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Are ‘diversity management' and monolingualism compatible? About learning and using foreign languages in a context of globalisation : Sind ,diversity management' und Einsprachigkeit kompatibel? Vom Fremdsprachenlernen und -gebrauch unter dem Einfluss der Globalisierung

Lüdi, Georges

In: Language Teaching, 2010, vol. 43, no. 4, p. 494-495

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    Title
    • Are ‘diversity management' and monolingualism compatible? About learning and using foreign languages in a context of globalisation
      Sind ,diversity management' und Einsprachigkeit kompatibel? Vom Fremdsprachenlernen und -gebrauch unter dem Einfluss der Globalisierung
    Author
    • Lüdi, Georges. University of Basel, Switzerland georges.luedi@unibas.ch
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    Classification
    • Arts
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:299364
    Summary
    Ideologies and communication practices vary hugely in multilingual workplaces. On the one hand, many companies include Diversity Management in their corporate culture because there are theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that a company which employs a diverse workforce enhances its opportunities in a global marketplace whilst improving employee satisfaction and thus productivity. On the other hand, globally oriented companies, often the same ones, choose English preferentially as their corporate language as it has become widely accepted that this is the language of international business. Thus, diversity in general (i.e. cultural diversity) and linguistic diversity are dissociated