Ebook l161 Book3 E2i1 n9781780077789 l3 PDF

L161 Exploring languages and cultures
Book 3 Intercultural competence at work

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ISBN 9781 7800 7778 9
2.1
Contents
L161 team 5
Preface 6
Unit 13 Language and community
Introduction 7
Learning outcomes 7
13.1 Language and identity 8
13.2 Sociolinguistics and variation studies 13
13.3 Language and communities 21
13.4 Language and profession 27
Conclusion 33
Answers 34
References 39
Unit 14 Multilingual and intercultural contexts in the workplace
Introduction 41
Learning outcomes 41
14.1 Government language policy and the workplace 42
14.2 Company language policies and their effects 52
14.3 The power dynamics of language use in the workplace 58
14.4 Culture and the multinational business environment 61
Conclusion 69
Answers 70
References 72
Unit 15 Theoretical perspectives on cultural differences
Introduction 75
15.1 Personal and national outlooks 77
15.2 Hofstede’s framework 82
15.3 Reactions to Hofstede’s framework 91
15.4 The intercultural communications industry 98
Conclusion 103
Answers 104
References 107
Unit 16 Mediating through translation
Introduction 109
16.1 Who needs translation? 111
16.2 What does translating involve? 123
16.3 Mediating through ‘transcreation’ 131
16.4 Translating strategies 136
16.5 The ethics of translating 140
Conclusion 146
Answers 147
References 149
Unit 17 The role of the interpreter
Introduction 151
17.1 Translating and interpreting 152
17.2 Methods of interpreting 156
17.3 The contexts of interpreting 158
17.4 The skills of interpreting 168
17.5 The ethics of interpreting 172
Conclusion 176
Answers 177
References 179
Unit 18 Intercultural skills and employability
Introduction 181
18.1 Intercultural competence in the workplace 183
18.2 Standards for intercultural working 191
18.3 Language in the intercultural workplace 198
Conclusion 208
Answers 209
References 212
Glossary 213
Acknowledgements 217
L161 team
L161 team
Academic team
Unit authors
Bill Alder
Uwe Baumann
María Fernández-Toro (module team chair)
David Hann
Helen Peters
Christine Pleines
Klaus-Dieter Rossade
Book coordinators
María Fernández-Toro
David Hann
Module team support

Ann Breeds (curriculum manager)
Sue Burrows (curriculum assistant)
Production team
Catherine Bedford (learning media developer)
Gillian Çağlayan (media project manager)
Celia Copping-Meyler (copy editor)
Angela Davies (media assistant)
Kim Dulson (assistant print buyer)
Cayra Goodyear (rights assistant)
Sarah-Jane Hofton (graphics media developer)
Richard Law (learning media developer)
Special thanks
With thanks to our critical readers: Nel Boswood, Sue Creed, Catrin Davies,
Zsófia Demjen, Concha Furnborough, Ann Hewings, Susan Kotschi, Ruth
McCracken, Hélène Pulker and Ursula Stickler.
5
Preface
This is the third of four books in the series L161 Exploring languages and
cultures, an Open University Level 1 module.
The books focus on the multiple and complex relationships between language
and culture, introducing and developing some key concepts over the series.
However, each book can also be used as a free-standing, independent
resource.
All the books in the series include readings and guided activities, as well as
introducing key skills and a glossary of subject-specific terminology.
Feedback and comments on most activities are also provided.
The four books in the series are:
Book 1: Language and culture
Book 2: Languages, cultures and communities
Book 3: Intercultural competence at work
Book 4: Language and communication in the digital age
The authors were drawn from a variety of linguistic, cultural and disciplinary
backgrounds in order to reflect the diverse nature of this module, and to
incorporate a wide range of perspectives across its different units. This
approach also supports the module’s overall aims of helping students to
develop intercultural awareness and the ability to reflect critically on cultural
variation.
6

Introduction
The focus of the next six units is on language and culture in the workplace.
For many people, their jobs take up a significant part of their lives and are
integral to their sense of identity. Furthermore, the workplace is a context
where contacts and, often, friendships are made. Someone joining a company
or organisation inevitably becomes part of a group of colleagues and
workmates. However, this group will be only one of a number in that
individual’s life.
People can belong to a multitude of groupings, which may be as intimate as
the family unit or as broad as the nation. Some of these groupings are
determined by biology and birth, such as those based on our sex or our age.
Others, such as the social networks we are part of and the companies or
institutions we work for, are, to varying degrees, a matter of choice. In this
unit you will look at the groupings that help to shape people’s identities,
from those over which they have least control to those that they are generally
free to join and to leave. The focus will be on how language reflects the
practices and attitudes of these different groupings.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should:
. understand how people’s identities and their membership of different
groups are signalled through the language they use
. appreciate the role played by the social and professional networks people
belong to in shaping their identities and language
. understand how the language of particular groupings, such as that of
academic or business communities, serves both practical and social
purposes
. be able to interpret basic quantitative findings (e.g. graphs) from
sociolinguistic research
. be able to use strategies to guess the meaning of unfamiliar terminology.
7
13.1 Language and identity

Just like people’s choice of clothes can often tell us a lot about the kind of
identity they wish to project, the language people use carries information
about the social groups they belong to. While every individual is different,
certain ways of expressing themselves will be shared with a number of other
people belonging to the same group as them. This is partly the result of
repeated exposure to certain accents, words and turns of phrase that are
frequently used in a particular environment, but it can also be a means for
individuals to assert their identity as members of their peer group.
Activity 13.1
Below is part of a conversation recorded by the sociolinguist Jennifer Coates
(2007, p. 37). In this extract, which features three friends, the narrator is
discussing in straightforward and sometimes crude terms whether miracles are
possible, drawing on a Bible story. The dialogue below is transcribed using
particular linguistic conventions, although these can vary. In this instance, the
contributions of the narrator’s friends are in italics. Utterances which occur
simultaneously are presented between double asterisks.
Step A
Using only the evidence from the transcript, try to decide what grouping the
three people belong to. Are they:
. young women
. middle-aged women
. young men
. middle-aged men?
1 But supposing that he raised someone from the dead?

2 [. . .]
3 It was a little girl [yeah]
4 and she was dead
5 he got to the house too late
6 when she was dead,
7 I can’t remember all the
8 And. he- he said- he said something ((to her))
9 ‘Get up, ((xx)) [...]’
10 and she got up,
11 she was alive.
12 But. when you think about how shit medicine was in those days
[mhm]
13 I mean who says she was dead? [yeah I know]
8
14 she could have been in a coma [yeah]

15 and he could have like triggered something off
16 she could have been lying
17 she could have been lying
18 she could have been really pretending
19 **very very well**
20 **she could have been like-**
21 ‘Right ((I’m gonna sort that out))’ <CLAPS HANDS>
<LAUGHTER>
(Coates, 2007, p. 37)
Check your answer in the Answer section at the end of the unit.
Step B
Can you identify any words or phrases that might indicate the gender and age
of the speakers?
Comment
There is no right answer to this question. The speakers could have been of
either gender or of any age. However, some features of their speech indicate
that these are young people. Perhaps one feature you may have noticed is the
use of ‘like’ in line 15: ‘and he could have like triggered something off’.
‘Like’ is not strictly necessary for the sense of the utterance. However, it
seems to be used as a sort of conversational filler, much as someone else
might use ‘um’ or ‘you know’. In line 20, the narrator’s friend may also be
using ‘like’ as a filler: ‘she could have been like’. Another possibility is that
the speaker is using it in conjunction with the verb ‘to be’ as a reporting
verb, the equivalent of ‘she could have been saying’. Indeed, the narrator’s
interruption in line 21 seems to be interpreting the friend’s contribution in
that way because the narrator then voices the imagined utterance of the girl
in the story.
It may be more difficult to decide the gender of the speakers. Some might
argue that the use of the taboo words, such as ‘shit’, points to male speakers
but others would say that such words are evidently not the exclusive preserve
of males. Furthermore, these observations have to be very heavily qualified.
Individual speakers have their own distinctive way of speaking, their own
‘idiolect’. The dangers of stereotyping have already been explored in Book 2,
Unit 9 and it would be easy but misguided to say that young people make
one set of word choices and older people another, or that specific word
choices indicate male or female speakers. However, a person’s verbal
repertoire may provide clues as to their age, gender, class or education,
9
despite the fact that people’s language use cannot simply be predicted
through reference to these categories.
Glossary
Sex: the biological and physiological distinction between male and
female, e.g. chromosomes, hormones and anatomical differences.
Gender: defines the distinctions between male and female in terms of
social conditioning, e.g. the roles people take on, the ways they talk and
behave, the clothes they wear, etc.
Idiolect: each person’s unique and distinctive way of speaking which,
like their fingerprints, differentiates every individual. It is characterised
by distinctive patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar use.
Speakers phrase their messages to others in a particular way for all sorts of
reasons which would not be easy to articulate if they were asked about them.
The young men featured in the extract from Coates (2007) were possibly not
even aware of how or why they were using the word ‘like’ as they were
speaking. Often the word choices we make are probably not choices at all in
the usual sense of the word, as they often happen at a subconscious level.
Yet, whether deliberate or not, those word choices help to project our
identities. In Activity 13.1 we saw how language may signal someone’s age,
gender or class. As you may remember from Books 1 (Unit 1, Section 1.4)
and 2 (Unit 11, Activity 11.10), language and accent may provide an
indication of where someone is from. Furthermore, socioeconomic class is
often signalled through the way someone speaks. This is the focus of the next
section.
Language and class

You are about to read an extract from Charles Dickens’s novel Great
Expectations, which was originally published in serial form between 1860
and 1861. Although class divisions in modern Britain are easy to identify in
terms of material wealth, they were far more pronounced in Dickens’s day.
The language of a generation Similarly, the social manifestations of class through clothing, behaviour and
speech were even more apparent in the Victorian period than they are now.
Activity 13.2
Here is some background information which will help you to understand the
extract. The narrator and protagonist of Great Expectations, Pip, is an orphan
who is brought up in humble circumstances by his sister and her husband,
Joe Gargery, in the marshlands of Kent. However, Pip’s fortunes change
radically when he comes into an anonymously given inheritance and he
moves to London to live the life of a gentleman. In this scene, Pip, lodging
10
with a well-to-do friend, Herbert, is visited in the metropolis for the first time
by Joe.
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.
‘Do you take tea, or coffee, Mr. Gargery?’ asked Herbert, who always
presided of a morning.
‘Thankee, Sir,’ said Joe, stiff from head to foot, ‘I’ll take whichever is
most agreeable to yourself.’
‘What do you say to coffee?’
‘Thankee, Sir,’ returned Joe, evidently dispirited by the proposal, ‘since
you are so kind as make chice of coffee, I will not run contrairy to your
own opinions. But don’t you never find it a little ’eating?’
‘Say tea then,’ said Herbert, pouring it out.

Here Joe’s hat tumbled off the mantel-piece, and he started out of his
chair and picked it up, and fitted it to the same exact spot. As if it were
an absolute point of good breeding that it should tumble off again soon.
‘When did you come to town, Mr. Gargery?’
‘Were it yesterday afternoon?’ said Joe, after coughing behind his hand,
as if he had had time to catch the whooping-cough since he came. ‘No
it were not. Yes it were. Yes. It were yesterday afternoon’ (with an
appearance of mingled wisdom, relief, and strict impartiality).
‘Have you seen anything of London, yet?’
‘Why, yes, Sir,’ said Joe, ‘me and Wopsle went off straight to look at
the Blacking Ware’us. But we didn’t find that it come up to its likeness Blacking Ware’us
in the red bills at the shop doors; which I meantersay,’ added Joe, in an [Warehouse]: refers to a
explanatory manner, ‘as it is there drawd too architectooralooral.’ shoe-blacking warehouse and
factory
I really believe Joe would have prolonged this word (mightily
expressive to my mind of some architecture that I know) into a perfect
Chorus, but for his attention being providentially attracted by his hat,
which was toppling.
(Dickens, 1861, p. 171)
1 What aspects of Joe’s behaviour reveal that he is feeling ill at ease?

2 Which features of his utterances suggest that he is attempting to make his
language more formal and to refine his accent in order to adapt, not very
successfully, to the new and alien environment he finds himself in?
3 Which features of what he says would you identify as Joe’s ‘authentic’
language?
11
Check your answers in the Answer section at the end of the unit before
reading the comment below.
Comment
It could be argued that Joe ‘betrays’ his background and class through his
language (although this may not necessarily diminish him in the reader’s
eyes), as he cannot control his accent or word choices well enough to pass
himself off convincingly as a ‘gentleman’. Nevertheless, this scene shows
that Joe is trying to adapt his language to the situation he is in and the people
he is with.
We can use our linguistic resources to project who we are in various ways
and to varying degrees of success, as you saw with Joe in this activity. In this
sense, our identities are never just ‘given’. To take a simple example of the
adaptations we can make to our language, think back to Unit 2 where you
saw how, in a simple exchange such as a greeting, we change our style
depending on who we are talking to, projecting different aspects of our
identities to suit the situation we find ourselves in.
12
13.2 Sociolinguistics and variation studies

Variation in the ways speakers signal (consciously or not) their gender, social
class, age or regional background is an area which sociolinguistics has been
interested in since its establishment as a recognised field of study in
the 1960s. Researchers have investigated differences in pronunciation, for
instance. One variable in English is /h/. The retention or the dropping of /h/
(the ‘h’) are variants, that is discernible differences in the way that speakers
of English pronounce certain words that can indicate their regional or class
background. A feature of language that has different variants is called a
‘linguistic variable’. Looking at particular variables can help researchers to
explore people’s social identities.
Glossary
Variation: refers to identifiable differences in the way that speakers or
groups of speakers use a language.
Variable: a characteristic of a language, which manifests in clearly
different ways in different groups of speakers. These variables may be
phonetic, lexical or grammatical. For example, the pronunciation of the
sound /h/ is a variable.
Variant: a particular realisation of a variable by a speaker or group of
speakers, for example the retention or dropping of the sound /h/.
Activity 13.3
To check your understanding of some key terms, look back at the previous
paragraph and the accompanying glossary box and fill in each of the four
blanks in the diagram below with one of the following three words: variant,
variation, variable. (One of these words is used twice.)
The study of in language
Example: He played his par’
Example: pronunciation
of ‘t’ in word endings
Example: He played his part
13
Check your answers in the Answer section at the end of the unit.
One of the most influential sociolinguists of the twentieth century was the
American, William Labov, who helped make variation studies an important
area of investigation in sociolinguistics. He and others in the field established
broad correlations between linguistic variables and the main social categories
of socioeconomic class, gender and age.
Activity 13.4
In this activity you will read a brief account of some of Labov’s early and
highly influential research into the speech of New Yorkers. The style of the
text is academic and it was written for an audience with at least some
knowledge of linguistics, providing an example of the language of a group
based on a field of human activity.
William Labov Entering a field of study requires, among other things, learning the words to
describe particular concepts relevant to that field. For example, in studying
this series of books, you have entered a field of study and become part of an
academic community which explores languages and cultures. As such, you
have to acquire the specialist vocabulary you need, including that found in
the books’ glossary boxes.
Step A
Read the article then answer the questions below.
William Labov worked on a classic study on social stratification for

New York City [N.Y.C.] speech. He was able to illustrate the social
stratification of (r) in N.Y.C. department stores. The variants of the
phonological variable (r) show either presence or absence of post
vocalic /r/. That is, in expressions such as fourth floor, whose
pronunciation was tested by Labov, /r/ was either pronounced or
omitted. Historically, New York City speech had been characteristically
r-less, i.e. it featured a non-rhotic accent. However, the general attitude
towards this accent feature was rather negative and the pronunciation of
/r/ seems to have been reintroduced to New York City speech. Labov
found that in New York City the pronunciation of /r/ occurred and its
frequency of use depended on the speakers’ membership to [of]
particular socioeconomic status groups, i.e. social classes.
Labov’s department store survey ... :
14
He studied the speech of employees in three department stores in

Manhattan: Saks Fifth Avenue (an expensive upper middle-class store),
Macy’s (a less expensive middle-class store), S. Klein (a discount store
frequented mainly by working-class New Yorkers).
In order to study the pronunciation of /r/ by the employees of the three
department stores, Labov asked questions which should elicit the lexical
items (‘fourth floor’) containing the desired accent feature in the
employees’ speech:
1st question: ‘Where can I find the lamps?’ Elicited answer: ‘fourth
floor.’
2nd question: ‘Excuse me?’ Answer: repeated and more careful
utterance of ‘fourth floor’.
Each employee thus could pronounce post-vocalic /r/ four times (twice
each in ‘fourth’ and ‘floor’).
Result: The results illustrated that (r) in New York City was stratified
by class. The pronunciation of /r/ depended on the social-class
membership of the employees: Those with higher socioeconomic status
pronounced /r/ more frequently than those with lower socioeconomic
status.
(Finegan, 2004, adapted from English Language and Linguistics Online, n.d.)
1 The article contains some terms that are typical of the field of
sociolinguistics. Without looking them up (but scanning to see where they
appear in the article), try to define the words in the table below. If you
don’t know their meaning, try to make a guess on the basis of what you
have learned so far and the information given in the text.
Term Definition
phonological variable
post-vocalic
non-rhotic accent
social stratification
15
2 What strategies did you use to guess any meanings that you did not
already know?
Comment
If you didn’t know the meaning of any particular terms, one of the strategies
you may have used was to look at where they appear in the article to see if
the context provided any clues.
Even if you didn’t know the meaning of ‘phonological’, the context tells you
that it is clearly about variation in pronunciation. Furthermore, the word itself
and other words that are similar to it might help you to narrow down its
meaning. For instance, the ‘phone’ is an instrument we use to communicate
through sound rather than vision.
The word ‘post-vocalic’ contains the word ‘post’, which you may recognise
as being a prefix which often means ‘after’. ‘Vocalic’ is related to the word
‘vocal’. So you may guess the meaning to be ‘after a voiced sound’. In fact,
this is close to its actual meaning which is ‘after a vowel’.
The meaning of ‘non-rhotic accent’ is not easy to guess from the term alone.
However, the article provides a clear indicator that it means
‘characteristically r-less’. (This strongly suggests that a ‘rhotic accent’ is one
where the ‘r’ is usually pronounced.)
‘Social stratification’ is mentioned near the beginning of the article, but the
text immediately surrounding it gives no indication of its meaning. However,
the article as a whole is clearly about the variable (r) as an indicator of social
class. ‘Stratification’ is clearly related to ‘strata’ which, as any geographer
will tell you, means ‘layers’.
Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar terminology

It is not always possible or necessary to look up every specialist term
that you encounter in a piece of academic writing. Here are three
strategies you can use to guess the meaning of unfamiliar terms.
. Look at the component parts of the word to see if they indicate its
possible meaning. Academic terms often include common Greek or
Latin prefixes, such as inter-, intra-, pre-, post-, etc.
. Think of words you know that seem to be related to the word in
question. They might give pointers to its meaning (e.g. phonological,
telephone, headphones are things to do with sound).
. Look at the text that surrounds the word, as it often provides clues to
the word’s meaning.
16
Step B
Read the article in Step A again. As you read it, decide if the following
statements are true or false.
1 The non-rhotic accent is prestigious in New York.
2 Labov investigated the post-vocalic /r/ variable.
3 Labov asked people about their accents.
4 The response ‘fourth floor’ was elicited twice from each respondent.
5 Labov found that people from higher socioeconomic classes tended to use
post-vocalic /r/ more frequently than those from lower classes.

Comment
Labov’s research was quantitative (see the glossary box below). In other
words, he used statistical analysis of the frequency with which certain
features occur in language as a means of supporting his conclusions about
their significance. Such a quantitative approach is often contrasted with
qualitative research, which, in the context of sociolinguistics, focuses on an
in-depth description of language use in context. Ethnographic research (see
Book 2, Unit 10) is qualitative in nature. In reality, many language
researchers use a combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches
depending on what they are investigating.
Glossary
Quantitative research: ‘gathers data in numerical form which can be
put into categories, or in rank order, or measured ... This type of data
can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw data’ (McLeod, 2008).
Qualitative research: ‘gathers information that is not in numerical
form. For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires,
unstructured interviews and unstructured observations. Qualitative data
is typically descriptive data and as such is harder to analyze than
quantitative data’ (McLeod, 2008).
Step C
Below is a graph illustrating Labov’s findings about the use of post-vocalic
/r/ among New Yorkers. Look at it carefully. Take particular notice of the x
axis, which is the horizontal line running along the bottom of the graph, and
the y axis, which is the vertical line, and note what each axis measures. The
letter ‘N’ means number; in this case the number of people who responded to
Labov’s request in each store. Read the following statements very carefully
and, by relating them to the graph, decide if they are true or false.
17
70
Some /r/
60 All /r/
Percent of respondents
50
32
40
31
30
20
30
17
10 20
4
0
Saks Macy’s S. Klein
N = 68 125 71
Overall stratification of /r/ by store in New York City
(Finegan, 2004, cited in English Language and Linguistics Online, n.d.)
1 30% of the respondents in Saks used post-vocalic /r/ in their

pronunciation of both ‘fourth’ and ‘floor’ in both their replies.
2 25 respondents in Macy’s used post-vocalic /r/ each time they pronounced
‘fourth’ and ‘floor’.
3 17% of respondents in S. Klein used post-vocalic /r/ in some of their
pronunciation of ‘fourth’ and ‘floor’.
4 79% of respondents in S. Klein used no post-vocalic /r/ in any of their
pronunciation of ‘fourth’ and ‘floor’.
Comment
It takes time to absorb the information in a graph, even when, at first sight, it
seems fairly straightforward. Always check what is being measured along
each axis and whether this has been clearly explained. To ensure that you
have fully grasped its meaning, take at least one of the statistics shown in the
graph and see if you can convert it into a spoken or written explanation. For
example, the true/false statements in the previous step each take a statistic
from the graph about the use of post-vocalic /r/ and turn it into a written
statement. See if you can do the same with another statistic derived from the
graph.
Step D
1 Why do you think Labov didn’t simply ask people about their accents and
whether they used particular features of speech?
2 Why do you think he asked people the same question twice in order to
elicit two responses of ‘fourth floor’?
18
Macy’s is still going strong, as is Saks, but sadly, Klein is gone
Interpreting graphs
Here are three strategies that you can use to help you to interpret
graphs.
. Look at the labels provided for each axis and check what is being
measured along x (the horizontal axis) and y (the vertical axis)
respectively.
. Work out what unit of measurement is being used along each of the
axes on the graph.
. See if you can turn one of the statistics presented into spoken or
written form. This is a good way of ensuring you understand the
graph.
Labov was not only interested in the distribution of particular variants among
speakers from the different socioeconomic strata in society. He also wanted to
know how people’s pronunciation of particular variables changed, depending
on how much conscious control they asserted over their language. He
therefore set up a number of conditions to see if and how speakers adapted
their language to varying circumstances. So, for example, he would examine
their language when they were given a reading task compared to that used
19
when they were conversing freely. By these means, he ascertained that non
standard variants occurred more often in informal contexts. From this, he and
other sociolinguists concluded that the standard form holds more prestige
among the general population because most people shifted to a more standard
variant when monitoring their own speech in formal contexts. This question
of whether the standard variant is always regarded as prestigious is one that
is returned to later in this unit.
20
13.3 Language and communities

