Developing shared communication practices: A study of BELF in multinational team meetings

Abstract

Abstract A growing number of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) adopt English as their official corporate language. Research on English used as a business lingua franca (BELF) in such contexts shows how its use is negotiated, context dependent, and influenced by cultural and linguistic diversity. Multinational teams (MNTs) are legion within MNCs, and need to find efficient ways of communicating across their diversity, in particular in demanding and complex interactions such as meetings. This case study uses non-participant observation and interviews to study how one MNT has developed shared BELF communication practices for meetings. It examines the BELF communication practices in both the MNC context and at the team level. The analysis of the data shows that team members were highly aware of the challenges posed by cultural and linguistic diversity, and how they developed their local communication practices by processes of developing common ground, building trust, and good leadership.