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Getting Access to Language Data in the Workplace: Role Enactment as a Data-Generation Method
Abstract
This chapter aims to provide a critical review of two methods commonly used to collect language data in the workplace — naturally occurring data and interviews — and to argue in favour of role enactment to generate reliable and representative data.
... Role enactment As mentioned in Section 2.1, it is essential to collect and analyze language data to understand what is actually being expressed in interactions. Access to such data in companies can be challenging, as explained by Ly (2015), as institutions are often reluctant to allow any form of observation Vallaster 2000), and if they do, they may not allow recording . To draw conclusions on language use in interactions, most researchers have therefore resorted to using students as informants, using role play. ...
... A distinction should be made, however, between two forms of elicitation techniques, role play and role enactment. In role enactments, participants perform roles that are familiar and part of their everyday life (Ly 2015). In the present study, role enactment is used, and the informants, who are employees of an international company and are in daily contact with Asian colleagues, are asked to write a routine work-related e-mail, a situation that they are familiar with. ...
Successful communication among employees working in the same company is essential but difficult. However, it can become even more challenging when employees are from different national and linguistic backgrounds and are required to interact in English (used as a lingua franca for business purposes or BELF), in which they may be less competent than in their mother tongues. Misunderstandings and tensions may arise and are often attributed to national cultural differences, particularly when the employees are from diametrically opposed cultures.
The thesis examines the key challenges when employees communicate with their international colleagues. It draws on several disciplines (organisational theory, linguistics, intercultural communication…) and combines different research methods to tackle these issues.
The thesis consists of three articles. The first article explores the way Chinese and Scandinavian (Norwegian and Swedish) engineers working together perceive and make sense of cultural differences and communication practices in the work context. The study reveals that national cultural differences did not particularly hinder work collaboration. The lack of BELF competence on the other hand, made it challenging to communicate difficult messages, particularly when writing emails in English.
The second article first analyses the way Northern European employees formulate requests, criticisms and disagreements when writing internal work emails in English to their Asian colleagues and second, it examines the way these emails are perceived by the Asian employees, in terms of politeness, friendliness and clarity.
The final article discusses research methods used to collect language data in the workplace context and argues in favour of role enactment.
The thesis contributes to existing knowledge, from theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives. Among other things, the two empirical studies nuance existing theories that have emphasised the importance of national cultural differences and communication styles in the workplace and discusses the concept of national culture. In addition, practical contributions include a discussion on how communication in the workplace can be improved and suggestions for the workplace are made.
... Role enactment As mentioned in Section 2.1, it is essential to collect and analyze language data to understand what is actually being expressed in interactions. Access to such data in companies can be challenging, as explained by Ly (2015), as institutions are often reluctant to allow any form of observation (Bill and Olaison 2009;Vallaster 2000), and if they do, they may not allow recording (Kasper 2006). To draw conclusions on language use in interactions, most researchers have therefore resorted to using students as informants, using role play. ...
... A distinction should be made, however, between two forms of elicitation techniques, role play and role enactment. In role enactments, participants perform roles that are familiar and part of their everyday life (Ly 2015). In the present study, role enactment is used, and the informants, who are employees of an international company and are in daily contact with Asian colleagues, are asked to write a routine work-related e-mail, a situation that they are familiar with. ...
Westerners are often depicted in intercultural communication literature as direct and Asians indirect when they communicate. If their communication styles are so different, however, how can they understand each other and collaborate in the workplace? The present article looks at internal e-mail communication in the workplace. More specifically, the aim of this article is twofold: first, to analyze the way Western employees formulate three different speech acts (request, criticism, and disagreement) when writing internal work e-mails to their Asian colleagues, and second, to examine the way these e-mails are perceived by the Asian employees in terms of politeness, friendliness, and clarity. The data consists of 182 elicited e-mails produced by Western employees using role enactment and 33 perception questionnaires collected in different Asian business units of an international company. The procedure to analyze the elicited e-mails is inspired by the CCSARP while the questionnaires are analyzed following sociolinguistics studies. Last, the discussion of the results is anchored partly in the ongoing East-West politeness debate.