As well as exploring the relationship between language and the broad
categories that people belong to, such as class and age, sociolinguistics has in
recent years tried to capture the complexity and dynamism of people’s social
lives. This has involved investigating the smaller social units they move
between, and how their language and behaviour shapes and is shaped by
these units. These smaller units have been categorised in various ways. One
such is the ‘community of practice’ (Lave and Wenger, 1991). As the name
suggests, such a group comes together around a mutual endeavour of some
sort. So, a book club or a church choir can each be described as a community
of practice. These smaller groupings can easily form, change and disappear.
Glossary
Community of practice: a group of people who form in pursuit of a
mutual endeavour. Communities of practice ‘are focused on a domain of
knowledge and over time accumulate expertise in this domain. They
develop their shared practice by interacting around problems, solutions,
and insights, and building a common store of knowledge’ (Wenger,
2001, p. 1).
Whether these smaller units can actually cut across larger cultural categories
or whether the latter prevent people from joining particular smaller units is an
interesting question. In order to investigate this, the next activity looks
specifically at the kinds of hobbies and pastimes that people take up, joining
particular groups and clubs in order to do so.
Activity 13.5
Below is a list of leisure activities. In taking up these activities, people often
join like-minded individuals and form their own small social communities
(clubs).
Look at the list and try to decide the gender, age and socioeconomic class of
people who you would expect to do these activities. As with any generalising
activity, there is the danger of oversimplification. However, it should become
clear that the broader social categories of age, gender and socioeconomic
class have some influence on the kinds of pastimes people gravitate towards.
The first row has been filled in for you.
You might find that some of the activities listed, which have been compiled
from a British perspective, are not relevant to your own community. Feel free
to modify the list to make it pertinent to you.
21
Activity type Likely group age, gender, class

Playing squash Young to middle-aged, both sexes but mostly
male, middle class
Playing bingo
Keeping an allotment
Singing in a choir
Ballet dancing
Being part of a book club
Playing football
Playing bridge
Doing yoga
Racing pigeons
Lawn bowling
Boxing
Comment
Doing this exercise should highlight how much the smaller communities of
practice that people choose to join are, to some degree at least, influenced by
their class, age and gender. The fact that some of the activities listed (such as
lawn bowling, bridge and bingo) are not international in scope shows that the
nation people belong to also influences or limits their choices.
Furthermore, the typical profiles of members might be different depending on
the particular context. There are, for instance, various types of choirs. A
typical church choir may bring to mind white, middle-class and middle-aged
singers. However, you only have to think of gospel or Welsh male-voice
choirs to dispel the notion that all choir members fit this profile. Remember
also that communities of practice are never static and as a result, the profile
of a ‘typical’ member is always evolving. For instance, in a growing number
of countries, football is no longer the all-male preserve that it once was.
Of course, people can ignore social conventions when deciding which clubs
and groups to join. It simply takes more courage to do so. Think, for
example, of the film, Billy Elliot (2000) where a working-class boy
challenges the norms and expectations of his community to become a ballet
dancer.
Although there may not be many explicit rules, there are often particular
norms of behaviour and, indeed, ways of talking which people need to learn
to become part of a community of practice.
22
Activity 13.6
Below is a letter written to an archery magazine.
. How much of it can you understand?
. Are there words used which you either don’t know or which have
different meanings to their everyday ones?
. Why do you think these specialised meanings exist?
‘Thin’ not always best

I am writing in response to a letter in the spring issue headed Time for
change?
I just wanted to say that from personal experience that thinner arrows in
fact do more damage to bosses than fatter arrows. During the indoor
season I shot both fat arrows (Easton Fatboys) and thin arrows (Easton
ACCs) both with a 51 lbs recurve and found that the thinner arrows
went through the boss quicker than the fat arrows. Both sets were shot
at identical new straw bosses and I found that after shooting two to
three Portsmouth rounds the thin arrows were going through the boss,
where as it took six to seven Portsmouth rounds before the fat arrows
went through.
I have also witnessed similar results under similar conditions by an
archer shooting only 28 lbs with both fat and thin arrows. The main
reason for this is due to the arrow speed as the fat arrows travel more
slowly and will stop more quickly. So if there was to be a change to the
line cutter rule to encourage the use of thinner arrows it would, in fact,
increase the damage to those expensive bosses.
David Cousins, Lizard Peninsula Bowmen
(Archery UK, 2013, p. 25)
Comment
Even if you do not know the language of archery, you might well be able to
grasp the general issue which the writer is discussing: the relative merits of
using fatter or thinner arrows in terms of the damage they do to the ‘boss’.
The meaning of ‘boss’ is not obvious for someone who knows nothing about
archery, but the context suggests that it may be the target or a part of it.
However, there are sections of the letter that are puzzling to non-archers.
What does the ‘51 lbs recurve’ refer to? Does the mention of ‘28 lbs’ also
refer to this recurve? What is ‘the line cutter rule’? What are ‘Portsmouth
rounds’?
Obviously, some specialist language is needed in order to talk about the
particular equipment that is used in archery and the rules of the sport.
Archers need to be familiar with the terms of archery, much as a car
23
mechanic has to be familiar with the different parts of an engine and what
they are called. However, this practical explanation is only half the story. The
use of these terms communicates to the readership of the archery magazine
that the writer is part of their community, that he belongs.
We will now go on to look at language and its role in projecting our

identities, and how the groups we belong to develop their own languages and
cultures.
Language, community and social persona

The relationship between speakers and the groups they belong to is the focus
of a number of variation studies in sociolinguistics. People project the
multiple sides of their identities by various means, including the ways they
dress and the language they use. These facets of identity are often called
‘personae’. If you buy a theatre programme before seeing a play, you will
sometimes see the term ‘dramatis personae’ at the top of the cast list. The
term ‘personae’ (‘persona’ in the singular) in the sociolinguistic literature
emphasises that, in a sense, our social lives take place on a sort of stage,
where we play a number of parts. This does not mean that in acting these
parts we are deceiving people (although we might be). What it does mean,
however, is that we project different aspects of ourselves in different
contexts, that we don’t just ‘have’ identities, we ‘do’ them.
Glossary
Persona: (plural: personas, personae) the identity that a speaker projects
to the world in their social interactions with others.
The researcher Penelope Eckert looked at this process in action in the US,
through her study of high-school teenagers in white suburban Detroit schools
in the late 1980s (Eckert, 1989). The teenagers fell into two broad groups
who either aligned themselves with the school through study or sport, or who
aligned themselves against it. The former were labelled both by themselves
and others as ‘Jocks’. The latter were ‘Burnouts’. Although the Jocks were
mostly middle class and the Burnouts working class, there were many
exceptions who crossed class boundaries to join one group or the other.
The teenagers demonstrated their membership of a particular group through
their language and the way that they dressed. However, during her research,
Eckert became aware of the subtleties that were in operation when it came to
the ways in which speakers projected their personae through talk.
24
Activity 13.7
In this activity you will work with another graph, showing how much the
different groups within the schools where Eckert carried out her research
used ‘negative concord’. Negative concord is more commonly referred to as
the ‘double negative’, a typical example being ‘I ain’t done nothing!’, a
grammatical variant that can be found in many different regional dialects of
English. Negative concord was also used by Joe in the Dickens extract you
read (in Activity 13.2) when he said, ‘But don’t you never find it a little
’eating?’
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Jock Girls Athlete Non-athlete Burnout Burnout
Jock Boys Jock Boys Girls Boys
Use of negative concord

(Eckert, 2005, p. 19)
Step A
Look at the graph carefully. Take, as an example, the ‘Burnout Girls’. Why is
it difficult to turn the statistic presented about them into spoken or written
language?
Check your answer in the Answer section at the end of the unit before
Comment
Step A shows that attempting to turn a statistic in visual form into one
presented in language form is not only a good way to test your own
understanding of a graph. It is also a good means of checking whether all the
information needed is present in the graph itself. For example, you will
notice that the axes of this graph are not labelled.
Step B
1 What is the anomaly in this graph, in terms of which groups used negative
concord the most?
2 What do you think might explain this anomaly?
25
Comment
Despite the fact that the Jock Boys align themselves with the authority of the
school, the use of negative concord among the Athlete Jock Boys suggests
that it is used as a means of projecting their ruggedness and toughness, a way
of complementing and reinforcing their athletic image. Language use
associated with predominantly male groups, such as football crowds or rugby
teams, often features non-standard forms of language but also includes taboo
words more than in mixed company. This suggests that a covert prestige
rather than a stigma becomes attached to such forms in certain contexts. This
in turn calls into question the simple conclusion from early variation studies
that standard forms of language associated with high socioeconomic status
are prestigious in all contexts.
26
13.4 Language and profession

Another community or network where many people spend a lot of their time
is the workplace. Here, too, certain ways of communicating signal the type of
work people do, the sector they work in, and even the individual company or
institution they work for.
Revisiting the example of the car mechanic; a mechanic will inevitably use
vocabulary specific to the profession to describe the parts of the car, and the
mechanical and electronic processes that are integral to its primary function
of getting people from A to B. However, in order to communicate
successfully with customers, the same mechanic has to be able to assess the
degree to which they should modify and adapt that (possibly technical)
language. Not all professions successfully do this, and some have a bad
reputation for using jargon, which can be frustrating for those on the outside.
Yet, the impulse to have an in-group way of communicating is obviously a
strong one, which is why business jargon is always being developed and
copied, despite being mocked or despised.
Glossary
Terminology: ‘the system of terms belonging to any science or subject’
(Oxford University Press, 1989a).
Jargon: ‘applied contemptuously to any mode of speech abounding in
unfamiliar terms, or peculiar to a particular set of persons’ (Oxford
University Press, 1989b).
27
Activity 13.8
Below are some examples of twenty-first-century business speak.
Step A
Match the terms in the left-hand column to the definitions on the right-hand
side.
Terms Definitions
1. Run this up the flagpole (a) Clearly a good idea
2. Opportunity cost (b) Talk about something in private
3. Going forward (c) The value of something that will be lost
by taking an alternative action
4. Drill down (d) The point at which sales equals costs
5. Amortise (e) Look in detail
6. Break even (f) In future
7. Footfall (g) Measure of number of people who visit a
venue or retail outlet
8. No-brainer (h) Test it
9. Take this offline (i) Gradually reduce the cost of an asset in
the company’s accounts
10. Haircut (j) A cut in the market value of an asset,
usually enforced by an external authority
Step B
Which of these terms would you regard as legitimate business vocabulary and
which do you think are unnecessary jargon? What’s your rationale for
deciding which are legitimate and which are unnecessary?
Comment
There is no correct answer to these questions: one person’s jargon is
another’s useful specialised vocabulary. However, it is true to say that many
people get irritated by business-speak phrases such as ‘going forward’ and
‘drill down’ because they do not add any meaning to their ‘everyday’
alternatives. On the other hand, take ‘amortise’ or ‘break even’; each
succinctly expresses a precise meaning that takes a number of words to
convey in non-specialist language and so might more easily be regarded as
legitimate. Nevertheless, despite the annoyance that some language can cause,
it is worth remembering that people have a natural tendency to create
‘insider’ terms when they come together with members of their family, social
group or fellow professionals. This is a means of conveying membership of a
particular network of people and, thus, takes us back to the important role of
language in the projection of identity.
28
Specialist vocabulary is not the only feature of language relating to a

particular profession. Other areas of the language, such as its grammatical
structures, can be affected by what it is used for, and it is these areas on
which we now focus.
Activity 13.9
Step A
Below are two descriptions of what a weather station does. Read these and
decide:
. without counting, which description is longer in terms of the number of
words used
. which you think is the original description as found in an online
encyclopedia (Wikipedia, n.d.).
Version 1 Version 2
A weather station is a facility, A weather station is a place, on
either on land or sea, with land or sea, which has equipment
instruments and equipment for used by scientists to look at
observing atmospheric conditions atmospheric conditions. This
to provide information for weather enables them to compile weather
forecasts and to study the weather forecasts and to study the weather
and climate. The measurements and climate in general. They
taken include temperature, measure things like how hot it
barometric pressure, humidity, is, how humid it is, how strong the
wind speed, wind direction, and wind is, where it is coming from
precipitation amounts. Wind and how much it rains. They have
measurements are taken as free to make sure that nothing obstructs
of other obstructions as possible, their equipment when measuring
while temperature and humidity the wind and that no direct solar
measurements are kept free from radiation (insolation) affects their
direct solar radiation, or insolation. temperature and humidity
Manual observations are taken at measurements. They make manual
least once daily, while automated observations at least once a day,
observations are taken at least while automated ones are taken at
once an hour. Weather conditions least once an hour. Ships and
out at sea are taken by ships and buoys measure weather conditions
buoys, which measure slightly out at sea and they quantify
different meteorological quantities slightly different things, such as
such as sea surface, wave height, the temperature of the sea surface,
and wave period. Drifting weather how high waves are and how long
buoys outnumber their moored the waves last. There are far more
versions by a significant amount. drifting buoys than there are
moored ones.
Check your answer in the Answer section at the end of the unit.
29
Step B
Look specifically at the grammatical structures used in the two texts and
decide why one passage contains more words than the other, despite
communicating the same volume of information.
Comment
Measuring the weather involves action on many levels, from the weather
itself to the people and instruments doing the measuring. Yet, in Version 1
(above) many of these actions are described grammatically in terms of nouns
instead of verbs. This process of turning verbs, adjectives and adverbs, such
as ‘how hard the wind blows’ into a noun, i.e. ‘wind velocity’, is called
‘nominalisation’ and is a common feature of scientific and academic writing.
Glossary
Nominalisation: the grammatical process by which actions, events,
qualities of events and qualities of objects are represented, not as verbs,
adjectives and adverbs, but as nouns (things, concepts). This process in
its simplest form involves using a verb as a noun. For example, ‘when
you arrive’ becomes ‘on your arrival’. Sometimes a structural
transformation of the verb is involved, often with the addition of a
suffix, e.g. ‘precipitate’ becomes ‘precipitation’.
It is noticeable in the original text (Version 1 above) that when verbs are
used, they often take a passive construction e.g. ‘wind measurements are
taken’ rather than ‘people take wind measurements’. You may well have
heard it explained that such a construction emphasises the processes (taking
measurements) rather than the agents (people). In a sense, who takes the
measurements is immaterial in terms of describing how a weather station
works. Such a focus also holds true in academic writing in areas of study
beyond science (although styles do vary according to the discipline).
Concepts and ideas are at the forefront of much academic writing (more so
than the people who created them), so passive constructions are used more
often than they would be in everyday communication, where the focus is
usually on what people say and do.
30
Activity 13.10
Step A
Imagine that you are working with data obtained from a weather station. You
have the following measurements for a particular period:
. Precipitation: 15 mm
. Wind velocity: 20 km/h
. Temperature: 20 °C
Write three simple sentences to describe these results.
Comment
All sentences need a verb, so the simplest thing to do would be to use the
verb ‘to be’:
. The precipitation was 15 mm.
. The wind velocity was 20 km/h.
. The temperature was 20 °C.
These sentences wouldn’t win any prizes for style, but that is not their aim!
Step B
Rewrite the sentences in Step A, using a verb other than ‘to be’.
Comment
This is a more difficult exercise. With the first sentence, the verb ‘to rain’
cannot be used with a quantity without sounding strange. You could write
something like ‘15 mm of rain fell’, turning the rain into an agent, the thing
that does the action.
The second sentence could be reworded as ‘The wind blew at 20 km/h’.
Again, the wind is made into a grammatical agent here.
Finally, you might write something like, ‘The temperature stood at 20 °C’.
These transformed sentences describing data sound odd precisely because
they turn the weather into something animate rather than an object of study,
which is at odds with the scientific context. However, in everyday
conversation or in literature, we often describe the weather as if it had a will
and character of its own, e.g. ‘The wind was howling through the trees’. The
field of science is interested in the effect of one process on another, which
requires language to depersonalise such processes by turning them into
nouns.
31
So, particular professions not only use words and phrases that are specific to
them but can also assume a particular style of communicating which, in part,
is shaped by the purposes for which they use the language. This is one of the
challenges that you face when entering the world of academic study. Not only
do you have to learn new words and their meanings, but you also have to
adopt a new way of communicating.
32
Conclusion
In this unit you have seen how language is a mirror that can reflect people’s
age, gender and class. However, we are not merely trapped by language into
inadvertently revealing aspects of ourselves to the world. Language is also a
resource that enables us to create our own social personae. Through our use
of language we can adapt and change these social personae in order to suit
the communities we move among and identify with. For example, the
academic world can be regarded as a community of practice. Therefore, when
you learn the conventions of academic writing, you are not simply acquiring
a set of skills, you are also constructing your identity as a member of the
academic community. In the next unit, we will look at the relationship
between culture and the particular communities of the business world.
33
Answers
Activity 13.1
Step A
The three speakers are all young men.
Activity 13.2
1 We know that Joe is feeling uncomfortable, in part, because the narrator,

Pip, tells us directly that he is ‘stiff from head to foot’. Furthermore, he
does not have the confidence to answer questions directly, whether he is
asked about which drink he would like or simply the time he arrived in
London. Fortunately for him, Herbert is a sensitive interrogator and, for
example, reads into his comments that he would rather have tea than
coffee. In addition, Joe’s discomfort is manifest through his inability to
control the things around him, especially his hat which keeps falling off
the mantelpiece.
2 Joe’s attempt to formalise his language is evidenced in his reply to
Herbert’s enquiry about whether he wants tea or coffee: ‘I’ll take
whichever is most agreeable to yourself’. In addition, this formality is
overlaid with his attempt at a refined accent, ‘since you are so kind as
make chice of coffee, I will not run contrairy to your own opinions’.
3 Although he doesn’t necessarily realise it, Joe’s authentic voice comes
through, for example, when answering Herbert’s question about what he’d
seen of London. For instance, he uses the double negative in the question,
‘But don’t you never find it a little ’eating?’ and employs a non-standard
personal pronoun and a non-standard word order in the sentence ‘me and
Wopsle went off ...’. Also, as his pronunciation of ‘warehouse’ and
‘heating’ shows, his real rural Kent accent comes through, despite his
attempts at refinement, e.g. his attempted pronunciation of ‘choice’ as
‘chice’.
34
Activity 13.3
The study of variation in language
variant
Example: He played his par’
variable
Example: pronunciation
of ‘t’ in word endings
variant
Example: He played his part
Activity 13.4
Step A
Terms Definitions
phonological variable A particular speech sound which is likely to vary
among speakers of different groups
post-vocalic
A speech sound occurring immediately after a vowel
non-rhotic accent
An accent where the /r/ is not always pronounced in
words like ‘butter’
social stratification
The different social strata or classes in a society
Step B
1 False. Although it was a feature of New York speech, it was seen in a
negative light. As a result, the rhotic accent began to consciously be used
by more speakers.
2 True. He identified this as a significant variable in differentiating
socioeconomic class.
3 False. He asked people questions which elicited the variable he was
investigating (i.e. their accent).
4 True. He did this by asking them the same question twice.
5 True. Because of this, he believed this indicated its social prestige.
Step C
1 True
2 True (20% of 125 is 25)
3 True
35
4 True (The graph shows that 17% + 4 % used post-vocalic /r/ some or all
of the time, leaving 79% who didn’t use it at all.)
Step D
1 How we articulate particular sounds largely happens at a subconscious
level, so asking people about this aspect of their language use is not very
reliable.
2 Although it might be commonsensical to argue that Labov simply wanted
to double-check the responses he heard, in fact he was interested in the
degree to which people’s articulation changed when they were being more
careful in their pronunciation: people tend to speak more slowly and
deliberately when asked the same question a second time.
Activity 13.5
There are no correct answers to this activity, as this is based on your
perceptions.
Below are the responses of one British person living in the UK. Compare
them and see where yours are similar or different.

Playing squash Young to middle-aged, both sexes but mostly
male, middle class
Playing bingo Middle-aged and older people, predominantly
female and working class
Keeping an allotment Was traditionally working class but more middle
class people are taking it up. Used to be mostly
male but that is changing
Singing in a choir Depends on the type of choir: cathedral choirs are
often middle class, of all ages, including boy
choristers; male voice choirs are typically middle
aged men; gospel choirs are often made up of
people of African-Caribbean descent
Ballet dancing Young, female and usually middle class
Being part of a book club Middle class, mostly female
Playing football Was almost exclusively male and working class.
Now, more females are taking up the game
Playing bridge Middle class and middle-aged. Not sure about
balance of sexes
Doing yoga Middle class and predominantly female
Racing pigeons Working class, male, generally of the older
generation
(continued over)
36

Lawn bowling Middle-aged and older people. Both sexes. Working class
Boxing Traditionally, working class and male. However, it has been
taken up by more females in recent years, as indicated by
the introduction of women’s boxing competitions at the
London 2012 Olympics
Activity 13.7
Step A
The difficulty with reading this graph is that we do not know what the
numbers on the y axis represent, so it’s not clear if the graph shows that 40
per cent of or if 40 ‘Burnout Girls’ used negative concord. (In fact, they
represent the percentage use of non-standard patterns of negation.)
Step B
1 Although the Burnouts use negative concord more than the Jocks as signs
of their alignment against authority as represented by the school, the
Athlete Jock Boys also use it a good percentage of the time.
2 The Athlete Jock Boys seem to use it as a means of conveying their
‘toughness’.
Activity 13.8
Step A
1 (h); 2 (c); 3 (f); 4 (e); 5 (i); 6 (d); 7 (g); 8 (a); 9 (b); 10 (j)
Activity 13.9
Step A
. Version 2 has more words: 154 as opposed to 127.
. Version 1 is the original text. It is taken from an entry entitled ‘Weather
station’ (Wikipedia, n.d.).
37
Step B
Primarily, the second version is longer because it contains more verbs. So,
for example, it talks of ‘how much it rains’ (4 words) rather than
‘precipitation amounts’ (2 words). Another way to put this is that the first
version is shorter because it contains more nouns (both ‘precipitation’ and
‘amounts’ are nouns).
38
References
Archery UK (2013) Archery UK, Summer, p. 25 [Online]. Available at http://viewer.
zmags.com/publication/65c27262#/65c27262/24 (Accessed 7 October 2014).
Coates, J. (2007) ‘Talk in a play frame: More on laughter and intimacy’, Journal of
Pragmatics, vol. 39, pp. 29–49.
Dickens, C. (1999 [1861]) in Rosenberg, E. (ed.) Great Expectations, New York,
W.W. Norton.
Eckert, P. (1989) Jocks and Burnouts: Social Categories and Identity in the High
School, New York, Teachers College Press.
Eckert, P. (2005) ‘Variation, convention and social meaning’. Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the Linguistics Society of America, 7 January. Available at www.
justinecassell.com/discourse09/readings/EckertLSA2005.pdf (Accessed 23 May 2014).
English Language and Linguistics Online (n.d.) ‘William Labov: New York City,
USA (1966)’ [Online]. Available at http://zentrum.virtuos.uos.de/wikifarm/fields/
english-language/field.php/Sociolinguistics/Exemplarystudylabov (Accessed 7
October 2014).
Labov, W. (1966) The Social Stratification of English in New York City, Washington,
Centre for Applied Linguistics.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral
Participation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
McLeod, S. (2008) ‘Qualitative Quantitative’, Simply Psychology [Online]. Available
at www.simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html (Accessed 7
October 2014).
Oxford University Press (1989a) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn, Oxford, Oxford
University Press [Online]. Available at www.oed.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/oed2/
00249389 (Accessed 23 May 2014).
Oxford University Press (1989b) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn, Oxford, Oxford
00123099 (Accessed 23 May 2014).
Swales, J.M. (1990) Genre Analysis, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, E. (2001) Supporting Communities of Practice: A Survey of Community

oriented Technologies, Draft version 1.3 [Online]. Available at https://guard.canberra.
edu.au/opus/copyright_register/repository/53/153/01_03_CP_technology_survey_v3.
pdf (Accessed 7 October 2014).
Wikipedia (n.d.) Weather Station [Online]. Available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Weather_station (Accessed 2 May 2014).
39
Unit 14 Multilingual and intercultural

contexts in the workplace
Introduction
In the last unit, you saw how people’s linguistic behaviour is influenced by
the groups they belong to, including work-related ones, which often develop
their own particular vocabulary. The focus of this unit is on the multilingual
and multicultural workplace, and the ways in which employers and
employees adapt to this environment.
Much as individuals change their linguistic and cultural behaviour to suit the
contexts in which they find themselves, companies, too, have to adapt and
make important policy decisions about the languages and norms of behaviour
that they wish to promote among their employees when communicating
together and with the outside world. A multilingual and multicultural
environment presents both opportunities and challenges for employers and
employees, and these will be examined in this unit.
The unit starts by looking at the impact of government language policies on
the workplace. It then considers how companies shape their own policies and
how these can affect employees. It also explores how individuals at work
exploit their own language resources for their own ends. Finally, we examine
the cases of two particular companies that have, with very different
outcomes, attempted to do business in new cultural environments; the
American retail giant Walmart in Germany and the German supermarket Aldi
in the UK.
Learning outcomes
. be aware of how national language policies can impact on the use of
languages in the work settings
. be familiar with ideas about the practical and social advantages and
drawbacks of monolingualism and multilingualism in the workplace
. be aware of how the language choices of individuals can assert power
relations or signal social position in the workplace
. be aware of the challenges and benefits of accommodating different
cultural behaviours in one organisation
. be familiar with how corporate and customer cultures can influence
whether companies succeed or fail in a different environment.
41
14.1 Government language policy and the

workplace
We saw in Book 2, Unit 11 how governments try to influence the languages
their citizens speak for various reasons, including the desire to promote a
sense of nationhood. As you saw in that unit, education is one of the tools
used by governments to implement their language policies. Another such tool
is workplace legislation.
Below is an extract from a BBC news item dating from May 2012, setting
out the Welsh Language Commissioner’s recommendations for workplace
legislation in Wales. In fact, in the following year, the Welsh Government
decided not to take up her advice for various reasons. However, it agreed
with her aims in principle and, at the time of writing, similar proposals to
these seem likely to eventually pass into law.
Language and the workplace in Wales

Activity 14.1
Step A
Read through the first part of the article (below) and decide if the proposed
language legislation would affect your organisation if you worked for one of
those listed in the following table. Decide which jobs would require Welsh
speakers, using both the evidence from the article and your own reflections.
The first line of the table has been completed for you as an example.
Welsh language plan for services unveiled by

commissioner Meri Huws
Welsh speakers would be able to access fully bilingual public services if

new plans outlined for the language are given the go-ahead.
The Welsh language commissioner has launched a consultation into
standards which public sector bodies and some companies would have
to follow.
It means a Welsh speaker could expect to receive correspondence and
phone calls in Welsh, along with accessing Welsh-speaking doctors and
carers.
Firms not complying would be fined.
A Welsh Language Measure, which came into force last year, set a duty
on public organisations to treat the Welsh language no less favourably
than English. Ms Huws, whose post was created under the measure, has
Meri Huws is the first Welsh
language commissioner
now set out
42
what exactly this could mean for them.

