in workplaces, and not involving employees doing their jobs. Through a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of 53 authentic business meetings, this study finds that among certain communities, national stereotypes are used in workplace narratives, and argues that such narratives constitute a contextual, situated social practice. The novel methodology pinpoints and categorises all stereotypes in business-meeting narratives, before discussing what role they play in indexing the identities of the stereotyped and the stereotyping. Finally, evaluation, ideology and power are critically engaged with to explain their use or non-use, thus making a theoretical contribution to studies of evaluation, workplace narratives, and ste...
This paper is concerned with the difference between what is possible and what is probable in spok... more This paper is concerned with the difference between what is possible and what is probable in spoken business interactions. In other words, while speakers may have a range of semantically meaningful options when communicating, their choices are very much constrained by the particular context. The first part of the paper will discuss the disconnect between research into spoken business discourse, and the language that is taught in business course books. The issue of “authentic materials” and the difference between “language doing business” and “language about business” are raised here. The second part will give an outline of some of the typical linguistic features in business English, with reference to recent corpus-informed research. The collaborative, convergent nature of much business discourse and the implications for learners will be discussed. I argue that the prescriptive language in business English course books should draw on research from authentic situations, as otherwise l...
This study examines the use of metaphors and idioms (MIDs) in two con-flictual business encounter... more This study examines the use of metaphors and idioms (MIDs) in two con-flictual business encounters from two corpora of spoken business and work-place interactions. As overtly conflictual or aggressive forms of communica-tion are unusual in business encounters, these meetings are ...
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