... We agree with Gummesson (2000: 14), who underlines the importance of access and argues that "traditional research methods used in business research do not provide satisfactory access … A researcher's or consultant's ability to carry out work on a project is intimately tied up with the availability of data and information that can provide a basis for analysis and conclusions". However, it is not easy to gain access to organisations, especially in business contexts where confidentiality can be a serious hindrance (see, for example, Holmes and Vine, 2021;Ly, 2016). But even after access is granted, in order to meaningfully assess data in the context of its use, researchers need to gain the trust of the participants (Vallaster, 2000) and develop emic insights into the culture they set out to observe . ...
Leadership research often uses interviews as a way of gaining access to organisational players’ lay theories of leadership, i.e. who they consider leaders to be and what they consider leadership is. Such an approach elicits post hoc reflection and thus runs the risk of recycling existing discourses of leadership. Conversely, in this chapter, we use membership categorisation analysis to investigate the way in which, as part of their everyday workplace activities, organisational players categorise some people as (non-)leaders and some events as the doing of (non-)leadership. The findings we present challenge classic, and widespread, theories of heroic leadership and reveal that, from an emic perspective, who leaders are and what they do is quite banal. We also point out that this category work is shot through with moral judgement. It is used to “do” criticism and to hold the leadership team accountable for not doing leadership. As a result of such action-oriented category work, the subordinates agree to take action to influence the leadership team to redress an organisational failing. Significantly, such proposed action from subordinates turns classic theories of heroic leadership, which often implicitly equate leadership with the hierarchical superior and top-down influence, on their head and invites critical reflection on the “just whatness” of leadership.KeywordsLeadershipMembership categorisation analysisLeader identityDiscursive leadership
... We agree with Gummesson (2000: 14), who underlines the importance of access and argues that "traditional research methods used in business research do not provide satisfactory access … A researcher's or consultant's ability to carry out work on a project is intimately tied up with the availability of data and information that can provide a basis for analysis and conclusions". However, it is not easy to gain access to organisations, especially in business contexts where confidentiality can be a serious hindrance (see, for example, Holmes and Vine, 2021;Ly, 2016). But even after access is granted, in order to meaningfully assess data in the context of its use, researchers need to gain the trust of the participants (Vallaster, 2000) and develop emic insights into the culture they set out to observe . ...
In this concluding chapter, we revisit the main themes and insights from the book in the context of organisational healing. The chapter demonstrates why language and communication matter for organisational healing, a process that involves restoring interpersonal connections and renewing organisational practices, and which is essential for fostering positive change and growth within organisations. Exploring the extended metaphor of organisational healing, we showcase how discourse-linguistic approaches can help researchers and practitioners to reveal the causes and symptoms of organisational trauma, and how a social constructionist understanding of organisational problems can help better implement the healing process. We introduce the concept of diagnostic listening, concluding the chapter with thoughts about the importance of criticality and language awareness.KeywordsOrganisational healingSocial constructionismDiagnostic listeningDiscourse analysis
... We agree with Gummesson (2000: 14), who underlines the importance of access and argues that "traditional research methods used in business research do not provide satisfactory access … A researcher's or consultant's ability to carry out work on a project is intimately tied up with the availability of data and information that can provide a basis for analysis and conclusions". However, it is not easy to gain access to organisations, especially in business contexts where confidentiality can be a serious hindrance (see, for example, Holmes and Vine, 2021;Ly, 2016). But even after access is granted, in order to meaningfully assess data in the context of its use, researchers need to gain the trust of the participants (Vallaster, 2000) and develop emic insights into the culture they set out to observe . ...