Welsh services to be provided:
. Correspondence – a Welsh speaker could expect to receive letters
and bills from councils, along with water, gas, electricity and mobile
phone companies in Welsh.
. Telephone calls, helplines and call centres – if ringing an
organisation, a person will be entitled to speak to someone through
the medium of Welsh.
. Care for individuals (medical and / or non-medical) – a Welsh
speaker would have the right to request to be seen by a Welsh
speaking doctor. Similarly, in care homes, a person would be able to
have a Welsh-speaking carer.
. Meeting in a legal environment – court cases, tribunals and inquiries
would be heard through the medium of Welsh.
. Public meetings and private meetings – these too would need to
provide Welsh speakers or translation services.
. Youth activities – council-run leisure centres and youth clubs would
be obliged to offer services in Welsh.
. Educational meetings – Welsh would be used in classes, lectures,
tutorials, discussion groups, workshops, training sessions and
awareness raising sessions.
Commissioner Meri Huws admitted the rules might be ‘challenging’ for

some organisations but denied they would add another layer of red tape.
She said that public sector organisations, as well as private companies
and voluntary sector organisations which receive more than £400,000 in
public money, would have to provide fully bilingual services.
These would include councils, hospitals, courts, utility companies,
telecommunication firms, social housing providers and bus and rail
companies.
The standards mean organisations and companies would have to ensure
that they employ enough Welsh speakers.
(BBC, 2012)
43
Organisation Direct effect (Y/ Types of jobs that may require

N)? Welsh speakers
Telecommunications Yes Accounts and admin would need to
company be able to send out bills and
correspondence in Welsh. Call
centres would need some Welsh
speaking staff.
Law firm
Bus company
Hotelier
Fire service
Step B
Read the end of the same article (below), which reveals mixed reactions to
the proposed policy. Identify a potential disadvantage of the policy and
decide what other problems might occur in the area identified.
Robert Lloyd Griffiths, director of the Institute of Directors in Wales,

said businesses were keen to engage with the commissioner over the
issue.
‘Over the consultation period, we will be happy to liaise with her and
her team as to what is right for business. The key thing in this I think is
engagement,’ he said.
‘I think if you are able to offer Welsh language within what you’re
offering in goods or services then those who speak the language
recognise that and it’s a positive.
‘Some of the major utilities already do that – BT already do that.’
He added: ‘There are Welsh language opportunities for businesses and I
think that’s good because there are people in Wales who speak Welsh
and want to have their language put forward who will benefit from
that.’
However, on Wednesday the British Medical Association said the use of
the Welsh language should not be a priority when delivering healthcare.
It said health money should not go into ‘promoting’ the language, and
targeting Welsh-speaking staff could hamper recruitment.
(BBC, 2012)
44
Comment
The British Medical Association highlights the potential recruitment problems
that complying with such a policy might cause. Presumably suitable recruits
may be dissuaded from applying for jobs in the medical profession if they do
not speak Welsh for fear that such a requirement would take priority over
other skills. In addition, producing documentation and other materials in
Welsh would presumably incur extra costs for an already stretched health
service, as would language training for the health service’s present staff.
Activity 14.2
Below is an advert for a job vacancy in Wales. Look at it and answer the
questions that follow.
Rheolwr Prosiect ac Arbenigwr Technegol – Band Eang y Genhedlaeth Nesaf -
De-ddwyrain Cymru - Project Manager and Technical Specialist – Next Generation
Broadband Wales - South East Wales - Ref:1382078
Math o swydd wag / Type of vacancy:
Allanol: yn agored i bob ymgeisydd / External: open to all applicants
Band Cyflog y Swydd: / Pay Band:
Band Rheoli 1 / Management Band 1 - £36,000 - £42,850
Is-adran / Division:
Yr Uned Seilwaith / Infrastructure
Cangen / Branch:
Seilwaith TGCh – Cyflawni / ICT Infrastructure - Delivery
Cyflog cychwynnol gwirioneddol / Actual starting salary:
£36,000
Math o Gontract / Type of Contract:
Parhaol / Permanent
Patrwm Gwaith* / Work Pattern:*
Swydd amser llawn ond ystyrir ceisiadau gan staff sy’n dymuno gweithio’n rhan amser neu
rannu swydd.
This is a full time post however applications will be considered from staff who wish to work
part-time or on a job share basis.
Dyddiad cau ar gyfer y swydd / Vacancy Closing Date:
6 Dec 2013
1 If this were the type of post that interested you, would you apply for it if
you were a non-Welsh speaker? What in the advert would encourage or
discourage you from submitting an application?
45
2 Do you think that such jobs should positively discriminate in favour of

Welsh speakers? Give reasons.
3 What would be the advantages, from an employer’s perspective, of taking
on a Welsh speaker?
Comment
There are no right answers to the questions above.
1 Whether you applied or not would, in part, depend on how you interpret
the advert. Some non-Welsh speakers might be put off by the amount of
Welsh that there is in it, which precedes the equivalent phrases in
English. This might suggest to some that a knowledge of the Welsh
language is necessary. On the other hand, there is no explicit requirement
for the post-holder to speak Welsh and it is ‘open to all applicants’.
Furthermore, the fact that the details of the job are set out in English as
well as Welsh means that non-Welsh speakers are not disadvantaged when
it comes to understanding what the job entails.
2 Whether employers should actively discriminate in favour of Welsh
speakers is not an easy question to answer. A technical specialist who did
not speak Welsh might feel resentful if someone who did not have the
equivalent skills and experience got the job because of their knowledge of
Welsh. After all, English is universally understood by Welsh speakers,
meaning that, in purely practical terms, a non-Welsh speaker would not be
disadvantaged when doing the job. On the other hand, it could be argued
that preserving and encouraging a minority language inevitably involves
active discrimination and that the thought of losing out on such job
opportunities would encourage non-Welsh speakers to learn the language.
3 From an employer’s viewpoint, having at least some Welsh speakers on
their staff would allow the company or organisation to fulfil any new legal
requirements that the government decided to introduce. In the case of the
particular company advertising for the post above, it has already been
noted that telecommunications is an area where the promotion of Welsh
has been deemed desirable (see the BBC news item in Activity 14.1).
Furthermore, from a PR point of view, having bilingual staff members is
presumably one way in which a company can promote its ‘local’ image.
It is interesting to note that the advert for the post above is ambiguous in
terms of whether it requires applicants to be Welsh speakers. At the time of
writing, there is no legal requirement for companies and organisations to
advertise jobs in Welsh as well as English. In the meantime, whether the use
of Welsh in adverts signals a preference or requirement for Welsh speakers or
merely indicates that a company wants to emphasise its local credentials is a
grey area for both employers and potential employees.
Language and the workplace in Pakistan

In terms of both its linguistic landscape and the national government’s
language policies, Pakistan is very different from Wales. To begin with, it is
46
linguistically more complex, having six major languages and scores of minor
ones.
The major languages of Pakistan are:
. Punjabi (spoken by about 44% of the population)
. Pashto (15%)
. Sindhi (14%)
. Siraiki (11%)
. Urdu (7.5%)
. Balochi (4%).
Unsurprisingly, after independence in 1947, Pakistan sought to find a
language that could unite the new nation. At the time, the country also
consisted of present-day Bangladesh, most of whose population spoke
Bengali. Shortly after Pakistani independence, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the
founding father of the nation, made a speech at Dhaka University:
The state language (...) must obviously be Urdu, a language that has been
nurtured by a hundred million Muslims in this sub-continent, a language
understood throughout the length and breadth of Pakistan and above all, a
language which, more than any other provincial language, embodies the
best that is in Islamic culture and Muslim tradition and is the nearest to the
language used in other Islamic countries.
(Jinnah, quoted in Ayres, 2009, p. 43)
Activity 14.3 Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Answer the following questions based on the information given in this

section.
1 If you read Book 2 in this series, can you find any parallels between the
language policies of Pakistan and those of Tanzania described in Unit 11?
(If you cannot remember the details of Tanzania’s language policy, look
back at Unit 11, Section 11.4).
2 In the light of your reading of the L161 books so far, would you
challenge any of Jinnah’s statements?
Comment
1 Like Swahili in Tanzania, Urdu, the national language as chosen by the
government, is not a first language for the majority of the population.
2 Your reading of L161 might make you question Jinnah’s claims to Urdu’s
inherent superiority over other ‘provincial’ languages. You have seen, for
example, in Unit 11, how the selection and promotion of a language by a
nation state is nothing to do with that language’s inherent properties, but
everything to do with social, historical and political factors.
47
As Jinnah’s speech makes clear, Urdu is a language that is commonly

understood and used as a lingua franca among the different language groups
in Pakistan, much as Swahili is in Tanzania. However, it is significant that
Jinnah’s argument for Urdu to be the ‘state language’ is not based solely on
practicalities. He maintains that Urdu ‘embodies the best ... in Islamic
culture’, suggesting that it has an innate value that elevates it above the other
local languages (quoted in Ayres, 2009, p. 43). Language policy is rarely just
about practical considerations but, as you saw in Book 2, Unit 11, often
involves emotive arguments. These can sometimes lead to dubious claims
about the qualities of a particular language.
Urdu and the workplace

Pakistan retained English as its post-colonial official language after
independence. The rationale for this was that much of the government had
previously been conducted in English and its ruling classes were educated in
the language. However, when the Constitution of Pakistan was passed in
1973, it stated that:
(1) The National language of Pakistan is Urdu, and arrangements shall be

made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years
from the commencing day.
(2) Subject to clause (1), the English language may be used for official
purposes until arrangements are made for its replacement by Urdu.
(3) Without prejudice to the status of the National language, a Provincial
Assembly may by law prescribe measures for the leaching, promotion and
use of a Provincial language in addition to the National language.
(Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, article 251)
The clear aim was that Urdu would eventually replace English as the
country’s official language. However, much as Tanzania’s promotion of
Swahili has not been a total success (as you saw in Book 2, Unit 11), the
Pakistani government’s language aspirations have, to some extent, been
thwarted. Its report on national education policy in 2009 states the following:
A major bias of the job market for white collar jobs appears in the form of
the candidate’s proficiency in the English language. It is not easy to obtain
a white collar job in either the public or private sectors without a minimum
level proficiency in the English language. Most private and public schools
do not have the capacity to develop the requisite proficiency levels in their
students. English language also works as one of the sources for social
stratification between elite and non-elite. Combined with employment
opportunities associated with proficiency of the English language the social
attitudes have generated an across the board demand for learning English
language in the country.
(Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan, 2009, p. 27)
The importance of English in the global market is a phenomenon which was

discussed in Book 2, Unit 12 and there is always a tension between the need
48
to protect and promote indigenous languages, and the pressure to learn the
world’s current lingua franca with the employment opportunities this brings.
Activity 14.4
You will now look at a job advert from Pakistan, which is written in both
Urdu and English.
Look at the advert below and answer the questions that follow.
49
(PaperPk Jobs Blog, n.d.)
1 Would a person who couldn’t read Urdu feel confident about applying for
this job?
2 What about someone who couldn’t read English?
3 In what ways does its use of Urdu and English differ from that of Welsh
and English in the job advert that you saw in Activity 14.2?
Comment
1 Most non-Urdu speakers would not even consider applying for this post.
Although they could fill in most of the application form, they would not
know what post they were applying for, and what competencies were
needed, etc. The layout of the Urdu and English texts, together with the
numbering to be found in the former (note that the text clearly reads from
right to left) indicate that this is not a bilingual application form where
the two texts are the equivalents of each other.
2 Non-English speakers would also be discouraged from applying for this
post. The fact that the application form part is written in English suggests
that the candidate would need to complete it in the same language.
3 The previous two points already indicate a clear difference between the
advert for the post in Wales and that for the vacancy in Pakistan.
Although not being bilingual in Welsh and English would probably be a
disadvantage for the Welsh job, it would not prevent a potential candidate
from applying. On the other hand, someone who was not fluent in both
50
English and Urdu would have no chance of getting the post advertised in
Pakistan.
Although the linguistic situations in Wales and Pakistan are very different,
they both illustrate the importance of job prospects in influencing people’s
attitudes to learning and using particular languages. The survey of Welsh
people that you considered in Book 2, Unit 11 revealed that although most of
the respondents were not Welsh speakers, they saw the language and the
financing of it in a positive light. On the other hand, indigenous languages in
Pakistan other than Urdu are not always held in high regard, even by those
for whom they are a first language (Ali, 2009, p. 46). Governments are able
to influence their citizens’ attitudes to particular languages, to some degree,
by manipulating the job market. However, as you saw in Book 2, Unit 12,
their powers are limited by a global market that seems to demand a common
lingua franca which, at the moment, is English.
51
14.2 Company language policies and their effects

Companies and other organisations have to adapt to the language policies of
the governments in whose jurisdiction they do business. However, they also
have to take into account the prevailing linguistic conditions beyond national
borders. Additionally, companies’ own policies and how they implement them
have an important effect on their employees and their clients.
Activity 14.5
Below is a posting from an online forum where a Spanish speaker in
California is complaining about her employer’s language policy.
Step A
Read the forum post and answer the questions that follow.
Browny posted
My new boss don’t want us to speak spanish at work: is this
legal in california?
We just got a new boos, she is making a lot of new rules and
also to spoke English only, she don’t want to hear us speak
ing spanish we all bilingual but sometimes we speak in
spanish, about the work or something personal we never
have any problem over this most of us being there for up to 8
years, I am just wondering if this is legal in california or if
you think she is rigth, I need my work but I feel she is being
races, I may be wrong please tell me what you think, I
appreciate all your opinions, by the way I work with disable
persons and half of them speak spanish and english, Thanks
for your help
(Browny, 2009)
1 What kind of job does the writer do?
52
2 Why is she unhappy about her boss’s language policy?
3 What type of advice is she seeking?
Step B
What is your initial reaction to the writer’s use of English?
Comment
English is clearly not the writer’s first language and there are evident
grammar, spelling and punctuation inaccuracies. If you are a native speaker
of English or fluent in the language, there can be a natural tendency to react
negatively to writing like this, at least initially. Indeed, in certain contexts,
such as in an academic essay, mistakes would disadvantage the writer.
However, you probably had little difficulty answering the questions which
you were asked in Step A. This suggests that despite certain formal
limitations in the language, the writer is able to communicate her main ideas.
It is important to make allowances when listening to or reading the

communications of people using a language that is not their mother tongue.
Activity 14.6
Now look at the various replies to the blogger’s query you read in
Activity 14.5 (Driving Instructor et al., 2009). Fill in the table below.
Best Answer
Voter’s Choice Requiring one to speak English only has been ruled discrimi
- Driving nation.
Instructor As long as the clients and customers understand you, she
(BRAKE!) would have difficulty with the Labor Relations Board.
In addition, due to the proximity to the Mexican Border, many
employers now pay extra for speaking Spanish!
On the other hand, employment is at-will. That means an
employer does not need a reason to terminate you.
Other Answers
limatango It is legal to make an English only policy, especially if you
answered work with classified information. Here examples of why your
new boss might have made this rule.
1. If not everyone speaks a foreign language it can make
those who do not speak the language feel uncomfortable,
resulting in a possible ‘hostile’ work environment.
2. If you are working with classified information, then
everyone needs to understand what is and is not being said.
If you are not working with classified materials and are
working with patients/customers who do not speak English,
then in that case it would be appropriate to speak a language
other than English, but strictly to communicate with custom
ers/patients.
53
John John
No, race is protected under the equal opportunity laws but
answered
not language. She can demand that you speak english in the
work place.
I had a boss once tell some coworkers they had to speak
english all the time. I didnt like that very much because the
boss' reason for it was other people felt like they were being
bad mouthed by these two ladies when they were speaking
their language.
I will say that after about 10 minutes of two people having a
conversation loud enough that i can hear in a language i cant
understand, I get annoyed by that.
Huh? answered
Does your boss speak Spanish herself? If she doesn’t, and
she can’t understand what her employees are saying, then I
would agree with her.
Me and my family speak fluent Russian. However, I would
never, ever carry on a conversation in Russian with
non-speakers in the room. It is rude and creates a tense
atmosphere, and the people who can’t understand you might
think you are talking about them or trying to exclude them.
So I think she’s only right to ask you to speak in a language
that everyone can understand. This isn’t racist, it’s just
common sense.
And, yes, this is perfectly legal.
RE answered
It is legal for a private business to lay down rules of this type
(except for break time), but it is not smart. It will affect
worker morale. If your new boss doesn’t speak Spanish, she
may think you are gossiping and wasting time, even when
you are talking about your work. Maybe some of you could
get together and tactfully offer to help her learn Spanish? It
would improve her ability to do her job, and I certainly think
the disabled clients will need your bilingual skills. Still, she
has the legal power to fire you for not following the rules, so
be careful how adversarial you get about this.
spraynwalls
answered bigotry, and from a boss. take notes, see a personal injury
lawyer, get advice and maybe a big payraise for all involved
(lawsuit).
People in positions of power are dumber than rocks. rather
than criticize, she should take classes in spanish and look at
it as a way to create business and more income. If you look
at Koreans and Chinese … the first thing they learn is english,
spanish or another language because they know that their
sales and business will grow by being able to communicate
with their clients and dealers, and things work out well for all
involved
Pursue the lawyer thing, it’s free, no cost, and if there are
suggestions, for sure it will clip the discrimination.
In my own case, I am anglo, but practically the only place
that I speak much english is at work, and even then, I use a
lot of Spanish in the course of my daily work routine.
54
Contributor Legal position Advantages/disadvantages of allowing

Spanish
Comment
The non-professional and informal legal advice that the writer receives is
somewhat contradictory. Two of the contributors regard the employer’s
actions as discriminatory, while the others think that the employer is legally
within her rights to demand an ‘English only’ rule at work. In terms of the
practical and social advantages and disadvantages, a number of contributors
see the use of Spanish as one way of maximising the organisation’s income
and one highlights the importance of allowing it for staff morale. It is also
seen as necessary or desirable for the writer’s clients, who are described as
disabled. On the other hand, three people mention the tension created by
speaking a language which not everyone present understands. This reveals
that communication can affect people beyond those being directly addressed.
As you have just seen, opinions are divided about the lawfulness and the
fairness of policies that seek to promote monolingualism in the workplace. In
the next activity you will consider the issue from the perspective of a
company’s managers.
Activity 14.7
Step A
Imagine that you are part of the management team of a big firm, which has
staff with a wide range of first languages. The organisation’s company
language is English. Write three dos and three don’ts for your fellow
managers and their staff to follow. You might like to consider meetings,
breaks and correspondence within and outside the company.
DO DON’T
1 1
2 2
3 3
55
You will check your answers in the next step.
Step B
Now compare your list with the one provided below, which was drawn up by
a Canadian training company.
The dos and don’ts of using foreign languages in the

workplace
How do you promote inclusion in a workplace where employees are
speaking a multiple of languages? How do you create policies that are
fair? What is legal? What is not? What is a good practice and what is
exclusionary? The tips below will help you to create an understanding
of what are respectful language policies.
1 Don’t have written policies that state ‘English only’ in the

workplace. This is illegal in Canada and an employee can cite
discrimination on the basis of country of origin or language.
2 Do take into consideration the competing interests of different
stakeholders when discussing how and when it is helpful to speak
another language in the workplace.
3 Don’t make an issue out of two people speaking together on a break
or lunch hour. Employees have the right to do so on their break, and
usually they find this to be relaxing.
4 Do encourage people in a supportive way to speak English even if
they have a language barrier. Empathize. Ask them if they would
like you to correct them. Sometimes employees may use their first
language for communication because they feel self-conscious about
their grammar and pronunciation or the negative reaction they
receive from English speakers.
5 Don’t make rigid statements about English only in the workplace as
it could backfire. Instead, have a discussion with employees about
under what circumstances they think are reasonable. Most companies
will agree that when it comes to an emergency or health and safety,
speaking a foreign language is necessary.
6 Do let employees and co-workers know if you feel excluded from
conversations because they are not speaking a language that the rest
of the group understands. Sometimes people are unaware of the
impact that this may have on morale and productivity as well as
their self-image.
7 Don’t overlook the point that speaking foreign languages may be a
symptom of a larger issue of exclusion: workplace cliques, cultural
divide, insecurity and lack of trust. Your organization may have
bigger problems
56
that are fueling the desire to speak other languages in the workplace
when it is not warranted.
(Diversity and Inclusion at Work, n.d.)
. How far do your recommendations correspond with theirs?

