Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language: ‘it has to be English’
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Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language : ‘it has to be English’. / Lønsmann, Dorte.
I: Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Bind 36, Nr. 4, 07.06.2015, s. 339-356.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language
T2 - ‘it has to be English’
AU - Lønsmann, Dorte
PY - 2015/6/7
Y1 - 2015/6/7
N2 - With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as the natural language in Denmark, but as unimportant compared to English on the other hand. English is constructed as prestigious and powerful in contrast with Danish. While previous studies of English as an international language have tended to focus on the consequences for the local language, this article also includes a discussion of the role of English in relation to other international languages. English is constructed as the international language, as the only possible choice for communicating internationally. The prevalence of this language ideology means that other foreign languages are either not considered at all, or even rejected outright as means for international communication, a process referred to by Irvine and Gal as ‘erasure’.
AB - With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as the natural language in Denmark, but as unimportant compared to English on the other hand. English is constructed as prestigious and powerful in contrast with Danish. While previous studies of English as an international language have tended to focus on the consequences for the local language, this article also includes a discussion of the role of English in relation to other international languages. English is constructed as the international language, as the only possible choice for communicating internationally. The prevalence of this language ideology means that other foreign languages are either not considered at all, or even rejected outright as means for international communication, a process referred to by Irvine and Gal as ‘erasure’.
KW - corporate language
KW - English as an international language
KW - language ideologies
KW - multilingualism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930041797&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01434632.2014.921187
DO - 10.1080/01434632.2014.921187
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84930041797
VL - 36
SP - 339
EP - 356
JO - Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development
JF - Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development
SN - 0143-4632
IS - 4
ER -
ID: 238451345