This chapter highlights the importance of combining approaches to metaphor analysis based on developments in the study of metaphors in organisational and discourse-focused disciplines. The chapter showcases a proposed method through the analysis of interviews with two employees and demonstrates why it is important to consider close linguistic and broader social context where metaphors are being used. The argument also underlines the importance of considering what metaphors can reveal about organisational realities and the role they play in shaping organisational culture and communication. By highlighting the methodological considerations involved in metaphor analysis in organisational contexts, this chapter contributes to the development of a more rigorous and nuanced approach to studying metaphors both in organisational and in discourse literature.KeywordsMetaphor analysisConceptual metaphorLinguistic metaphorOrganisational change
... We agree with Gummesson (2000: 14), who underlines the importance of access and argues that "traditional research methods used in business research do not provide satisfactory access … A researcher's or consultant's ability to carry out work on a project is intimately tied up with the availability of data and information that can provide a basis for analysis and conclusions". However, it is not easy to gain access to organisations, especially in business contexts where confidentiality can be a serious hindrance (see, for example, Holmes and Vine, 2021;Ly, 2016). But even after access is granted, in order to meaningfully assess data in the context of its use, researchers need to gain the trust of the participants (Vallaster, 2000) and develop emic insights into the culture they set out to observe . ...
This book showcases various methodological approaches to the analysis of organizational talk and text. Arguing that organizations are discursive constructions that are communicatively constituted, the authors use the analysis of transcripts of audio-recordings of naturally-occurring workplace talk and authentic written texts to demonstrate what applied linguistics has to offer to scholarly research into organizations as well as management practice and training. The authors discuss the theoretical underpinnings of discursive approaches to the role language in the communicative constitution of organization, and then each chapter focuses on one particular analytical approach. The chapters cover conversation analysis; membership categorization analysis, positioning theory; ventriloquism; metaphor analysis; and metadiscourse analysis and computer-mediated discourse analysis. Consequently, this interdisciplinary work presents a number of methods that allow researchers unfamiliar with fine-grained linguistic analyses of naturally-occurring talk and text to explore ways of adding to their repertoire of research skills.
... Originally, we wanted the students to directly observe and record business interactions among East Asians and Westerners. However, access to such data is challenging for experienced researchers, let alone bachelor students (see the discussion on the challenges to collecting naturally occurring data in companies (Ly, 2015). Thus, we asked the students to interview an East Asian or European business executive with experience of doing business with/in Europe/East Asia. ...
Whereas many scholars criticize the traditional approach to teaching intercultural communication and suggest new theoretical orientations in research, little has been said on how the subject should be taught and what activities should be implemented in response. In this paper, we make suggestions based on experiences of implementing and reflecting on a course on intercultural business communication with focus on East Asia at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). Three objectives were chosen for the course: (1) develop students’ skills in observations, (2) train students to handle complexity, and (3) encourage students to reflect on and be critical of existing theories and texts. To fulfil the three objectives, we implemented different activities that turned out to be complementary; reflection texts, role-plays and case studies. The chapter provides practical examples from the course followed by a critical reflection of the process and the outcomes. The course was elected by the students as one of the four most innovative and engaging at NHH in 2014.
Lingua franca business communication takes place when people of diverse linguistic backgrounds do business. It is used both to coordinate such activities as people management, accounting, and marketing in multinational corporations and to carry on the business of buying, selling, and negotiating in international networks. Typically, English as a business lingua franca (BELF) is the language emerging in such encounters. The study of business lingua franca communication uses a range of methodologies and theoretical frameworks drawing on applied linguistics and sociolinguistics. These studies investigate communicative practices such as emails and meetings carried out by internationally operating practitioners working with their colleagues and business partners. Since the context is essential for business communication, ethnographically‐informed studies including practitioners' perceptions are in use. The findings have various implications for teaching and pedagogy.
In this chapter, we outline some of the key theoretical issues you might consider before carrying out your own linguistic research into organisational practice. First, we discuss the issue of getting access to a research site and data collection. Second, we consider the status of recordings and transcription. Third, we address issues of generalisability, validity, and reliability of fine-gained linguistic analyses, and discuss the relevance of linguistic analyses for both organisational practice and theory. Finally, we outline the chapters in the book.KeywordsTranscriptionNaturally occurring talkOrganisational practiceOrganisational theoryReliabilityValidity
Professional communication consultancy work which examines business processes and organisational realities through the lens of language is gaining legitimacy. In this chapter I examine the tensions these new kinds of professional-academic collaborations may create. Using examples from my recent consultancy projects, and drawing on existing scholarship theorising these issues in management and business studies, I explore whether—and how—it is possible to produce relevant results and remain academically rigorous at the same time. I focus on issues that arise from clients’ needs for immediate problem-solving through research practices and theory-building that are accepted by a research community, especially in the type of interdisciplinary work where discipline-boundary-crossing leads to scepticism and questioning of academic rigour. Thus, this chapter aims to expose and acknowledge unavoidable tensions between academic and consultancy work in the hope that we will not compromise our academic integrity and rigour, nor the potential for future impact outside academia.