. Judging from the content or the tone of the official recommendations,
would you say that the company encourages multilingual practice?
Comment
It is difficult to argue with several of the points made in the document, such
as talking through issues with people and providing a supportive atmosphere.
Some of the points made may well correspond with your own list of dos and
don’ts.
However, a possible limitation of the article is that it fails to recognise the
potential benefits of being able to speak more than one language. When
speaking another language is mentioned, it is done so in rather negative terms
as a means of avoiding embarrassment or as a default language in an
emergency. This impression is enhanced by the picture of the couple in the
article – he seems to be whispering to her while she is pulling a face. The
positive social and psychological aspects of sometimes speaking one’s first
language are not mentioned except for a brief allusion to people relaxing
during their breaks. Also, the description of speaking foreign languages as a
‘symptom’ (see their point 7) may be interpreted by some as carrying an
implicit message that people need to be cured of these languages, even
though that was probably not the original intention!
Writing a list of rules is never easy and has its limitations. Lists by their
nature cannot take into account the particularities of a given moment. As you
saw in Book 1, Unit 6, bilingual speakers use one language or the other for a
variety of reasons, many of which are unconscious. Reducing the complexity
of bilingual interaction to a rigid set of rules is bound to be felt as a
constraint by those individuals who regard bilingual practice as an integral
part of their identity.
Glossary
Language choice: in sociolinguistics, language choice refers to the
language that plurilingual people choose to use, either consciously or
unconsciously, in a given situation. Piller (2000) identifies language
choice as ‘a major factor in the linguistic construction of cultural
identity’.
57
14.3 The power dynamics of language use in the

workplace
Whatever is decided at national or corporate level, language use is something
that happens between individuals. Language can sometimes be used as a
means of indicating or asserting certain power relations between the people
taking part in the interaction. When people experience a new situation or
meet a new person, they often feel the need to establish their social position
through their use of language, especially at work.
Activity 14.8
The exchanges below were recorded in different workplaces in Kenya.
Step A
In the first example, a school principal who speaks English and Swahili, in
addition to his first language, is calling on a friend who works for a large car
sales and repair business. Read the dialogue. The Swahili components of the
conversations are translated on the right.
Guard (Swahili) Unapenda nikusaidie namna In what way do you want me

gani? to help you?
Principal Ningependa kumwona Peter I would like to see Peter
(Swahili) Mbaya Mbaya.
Guard (Swahili) Bwana Peter hayuko saa hii. Mr Peter isn’t here right now.
Ingia na uende kwaoffice ya Go inside the inquiry office
inquiries na umngoje. Atarudi. and wait for him. He’ll return.
Receptionist Good morning. Can I help
(English) you?
Principal Good morning. I came to see
(English) Mr Mbaya.
Receptionist He is out but he will soon be
(English) here. Have a seat and wait for
him.
(Myers-Scotton, 1996, p. 334)
Why do you think a language switch takes place when the principal moves
into the inquiry office after initially speaking to the guard?
Comment
It seems likely that the switch is motivated by the change in context. The
guard is standing outside the building, so the language ‘of the street’ could
be perceived as more appropriate in such a context. On the other hand,
English is probably associated with the office and work. Also, the receptionist
58
probably has a higher-status job than the guard, suggesting that English
carries a certain prestige in Kenya.
Step B
In the second example, a young man has come into the manager’s office in a
Nairobi business. Read the dialogue and answer the following questions.
Young man Mr Muchuki has sent me to

(English) you about the job you put in
the paper.
Manager Ulituma barua ya application? Did you send a letter of
(Swahili) application?
Young man Yes, I did. But he asked me to
(English) come to see you today.
Manager Ikiwa ulituma barua, nenda If you’ve written a letter, then
(Swahili) ungojee majibu. Tutakuita ufike go and wait for a response. We
kwa interview siku itakapofika. will call you for an interview
when the letter arrives.
Leo sina la suma kuliko hayo. Today I haven’t anything else
to say.
Young man Asante. Nitangoja majibu. Thank you. I’ll wait for the
(Swahili) response.
(Myers-Scotton, 1996, p. 337)
1 How does this differ from the previous exchange?

2 Why do you think the manager decides to speak to the young man in
Swahili?
3 Why do you think the young man reverts to Swahili at the end?
Comment
1 The dynamic is different from the first extract: in the first, the speakers
address each other in the same language, whether that language is Swahili
or English. In this extract, however, although the young man addresses the
manager in English, the latter answers him in Swahili.
2 The manager seems to be trying to keep the young man in his place. By
not answering the visitor’s initial enquiry in the language in which he has
been addressed, the manager seems to be exerting power over his visitor.
3 In the end, the young man succumbs to the pressure of being talked to in
Swahili by someone of a higher status. So, after two attempts to converse
in English, he gives in and answers in Swahili. Switching here is not
motivated by competence in the languages but by psychological factors.
Step C
Look at the two exchanges in Steps A and B again.
59
What do you think is the significance of the English words used in the
Swahili utterances?
Comment
The words ‘office’, ‘inquiries’, ‘application’ and ‘interview’ are all clearly
related to work and, more specifically, white-collar work. This illustrates that
the heritage of the colonial era, when English was the language of business
and administration, has not gone away. In most former British colonies,
English is the lingua franca at work and, as the previous extracts illustrate,
much of its vocabulary is retained even when people communicate in
Swahili.
The extracts in the last activity illustrate clearly that different languages carry
different associations. As you saw in Book 2, Unit 11, in former British
colonies, English may still carry connotations of the colonial oppressor. At
the same time, it is associated with education and power. The nature of the
contexts in which a particular language is used reflects its status and value in
the eyes of its users. Indeed, in the second exchange you read in
Activity 14.8, the switching between languages seems to be motivated
primarily by the need to assert power. In many other cases, language
switching is done for a variety of reasons such as to express solidarity or to
signal a change in conversational topic.
60
14.4 Culture and the multinational business

environment
In this unit so far, the focus has been on how companies and employees
manage the issues around using different languages in the workplace.
However, as we have seen throughout this series of books, language and
culture are intimately connected, and a whole range of behavioural norms
need to be accommodated by organisations which have a multinational
workforce.
Activity 14.9
Think about different cultural norms, belief systems, outlooks and patterns of
behaviour in an organisation that employs people from many different
cultures.
1 How might companies have to accommodate to things like dress, breaks,
working hours, holidays and dietary requirements?
2 Make a list of the advantages and challenges (other than linguistic ones)
for the organisation.
Comment
1 In many ways, organisations have to be more flexible than they were in
previous decades when their workforces tended to be more culturally
homogenous. For instance, different religions observe different religious
holidays, so staff scheduling is inevitably more complicated. Also, notions
of what constitutes appropriate dress can vary considerably (think of the
controversy in countries such as the UK and France surrounding the
wearing of the niqab in public and in certain professions). Expectations
about working hours can also differ from country to country. For instance,
a German manager may be at their desk by 7 a.m. while their British
counterpart will probably start later but will also finish later. If a company
has its own canteen, it would obviously need to allow for its workforce’s
diverse dietary requirements. Furthermore, break times should try to
accommodate obligatory prayer times for Muslims on the staff. You can
probably think of plenty of other aspects of people’s working lives that
tend to differ from culture to culture.
2 Although the scenarios described in the feedback to Question 1 seem to
present nothing but challenges for a company, different attitudes and
61
outlooks allow people to reflect on their own previously unquestioned

norms. Furthermore, an environment where people from different cultures
need to work effectively as a group can help to promote flexibility and an
accepting and supportive environment.
Many companies and public institutions make it a priority to respect the

cultural diversity of their workforce and clients. The UK Home Office, for
example, has produced an equality strategy document where the following
statement is made:
Having a diverse workforce which reflects society is not an end in itself.

Organisations that embrace diverse workforces deliver better results.
Business benefits of EDI [Equality, Diversity and Inclusion] include
improved employee engagement, motivation and increased recognition from
service users, making us more capable to respond to our diverse customers.
A diverse workforce with clear collective goals is generally associated with
innovation, comprehensive and better-framed strategies, and decisions that
are more robust resulting from increased challenge and different
perspectives.
(Home Office, 2013, p. 6)
The point made here is that fostering diversity is not just a matter of fairness
and equality, it also improves productivity, ‘employee engagement [and]
motivation’.
Glossary
Equality: in an organisational or political context, this term is often
used as part of the phrase ‘equality and diversity’. The Oxford English
Dictionary defines equality as ‘the condition of having equal dignity,
rank, or privileges with others; the fact of being on an equal footing’.
One common form of equality is equality of opportunity, which means
‘equal chance and right to seek success in one’s chosen sphere
regardless of social factors such as class, race, religion, and sex’
(Oxford University Press, 1989).
Diversity: ‘The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and
respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and
recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the
dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic
status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other
ideologies.’ (United Nations Studies Association, cited in GDCF, n.d.)
Of course, the increasing globalisation of our world, especially noticeable in

the business arena, does not simply mean that organisations accommodate the
various cultural needs of the people that they employ and do business with. It
62
also means that certain local customs are giving way to the needs of the
global market.
Companies reaching into new markets and cultures

The increasingly free movement of people across the globe is matched by the
flow of products and services. You only have to think about the products you
buy, the clothes you wear and the technology you use to realise this. Many
companies do business across borders, and individuals and companies can sell
their wares to a market as broad as the internet, simply by setting up a
website. Even supermarkets, those purveyors of that most basic commodity,
food, increasingly try to establish themselves in markets beyond their national
frontiers.
Activity 14.10
Think about the supermarket where you shop or a supermarket near you, and
answer the following questions.
. Do you know in which country the supermarket was founded?
. Do you think that the supermarket’s corporate culture manifests itself
through its service, choice of goods, layout and other characteristics?
. How far do you think the store’s culture reflects that of its country of
origin?
Comment
Your answers to these three questions will be personal.
Obvious characteristics of supermarkets include those features which they use
to differentiate themselves from each other, including their logos and
corporate colours. Some position themselves in terms of price, with certain
supermarkets clearly emphasising their low prices.
It is perhaps more difficult to find features that can be described as
characteristically national. Many supermarkets are keen to promote the fact
that they sell local produce as well as more exotic foods. You may have
noted organisational characteristics that could be described as indicative of
particular national traits.
Although at first glance one supermarket looks very much like another, when
they open a store in a new country, they have to be sensitive to the different
cultural environment they are entering. If they do not adapt, there is the
danger that they will fail. Below is one such cautionary tale.
63
The interiors of Morrisons, Asda, Lidl, Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in the UK
Activity 14.11
In 1997, Walmart, the American retail giant, entered the German market.
Despite its success elsewhere, it decided to pull out of that market less than
nine years later. Below is a newspaper article dating from 2006, when
Walmart pulled out of Germany.
Read the article and make a note of the reasons given for Walmart’s failure.
Mighty Walmart admits defeat in Germany

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, admitted its one-size-fits-all
business model had failed in Germany as it announced its withdrawal
from the country at a cost of $1bn (£540m).
firesale: selling for a loss The company has been forced into a firesale of its 85 loss-making
German superstores, selling them to its rival Metro at significantly less
than the value of the assets.
64
The humiliating retreat means that Walmart’s sole remaining European

outpost is in the UK, where it owns Asda and where it has also been
struggling to compete with domestic-owned rivals.
It will also serve as yet another warning to ambitious retail executives –
not least Sir Terry Leahy at Tesco – that dominance in one market is
not always easy to replicate overseas.
Walmart’s business model, which has been increasingly criticised even
in the US, involves driving down the prices of groceries and other
general merchandise through putting pressure on suppliers and keeping
out unions.
But in Germany, where domestic ‘value retailers’ already dominate the
grocery market, it found customers were turned off by the early designs
of its stores, by a too-narrow range of produce, and by the famous
‘greeters’, who welcome shoppers to the store and are instructed to
smile when within a certain distance of a customer. It also became
embroiled in labour disputes that led to strikes.
Robert Buchanan, a retail analyst at the US brokerage AG Edwards,
said he was pleased Walmart had decided to cut its losses. ‘They sent a
lot of expats over who didn’t know the German market, so it makes
sense to focus on countries where they have had more success,’ he said.
Walmart bought into Germany eight years ago, but its vice-chairman,
Michael Duke, said the German market was already highly competitive
and Walmart had proved unable to generate the economies of scale it
needed to drive prices below those of competitors. The company also
blamed high unemployment and weak consumer spending in Germany
for making the market even harder to crack.
‘As we focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact on
our growth and return on investment strategies, it has become
increasingly clear that in Germany’s business environment it would be
difficult for us to obtain the scale and results we desire,’ Mr Duke said.
(Foley and Mesure, 2006)
Which of the reasons given for Walmart’s failure to crack the German market
would you classify as cultural and which are non-cultural?
Comment
Some of the reasons given for Walmart’s failure are clearly cultural. For
example, the smiling ‘greeters’ were off-putting for German consumers, who
do not generally smile at strangers. The unpopular store design and narrow
range of products could arguably be described as cultural in that German
shoppers expected something different.
65
On the other hand, the high unemployment and weak consumer spending at
the time of the Walmart’s withdrawal are clearly economic and not cultural
factors.
You may have had some difficulty deciding whether some of the other
reasons cited were cultural or not. For instance, that there were other ‘value
retailers’ in the market seems, on the face of it, to be an economic factor.
Yet, it needs to be remembered that the fact that these retailers exist is an
indicator that the cultural climate allowed such outlets to establish
themselves. Furthermore, it is unclear from the article alone whether the
labour ‘disputes’ the company encountered were down to cultural or
economic reasons. In fact, although this is not mentioned in the article, the
relationship between management and workforce tends to be more consensual
in German industrial relations than is customary in the USA, suggesting some
of the problems were cultural. Finally, it could be argued that the economic
environment of a country is inevitably shaped, at least in part, by its culture.
As the article you read in Activity 14.11 shows, not all attempts by
supermarkets to pursue foreign markets end in failure. It gives the UK
example of Asda, which is owned by Walmart, giving the latter an
established foothold in the market. The German discount supermarkets Lidl
and Aldi have many outlets in the UK and, at the time of writing, are doing
very well. In fact, they are so much part of the current retail landscape that it
is easy to forget that they only came to the UK in the 1990s.
Activity 14.12
Read this newspaper article, written in 2008, and answer the questions below.
The supermarket chain Aldi is a foreign country: they do things

differently there. So it is that on one afternoon last week at one of its
branches in Kent a scenario unfolds that will be alien to most British
shoppers.
A man arrives at the tills and demands to see the manager. He doesn’t
have to wait long, because the man in question is stacking shelves
nearby.
‘How much would you sell those to me for?’ the customer asks,
pointing at a pile of boxed reclining deckchairs, priced £19.99. ‘I want
three.’
The manager barely misses a beat, tells him that a tenner each will do –
and then offers to help load them into the car.
66
The cut-price supermarket chain is investing £1.5bn to buy and build

stores in the UK. Sales grew by 20 per cent last month.
That’s right – successful haggling in a supermarket, a place where
prices are normally set in stone by head office and where senior staff
rarely venture from behind the safety of their desks.
At the same time as the deckchair deal is being struck, two nuns are
pushing a trolley around the store, taking in the bargains on offer. They
load up with discount coffee and avocados, pause at the cosmetics
counter, eye up a pot of anti-wrinkle cream, before finally plumping for
a can of ‘cooling facial spritzer spray’.
An unusual scene, no doubt, but the fact is that it isn’t only those on
low incomes or the stingy who are today taking advantage of this
surreal shopping experience. With the credit crunch constricting family
incomes, business has never been so good at the budget retailer, where
prices are up to a third cheaper than at mainstream stores.
Figures show that in the past four weeks Aldi’s sales have risen by a
staggering 20 per cent. That has been fuelled, in part, by an influx of
middle-class shoppers usually found in Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s
and Tesco.
… It now has 300 shops, but in a decade or two it aims to have 1,500.
‘We will open one a week for the foreseeable future,’ says managing
director Paul Foley. ‘We can do it quicker, cheaper and easier than the
other supermarkets.’
Quite a boast. But one thing seems certain: however big they grow
there’s little chance of them getting carried away and forgetting their
core (penny-pinching) values.
Aldi claims that a full weekly shop that would cost an average family
£100 at Sainsbury’s costs about £70 with them. Their website even
boasts a ‘savings calculator’ which estimates that over a lifetime of
shopping, a woman now in her 30s could save as much as £50,000 by
switching to them.
But a cheap product range is not the sole reason for the chain’s success.
Aldi opened its first store in Britain in 1990, yet it is only in recent
years that it has flourished.
Analysts say that this is partly because British consumers shop very
differently from their German counterparts, and that only now are they
beginning to understand the Aldi model and vice versa.
Robert Clark, senior partner of retail market analysts the Retail
Knowledge Bank, explains: ‘In Germany, shoppers traditionally do two
67
shops – they go to a supermarket for fresh produce and day-to-day

goods, and then they also go to Aldi for their core products. They are
the biggest supplier of items such as coffee and detergents – goods that
come in jars and boxes and go into store cupboards.
‘We don’t shop like that in the UK. Because of the structure that grew
up in the sixties and seventies we take the car and do a one-stop weekly
shop. We don’t do two shops.’
He continues: ‘Aldi simply implanted the German operation into the
UK, which is partly why they have been relatively slow off the mark. If
you’ve got just 800 lines instead of 25,000, customers are probably
going to have to make two shops, so that has handicapped them for
some while. It has taken their UK consumers some 20 years to get their
heads around it.’
(Adapted from Rawstorne, 2008)
1 What aspects of the Aldi shopping experience are presented as being alien
to the British consumer?
2 What evidence is there that British consumers are adapting to the culture
of German supermarkets like Aldi?
Comment
1 The fact that a shopper at an Aldi store might find its manager stacking
the shelves or is able to negotiate with them over the price of particular
items indicates a difference in the hierarchical structure of the
organisation from that in a typical British company. It seems that Aldi
managers, despite their status, are expected to be hands-on employees. On
the other hand, this indicates that they have more autonomy than a
manager in a typical British retail outlet in that they can decide the prices
at which to sell their products.
2 The signs that the UK is adapting to Aldi’s shopping culture can be seen
from the fact that middle-class customers are starting to shop there. Also,
as the article explains, the British are learning to adapt their shopping
habits, making two shopping trips a week rather than the traditional one.
The case of Walmart in Germany and Aldi in the UK shows that there is no
simple formula for success when trying to do business in another culture.
Although it is clear that a company which ignores local customs and cultural
norms is in danger of failing, as seen in the case of Walmart in Germany, it
is also clear from the UK Aldi story that an organisation can change the
habits of a local population if that population sees the benefits in adapting.
Cultures are never static. After all, as the Rawstorne (2008) article points out,
the British cultural norm of doing a one-stop weekly shop actually started in
the 1960s when supermarkets arrived in the UK.
68
Conclusion
Even when both governments and companies wish to balance the need to
promote a particular language while maintaining fairness in the job market,
this is not an easy task. The extent to which a particular language is seen as a
passport or barrier to success can, in part, be determined by a government’s
workplace policies. Yet, the powers of national governments have their limits,
and you saw in Book 2, Unit 12 how the pressure to have a lingua franca in
our globalised world often makes English the default language of
international business.
Companies have an important role to play in embracing cultural and
linguistic diversity while, at the same time, ensuring that this does not
compromise their efficiency. Indeed, as the British Home Office recognises, a
company’s efficiency can be bolstered if it encourages cultural diversity in its
workforce.
Finally, you have seen in this unit how companies entering a new market
need to be sensitive to the market’s cultural norms. However, markets
themselves can also be changed by new influences. As with individual
cultural encounters, both parties can be positively transformed by the
experience.
69
Answers
Activity 14.1
Step A
Organisation Direct effect (Y/ Types of jobs that may require

N)? Welsh speakers
Telecommunications Y Accounts and admin would need to
company be able to send out bills and
correspondence in Welsh. Call
centres would need some Welsh
speaking staff.
Law firm Y Some of the firm’s lawyers would
have to be able to advise clients
and conduct court cases in Welsh.
Bus company Y Welsh speakers would be needed to
answer telephone and internet
enquiries.
Hotelier N The legislation does not cover
private companies that receive
under £400,000 per year in public
money.
Fire service Y Some emergency call operators
would need to be Welsh speakers.
Firefighters who visit schools and
factories to give safety advice may
have to be bilingual.
Activity 14.5
Step A
1 The writer works with disabled people, so is presumably in a caring
profession of some sort.
2 Her employer has introduced a new English-only policy at work, despite
the fact that people have happily operated in a bilingual environment for a
long time. Indeed, half the writer’s clients are themselves bilingual.
3 The writer is seeking advice about the legal position of the employer’s
new policy, which the writer feels is ‘racist’ and discriminatory.
70
Activity 14.6
Contributor Legal position Advantages/disadvantages

of allowing Spanish
Driving Instructor The employer’s policy of Proximity to Mexican border
(BRAKE!) ‘English only’ is makes Spanish advantageous
discriminatory
The employer can fire
without being required to
give a reason
limatango ‘English only’ is legal if you Speaking Spanish in the
work with classified presence of non-Spanish
information speakers makes others
uncomfortable
John John Employees are protected Speaking Spanish is
under the law from race disadvantageous as others
discrimination but not might feel they’re being
language discrimination, so talked about
‘English only’ is legal
Huh? ‘English only’ is legal The boss needs to be able to
understand what her
employees are saying.
Speaking another language in
the presence of non-speakers
can create tension
RE An ‘English only’ policy is
Being able to speak Spanish
legal, except during breaks
can improve staff morale
spraynwalls A lawsuit against the
Speaking Spanish can create
employer may be possible
income as it widens the
client base and improves
communication
71
References
Ali, S.S. (2009) Language Attitudes of Educated Pakistanis with Special Reference to
Urdu, Punjabi and English, unpublished MPhil dissertation, Karachi, the University
of Karachi.
Ayres, A. (2009) Speaking like a Nation: Language and Nationalism in Pakistan,
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
BBC (2012) ‘Welsh language plan for services unveiled by commissioner Meri
Huws’, BBC News Wales, 17 May [Online]. Available at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk

wales-18103982 (Accessed 22 August 2014).
Browny (2009) ‘My new boss don’t want us to speak spanish at work is this legal in
california?’, forum message to Yahoo Answers (n.d.) Available at http://answers.
yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081106215023AA1WCeP (Accessed 22
August 2014).
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (n.d.) Article 251 ‘National
Language’, [Online]. Available at www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part12.ch4.
html (Accessed 22 August 2014).
Diversity and Inclusion at Work (n.d.) ‘The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Foreign
Languages in the Workplace’ [Blog]. Available at http://diversityandinclusionatwork.
com/2013/09/16/the-dos-and-dont-of-using-foreign-languages-in-the-workplace/
(Accessed 22 September 2014).
Driving Instructor, limatango, John John, Huh?, RE and spraynwalls (2009) Re: ‘My
new boss don’t want us to speak spanish at work is this legal in california?’, forum
message to Yahoo Answers, (n.d.) Available at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/
index?qid=20081106215023AA1WCeP (Accessed 22 August 2014).
Foley, S. and Mesure, S. (2006) ‘Mighty Wal-Mart admits defeat in Germany’, The
Independent, 29 July [Online]. Available at www.independent.co.uk/news/business/
news/mighty-walmart-admits-defeat-in-germany-409706.html (Accessed 22
September 2014).
Global Diversity Certification Forum (GDCF) (n.d.) [Online]. Available at www.
gdcfoundation.org/ (Accessed 22 August 2014).
Home Office (2013) Diversity Strategy 2013–2016: Making the Most of Our
Diversity, Home Office [Online]. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/
uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/226459/E_D_Strategy_report_v3.PDF
Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan (2009) National Education Policy,
Islamabad, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan [Online]. Available at
http://unesco.org.pk/education/teachereducation/files/National%20Education%
20Policy.pdf (Accessed 22 August 2014).
Myers-Scotton, C. (1996) ‘Codeswitching with English: types of switching, types of
communities’ in Graddol, D., Leith, D. and Swann, J. (eds) English: History,
Diversity and Change, London, Routledge, pp. 334–7.
Oxford University Press (1989) Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edn, Oxford, Oxford
00077189 (Accessed 30 May 2014).
PaperPk Jobs Blog (n.d.) National Assembly Secretariat Pakistan Jobs [Online].
Available at http://paperpkads.com/blog/index.php/national-assembly-secretariat
pakistan-job/ (Accessed 22 August 2014).
72
Piller, I. (2000) ‘Language choice in bilingual, cross-cultural interpersonal

communication’ Linguistik online 5, 1/00 [Online] Available at www.linguistik-
online.com/1_00/PILLER.HTM (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Rawstorne, T. (2008) ‘Look out Tesco, the Germans are coming! The bizarre story
behind Aldi, the foreign invader changing the way Britain shops’, Mail Online, 14
July [Online]. Available at www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1034775/Look-Tesco
Germans-coming-The-bizarre-story-Aldi-foreign-invader-changing-way-Britain-shops.
html (Accessed 22 August 2014).
73
Unit 15 Theoretical perspectives on

cultural differences
Introduction
You have seen in previous units that there is a need for individuals and
organisations to adapt their behaviour in order to successfully navigate
cultural differences in today’s increasingly interconnected world. This unit
looks at how theorists have created frameworks that try to make sense of
such differences. One of the best known of these frameworks was devised by
Geert Hofstede, based on research he carried out in the 1960s and 1970s. It
remains influential to the present day. In the course of this unit, you will look
at Hofstede’s ideas and also at the considerable criticisms that they have
triggered.
Exploring cultural differences is not confined to academic circles. An
intercultural service industry has sprung up in the last few decades, offering
help to people and companies who do business internationally. The content
and design of the courses offered by this industry are shaped, in part, by
theoretical frameworks such as Hofstede’s. However, service providers in this
sector have, in turn, faced criticism, the nature of which will also be
examined in this unit.
Our interconnected world
Learning outcomes
. understand the main dimensions along which Hofstede divides national
cultures
. be aware of the criticisms that have been made of Hofstede’s framework
75
. be familiar with the types of intercultural training that are offered and the
controversies surrounding such training
. be able to recognise how an author’s choice of language can help identify
their point of view
. be able to prepare an oral presentation.
76
15.1 Personal and national outlooks

Every individual has their own set of values and priorities. Even those who
consider themselves to be impartial will inevitably hold particular views
about the world. Some of these views are likely to be so entrenched that we
are not aware of their existence unless something draws them to our
attention. To begin this unit you are going to reflect on your personal values,
attitudes and priorities using a Likert scale.
Likert scales
A Likert scale is used in quantitative research to measure psychological
variables, such as personality traits. Using the scale in questionnaires
helps to capture the intensity of feeling that research participants have
about something.
Unlike the matched-guise test you explored in Book 2, Unit 9, Likert
scales measure attitudes directly, which means that respondents are
aware that their attitudes are being measured. As McLeod (2008) points
out, it is a powerful but limited tool for measuring attitudes:
A Likert-type scale assumes that the strength/intensity of
experience is linear, i.e. on a continuum from strongly agree to
strongly disagree, and makes the assumption that attitudes can
be measured. Respondents may be offered a choice of five to
seven or even nine pre-coded responses with the neutral point
being neither agree nor disagree.
In its final form, the Likert scale is a five (or seven) point
scale which is used to allow the individual to express how
much they agree or disagree with a particular statement.
(McLeod, 2008)
If you have not already come across this method in surveys and
questionnaires, you are likely to do so in the course of your studies, as
it is widely used in many disciplines. You may also decide to use Likert
scales yourself at some point as a means of gathering data for a research
project.
Activity 15.1
Look at the statements below and decide the extent to which you agree with
each of them. Put down your initial gut reaction to the statements rather than
spending lots of time on them.
77
Strongly Disagree Neither Agree Strongly

disagree agree nor agree
disagree
1 You can’t rely on
anyone but yourself
2 Time is money
3 Things run smoothly
if people know their
place
4 Your most important
relationship at work is
with your boss
5 The environment
must be protected
6 To be happy, you
need to feel financially
secure
7 You work in order to
live
8 My company is also
my family
9 You live in order to
work
10 Private space is
important
11 Equal rights are
essential in any healthy
society
relationships at work
are with your peers
13 Take life as it comes
14 Regulations need to
be kept to a minimum
15 No one is an island
16 To succeed in life,
you need ambition
Comment
As this is your personal response to these statements, there is no model
answer.
78
In Activity 15.3 you will be asked to respond to the same set of statements
used in Activity 15.1, but this time from the perspective that, in your view,
best represents the attitudes of the majority of people in your country. By its
very nature, such an activity raises certain issues from the outset, so before
you start it is a good idea to reflect on its limitations.
Activity 15.2
On the basis of what you have learned so far in this series of books, what are
the potential difficulties of attempting to respond to the statements in
Activity 15.1 on behalf of an entire country or nation? Write down any issues
that you can identify.
Comment
Doing this exercise presents at least two possible problems: first, it reduces a
country or nation to one homogenised entity. As you have seen in previous
units, societies and countries are complex and multicultural. While
generalisations may be useful in certain instances, they necessarily involve
some degree of reductionism. This entails attempting to explain complex sets
of facts by means of other, much simpler ones. Another potential issue is that
identifying ‘your country’ may not be straightforward, especially if you have
mixed origins or have lived in different countries throughout your life.
Bearing in mind the undeniable limitations of making general statements on

behalf of the people from a particular country, you will now be asked to do
just that. The purpose of this exercise is twofold: first it will make you aware
of your own beliefs about general attitudes in your country, second it will
help you to see where you stand as an individual in relation to those general
attitudes.
Activity 15.3
How do you think the majority of the population in your country would
respond to the following statements?

disagree
1 You can’t rely on
anyone but yourself
2 Time is money
3 Things run smoothly
if people know their
place
79

disagree
relationship at work is
with your boss
5 The environment
must be protected
6 To be happy, you
need to feel financially
secure
7 You work in order to
live
8 My company is also
my family
9 You live in order to
work
10 Private space is
important
11 Equal rights are
essential in any healthy
society
relationships at work
are with your peers
13 Take life as it comes
14 Regulations need to
be kept to a minimum
15 No one is an island
16 To succeed in life,
you need ambition
Comment
Again, there is no feedback to this activity as your responses will depend on
your own perceptions and views.
You may have found that your two sets of answers in Activities 15.1 and
15.3 were quite similar to each other, or, on the contrary, that they were very
different. A likely scenario could be somewhere in between, with some of
your personal attitudes shared with ‘the majority’ and some others being very
different to theirs.
80
Activity 15.4
Write a couple of sentences about how you would describe your country’s
outlook and culture, based on the reaction to statements 4 and 10 in
Activity 15.3.
Comment
As an example, here are some observations made about the UK, based on the
reaction to statements 4 and 10 in Activity 15.3. Your own answer will be
different and this model answer contains a high level of generalisation which,
as you know, can be problematic.
Although your relationship with your boss is important wherever
you work, here in the UK it is just as essential to get on well with
your colleagues. Indeed, if your relationship with your boss was
stronger than that with your colleagues, you may well be seen as
obsequious and untrustworthy.
Private space is generally important in Great Britain. For instance,

the archaic expression ‘an Englishman’s home is his castle’ can as
readily be applied to the men and women of the rest of the UK.
You may have found the last couple of activities difficult to complete.
Perhaps you felt the need to qualify your answers in some way, because of
the difficulties in making general assumptions about an entire nation.
Nevertheless, generalising can also be a useful tool for learning about
cultures and the differences between them. The delicate line between usefully
simplifying and oversimplifying, or between generalising and
overgeneralising has already been mentioned in Book 2, Unit 9 in relation to
stereotyping. Bear this in mind when you read the next section about
Hofstede’s research, and keep your answers to Activities 15.1–15.4 safe as
you will be referring to them later.
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15.2 Hofstede’s framework

Geert Hofstede set up a personnel research department at IBM, the
multinational technology corporation, in the mid-1960s. Between
1967 and 1973, he carried out two large-scale surveys of 117,000 employees
of the company across the world. These surveys were conducted in 66
countries, although initially Hofstede used the data from 40 of these. The
scale and breadth of Hofstede’s survey was unprecedented at the time which,
in part, might explain his enduring appeal. The findings which he obtained
formed the basis for the framework which you are going to examine in this
unit.
Hofstede’s survey took the form of a questionnaire that employees had to fill
in. They had to record their reaction to certain statements on a Likert scale,
much as you did when completing Activities 15.1 and 15.3.
The statements given in Hofstede’s original questionnaire were similar to
those in Activity 15.3, but, unsurprisingly since he conducted his research at
IBM, they tended to focus on the workplace.
Geert Hofstede
Using the results from their findings, Hofstede and his research team obtained
a score for each country along particular cultural dimensions, allowing them
to rank the countries. We will look at what this entails in the next activity.
Activity 15.5
Step A
Read the extract and answer the following questions.
I define culture as the collective mental programming of the people in

an environment. Culture is not a characteristic of individuals; it
encompasses a number of people who were conditioned by the same
education and life experience. When we speak of the culture of a group,
a tribe, a geographical region, a national minority, or a nation, culture
refers to the collective mental programming that these people have in
common; the programming that is different from that of other groups,
tribes, regions, minorities or majorities, or nations.
Culture, in this sense of collective mental programming, is often
difficult to change; if it does so at all, it changes slowly. This is so not
only because it exists in the minds of the people but, if it is shared by a
number of people, because it has become crystallized in the institutions
these people have built together: their family structures, educational
structures, religious organizations, associations, forms of government,
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work organizations, law, literature, settlement patterns, buildings and

even, as I hope to show, scientific theories. All of these reflect common
beliefs that derive from the common culture.
One well-known mechanism by which culturally determined beliefs
perpetuate themselves is the self-fulfilling prophecy. If, for example, it is
believed that people from a certain minority are irresponsible, the
institutions in such an environment will not admit these people into
positions of responsibility. Never being given responsibility, the
members of the minority will be unable to learn it and very probably
will actually behave irresponsibly; so everybody remains caught in the
belief. Another example: if it is believed that all people are ultimately
motivated by a desire to accumulate wealth, those who do not want to
accumulate wealth are considered deviant. Rather than be considered
deviant, people in such an environment will usually justify their
economic success, thereby reinforcing the belief that wealth was their
motivation.
Although we are all conditioned by cultural influences at many different
levels – family, social, group, geographical region, professional
environment – this article deals specifically with the influence of our
national environment: that is, our country. Most countries’ inhabitants
share a national character that is more clearly apparent to foreigners
than to the nationals themselves; it represents the cultural mental
programming that the nationals tend to have in common. It has its roots
in a common history, or rather a shared set of beliefs about the
country’s history, and it is reinforced because the nation shares among
its members many culture-shaping institutions: a government, an army,
laws, an education system, a TV network. Most people within a country
communicate quite rarely with people outside, much less so than with
people from other groups within their own country. One of the problems
of the young Third World [developing] nations is the integration of
culturally diverse groups into a common ‘mental programming’ that
distinguishes the nation as a whole.
(Hofstede, 1980, in Pugh, 2007, pp. 224–25)
1 What imagery does Hofstede use to describe culture?

2 What do you think he wishes to convey through this imagery?
Comment
1 Hofstede uses the image of ‘collective mental programming’ to describe
culture. (In other parts of his writing he coins the term ‘software of the
mind’.)
2 This image seems to convey the notion that culture is something that
comes from nurture rather than nature. In other words, it is not part of our
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‘hardware’ as we are not born with it. Instead we develop it as we are

gradually conditioned – or acculturated – by society.
Step B
Look at the article again and answer the following questions.
1 How does Hofstede see the relationship between cultural influences at a
national level and those relating to family, school, work and so on?
2 What do you think of his view in light of the material which you have
studied so far in this series of books?
3 Even if you find Hofstede’s argument persuasive, do you think that any of
his observations might now be regarded as out of date, given that he
wrote this in 1980?
Comment
1 Hofstede presents national culture as all-embracing: ‘crystallized in the
institutions’ of our nations, and believes its influences permeate down to
the other aspects of culture(s) that shape our lives, e.g. at family or
religious level.
2 With regard to your reaction to this viewpoint, it is worth thinking about
what you have learned, for instance, about cultural minorities. It could be
argued that Hofstede provides a very homogenised view of nations which
does not reflect the reality of many nations and societies nowadays.
3 Hofstede says that ‘most people within a country communicate quite
rarely with people outside it’. It is worth reflecting on the world we live
in today. Think of the extent to which many people (but certainly not all)
have contact with other nations, either through greater access to air travel,
through easier migration or through the way in which the technological
revolution (the internet, social media, etc.) has allowed communication
across national frontiers in a way that was unthinkable 30 or 40 years ago.
Culture: the software of the mind
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Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

In his original framework, Hofstede (1980) saw visible differences between
the outlooks and behaviours of different nations along four main dimensions,
which emerged from the survey data. He later added other dimensions but
you will start by considering these first four in the next activity.
Activity 15.6
Below is a summary defining and explaining Hofstede’s four dimensions of
national culture (1980). He envisages these dimensions as being clinal. In
other words, nations can be located along a sliding scale for each of them.
Match the defining sentences (1–4) to the paragraphs they define.

1 The Power Distance Index gauges a culture’s relationship to
authority.
2 The Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI) measures the degree to
which a society feels threatened by uncertainty or ambiguity.
3 The Masculinity Dimension (MAS) tries to discover the extent to
which the dominant values in society are ‘masculine’.
4 The Individualism Dimension (IDV) attempts to measure the
degree to which society values the individual.
(a) This dimension sets out to measure the extent to which the less
powerful members of society expect and accept that power is distributed
unequally. In a country that scores highly along this dimension,
Hofstede maintains that people do not usually question the authority
figure, whether that is a parent, a teacher or a political leader. People
are said to be less likely to expect to be consulted about decisions that
affect them than those who are citizens of a country with a low score
along this dimension. As a result, in nations that score highly power
tends to be concentrated among the few. Hofstede sees countries with
high scores along this dimension as having a political system that is
usually characterised by violence and one-party states. They are said to
have strong left and right wings but weak centrist movements, while
those countries with low scores have a strong political centre.
(b) It is argued that in nations which score highly in this dimension,
people are expected to look after and take responsibility for themselves.
They tend to think in terms of ‘I’ rather than ‘we’. Speaking your mind
in such a culture is seen as a sign of honesty and regarded as a virtue.
In such societies, if people transgress, they often feel guilt. In
collectivist societies, loyalty lies with the group rather than the person
and his or her immediate family. From the collectivist viewpoint,
harmony needs to be preserved and meanings are communicated
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indirectly. Transgressors in collectivist societies are likely to feel shame.

(c) A nation that scores highly in this dimension is thought to believe in
absolute truths and to be intolerant of ‘deviant’ ideas or behaviours.
Such a nation has strict timetables and establishes formal rules.
However, the attachment to these rules is, according to Hofstede (1994),
an emotional one, which means that they are not necessarily respected
in practice. Those societies that have low scores in this dimension are
more tolerant of open-ended situations and value virtues such as
originality.
(d) This term, in Hofstede’s framework, encompasses assertiveness,
materialism and a yearning for recognition. In such a society, meetings
are regarded as a chance for self-assertion rather than decision-making.
At the opposite, ‘Femininity’ end of the scale, collaboration and
security are valued.
Comment
Apart from the inherent problems of generalising, which have been
mentioned before, some people have felt particularly uneasy about
categorising attitudes and values along the gender lines that the terms
‘Masculinity’ and ‘Femininity’ imply. Because of this, some advocates of
Hofstede’s approach have renamed his ‘Masculinity versus Femininity’ index
as ‘Quantity of Life versus Quality of Life’ or, alternatively, as
‘Assertiveness versus Modesty’.
Although there is not the space to cover them in detail here, Hofstede
subsequently added to this list of four original dimensions. In the 1990s, he
introduced ‘Long-Term Orientation (LTO)’, which he contrasts with
‘Short-Term Orientation’. He sees the former as being focused on the future
while the latter’s values are related to the past and present. By 2010, he had
also incorporated an ‘Indulgence versus Restraint’ dimension (IRV) into his
framework, which is said to measure the degree to which a culture allows
people to indulge their basic needs and desires.
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Hofstede’s framework has been the subject of much controversy, and later in
this unit you will look at an extract from a paper that criticises it.
When reading academic material, it is useful to be able to identify the
author’s standpoint. While some writers explicitly convey their argument
upfront, others adopt more subtle approaches. For example, when questioning
a particular framework, writers will often use language that distances
themselves from it. In the text used in Activity 15.6, which explains
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the language does not attack Hofstede’s
framework directly but indicates that Hofstede’s views are not necessarily
agreed with. For example, the expression ‘Hofstede maintains’ is a means of
signposting that the statement following it represents Hofstede’s personal
view and may not be shared by everyone.
Activity 15.7
Look again at the text used in Activity 15.6 and highlight any words or
phrases used by the writer or writers to distance themselves from Hofstede’s
views and ideas.
Comment
As you will have seen from this activity, the author uses distancing language
to indicate that a viewpoint or assertion is Hofstede’s own and not necessarily
shared by the author. This is often done through the use of verbs, both active,
e.g. ‘Hofstede maintains’ and passive, e.g. ‘People are said to be’. The choice
87
of words also carries implicit meanings. For instance, ‘The IDV attempts to
measure ...’ implies that it may not necessarily succeed in doing so.
Notice that this distancing technique is not used throughout the text. Once
distance has been established, it is not necessary to qualify every statement to
indicate that the writer may not share the same viewpoint as that of the
person whose ideas they are describing.
Identifying a writer’s viewpoint

A writer’s viewpoint is often indicated through their writing. One means
of identifying that a writer may not share the opinions of something
they are describing is to look for distancing verbs:
. verbs like ‘maintains’ and ‘argues’ are part of the language of claims
and arguments, which can be argued against (implicit message: the
writer holds a different viewpoint)
. verbs like ‘attempts’ and ‘tries’ give the implicit message that these
endeavours fail.
The list of statements that were presented to you as Likert scales at the
beginning of this unit (Activities 15.1 and 15.3) were loosely based on
Hofstede’s framework. You will now take a closer look at the links between
those statements and four of Hofstede’s proposed dimensions.
Activity 15.8
Look again at the statements you were given in Activity 15.1, which are
reproduced below, and place them in the grid under the Hofstede criterion
that you think best indicates the cultural value behind the statement. The first
one has been done for you.
You can’t rely on anyone but You live in order to work
yourself
Time is money Private space is important
Things run smoothly if people Equal rights are essential in any
know their place healthy society
Your most important relationship at Your most important relationships at
work is with your boss work are with your peers
The environment must be protected Take life as it comes
To be happy, you need to feel Regulations need to be kept to a
financially secure minimum
You work in order to live No one is an island
My company is also my family To succeed in life, you need ambition
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Small Power Distance Large Power Distance

Equal rights are essential in any healthy
society
Collectivist Individualist
Weak Uncertainty Avoidance Strong Uncertainty Avoidance
Feminine Masculine
Comment
You may have encountered some difficulties in deciding which dimension
particular statements fall under, with some seeming to fit into more than one
category. This is, in part, because a criterion such as ‘Masculinity’ seems to
have a closer relationship to ‘Individualism’ than ‘Femininity’ does. Indeed,
Hofstede recognises that some dimensions seem to correlate. For instance,
perhaps surprisingly at first glance, countries with a ‘Large Power Distance’
tend to correlate to those with ‘Collectivist’ tendencies. The difficulties with
fitting particular statements into these dimensions illustrate a common
challenge when trying to capture and classify anything which relates to
human behaviours or outlooks: they are multidimensional and fuzzy at the
edges. Furthermore, fitting particular statements into categories like
‘Masculine’ or ‘Feminine’ seems to advocate traditionalist roles and
viewpoints to males and females, and may seem archaic.
Activity 15.9
Look back to the answers you gave to Activity 15.4. Based on your guesses
about the ‘average’ citizen’s response to the statements given there, explain
in a few sentences how you would characterise your country in terms of one
of Hofstede’s four dimensions.
Comment
This is how the UK could be seen in terms of one of Hofstede’s dimensions,
based on the feedback to Activity 15.4.
At first glance, some might assume that the UK scores highly on
the Power Distance Index. After all, it is a nation which is
renowned for its rigid class system, suggesting that people ‘know
their place’. However, my experience of everyday life suggests a
89
different story. For instance, at work, I have found that my

relationship with my colleagues is as important as that with my
boss. Furthermore, people are often quite irreverent about those in
power. Equally, powerful people who ‘pull rank’ are generally not
respected or seen as effective leaders.
You may have felt uneasy boxing your own nation into one of Hofstede’s
categories. For instance, a Power Distance Index score for the UK cannot
capture the complexity of a nation where people in general may not regard
those in power as worthy of respect yet, at the same time, where traditional
power structures remain a stubborn obstacle to social mobility.
By applying Hofstede’s categories to a particular country yourself, you may

have started to form your own opinion about the framework’s potential
benefits and drawbacks. In the next section you will consider the opinions of
various scholars in response to Hofstede’s framework.
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15.3 Reactions to Hofstede’s framework

Hofstede’s framework continues to have a wide-ranging influence on
intercultural business theory and practice. However, it has also attracted
criticism. For example, the way Hofstede conceptualises culture and how this
impacts on human behaviour has been challenged. In addition, his
methodology, based on two large-scale surveys of IBM employees, has also
been questioned. In this section you will read two different reactions to
Hofstede’s ideas. Before you do so, it would be useful to consider to what
extent you agree with his ideas.
Activity 15.10
Look back over this unit and think about the material that you have studied
in this series of books so far. Note down some of the potential strengths and
limitations of Hofstede’s framework.
Comment
There is no feedback to this activity at this stage, but do keep your notes as
you will return to them later on.
You will now look at an extract from a book about intercultural

communication, published by Ingrid Piller in 2011, which includes a
discussion of Hofstede’s contribution to the field.
Activity 15.11
Step A
Read the opening paragraph of this extract, where Piller explains Hofstede’s
central ideas, and decide whether you think she is an advocate or an
opponent of Hofstede’s approach. What evidence from the text would you use
to support your answer?
The nation state is seen as the locus of culture or, to put it
differently, the nation state in which a person lives is the key
determinant of their cultural orientation. Second, culture can be
reduced to five cultural dimensions – the so-called value
orientations – and these value orientations are presented throughout
Hofstede’s work as the central problem of intercultural
communication. Third, these value orientations can be measured
and quantified.
(Piller, 2011, p. 79)
Comment
There are some indications here of Piller’s scepticism about Hofstede’s
framework. She uses the phrase ‘is seen as’ to describe the nation state
which, as mentioned earlier in this unit, suggests a distance from Hofstede’s
ideas about this. The use of the verb ‘reduced’ in the sentence about culture
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could be understood to mean that attempting to reduce culture to five

dimensions is an oversimplification. Furthermore, the adjective ‘so-called’ to
describe Hofstede’s ‘value orientations’ often carries negative connotations.
Step B
Piller goes on to attack Hofstede’s framework for being ‘intuitively
reasonable’, for being based solely on a survey of IBM employees, and for
seeing culture as something national and fixed. Read the text below and
complete the following grid with brief notes on why Piller challenges aspects
of Hofstede’s framework.
The nation state is seen as the locus of culture or, to put it differently,
the nation state in which a person lives is the key determinant of their
cultural orientation. Second, culture can be reduced to five cultural
dimensions – the so-called value orientations – and these value
orientations are presented throughout Hofstede’s work as the central
problem of intercultural communication. Third, these value orientations
can be measured and quantified.
...
Typically, academic accounts of Hofstede’s work are garnished with a
few cautionary remarks against stereotyping, as in the following
example from a textbook in political economy:
Although it is rather dangerous to classify phenomena into

statistical boxes, most of the categories identified by Hofstede
seem intuitively reasonable. Most of us would be able to
recognize our own national contexts, whilst also realising the
danger of using simple stereotypes without due care and
without being sensitive to changing attitudes and
circumstances. (Dicken 2007: 177)
It is not quite clear to me how one would use ‘a simple stereotype’ with
‘due care’ but the central issue is precisely the fact that Hofstede’s
country descriptions are ‘intuitively reasonable’. Of course they are!
They are ‘intuitively reasonable’ precisely because we have been
socialised into them through the discourses and practices of banal
nationalism. It is the fact that diagrams with national cultural values
are yet another instantiation of the widely circulating discourses of
banal nationalism that makes Hofstede’s work so appealing. However,
restating something that is ‘intuitively reasonable’ in academic terms
does not make it research, nor should ‘intuitive appeal’ be considered a
substitute for critical enquiry in the conduct of research. So, what is
wrong with providing an ‘intuitively reasonable’ account of the ‘cultural
dimensions’ of nations? Two answers: overgeneralisation and
essentialism. …
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Overgeneralisation relates to the fact that findings from one group of

people in a country – people employed by IBM in the late 1960s in
Hofstede’s work – are generalised onto the population as a whole.
However, we may well ask what do, say, male, middle-class, educated,
professional city dwellers in a country have in common with illiterate,
female, landless country dwellers in the same country? The only answer
is ‘nothing much’. These overgeneralisations from a few hundred
survey respondents to a whole population of millions of people only
make sense if one subscribes to an essentialist view of culture. ...
An essentialist view of culture sees national culture as a stable attribute
of a person in the same way that gender and race are often seen as
fairly stable attributes.
Consider the following extract from a country profile for Germany from
another intercultural communication advice website, one that relies
heavily on Hofstede’s work:
[...] The German thought process is extremely thorough, with each
aspect of a project being examined in great detail [...] German citizens
do not need or expect to be complimented. In Germany, it is assumed
that everything is satisfactory unless the person hears otherwise [...]
Germans are able to consume large quantities of beer in one
evening, [...]
In this text, the existence of a specific German ‘software of the mind’ –
‘the German thought process’ – is presupposed. Indeed, Germanness
extends beyond being a trait of the mind to being a physical
characteristic (‘Germans are able to consume large quantities of beer in
one evening’). These mental and physical traits of Germanness are
assumed to go hand in hand with German citizenship – it is unclear
where this would leave the hundreds of thousands of German residents
who do not have German citizenship ...
(Piller, 2011, pp. 79–81)
Hofstede’s approach Piller’s objections

Intuitively reasonable
Based on a survey of IBM employees
Sees culture as national and fixed
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Step C
Reread the extract from Piller in Step B and look at the sources she uses to
illustrate Hofstede’s position. What might Hofstede or someone defending
him say about these sources?
Comment
Piller does not use Hofstede’s own words first-hand but instead quotes writers
who are advocates of Hofstede’s position. It could be argued that Hofstede’s
arguments have been misconstrued by these writers, and Hofstede himself
could object to how they have expressed his findings.
This goes to show how important it is, when you read an academic argument,
to be aware and, if necessary, critical of the sources that writers draw upon to
construct their arguments.
Glossary
Essentialist/essentialism: the idea that a group (or other entity) has
some core characteristics that define the group. These core
characteristics are held to be true for all members of the group.
While the points mentioned by Piller are common criticisms of Hofstede’s

framework, they are not the only ones. Brendan McSweeney is also known
for his critical views on Hofstede’s approach.
Activity 15.12
Read the following text where McSweeney summarises his objections to
Hofstede’s main ideas. He writes in a very academic style and his argument
may not be easy to grasp on first reading, so you may want to read it twice.
Then complete the two tasks below.
First, the generalizations about national level culture from an analysis

of sub-national populations necessarily relies on the unproven and
unprovable supposition that within each nation there is a uniform
national culture and on the widely contested assertion that micro-local
data from a section of IBM employees are representative of the
supposed national uniformity. Second, the elusiveness of culture. It was
argued that what Hofstede ‘identified’ is not national culture, but an
averaging of situationally specific opinions from which dimensions or
aspects of national culture are unjustifiably inferred. Even if we
94
heroically assume that the answers to a narrow set of questions

administered in constrained circumstances are ‘manifestations’ of a
determining national culture, it requires an equally contestable act of
faith to claim that the underlying national culture or cultural differences
can be discerned through the explicit and recordable. Hofstede’s claim
to have empirically measured national cultural differences relies on
crucial but unwarranted assumptions.
(McSweeney, 2002, pp. 107–108)
1 Identify where McSweeney’s views overlap with Piller’s.