This paper considers recent research on language effects in some international management situations, specifically, intraorganizational interactions, such as interunit communication and subsidiary autonomy, and in postmerger integration. Within the multinational corporation (MNC), the need for control and coordination has driven the move toward language standardization, in the form of a common corporate language, with widespread effects on management processes. Our analysis indicates that, while important, language issues have been relatively ignored but may offer a rewarding research avenue regarding the functioning of the MNC, with potentially important implications for management.
This study questions the conventional view of the indirectness of Chinese communication. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Finnish and Chinese business professionals, the authors examine the effect of cultural identity on the directness of the communication of Chinese professionals who work for internationally operating Finnish companies located in Beijing and Shanghai, China, and who use English as the shared language with their Finnish colleagues. Three components of cultural identity (i.e., vocation as an international business professional, fairly young age, and the use of English as the business lingua franca) are particularly relevant in the participants’ professional communication and stimulated its openness and directness. The study finds that the evolution of English as the business lingua franca can be detected in the signs of convergence identified in Chinese and Finnish professional communication.
Horizontal communication between subsidiaries of the same multinational corpo ration (MNC) is a Problem faced by staff as the demands for communicating across borders are pushed downwards in the organizational hierarchy. Although the choice of English as the common corporate language alleviates some of the hor izontal communication problems, it does not solve them all-particularly not when many subsidiaries are located in non-English speaking countries. In that situation, horizontal communication between subsidiaries can be a significant casualty.
In a study of communication within a Finland-based MNC, Kone Elevators, interviews with staff globally revealed problems not only for non-native speakers, but also for native speakers of English. Illustrative interview data suggests that cor porate training schemes should focus on the broad spectrum of international com munication rather than on increasing a systematic knowledge of any one language.
Purpose
This paper aims to identify communicative practices emerging from the management decision to implement English as a corporate language, assessing their implications for social interaction and relationships within the multilingual workplace.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory study based on qualitative research interviews was used.
Findings
The analysis highlights the discrepancy between a general openness to the use of English as a corporate language in Danish organisations and language users' communicative practice. This leads to the identification of language clustering and thin communication as characteristic behaviours within the multilingual workplace.
Research limitations/implications
The interviews were performed in Danish organisations alone. New research is required in order to apply the findings to other linguistic or national settings.
Practical implications
The research identifies two barriers to employee interaction within the multilingual workplace. This is relevant in relation to language planning as well as diversity management.
Originality/value
The paper is original in its application of a sociolinguistic perspective to employees' linguistic practice. This points to the importance of language as a social resource and the possible limitations of corporate language policies.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative way of using focus groups in research – a role‐play‐enhanced focus group method – in which participants are presented with the challenge of dealing with a specific task while playing a familiar but nevertheless fictive role.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research is performed through an experimental approach in which a focus group of small business owner‐managers are assembled and presented with a prepared case exercise. The design is a role‐play‐like setting in which the participants are to act as the board of a company.
Findings
– Carefully designed, well‐prepared role‐play‐like activities can add substantially to focus‐groups.
Originality/value
– Adding an experimental dimension to focus groups offers the possibility of addressing topics indirectly and thus increases their usefulness.
The literature argues that in global business communication the concept of “national culture(s)” is becoming obsolete because globalization leads to cultural convergence. This article argues that “national cultures” are not obsolete in global organizations. Two focus group interviews were conducted in a global corporation using folk perceptions as a framework. Employees were asked to discuss their work practices and agreed that uniform standards could not be used across cultures. The article concludes that, despite globalization, we do not see evidence of cultural assimilation in global employees’ work practices, but rather that stereotypes of national cultures are used to provide orientation.
In this article the author discusses the challenges and rewards of conducting cross-cultural sociological research in a non-native language. The argument is illustrated through the author's personal experience conducting oral historty research in Berlin.
Westerners are often depicted in intercultural communication literature as direct and Asians indirect when they communicate. If their communication styles are so different, however, how can they understand each other and collaborate in the workplace? The present article looks at internal e-mail communication in the workplace. More specifically, the aim of this article is twofold: first, to analyze the way Western employees formulate three different speech acts (request, criticism, and disagreement) when writing internal work e-mails to their Asian colleagues, and second, to examine the way these e-mails are perceived by the Asian employees in terms of politeness, friendliness, and clarity. The data consists of 182 elicited e-mails produced by Western employees using role enactment and 33 perception questionnaires collected in different Asian business units of an international company. The procedure to analyze the elicited e-mails is inspired by the CCSARP while the questionnaires are analyzed following sociolinguistics studies. Last, the discussion of the results is anchored partly in the ongoing East-West politeness debate.
This cross-cultural study of Chinese and English business request letters, and of English letters written by native English speakers and Chinese non-native speakers is aimed at examining the rhetorical differences between them. By using Swales' move structure analysis and Mann and Thompson's rhetorical structure theory, the comparison between Chinese and English business request letters reveals that they have a rather different rhetorical structure although they share the same communicative purpose of expressing a wish for something. This is probably due to two factors: first, the inherently different discoursal patterns of the two languages, and second, the different readers' and writers' expectations regarding making a request in the two cultures. In the Chinese letters, a deference face system is predominant, including features such as the inductive introduction of requests (justification+request), an absence of face-threatening moves, and a greater proportion of and flexibility in the use of rapport-building strategies throughout the whole text. On the other hand, in the English letters, a solidarity face system is employed in making business requests, with features such as the deductive introduction of the request, greater emphasis on the ideational content, and frequent occurrence of face-threatening moves. The English request letters by Chinese writers show patterns similar to those found in the Chinese request letters, such as the preferred pattern of justification followed by request, greater emphasis on interpersonal or rapport-building strategies, and an absence of face-threatening moves. Certain possible areas of discoursal transfer in English business request letters by Chinese writers have been identified for further investigation. Lastly, move structure analysis and rhetorical structure theory are compared for their relative strengths and weaknesses for textual analysis.
The purpose of this article is to explore how Chinese and expatriate managers, working in subsidiaries of five MNCs, communicate and collaborate, what kind of cultural encounters they talk about and give prominence to in their accounts of critical incidents, how they reflect upon them/explain them, and how they cope with perceived similarities and differences to improve cross-cultural communication and collaboration within a global organisation. Using an inductive qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on in-depth narrative interviews with 29 expatriate and 39 Chinese managers and experts. The specific value of this paper is that it explores a hitherto under-researched issue and provides insight into well-educated expatriate and Chinese managers' accounts of how they perceive themselves and others in a multicultural work context. In both groups, we find widely travelled, flexible and open-minded people, who are ready and have the capabilities to conduct cross-cultural leadership.
Employing a discourse analytical approach this book focuses on the under-researched strategy of humour to illustrate how discursive performances of leadership are influenced by gender and workplace culture. Far from being a superfluous strategy that distracts from business, humour performs a myriad of important functions in the workplace context.
The growing need for intercultural literacy in an increasingly interconnected and computer-mediated world contrasts with the dearth of investigation in best practices when designing simulations aimed at improving intercultural communication. Synthetic cultures inspired by real-world cultural traits, problem-based learning, and a social constructivist theoretical base represent core components of immersive learning environments designed to improve intercultural literacy. Through an analysis of the literature, a model is proposed primarily to promote discussion and debate about intercultural simulations. The Model for Intercultural Communication in Simulations asserts that along with those components, the Experiential Learning Cycle (ELC), natural decision making, and third place thinking form an approach in understanding how intercultural simulations should be designed. The Model for Intercultural Communication in Simulations challenges the learner to move beyond known paradigms and encourages simulation and e-learning designers to employ socially situated contexts. Accordingly, within the context of the model, a culminating evaluation of an online intercultural training simulation (ARGONAUTONLINE) follows the introduction of the model.