2 Identify one criticism of Hofstede, made by McSweeney, that does not
appear in the Piller extract.
There are other criticisms of Hofstede’s framework in the literature about

cultural differences, but these two examples should have given you a general
idea of the main arguments raised against his theory. You will now look back
at your initial thoughts on the question and will reassess your own position.
Activity 15.13
Reread the notes you made for Activity 15.10.
. Would you add anything now you have read Piller’s and McSweeney’s
critiques of Hofstede?
. Did you think of anything that hasn’t been mentioned by Piller or
McSweeney?
Comment
Your answer will depend on what you wrote for Activity 15.10.
It could be argued that in trying to capture a national culture’s essence,

Hofstede distorts reality to a misleading degree. His assumption that national
culture is the overarching one by which all our other cultures are shaped is
questionable. After all, the concept of nation is a relatively new one
compared to that of family or tribe. ‘Imagined communities’, such as nations
(which you considered in Book 2, Unit 10), are unlikely to have the same
psychological and emotional significance for individuals as the ‘real’
communities of family, friends and colleagues. However, at the same time, it
was noted in Book 2, Unit 9 that generalising can be a useful means to help
us make sense of and deal with the world around us. Thus, some elements of
Hofstede’s analysis may well ring true to you, and his ideas have certainly
95
retained an enduring appeal to some in academia, business and the cultural

training industry. After all, when travelling abroad, there are differences in
norms of behaviour that can be striking. One of the most important things to
remember about these differences is that they are, by nature, comparative. If
Culture A’s behaviour and outlook seems strange to Culture B, then it is
probable that Culture B’s behaviour and outlook will seem equally strange to
Culture A. Perhaps in encountering each other, both cultures can gain a
greater insight into the comparative nature of their own norms.
Activity 15.14
Step A
In light of what you have read about Hofstede, make a brief note of the
following:
1 A summary of Hofstede’s main ideas and what they are based on
2 Some of the main criticisms that have been made of his ideas and of his
research methodology
3 Your own personal opinion about Hofstede’s framework
Step B
Look at what you have written and decide if it can form the basis for a three
minute oral presentation to a non-specialist audience. If you had written out
the Hofstede summary in full sentences, this would probably need modifying
for an oral presentation. Reading out a script to an audience would almost
inevitably mean that you would be looking down at your paper which would
result in your losing eye contact with your audience. This would also make it
more difficult to project your voice clearly.
Just as importantly, the temptation when creating a text to be read out is to
compose it in a style that is similar to other written texts, with the
complexity of sentence structure which that involves. This would make it
hard for listeners to follow and more difficult for you to deliver in a way
which sounds natural and engaging.
Step C
Note down the key words from your presentation. These should tell you at a
glance the structure of your presentation. They should also allow you to
reconstruct your argument without looking at the full version of the notes that
you originally took.
Step D
Before making a presentation, it is vital to rehearse it a number of times.
Practise saying your presentation aloud several times. This will not only
allow you to see if your key-word prompts are adequate but will also give
you a clear idea of your timing. Also, the less you have to concentrate on
96
remembering the words themselves, the more you can focus on stressing the
key words and making your delivery clear and memorable. Friends or
bathroom mirrors are useful props for such occasions!
Preparing for an oral presentation

Some of the skills involved in preparing a good presentation are similar
to those involved in preparing an essay. The skills box entitled ‘How to
structure an argument’ in Book 2, Unit 7 gives you useful advice about
how to organise your ideas in a clear and convincing manner.
However, presenting an argument orally is not quite the same as
presenting it in writing. Here is some specific advice for oral
presentations:
. Write a key-word prompt card. This should allow you to:
◦ see the outline of your presentation at a glance
◦ reconstruct your presentation without looking at a fully
written-up version.
. Rehearse the presentation. This will help you to:

◦ ensure your word-prompt card does its job
◦ time your presentation accurately
◦ practise your delivery.
In this unit you have considered Hofstede’s framework for explaining cultural
differences. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are widely used in business
education and also for intercultural training. While these dimensions can be
useful for gaining a first insight into another culture, you have also seen and
reflected on the limitations of his framework. As discussed in other units,
sweeping generalisations are problematic and do not adequately capture the
various differences between individuals and sub-groups of a society.
Hofstede’s framework, as his critics have pointed out, assumes that the entire
population of a nation or country is homogenous and shares particular
character traits. You have also seen that Hofstede has been criticised for his
sampling method and the fact that he assumes that the employees of one
large multinational corporation in the late 1960s/early 1970s can accurately
represent the national populations of their respective countries. When
exploring disagreements between parties, as you have done in this unit, it is
important to question the degree to which each party is fairly represented by
the other, so that you can reach your own conclusions.
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15.4 The intercultural communications industry

The world has shrunk considerably in recent decades. The easing of territorial
barriers for the movement of people and goods, cheaper travel and the
exponential growth of digital technologies mean that people have the chance
to communicate with different cultures in other time zones with increasing
ease. Of course, the ‘ease’ being referred to here is merely technological and
logistical, and does not necessarily imply that the actual communicative
process is simple.
As the opportunities and sometimes need for exchanging ideas with people
who may have different cultural ideas and perspectives has grown, so also
has the intercultural training industry, which attempts to facilitate intercultural
communication, especially in the business sector. Intercultural training for
corporate clients is sometimes provided by organisations which also run
communication skills and English courses for non-native speakers.
Communication in a connected world
Activity 15.15
In this activity you will look at an advertisement from an intercultural
training provider. Read it and answer the two questions that follow.
Today’s world
As the world gets smaller, it may appear that we are all becoming more
alike in our behaviour and outlook. After all, shopping malls in Paris or
Hong Kong, London or Dubai do not look so dissimilar. Offices in New
York or Tokyo, Johannesburg or Moscow do not feel very different
from each other and their occupants seem to be doing recognisably
similar activities – answering phones, sitting at computers and attending
meetings. Indeed, some of the offices in these various cities may belong
to the same multinational company. Crossing international borders
nowadays seems far less likely to produce ‘culture shock’ than it did
thirty years ago. However, this impression is deceptive.
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Cultural viewpoints
Shoppers and employees view the world around them through their own
set of assumptions and attitudes – their own ‘cultural lense’. So, when
someone from the Dubai office visits London, someone from New York
phones their counterpart in Tokyo or someone in Sydney sends an email
to a supplier in Hong Kong, they each bring with them their own
culturally coloured views and values. In order for the visit to be fruitful,
the phone call to be successful or the email to communicate its
message, the parties involved need to be aware that there are hidden
cultural assumptions on which the seemingly simplest of exchanges can
flounder. Even with the best intentions, things can go badly wrong!
How we can help
This is where we come in. As an organisation with experience and
expertise in the field of intercultural communication, we can help you to
navigate the potential difficulties that you and your organisation face.
We can help you to optimise how you operate in the global arena,
maximising your efficiency and profitability.
Intercultural training for you
The services we provide

We offer general cultural training where you will learn:
. to reflect on your own cultural perceptions: without a greater
awareness of how you see the world, you cannot hope to understand
how others see it
. to identify other cultural ‘norms’ and adapt accordingly
. to tolerate ambiguity and react flexibly.
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We offer culture-specific training where you will learn:

. how people in the particular country you plan to visit or do business
with view the world
. how to adapt your own behaviour in order to operate successfully in
that country
. how to ensure that the contacts you make become solid and long
lasting.
Sign up to one of our courses and you will learn to become a

successful global player!
1 Who do you think it is aiming to attract? Give reasons for your answer.
2 How does it conceptualise culture? Is there any overlap with Hofstede’s
ideas?
Comment
1 The text is pitched at the business community. The scenarios it describes
and the needs it identifies are almost exclusively to do with operating
successfully in a commercial environment. Nearly all the intercultural
communication training providers have web pages and literature which
show images of people in suits shaking hands or talking around a table in
an office. The majority mention the importance of training for the
globalised, interconnected world of trade and commerce.
2 Although this particular advert says little about the nature of its courses, it
does seem to see culture primarily in national terms. To this degree at
least it seems to share Hofstede’s conceptualisation of culture. Indeed,
most culture-specific courses in this sector are designed around perceived
differences at national level. This does not necessarily mean, of course,
that their design is necessarily informed by Hofstede’s framework. After
all, cultural differences are often perceived in national terms, which is a
view that predates Hofstede.
The intercultural communication industry continues to grow. However, it is

not without its critics. Below is an extract from a chapter of a book by the
sociolinguist, Debbie Cameron. In the course of your academic studies, you
will encounter texts which at first glance may seem daunting to read.
However, what is important about tackling such texts is to understand the
general sense of the argument that they are making. The extract used below
is not particularly easy to read, but the activity that accompanies it should
help you to identify the main points Cameron makes.
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Activity 15.16
Read the following extracts from Cameron’s chapter about the teaching of
communication skills, then answer the questions below. In it, as well as
Cameron’s own ideas, you will also find other people’s opinions which she
opposes. In doing this activity you need to ensure that you can tell the
difference between the author’s ideas and those of others.
The section begins with Cameron quoting the words of the psychologist
Judith Kuriansky, with whom she disagrees.
I think it is essential for us to be able – in this global community and

as the global community becomes even smaller through the internet
and through all kinds of electronics – that we are able to
communicate ... It is essential that there be a uniform way of talking,
for the economy, for national communications, for exchange of
politics and even in the level of individual couples being able to
communicate ... And there are rules for that.
(Judith Kuriansky, psychologist and therapist, speaking on the BBC World Service,
August 1999)
... the views of Dr Kuriansky are undoubtedly ethnocentric – they

display intolerance of cultural difference and presuppose the superiority
of the expert’s own cultural/linguistic norms. But this ethnocentrism
doesn’t take the form of linguistic imperialism as the term is ordinarily
understood, i.e. promoting one language over others. Instead, it involves
promoting particular interactional norms, genres and speech-styles
across languages, on the grounds that they are maximally ‘effective’ for
the purposes of ‘communication’ ...
Rather than propose a wholesale levelling of difference through the
adaption of a single global language, [the ‘global communications’
industry] has elaborated a version of ‘unity in diversity’, according to
which the existence of different languages is not in itself a problem;
problems arise only to the extent that these languages embody different
or incommensurable worldviews. It is these ‘deeper’ differences that
need to be levelled if global communication is to be effective. Hence
the recommendation that, for instance, Japanese students should learn to
write Japanese in accordance with Western norms of ‘logic’, or that
Japanese businesspeople should adopt more ‘direct’ or ‘informal’ ways
of interacting among themselves. On the surface, this approach
preserves linguistic diversity, but at a deeper level the effect is to make
every language into a vehicle for affirmation of similar values and
beliefs, and for the enactment by speakers of similar social identities
and roles. Language becomes a global product available in different
local flavours.
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... the ideal of ‘good’ or ‘effective’ communication bears a non

coincidental resemblance to the preferred speech-habits of educated
middle-class and predominantly white people brought up in the USA.
(Beyond that, the ideal reflects the principles governing a specific
communicational activity, therapy, which is not confined to the USA but
is particularly culturally salient there.) I know of no case in which the
communicative norms of a non-Western, or indeed, non-Anglophone
society have been exported by expert consultants. Finns do not run
workshops for British businesses on the virtues of talking less; Japanese
[people] are not invited to instruct Americans in speaking indirectly.
(Cameron, 2002, pp. 67–70)
Decide if the following statements are true or false in Cameron’s view.

1 The ‘global communications industry’ wants to promote one language to
the detriment of others.
2 Learning to be clear and direct in intercultural communication is a good
thing.
3 The global communications industry actually promotes the cultural norms
of one section of one nation.
Comment
The main thrust of Cameron’s argument is that the intercultural and
communication skills industry actually promotes one set of cultural norms,
although, superficially at least, it advocates the idea of linguistic diversity.
Whether Cameron is completely fair in her analysis of the industry, it is

certainly true that training companies who sell negotiation skills and
presentation skills courses tend to promote the idea that effective
communication needs to be simple, clear and direct. This implies that some
cultures, such as that of the USA, have better models for effective
communication than others; a message which Cameron sees as invidious and
dangerous.
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Conclusion
In this unit, you have explored Hofstede’s theoretical framework for
explaining cultural differences. Although one of many such frameworks, it
remains one of the most influential. Not only is it discussed in academic
circles but it has also helped to shape the burgeoning intercultural
communication industry. You have explored some of the criticisms that have
been levelled at Hofstede, especially for the way in which he seems to
oversimplify and essentialise cultural difference. However, the promise of a
clear-cut and unequivocal guide book to human behaviour, such as Hofstede
seems to provide, is an attractive proposition for some, while others would
say that the indefinability of cultural difference is what makes the study of
culture so interesting.
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Answers
Activity 15.6
1 (a); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (b)
Activity 15.7
The phrases in bold provide examples of distancing language:
(a) This dimension sets out to measure the extent to which the less powerful
members of society expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. In
a country that scores highly along this dimension, Hofstede maintains that
people do not usually question the authority figure, whether that is a parent, a
teacher or a political leader. People are said to be less likely to expect to be
consulted about decisions that affect them than those who are citizens of a
country with a low score along this dimension. As a result, in nations that
score highly power tends to be concentrated among the few. Hofstede sees
countries with high scores along this dimension as having a political system
that is usually characterised by violence and one-party states. They are said
to have strong left and right wings but weak centrist movements, while those
countries with low scores have a strong political centre.
(b) It is argued that in nations which score highly in this dimension, people
are expected to look after and take responsibility for themselves. They tend
to think in terms of ‘I’ rather than ‘we’. Speaking your mind in such a
culture is seen as a sign of honesty and regarded as a virtue. In such
societies, if people transgress, they often feel guilt. In collectivist societies,
loyalty lies with the group rather than the person and his or her immediate
family. From the collectivist viewpoint, harmony needs to be preserved and
meanings are communicated indirectly. Transgressors in collectivist societies
are likely to feel shame.
(c) A nation that scores highly in this dimension is thought to believe in
absolute truths and to be intolerant of ‘deviant’ ideas or behaviours. Such a
nation has strict timetables and establishes formal rules. However, the
attachment to these rules is, according to Hofstede (1994), an emotional one,
which means that they are not necessarily respected in practice. Those
societies that have low scores in this dimension are more tolerant of open
ended situations and value virtues such as originality.
(d) This term, in Hofstede’s framework, encompasses assertiveness,
materialism and a yearning for recognition. In such a society, meetings are
regarded as a chance for self-assertion rather than decision-making. At the
opposite, ‘Femininity’ end of the scale, collaboration and security are valued.
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Activity 15.8
Small Power Distance Large Power Distance

Equal rights are essential in any healthy Things run smoothly if people know
society their place
Your most important relationship at Your most important relationship at
work are with your peers work is with your boss
Collectivist Individualist
My company is also my family You cannot rely on anyone but yourself
No one is an island Private space is important
Weak Uncertainty Avoidance Strong Uncertainty Avoidance
Take life as it comes Time is money
Regulations need to be kept to a To be happy, you need to avoid financial
minimum insecurity
Feminine Masculine
The environment must be protected You live in order to work
You work in order to live To succeed in life, you need ambition
Activity 15.11
Hofstede’s approach Piller’s objections

Intuitively reasonable Intuition is socially conditioned and based
on banal nationalism. Not a sound basis
for research.
Based on a survey of IBM employees Limited number of research interviewees.
Not representative of the population as a
whole.
Sees culture as national and fixed This is essentialist and oversimplifies the
reality.
Activity 15.12
1 Like Piller, McSweeney believes that Hofstede’s framework is essentialist

as it ‘relies on the unproven and unprovable supposition that within each
nation there is a uniform national culture’. He also agrees with her view
that it overgeneralises, assuming that ‘data from a section of IBM
employees are representative of the supposed national uniformity’.
2 McSweeney criticises Hofstede’s approach for relying on ‘the explicit and
recordable’ as a means of ascertaining cultural differences. This suggests
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that McSweeney sees many such differences as actually being implicit and
subconscious.
Activity 15.16
1 False. ‘Language becomes a global product available in different local

flavours’.
2 False. This is part of an attempt to impose American/Western
‘communicative norms’ on the rest of the world.
3 True.
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References
Cameron, D. (2002) ‘Globalization and the teaching of “communication skills”’ in
Block, D. and Cameron, D. (eds) Globalization and Language Teaching, London,
Routledge, pp. 67–82.
Hofstede, G. (1980) ‘Motivation, leadership and organization: do American theories
apply abroad?’, in Pugh, D.S. (ed) (2007) Organization Theory: Selected Classic
Readings, 5th Edn, London, Penguin Books, pp. 223–250.
Hofstede, G. (1994) Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, London,
HarperCollins.
McLeod, S. (2008) ‘Likert scale’, SimplyPsychology [Online]. Available at www.
simplypsychology.org/likert-scale.html (Accessed 22 September 2014).
McSweeney, B. (2002) ‘Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their
consequences: a triumph of faith – a failure of analysis’, Human Relations, vol. 55,
no. 1, pp. 89–118.
Piller, I. (2011) Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction, Edinburgh,
Edinburgh University Press.
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Introduction
In the last three units you have examined how important language skills and
intercultural competence are to any working environment where staff or
clients speak different languages or have different cultural backgrounds. But
there is one particular sector that specifically relies on these skills, namely
translating and interpreting. You will now take a closer look at these
professions and will see that while the two modalities are very different from
each other, they also have much in common. This unit will focus on
translation and Unit 17 will focus on interpreting.
You will start this unit by thinking about the main users of translations, and
will learn about the translating industry in terms of who requires translation
services, what an actual specification for a translation service looks like and
how the quality of the final product is evaluated. However, translation is not
just a ‘product’, it is also a complex process that requires in-depth knowledge
of language and culture, and a great deal of problem-solving and creativity.
You will look at different strategies that translators use, and will practise
some of them yourself through a series of exercises. The fact that all of these
exercises are conducted in English will help you to understand that
translation is about much more than simply converting words from one
language into another.
Like all established professions, translating and interpreting are both subject
to rigorous codes of practice that define what professionals may and may not
do. In the final section of this unit you will look at the ethical principles that
translators have to adhere to and some of the ethical dilemmas that they may
face in the course of their work.
Glossary
Mediation: the process of acting as a connecting link between two
people or things. In the context of multilingual and intercultural
communication, the term ‘mediation’ generally refers to translation,
interpreting, or any other intervention aimed at facilitating
communication between people from different linguistic or cultural
backgrounds.
Translation: ‘the action or process of turning from one language into
another; also, the product of this; a version in a different language’
(Oxford University Press, 1989). In that sense, interpreters and
translators both produce translations. However, the term translation
normally refers to written translation, whereas spoken translation is
referred to as interpreting.
Interpreting: in a multilingual context, interpreting refers to the action
of turning speech from one language into another. Interpreting may also
be used between a sign language and a spoken language.
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Learning outcomes
By the end of this unit you should be able to:
. understand why translations are useful and for whom
. be aware of the clients, providers and products involved in the translation
industry
. be familiar with the criteria used to evaluate the quality of a translation
. understand what the process of translating entails
. understand what transcreation entails
. be able to rewrite texts in clearer English
. be familiar with ethical issues in translation.
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16.1 Who needs translation?

Translation gives us access to texts that would not be comprehensible to us in
their original form. In this section you will be thinking about the users and
providers of different types of translation. You will look at some of the skills
that are required if you want to work as a translator and will study an
example of a professional translating assignment. You will also compare three
very different translations of the same fairy tale and will reflect on possible
evaluation criteria in order to discuss why some translations may be
considered better than others.
Activity 16.1
1 When travelling abroad it is not unusual to find odd translations in public

places. Look at the examples below and think where they might be found.
Which of them seems to be the odd one out?
(a) Do not terrify the craven bharal.
(b) Lovable but pitiful grass is under your foot.
(c) Big bowl fresh immerse miscellaneous germ.
(d) The monkey park is not only a monkey. The bird and the deer also look
for.
2 What is the purpose of the signs you looked at in Question 1?
3 Who might have done the translating?
4 What went wrong with the translations?
It is clear from the examples above that the writers of these signs would have
benefited from the services of a professional translator. In the next section,
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you will explore those areas of people’s lives where translators are often
needed.
Activity 16.2
The signs in Activity 16.1 are aimed at tourists or other visitors. Who else
needs translations? What kinds of translations have you encountered?
Comment
You may have listed some of the following groups of people who use
translations:
. Tourists
. Immigrants (e.g. in contact with institutions and authorities)
. Consumers
. The media, e.g. press agencies
. Companies who do business internationally
. Readers of works of fiction or non-fiction.
Examples of translations which you have come across may include:
. Consumer information, such as the list of ingredients on food packets
. Multilingual instruction manuals
. Novels translated from another language
. Newspaper articles (e.g. in the UK, the Guardian has a section where it
reproduces articles from France’s Le Monde and Spain’s El País)
. Translations specific to your work context, if you are employed by an
international organisation or company.
Translations and their users

Sometimes it is in the writer’s interest that their readers read a text in the
language that they know best, which is behind much commercial translation.
For example, companies who want to sell a product, distributors of medicines
who are required to make sure that consumers are aware of side effects,
technical companies who provide detailed instruction manuals and
organisations who enter into international, legally binding contracts all need
to make sure that relevant documents are fully understood by everybody
involved.
Translation can take many forms, and translation agencies predominantly deal
with business customers with very specific needs. Professional translators are
usually native speakers of the language they translate into (known as the
‘receiving’ language or ‘target’ language) and they are often highly trained
individuals with expertise in particular subject areas.
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Glossary
Source language: the original language a translator or interpreter
translates from.
Target language: the language a translator or interpreter translates into,
also known as the receiving language.
In the next activity you will familiarise yourself with some of the most
common types of translation that a translator will have to deal with.
Activity 16.3
Read the definitions below. Then match each of the following examples of
text (1–8) with the type of translation it corresponds to.
1 property deed
2 poem
3 patient information leaflet (supplied with medicine)
4 company report
5 information on EU grant
6 programme for a community festival
7 software instruction manual
8 patent for an engine component
Types of translation1
Due to the continuing evolvement of the translation industry there are
now certain terms used to define specialist translations that do not fall
under a general category. This brief guide offers an explanation of some
of the more common translation terms used. Some of the definitions
have overlapping meanings.
(a) Administrative translation (The translation of administrative texts)
Although ‘administrative’ has a very broad meaning, in terms of
translation it refers to common texts used on a daily basis within
businesses and organisations. It can also be applied to texts with similar
functions in government.
1
This material is the creation and intellectual property of Kwintessential Ltd, www.
kwintessential.co.uk
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(b) Computer translation

Computer translation is the translation of anything to do with
computers, such as software, manuals, help files, etc. (It should not be
confused with ‘CAT’, computer-assisted translations, which refer to
translations carried out using software.)
(c) General translation
A general translation is the simplest of translations. A general text
means that the language used is not high level and uses no specific or
technical terminology. Most translations fall under this category.
(d) Legal translation
At its simplest level this means the translation of legal documents, such
as statutes, contracts and treaties. Legal translations are one of the
trickiest translations known and will always need specialist attention.
This is because law is culture-dependent and requires a translator with
an excellent understanding of both the source and target cultures. (There
is no real margin for error with legal translations, as any mistranslation
could have serious consequences.)
(e) Literary translation
A literary translation is the translation of literature, such as novels,
plays or short stories. The translation of literary works is considered by
many one of the highest forms of translation as it involves so much
more than simply translating text. A literary translator must be capable
of also translating feelings, cultural nuances, humour and other subtle
elements of a piece of work. Also, in literary works, style and rhythm
are likely to be very important, creating an effect on the reader. The (in)
translatability of some works of literature has been a matter of
discussion among linguists and translators.
(f) Medical translation
Medical translation covers anything related to the medical field: from
the packaging of medicine, to manuals for medical equipment, to
medical books. Like legal translation, medical translation is a specialist
area where a mistranslation could have grave consequences.
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(h) Technical translation

The term ‘technical translation’ has a broad meaning. It usually refers
to certain fields such as IT or manufacturing, and deals with texts such
as manuals and instruction leaflets. Technical translations are usually
more expensive than general translations as they contain a high amount
of terminology that only a specialist translator could handle.
(Adapted from Kwintessential2, 2013, courtesy of Kwintessential.co.uk)
In the language industry, a translation is a product. Professional translators

deploy many skills to deliver what they are contracted for, but not all
organisations that require translations are fully aware of what exactly is
needed. In the next activity you will look at information from a guidance
document for companies that need to commission translation work, and will
consider the different aspects that have to be taken into account in a
professional translation project. The aim of the activity is to give you an idea
of what is involved for translations within a work context.
Activity 16.4
Here are six questions to ask yourself before commissioning a translation.
Read through the questions and then look at the sample product requirement
document below. Which paragraph in the product requirement (a–f) deals
with which question (1–6)? Match up the questions to the paragraph they
correspond to.
1 What?
Be clear about the elements that need translating (e.g. a folded leaflet + a
video) and how they relate to the whole.
2 Why?
Define the translation’s purpose: is it to teach, to sell, to persuade?
3 Who?
Your translator needs to know who the translation is aimed at.
4 Where?
Your translator needs thorough knowledge of the countries and regions for
which the translation is intended.
5 How much?
The price will depend on factors like agency costs, your translator’s rates
and on what is included in the translation.
2
This material is the creation and intellectual property of Kwintessential Ltd, www.
kwintessential.co.uk
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6 When?
Bear in mind quality, cost and deadline.
Sample product requirements

[a] Translation into technical Spanish of a sales presentation consisting
of 50 pages of text, a 15-minute video (part dubbing, part voiceovers,
some graphics), 50 slides.
[b] The language must correspond to the language currently used in
medical device journals sold in Latin America and Spain. The first
presentation will be facilitated by a Cuban chemical engineer from
Miami and will be given to Mexican, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, and
Spanish medical device design engineers (MEs) and engineering
managers.
[c] The presentation must introduce them to new polymers developed
by our company for use in medical devices, and convince them of the
benefits of incorporating these polymers into future designs.
[d] The presentation must adapt to formal and informal settings, for
both small and large audiences in the US, Europe and Latin America.
The first presentation will be made during a September trade show in
San Antonio, Texas, to engineers from Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and
Spain, but we plan to use it in all other Spanish-speaking countries on
an ongoing basis.
[e] The completed package must be ready by 15 August 1993.
[f] The total project must stay within a budget of $20,000.
In addition to the above, you will need to define format requirements
for the finished product. For example, in the case of text you may need
to specify a style sheet, any artwork, etc. In the case of a video, you
will need to specify the size and format of the master: NTSC, PAL,
SECAM, etc.
(Adapted from Barinas, n.d.a)
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It’s important to set the right parameters at the beginning of a translation

project, but it’s equally important to be able to tell whether the quality of the
final product meets the requirements. At the end of each project it is common
practice to do some kind of evaluation to identify good practice as well as
areas for improvement. Sometimes it is useful to compare work from
different translators at an earlier stage in order to find the best person for the
job. You do not need to know the source language to be able to appreciate
the quality of a translation.
Questions to ask about a translation

1 Can you tell it is a translation?
This is the most important question to ask, as a competent translation
never reveals that it is a translation.
2 Does it read like an original?
This question reinforces the previous one, as a competent translation
reads like an original.
3 Are there any words or phrases that sound out of place?
Proper and appropriate usage is the mark of a good translation. The first
word that is listed in a dictionary may not be the right one for the
context.
4 Is there anything that does not make sense?
Translators without thorough knowledge of both languages may
sometimes translate a phrase word for word, which will make no sense.
5 Are there sentences that are hard to understand?
[In tackling the complexities of the translation process, it is easy for the
translator to lose sight of the key need for clarity.]
6 Are there phrases that you understand but that you would never
say that way?
Again, this evaluates proper and appropriate usage.
7 Are there sentences with words that seem out of order?
Word order is extremely important, not only in conveying the correct
meaning, but also in giving you a text that runs smoothly.
8 Are there any grammatical mistakes?
This question is only significant when the answer is yes. Acceptable
grammar is much easier to produce than acceptable usage.
9 Are there any misspelled words?
Again, a question that is only significant when the answer is yes.
(Adapted from Barinas, n.d.b)
117
In the next activity you will compare three different translations of a fairy
tale that was originally written in German by the Brothers Grimm. The first
version was translated by an anonymous translator; the second one by two
volunteer translators, who worked together as part of Project Gutenberg,
which aims to digitise and archive culturally significant written texts and
make them more easily accessible to the public. The third is a computer
generated version.
Activity 16.5
Read the following translations and decide which one of them you think
reads the best. Give five examples to justify your answer (the paragraphs
have been numbered in all three texts for ease of reference).
Translation 1
The Bremen town musicians fairy tale
[1] There was once an ass whose master had made him carry sacks to
the mill for many a long year, but whose strength began at last to fail,
so that each day as it came found him less capable of work. Then his
master began to think of turning him out, but the ass, guessing that
something was in the wind that boded him no good, ran away, taking
the road to Bremen; for there he thought he might get an engagement as
town musician.
[2] When he had gone a little way he found a hound lying by the side
of the road panting, as if he had run a long way. ‘Now, Holdfast, what
are you so out of breath about?’ said the ass. ‘Oh dear!’ said the dog,
‘now I am old, I get weaker every day, and can do no good in the hunt,
so, as my master was going to have me killed, I have made my escape;
… – ‘I will tell you what,’ said the ass, ‘I am going to Bremen to
become town musician. You may as well go with me, and take up
music too. …
[3] It was not long before they came to a cat sitting in the road, looking
as dismal as three wet days. … – ‘Go with us to Bremen,’ said the ass,
‘and become town musician. You understand serenading.’ The cat
thought well of the idea, and went with them accordingly.
[4] After that the three travellers passed by a yard, and a cock was
perched on the gate crowing with all his might. ‘Your cries are enough
to pierce bone and marrow,’ said the ass; ‘what is the matter?’ – ‘I have
foretold good weather for Lady-day, so that all the shirts may be
washed and dried; and now on Sunday morning company is coming,
and the mistress has told the cook that I must be made into soup, and
Travelling musicians in action
this evening my neck is to be wrung, so that I am crowing with all my
might while I can.’
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[5] ‘You had much better go with us, Chanticleer,’ said the ass. ‘We are
going to Bremen. At any rate that will be better than dying. …’ So the
cock consented, and they went on all four together.
Translation 2
The Travelling Musicians
[1] An honest farmer had once an ass that had been a faithful servant to
him a great many years, but was now growing old and every day more
and more unfit for work. His master therefore was tired of keeping him
and began to think of putting an end to him; but the ass, who saw that
some mischief was in the wind, took himself slyly off, and began his
journey towards the great city, ‘For there,’ thought he, ‘I may turn
musician.’
[2] After he had travelled a little way, he spied a dog lying by the
roadside and panting as if he were tired. ‘What makes you pant so, my
friend?’ said the ass. ‘Alas!’ said the dog, ‘my master was going to
knock me on the head, because I am old and weak, and can no longer
make myself useful to him in hunting; so I ran away; … ‘Hark ye!’ said
the ass, ‘I am going to the great city to turn musician: suppose you go
with me, and try what you can do in the same way?’ …
[3] They had not gone far before they saw a cat sitting in the middle of
the road and making a most rueful face. … ‘by all means go with us to
the great city [said the ass]; you are a good night singer, and may make
your fortune as a musician.’ The cat was pleased with the thought, and
joined the party.
[4] Soon afterwards, as they were passing by a farmyard, they saw a
cock perched upon a gate, and screaming out with all his might and
main. ‘Bravo!’ said the ass; ‘upon my word, you make a famous noise;
pray what is all this about?’ ‘Why,’ said the cock, ‘I was just now
saying that we should have fine weather for our washing-day, and yet
my mistress and the cook don’t thank me for my pains, but threaten to
cut off my head tomorrow, and make broth of me for the guests that are
coming on Sunday!’
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Translation 3
The Bremen Town Musicians fairy tale
[1] A certain man had a donkey, which had carried the sacks to the mill
indefatigably for many years already , but whose strength came to an
end , so that he him less capable of working . Then the Lord thought to
get him out of the feed, but the donkey, seeing that no good wind was
blowing, ran away and made his way to Bremen, where he thought he
might become a town musician.
[2] When he had gone a little way, he found a hound lying on the road,
the jappte as one who has gone tired. ‘Well, what do you jappst so
Packan? ‘asked the donkey. ‘ Oh,’ said the dog, ‘because I’m old and
weaker every day, even on the hunt can no longer continue my master
wanted to kill me because I have made my escape … – ‘You know
what?’ said the donkey, ‘I am going to Bremen to become town
musician there, go with and let you take music too’ …
[3] It was not long, so sat there a cat in the way and makes a face like
three rainy days. … ‘Go with us to Bremen, but do you get music on
the night, because you can become a town musician.’ The cat thought
well of it , and went with them.
[4] Then the three fugitives came to a farm land over, because sitting
on the gate of the house rooster crowing with all his might. ‘Your cries
through and through,’ said the donkey, ‘what are you doing?’ – Because
I have well predicted weather,’ said the cock, ‘because of our love
women’s day when she has the Christ-child washed the shirt and wants
to dry them, but because tomorrow guests come to Sunday, so the
housewife has not a mercy and told the cook that she wanted me to eat
in the soup tomorrow, and I’m supposed to leave me this evening to cut
off the head. now I scream from my lungs while I can.’
[5] ‘Oh, but you redhead’ , said the donkey, ‘rather pull us away, we go
to Bremen , something better than death you’ll find anywhere’, …. The
cock is left like the proposal, and they walked away together all four.
(Texts adapted from grimmstories.com, n.d.a, grimmstories.com, n.d.b, The

Brothers Grimm, 2008)
Comment
It could be argued by some that Translation 2 is the one that reads most
naturally in English, while Translation 3, which was generated by a computer
program, is unsurprisingly the least convincing version. Translation 1 has
retained more culture-specific references (e.g. the town’s name Bremen) than
Translation 2, which reflects a more ‘culture-free’ approach. Below are a few
examples of the differences that can be found:
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. The second translation uses no specific geographical references and so lets

the reader experience the story as if it had taken place in their own
country. Alternatively, they could have decided to keep the German
setting, but have introduced the story as follows: ‘An honest farmer, who
lived near the town of Bremen in the North of Germany …’.
. ‘Now, Holdfast, what are you so out of breath about?’ (Translation 1,
paragraph 2) sounds clumsy, while Translation 3 actually contains the
German jappst (from the verb jappen, to fight for breath), which is not
comprehensible to an English-speaking reader. Translation 3 also contains
the name of the dog in German, ‘Packan’, which literally translates into
English as ‘Holdfast’. In Translation 2 the same sentence reads much
more naturally: ‘What makes you pant so, my friend?’
. ‘No good wind was blowing’ (Translation 3, paragraph 1) is translated
literally from the German while ‘something was in the wind that boded
him no good’ (Translation 1) might sound a bit clumsy to some but others
might say that it is appropriately archaic for an old-fashioned fairy tale. In
Translation 2 the expression is rendered as ‘some mischief was in the
wind’.
. ‘Makes a face like three rainy days’ (Translation 3, paragraph 3) is a fixed
expression, which has been translated literally from the German; ‘looking
as dismal as three wet days’ (Translation 1) still uses the German image,
while ‘making a most rueful face’ (Translation 2) is the most English
sounding version. Again, it’s a matter of personal preference whether
natural-sounding English or an expression which gives the flavour of a
foreign land is appropriate here.
. Translation 3 also contains examples of grammatical mistakes, which
make some sentences hard to understand (‘so that he him less capable of
working’ (paragraph 1) and ‘even on the hunt can no longer continue my
master wanted to kill me’ (paragraph 2).
As you have seen, translations can be evaluated in terms of language, style,

fitness for purpose and effect on the reader, without recourse to the original.
However, at the same time it is very hard to determine how far a translation
does justice to the source, or whether anything got ‘lost in translation’. The
questions you read earlier for ascertaining the effectiveness of a particular
translation are worth thinking about in more depth. Some criteria are more
overarching and probably more important than others. Translations which are
going to be published go through an editing process, during which
grammatical and spelling mistakes are ironed out. However, errors in content
are harder to spot. Editors can also make translations read more like
originals, but in literary translations, elements of ‘foreignness’ are sometimes
included on purpose in order to reflect the culture of the source language, for
example, when characters retain their original titles, e.g. ‘Commissaire
Maigret’ in translations of Georges Simenon’s novels.
There are many possible ways of translating the same passage into another
language so translators are continually faced with decisions, and there is
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often never one best option. Translation is a complex skill for which good
planning and problem-solving strategies are essential. In the next section you
will take a closer look at these strategies and will explore further what
exactly a translation may be trying to do.
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16.2 What does translating involve?

Activity 16.5 raised a number of questions, such as what a translation is
meant to achieve and what exactly a translator needs to know to produce a
good piece of work. One popular coursebook for translators (Baker, 2011)
looks at a number of ‘equivalences’ at different levels of language. Each of
these levels has a chapter dedicated to them. These are:
. equivalence at word level (discussing the meaning of words)

. equivalence above word level (discussing issues related to the
translation of fixed expressions and phrases)
. grammatical equivalence (discussing a range of grammatical categories
across languages)
. textual equivalence (discussing how texts are organised)
. pragmatic equivalence (discussing the interpretation of language in
context).
Glossary
Pragmatics: ‘A branch of linguistics concerned with the use of
language in social contexts and the ways in which people produce and
comprehend meanings through language’ (Norquist, n.d.). For example,
pragmatics looks at the rules that speakers follow when taking turns in a
conversation, the kind of language that is considered appropriate in
different situations, what sounds polite or rude or strange, the structure
of texts used for different audiences and purposes, and so on.
If you look back at the poorly translated signs in Activity 16.1, you will
realise that in the sentence ‘Big bowl fresh immerse miscellaneous germ’,
equivalence at word level (among other problems) is at issue, while in a
sentence like ‘Lovable but pitiful grass lies under your foot’, the problems lie
at textual and pragmatic level.
Overall, what translators are trying to achieve has often been termed
‘equivalence of meaning’, a concept which is by no means straightforward.
Problems arise where reality is segmented in different ways in different
languages, as is the case with words for colour, which don’t always match
exactly from one language to another, as you saw in Book 1, Unit 1, and
there are many more similar examples.
The way in which meaning is represented through structure can also be very
different. For example, use of the passive may indicate a more distanced
attitude in one language but not in another. Concepts of time and space can
differ widely (see Unit 15), and certain ideas are easier to express in some
languages than others. In Book 2, Unit 9 you considered the proposition that
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to some extent language influences our thought, and transferring meaning

from one way of thinking to another is a challenge.
In addition to their explicit meaning, words can imply other meanings that
are the result of cultural or emotional associations. For example, the words
‘country’, ‘nation’, and ‘fatherland’ have different connotations, and a
translator must take the target audience into consideration when choosing
their equivalents in another language. In seventeenth-century Bible
translations, adaptations were made that took account of the life experience
of the recipients, for example, for a Malay audience, translating ‘fig tree’ into
the Malay word for ‘banana tree’ to communicate the meaning of a common
type of tree (Bellos, 2011, p. 178). Clearly, such a substitution would not do
in a textbook for botanists. Purpose and audience should shape translations as
they shape any other form of writing, and meaning is created in its specific
context. When translating poetry, style, rhythm and connotations may be
more important than the denotative (explicit) meaning of the words used.
Legal translators, on the other hand, face a very different challenge as they
often have to bridge two entirely different legal systems.
Glossary
Connotation: ‘that which is implied in a word in addition to its
essential or primary meaning’ (Oxford University Press, 2014). For
example, the words ‘mum’, ‘mummy’ and ‘mother’ have the same
primary meaning, but they are associated with different situations and
emotional meanings.
Denotation: ‘the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the
feelings or ideas that the word suggests’ (Oxford University
Press, 2014).
The advice given below, which was written for journalists, describes the
different stages involved in translating news stories from one language to
another.
The principles of translation

Translation is the transfer of meaning, not words, from one language to
another. Therefore, it cannot be done effectively by translating word for
word, because languages are not just a collection of words. Different
languages also have different grammar, distinct word orders and
sometimes even words for which other languages do not have any
equivalents. Even within the same language, different professions may
use completely different vocabularies, so a scientist and a farmer would
speak very different forms of English in the workplace.
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Simple steps in translation

We will start by talking about the simplest form of translation – the one
where you already have a story written down in one language (the
source) and you want to translate it into another language (the target).
The steps to follow are:
1 Read the whole of the original source story through from beginning
to end, to make sure that you can understand it. If you cannot
understand everything that is said, you cannot translate it. If there
are any words or phrases that you do not understand, you must
clarify these first. You may decide that the ideas they express are too
difficult to translate or not worth translating, but you need to know
what they are before you can judge.
2 Do a first draft translation, trying to translate all the source material.
But do not translate word for word. Remember that you are
translating the meaning. When you have finished the first translation,
you will now have a draft story in the target language.
3 Go back over the whole of your draft translation and polish it
without looking at the source original. (You might even like to turn
the source story face down on your desk so you cannot cheat.) Make
sure that your translation reads well in the target language.
4 Compare the final version of your translation with the source
original to make sure that you have translated it accurately. This is
when you can make any detailed adjustments in individual words or
phrases.
(Adapted from Ingram, 2008)
Among all the different types of text that need translating, literary texts
occupy a special place. Translating literature is an interesting and creative
task, which requires excellent writing skills. Many works of literature have
been translated by famous authors. For example, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem
Beowulf was translated by the acclaimed Irish poet, Seamus Heaney.
However, for the most part, translators of literary works remain invisible.
You will now read an article that gives some insights into the process of
translating a series of novels, which presents a particular challenge.
Activity 16.6
Translating J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels into different languages was a
big project. The article below discusses a number of issues that arose along
the way. To get a flavour of the sort of challenges involved you will begin by
looking at one of the many words invented by Rowling when she wrote the
series.
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Step A
In the Harry Potter books, people with no magical powers are called
‘muggles’.
. What associations does the word bring to mind?
. Can you think up any words that might be suitable alternatives for
‘muggle’?
Comment
. The word ‘muggle’, with its ending in ‘-ggle’, is reminiscent of words
like ‘wriggle’, ‘wiggle’ or ‘giggle’. It may also remind you of ‘muddle’,
as in to ‘be in a muddle’ or ‘muddle along’, which is what some of the
muggles in the books seem to do, as opposed to the wizard community,
who are much more sophisticated as well as having magical powers.
. When creating your own equivalent of ‘muggle’, you may have used a
number of approaches, such as playing with the sound of the words
(e.g. ‘blop’), with the associations some words may suggest (e.g. ‘biggle’
could be associated with ‘bigot’), or trying to reflect the imaginary
qualities of a typical muggle (e.g. ‘no-trick’).
. You may have thought, ‘I am not J.K. Rowling. How can I be expected to
come up with word creations equivalent to hers?’ This is, however,
exactly what her translators have to do.
Step B
Now read the article and answer the questions that follow.
¿Hagrid, qué es el quidditch?