The present paper discusses internal communication in the global context, with a focus on language as an issue for the organization. Although ‘language’, naturally, is a resource that enables any – internal or other – communication, it has not been examined in public relations research but has been taken for granted or as given. The current pace of globalization in all sectors has rapidly globalized internal communication and the language issue needs to be addressed. On the basis of two empirical studies we discuss language strategy and language use in international internal communication. Our findings show that although a common ‘corporate language’ – which mostly today refers to English – enables internal communication, it is not a straightforward solution but a number of issues need to be considered. For example, as international communication in a business context is today mostly conducted by non-native speakers of English, their language can be characterized as BELF (English as Business Lingua Franca), which differs from ‘standard English’ in many ways. Also, language issues need to be considered for organizational credibility and knowledge sharing and for constructing trust and rapport in international interaction.
A journey in search of intercultural research in Hong Kong (China) has highlighted some fundamental differences between research conducted in Asia and previous projects in Europe with regard to the conceptual approach to field research. This paper is intended to present an experience rather than a research report. In particular, it will describe in detail culturally related barriers to entering the research field as well as getting access to Western and Chinese research participants. Finally, recommendations are made regarding how to maintain dignity with regards to science, research subjects and the researcher him-/herself. The paper is a case description of intercultural contact within the context of research. The intention is to illustrate the gap between knowledge of research methods and logistical aspects of doing intercultural research.
This paper investigates the ways in which leaders in ethnically diverse workplaces in New Zealand construct themselves as effective leaders in interaction with subordinates, whilst also taking account of the politeness norms of their specific workplaces. Case studies of two leaders, one from a Pākehā and one from a Māori workplace, illustrate that shared ethnic values and attitudes impact on the behaviour of all members of the leaders’ communities of practice. The analysis of meeting openings and the use of contestive humour demonstrate that what is considered appropriate behaviour in one organisational context, and what is perceived as constituting polite behaviour by group members, may be considered inappropriate and even impolite by members of another organisation. By behaving in ways that are in accordance with the norms developed in their ‘ethnicised’ communities of practice, leaders and other organisational members reinforce, maintain and shape these politeness norms.
In this paper I discuss pragmatic research methods and their suitability to different research questions in speech act research. Clark and Bangerter [Clark, H.H., Bangerter, A., 2004. Changing ideas about reference. In: Noveck, I.A., Sperber, D. (Eds.), Experimental Pragmatics (Palgrave Studies in Pragmatics, Language and Cognition). Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, pp. 25–49] use the terms "armchair", "field" and "laboratory" to refer to linguistic methods based on intuited data, natural data and elicited data, respectively.
In this paper I will not argue for the superiority of one of these methods over the other two. I take the view that it depends on the specific research question whether one or the other of these three approaches can yield useful insights. I will illustrate these considerations with
research efforts in the field of compliment research. Compliments are particularly interesting because they pose a politeness dilemma for the recipient, who either has to violate the maxim of agreement or the maxim of modesty. They have been investigated from very different perspectives (pattern of the compliment, the demographics of the complimenter and the compliment recipient, compliment
responses and so on) and with a range of different methods (including the notebook method, the corpus method and discourse completion tests). I will review this literature and discuss the suitability of individual methods in relation to individual research questions.
The purpose of this study is the identification of possible linguistic variations in business correspondence containing requests which are attributable to the influence of the interpersonal variables of power, social distance, imposition and, in particular, status.In order to minimise interference from personality traits, a set of 32 authentic texts written by or to the same managing director of a joint-venture were selected from a larger corpus of over 200 documents containing requests.Syntactic, lexical and structural variations have been found between two main text-types of documents, relational and routine correspondence. Moreover, the varying pattern of influence of interpersonal variables seems to support a non-additive model of politeness as proposed by Holtgraves and Yang (1992).
The last decade has witnessed increasing interest in email communication. Research in this area has focused on stylistic conventions, the role of email in the communication patterns of a company and the link between emails and corporate culture. Most of the studies so far published have concentrated on simple, one-way emails. However, evidence from a databank of 123 emails for international business communication seems to suggest that emails are gradually becoming a more complex genre. This article analyses the emerging textual and communicative complexity of business emails from the databank and suggests that this complexity has resulted mainly from efforts to accommodate the genre to the new demands of the international business community. (c) 2005 The American University. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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