Translating involves art as well as craft, says Daniel Hahn
It’s the end of the summer, and Harry can’t wait to get away from his
unbearable cousin Dirk and the rest of the nasty Duffelings. Fortunately
he’ll soon be back at school with his friends Ron and Hermelien and
the benign Professor Anderling, preparing for the annual Zwerkbal cup.
So long as he’s able to keep away from the sinister Professor Sneep.
Familiar? If you’re a Flemish-speaking Belgian, that’s what the Harry
Potter stories look like to you. Of the 325 million Harry Potter books
sold around the world, some 100 million copies don’t contain a single
line of JK Rowling’s prose. They’re mediated by the work of other
writers who set the tone, create suspense and humour, and give the
characters their distinctive voices and accents. The only thing these
translators have no impact on whatsoever is the plot, which of course is
Rowling’s alone.
Writer and translator Daniel
Hahn
The moment Bloomsbury put out their next press release announcing
that Rowling has delivered book seven and the publication date has
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been set, more than 60 translators across the world – from Europe to
South America, Africa to Asia – will start sharpening their pencils.
When that first published copy appears, their race will begin.
It’s a race against publishers’ deadlines, of course; in certain countries,
where the quality of second-language English is very high, it’s a race to
get the book published in (say) Norwegian, or Danish, before your
entire market decides not to bother waiting for the translation, and you
find that you’re trying to sell it to people who’ve already read the book
in the original.
In some cases it’s a race against unofficial translators, too; in China,
where enforcement of international copyright law leaves something to
be desired, IPR parasites churn out their quick and shoddy renegade IPR: intellectual property rights
versions more or less with impunity. These range from fan-produced
translations published online, to brand-new books in the HP series sold
on street corners, like the rather peculiar attempt at a book five that
appeared while Rowling was in fact still hard at work in Edinburgh
writing it (Rowling shares this distinction with Cervantes, who was
understandably taken aback to find the second part of Don Quixote
published unofficially before he’d had the chance to get round to
writing it).
So – you’re an official HP translator, and you’ve managed somehow to
grapple with the odd title of book seven (a good version of Deathly
Hallows, anyone?). And now Amazon has delivered your copy of the
Most Anticipated Book Ever, and it’s your job to render it into some
other language to appease a hungry local audience somewhere. How do
you start?
You start, probably, with the eternal problem faced by every translator –
finding the balance between literal fidelity and the equivalence that
makes for fidelity of reading experience. When Uncle Vernon hums
‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’, do you let him keep his Anglophone song
and just translate the title? Harry’s Spanish uncle hums ‘De puntillas
entre los tulipanes’. Or do you find a local equivalent, like Germany’s
Onkel Vernon, who goes for the rather more German folk hum, ‘Bi-Ba-
Butzemann’?
Spanish readers will find most names and invented words unchanged
(‘¿Hagrid, qué es el quidditch?’), or translated literally. So the Spanish
is faithful in one obvious sense – but while the names may be
unchanged, does the name Quirrell really sound as nervous, stammery,
querulous in Spanish? Does Hufflepuff sound as ineffectual, dumb and
huggable as it does to English ears?
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In Brazil, in contrast, translator Lia Wyler chose to maintain the spirit

rather than the letter, softening many names into more Portuguese
sounding ones, thereby loading herself with the noble challenge of
coining some 400 words of her own. Harry plays quadribol, and when
he isn’t at Hogwarts is in the world of trouxas (Muggles) with his
trouxa cousin Duda. Minerva McGonagall keeps her name, but in
keeping with Brazilian school habits is addressed familiarly by the
pupils as Profa Minerva. The sorting hat spares Harry from ‘Sonserina’,
assigning him to ‘Grifinória’ instead. (Though is translating the English
Platform Nine and Three Quarters to the Portuguese for Platform Nine
and a Half perhaps just a bit wilful?)
Harry Potter throws at his translators (or in some cases, teams of
translators) a number of challenges that most books don’t present. There
are countless made-up words, for a start. What’s the Turkish for ‘golden
snitch’, or the Hungarian for ‘Bludger’, or the Welsh for ‘Quaffle’, the
Catalan for ‘Sickles and Knuts’, or the Hindi for ‘Floo Powder’? And
then there’s the wordplay, the prophecies and rhymes (like those of the
sorting hat – the sombrero seleccionador). There are also the spells and
the anagrams. (Tom Marvolo Riddle may be an anagram of ‘I am Lord
Voldemort’; but it’s not an anagram of ‘Je suis Voldemort’, so in France
he’s Tom Elvis Jedusor.)
Several translators have been taken to task by die-hard Potter fans
who’ve disapproved of their choices. Other fans have found that when
they scour their translations they turn up valuable plot clues. Book six
has a note mysteriously signed with the initials ‘RAB’, which many
readers have speculated may refer to someone in the Black family, a
relative of Sirius Black (most likely his younger brother Regulus); the
Dutch translation gives the initials on the note as RAZ – and if you
know that in Dutch Harry’s godfather is called Sirius Zwarts, this
change suggests some interesting intelligence.
Another reason the Potters are a more complicated translation prospect
than most books is the contractual requirements imposed by the film
company, Warner (for whom questions like the stability of the
characters’ names have some impact on their merchandising plans);
there have been cases of translators objecting to Warner’s terms, and
finding themselves replaced between one book in the series and the
next.
The job of any translator requires that they be simultaneously present
and absent; altogether sympathetically embedded in the work and yet
totally invisible. And for the most part that invisibility is well
maintained. The reluctance of some translators to talk to me for this
article may have had something to do with that ideal of invisibility. But
maybe it’s something to do, too, with the unusually heavy publicity
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demands that this job makes on them – unusual in their field, certainly.
The fact is, in this invisible profession they are the anomalies, self
effacing yet also touched by celebrity. Whatever some may say, this is
no ordinary translation job; and sometime very soon the whole circus
will start all over again.
(Hahn, 2007)
1 What issues and challenges do the translators of the Harry Potter books
face?
2 In your opinion, are these common literary translation issues or are they
specific to translating Harry Potter?
3 What, in particular, has been handled very differently in the Spanish and
in the Brazilian Portuguese translations of the books? Which solution is
better in your opinion?
Comment
Here are some of the ideas you might have noted down.
1 Issues/challenges that all translators of literature face are that:

◦ they have no influence on the plot, but the actual writing is all
theirs, they have to make sure that they set the (right) tone,
create suspense as appropriate, etc.
◦ translators are supposed to be invisible despite the fact that,
through their writing, they are embedded in the book
◦ they have to make decisions on whether to leave names of
places and people untranslated or find target language
versions, which sound less foreign to the readers and carry
similar connotations to the names in the original
◦ they have to work to publishers’ deadlines.
2 Issues or challenges that are specific to the translators of Harry Potter:
◦ they have to translate many invented words and names for
which there is no equivalent in the target language
◦ they have to justify their decisions to millions of fans
◦ they have to work even faster because so many people are
waiting for each new Harry Potter book and the competition is
fierce (e.g. from other translators or from people who’ll just
buy the original if it takes too long)
◦ their contracts are further complicated by the film company
and their marketing needs
◦ the job brings a lot more publicity than most translation
engenders, which may challenge their presumed invisibility.
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3 In Spain, all names in the Harry Potter books have been kept as they
were, but in the Brazilian version, names have been changed to sound
Portuguese. Both are valid decisions. The original names reflect the
setting of the books in Britain and acknowledge that a story cannot be set
in a cultural vacuum. Harry Potter and his friends are British, the society
they live in and the kind of school they go to reflect (to some extent) life
in the UK. On the other hand, if names are translated, readers can identify
better with the characters and may have a more authentic reading
experience. The English names have been carefully chosen for what they
sound like and what associations they trigger. These nuances will be lost
to readers who are not fully fluent in English, but can be recreated for
them through appropriate translations.
A possible reason for the different decision taken by the two translators could
be that Spanish readers are more familiar with British culture, or that they
like the Harry Potter books precisely because of their Britishness.
You may have found it very hard to give your own opinion because – unless
you are Spanish or Brazilian yourself – it is impossible to judge what
associations the names conjure up for a speaker of another mother tongue.
But you may have read books in translation yourself and been either attracted
or alienated by the use of foreign names, or wondered why a novel set in a
different country did not reflect its language and culture. For example, while
it is common practice to ‘translate’ books originally written by British
authors into American English to sell them in the US, such practice has been
criticised in the case of Harry Potter because this threatens its original
cultural flavour.
As Bellos (2011) points out, the translation of books into and from English is
hugely asymmetric:
For every work in Spanish translated into English in the first decade of the
twenty-first century, fifteen were translated from English into Spanish. Yet
there are almost as many native speakers of Spanish (around 350 million)
as of English (400 million) on the planet today.
(p. 211)
This statistic shows that the cultural output of the English-speaking world, of
which Harry Potter is just one example, has a disproportionately dominant
presence and influence in the global publishing sector.
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16.3 Mediating through ‘transcreation’

Translating literature requires a large amount of creativity on the part of the
translator, but there is another area where highly creative approaches to
translation are equally in demand: marketing. When creating high-impact
promotional content, such as global advertising campaigns, straight
translation is rarely enough. Culturally inappropriate translations of marketing
material can potentially cost millions. Conversely, a creative approach that is
well adapted to the target market can prove very effective and lucrative.
Activity 16.7
Read the following article, which explains a concept used in the advertising
and marketing industries called ‘transcreation’.
Transcreation: why you need it more than translation!

How is it different than translation?
Transcreation refers to the process of taking a message created in one
language and conveying it in another. This definition is synonymous
with translation; so, what is the difference? Transcreation is a
transformation of an overall message which addresses not only written
content but also visual design and imagery. Transcreation takes into
account the cultural context of a written communication such as an ad,
brochure or website. The process requires looking holistically at a
message and adapting it to the target audience, while keeping core
design elements in place in order to maintain brand consistency and
high level messaging between national markets.
Why is it important?
Transcreation is a relatively new term which was coined by the
advertising, entertainment and language industries, and has become
more well-known only in the past decade. Its origin explains why it
refers to translation of marketing material specifically. Marketing
material is unique from other translation material because many times it
contains elements unique to a culture. Those elements include ideas,
puns, cultural references, layout preferences, imagery, coloring, and
connotation. There is a lot of nuance and creativity that go into creating
marketing pieces, and as the name suggests, transcreation stresses
adaptation of all of these elements to make a message meaningful to a
particular audience: trans + creation = ‘across’ creation, or ‘beyond’
creation. Creation across borders or beyond borders if you will.
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During the process of transcreation the transcreationist may choose to

restructure how information is presented in order to make the inherent
message of the marketing piece more relevant to the target audience.
The original content in the source language is used as a foundation for
the transcreated version in another language. Transcreation is similar to
asking someone to rewrite something you have written but in their own
words. In this case, the words are in a different language and the writer
reconstructs the message emphasizing those facts that are most
important to a reader in the target language.
A well-known example of transcreation is the Spider-Man comic

transcreated for India, in which the American character is re-created as
a young Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar (a play on Peter Parker).
All the elements of the original narrative were also recreated for an
Indian context. In the image to the left you can see even his Spider-man
suit was altered to fit with cultural tastes and norms.
What content should be transcreated?
Transcreation services are commonly used for adapting website and
advertising content. For common marketing communications,
transcreation may include adjusting content for an overseas market on
your company’s website, so that it includes only the types of products
your company sells in that market. You may also choose to emphasize
product features that resonate more with the needs or tastes of the target
market. For example, low-power usage may be of particular importance
in markets where electricity is expensive; therefore, you may choose to
emphasize that feature more in your marketing and advertising copy
than you would in North America, where electrical power is still
relatively cheap.
Who are the ‘transcreationists’?
Transcreation can often be accomplished by simply having a single
transcreationist work directly with a client’s marketing department in
order to understand the goals and core messaging the client wishes to
achieve. The challenge is finding the right transcreationist for the job.
Transcreationists work with language service providers that specialize in
transcreation. That provider will be able to identify the individual(s)
right for the job. …
If you are trying to raise the bar in connecting more effectively with
your target audience in overseas markets, then transcreation may be a
good option for your company.
(Bass, 2013)
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Make a list of the skills you think someone attempting transcreation might
need.
Comment
The following paragraph was originally part of the article you have just read.
Did you include any of the skills mentioned here in your list?
A transcreationist must have a background in marketing and/or
advertising, and must also have a deep command of the nuances of
each language that he/she works in. The transcreationist must
understand the industry of the client and be able to apply country
specific marketing tactics to their material. Transcreationists are
also highly accomplished copy writers in their native language.
Because of their unique skill-set, transcreationists can command a
higher hourly rate than translators; and generally, transcreation is
considered to be a speciality service because it requires more time
...
(Bass, 2013)
As you just saw, transcreation involves a complex range of skills. In the next
activity you will examine a few examples illustrating the specific relevance
each of these skills can have in the process of mediating culture through
transcreation.
Activity 16.8
Read through these four further examples of transcreation below. Decide
which skills and what knowledge the transcreationist needed in each case by
selecting the relevant items from the list (a–f) below. (Note that each example
of transcreation may have required more than one set of skills/knowledge.)
1
Car maker Volkswagen is using its ‘Das Auto’ line worldwide. It
highlights the fact that the cars come from Germany – a country known
for high-quality engineering.
But in Brazil the strategy has backfired.
The VW Beetle was made there for decades, and the brand was seen as
an ‘honorary Brazilian’. This was reflected in its previous slogan, ‘você
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conhece, você confia’ (‘you know, you trust’). By emphasizing its

foreign-ness, VW threw away an emotional bond built up over many
years.
By contrast, the German line was well received in Russia. Market
research is crucial!
2
Northern Ireland has a strong sectarian divide between Catholics and
Protestants that does not exist elsewhere in the UK.
In 1690, Protestant King William of Orange defeated a Catholic army.
Ever since, orange has been a symbol of Protestantism.
Mobile network Orange had great success with the tagline ‘The future’s
bright, the future’s Orange’ on the UK mainland, but this would not
have gone down well with the Catholic population in Northern Ireland.
3
When Chinese shops first imported Coca-Cola in the 1920s, they wrote
the name in Chinese characters.
Unlike our letters, Chinese characters have both a meaning and a sound.
The characters pronounced ‘Coca-Cola’ often had nonsensical meanings
like ‘mare stuffed with wax’ or ‘bite the wax tadpole’. So for its official
Chinese launch in 1928, the brand chose a different name: 可口可樂 (in
original traditional form).
The pronunciation was only slightly different (‘Kokou-Kolay’), and it
meant ‘a pleasure in the mouth’. It is a transcreation that is almost as
successful as the brand behind it.
4
Luxury French hotel brand Sofitel took a novel approach to creating a
signature for use on the French and English versions of its website.
Instead of creating one in English, and then having it transcreated into
‘A pleasure in the mouth’ French, or vice-versa, they came up with ‘Life is Magnifique’.
The dual-language line works in both France and the UK, as the word
‘magnifique’ sounds similar enough to the English word ‘magnificent’
for it to be understood by the English audience, while the word ‘life’ is
easy for French people to understand. Yet at the same time, the overall
line has a certain feel of French elegance.
(Humphrey et al., 2011)
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(a) Market awareness

(b) Linguistic knowledge
(c) Understanding of the history of the target culture
(d) Understanding of the target culture today
(e) Understanding of psychological factors
(f) Awareness of stereotypes
So far in this unit, you have learned about translation, and also transcreation,
as the transfer of meaning with the purpose of making a text accessible to a
different audience. In the next section you will now have a go at a
translation-type activity. However, you will not be translating from another
language, but from one form of English into another.
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16.4 Translating strategies

Some English texts are aimed at either a very specialist audience or they
have been written in an obscure style that follows administrative or legal
conventions. The Plain English Campaign was set up to rewrite such texts so
that they are easy to read and understand. Someone who ‘translates’ a text
into plain English has to think about how to get the message across using
clear and comprehensible language.
The Plain English campaign

The main principles of the campaign are to:
. Keep sentences short
. Use active verbs where possible
. Use ‘you’ and ‘we’
. Use words that are appropriate for the reader
. Give direct instructions where appropriate
. Avoid nominalisations (e.g. use ‘we discussed’ rather than ‘we had a
discussion about’)
. Use lists where appropriate.
The main advantages are:

. It is faster to read
. It is faster to write
. You get your message across more often, more easily and in a
friendlier way.
(Adapted from Plain English Campaign, n.d.)
Activity 16.9
The Plain English Campaign has published a list of words to avoid and
possible alternatives for these words. What might be simpler alternatives for
the words in the list below? The first five have been completed for you.
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Words to avoid
1 additional (extra)
2 advise (tell)
3 applicant (you)
4 commence (start)
5 complete (fill in)
6 consequently ( __________ )
7 ensure ( __________ )
8 in excess of ( __________ )
9 in the event of ( __________ )
10 on request ( __________ )
11 particulars ( __________ )
12 per annum ( __________ )
13 persons ( __________ )
14 prior to ( __________ )
15 purchase ( __________ )
16 regarding ( __________ )
17 should you wish ( __________ )
18 terminate ( __________ )
(Plain English Campaign, n.d.)
Activity 16.10
Now look at the three texts below and think how they could be simplified in
line with the principles of the Plain English Campaign. The first one has been
done for you, as an example.
Before and after

Here are some examples of long-winded official writing, with our
suggested improvements.
Example 1
Before
If there are any points on which you require explanation or further
particulars we shall be glad to furnish such additional details as may be
required by telephone.
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After
If you have any questions, please phone.
Example 2
Before
It is important that you shall read the notes, advice and information
detailed opposite then complete the form overleaf (all sections) prior to
its immediate return to the Council by way of the envelope provided.
After
________________________________________
Example 3
Before
Your enquiry about the use of the entrance area at the library for the
purpose of displaying posters and leaflets about Welfare and
Supplementary Benefit rights, gives rise to the question of the
provenance and authoritativeness of the material to be displayed.
Posters and leaflets issued by the Central Office of Information, the
Department of Health and Social Security and other authoritative bodies
are usually displayed in libraries, but items of a disputatious or polemic
kind, whilst not necessarily excluded, are considered individually.
After
________________________________________
(Plain English Campaign, n.d.)
Comment
As you were rewriting the text, you had to make decisions about what to
include and what not to include in the simplified version. Simplified versions
are sometimes less informative, which might be an issue in the case of a
legal dispute, for example. While it is important to avoid unnecessary jargon,
it is just as important to provide the level of detail and precision that each
situation requires.
Consider the following example, also taken from the Plain English Campaign
(n.d.) document:
Before:
High-quality learning environments are a necessary precondition for
facilitation and enhancement of the ongoing learning process.
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After:
Children need good schools if they are to learn properly.
The original version was probably written for people working in education,
while the simplified version might be aimed at parents or at the public in
general. ‘Schools’ are not the same as ‘high-quality learning environments’,
which could include facilities outside school, virtual learning environments,
the children’s home environment, etc. Furthermore, the wording ‘learn
properly’ seems to imply a quantifiable/defined type of learning that the
author (and the readers) will understand, which is a notion that educationists
would most probably find debatable. This illustrates the importance of
adapting the language you use to your target audience.
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16.5 The ethics of translating

As with most professions, translators (and interpreters) have a code of ethics
they adhere to. In the last section of this unit you will reflect on a translator’s
work ethics and on the kinds of difficult situations they might encounter
while doing their job.
Read through the general ethical principles for translators and interpreters,
which follow, and think about why each of these principles might be
important.
Code of Ethics: general principles

1 Professional conduct: Interpreters and translators act at all times in
accordance with the standards of conduct and decorum appropriate to
AUSIT: the Australian Institute the aims of AUSIT, the national professional association of interpreting
of Interpreters and Translators and translation practitioners.
2 Confidentiality: Interpreters and translators maintain confidentiality
and do not disclose information acquired in the course of their work.
3 Competence: Interpreters and translators only undertake work they
are competent to perform in the languages for which they are
professionally qualified through training and credentials.
4 Impartiality: Interpreters and translators observe impartiality in all

professional contacts. Interpreters remain unbiased throughout the
communication exchanged between the participants in any interpreted
encounter. Translators do not show bias towards either the author of the
source text or the intended readers of their translation.
5 Accuracy: Interpreters and translators use their best professional
judgement in remaining faithful at all times to the meaning of texts and
messages.
6 Clarity of role boundaries: Interpreters and translators maintain
clear boundaries between their task as facilitators of communication
through message transfer and any tasks that may be undertaken by other
parties involved in the assignment.
7 Maintaining professional relationships: Interpreters and translators
are responsible for the quality of their work, whether as employees,
freelance practitioners or contractors with interpreting and translation
agencies. They always endeavour to secure satisfactory working
conditions for the performance of their duties, including physical
facilities, appropriate briefing, a clear commission, and clear conduct
protocols where needed in specific institutional settings. They ensure
that they have allocated adequate time to complete their work; they
foster a mutually respectful business relationship with the people with
whom they work and encourage them to become familiar with the
interpreter or translator role.
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8 Professional development: Interpreters and translators continue to

develop their professional knowledge and skills.
9 Professional solidarity: Interpreters and translators respect and
support their fellow professionals, and they uphold the reputation and
trustworthiness of the profession of interpreting and translating.
(AUSIT, 2012)
Active reading: using headings

In order to understand a text, readers need to engage with its meaning.
Reading is an active process: the more attention you give to it as a task,
the better you will understand the information being processed.
When reading challenging material in any language, headings and
subheadings are useful signposts to meaning. Look at the text’s heading
first and try to guess what its content might be. Then look at any
subheadings, and see whether they confirm your initial ideas:
subheadings should provide a lot of pointers about what kind of detail to
expect. Your expectations, in turn, give you the motivation to read on,
to find out if you were right, and help you to understand what you read
as you combine new information with your own previous ideas.
If there are no subheadings, a good active reading strategy is to try to
think of a subheading for each paragraph yourself and make a note of it.
This ensures that you understood the main message of each paragraph
and will help you to remember what you read at a later stage.
Activity 16.11
Identify which of the principles presented above are mentioned in the
following article. Read the headings first, then read the full text.
Translation ethics: moral issues in the translation

business
Introduction
Translators, like the members of any other professional group, are likely
to encounter a variety of ethical issues in the practice of their
profession. In some countries, codes of conduct exist that set out
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guidelines on issues such as quality guarantees, impartiality,

independence and secrecy. In addition to highlighting a few technical
issues such as reliability and errors, in this article we will focus on
specific moral dilemmas that frequently occur in the translation process.
Some of those issues are minor, for example when the translator decides
to use a term that does not quite cover the source but adds to the
quality of the target text. An example of a major ethical issue would be
whether or not to do a translation that might be used for illegal
purposes.
Stylistic authenticity vs doing justice to the source text
Clients rely on the translator to provide a translation that does full
justice to the source text. This means that the translation should cover
every aspect and connotation in the source, and should not add any
material or connotations extraneous to that source, nor hints of the
translator’s personal opinion with respect to the subject matter. Clients
that are particularly keen on ensuring that this practice is adhered to
will ask for a sworn translation, but most professionals would agree that
the general principles underlying sworn translations also apply to
translation in general, and should be used accordingly. This is easier
said than done, however. While it is true that translations should be
reliable and undistorted reflections of the source in a different language,
clients will also expect an attractive text that is pleasant to read and
effective in achieving its purpose. It is impossible to simply convert the
content of the source text into the target language: the requirements of
register, stylistic authenticity and readability inevitably entail some
degree of modification of the original.
Competence
Having said that, there is general consensus that clients can rightfully
expect a translator to possess professional skills, which entails that the
translator should not accept a translation job if he feels incapable of
providing a high-quality text, for instance because the subject matter is
not within his field of expertise.
Problems with the source text
Another interesting issue is that of errors in the source text. The
requirement of faithfulness dictates that any errors found should simply
be copied into the translation, but this obviously clashes with every
serious translator’s common sense and desire to produce a text that is
free from error and, if at all possible, even better than the original.
Sometimes a translator might even feel the urge to protect the author’s
reputation if he suspects that the content or tone of voice of the source
text would open its author to ridicule. One example is that of a CEO
whose deputy speechwriter had come up with a New Year’s speech in a
raving populist style. The translator in this case had decided to
somewhat neutralise the invective, while of course pointing out to the
142
client that he had taken liberties with the text in order to adapt it to the
tastes of the target audience.
The obvious strategy in these cases is to highlight errors or problems
and ask the client to reconsider his text, and while many clients will
indeed appreciate such perspicacity, others will condemn the translator
for being pedantic. Clearly there is no ideal remedy.
Personal beliefs
These, however, are all technical issues. The real dilemmas are found at
a different level, for example when a professional is asked to do a
translation of a text whose contents clash with his or her personal moral
beliefs. One example from professional practice is that of a website for
a women’s rights organisation, which several Arab translators refused to
translate because one section concerned women’s sexual freedom and
the rights of lesbians. While the obvious – and only acceptable –
response to such refusal is to respect it, this issue does raise interesting
questions about the translator’s relation to the text he translates and the
extent of his responsibility for its contents, or his complicity with its
objective. The latter would apply, for example, to a person agreeing to
translate the election manifesto of a political party whose views he does
not subscribe to. In some jurisdictions, a translator working on the
translation of a ‘hate speech’ might even be committing a criminal
offence. Generally speaking, however, decisions in this category very
much depend on the translator’s personal orthodoxy. People who depend
on translation for their livelihood can be expected to be slightly more
liberal-minded than those who can afford to refuse unsavoury orders
thanks to alternative sources of income.
Source texts with criminal intent
There is also a category of texts which, at first sight, appear to be
positively illegal. If a translator agreed to translate bomb-making
instructions, would he be responsible for attacks committed with the
bombs produced with the help of such instructions? He certainly would,
in our view, if he did not take the trouble of finding out who needed the
translation, and for what purpose it was required. If the nature of the
client were sufficiently obscure to raise even the slightest concern, no
translator in his right mind would accept such an order. However, if the
translation was commissioned by a government authority as part of
efforts to study terrorists’ practices, the translator might actually
contribute to a good cause by translating even the most reprehensible
texts.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is clear that translators, in addition to grappling with the
technical content of source texts, may be up to some morally
143
challenging tasks as well. While guidelines and codes of conduct exist

to help translators formulate their stance in general ethical issues, in
many cases the approach to practical moral dilemmas in translation will
be a matter of personal consideration and assessment, aided by the
translator’s knowledge of the client.
(Simons, 2010)
Comment
The introduction touches on issues to do with competence and accuracy
(quality), and also mentions confidentiality and impartiality.
The main body of the text deals with issues of accuracy, competence and to
some extent impartiality and clarity of role boundaries.
Activity 16.12
To finish this unit, you will now read two examples illustrating ethical
decisions that translators may have to make, taken from a test for
professional translators in Australia. Then answer the questions below
For Paraprofessional and Professional Translator tests

Example One
You have translated a business document for a company managed by a
person whose native language is not English. You complete the
translation but the client sends it back with numerous changes
requested. The changes reflect the manager’s house style preferences but
change the semantic nature of the English original and affect the
accuracy of the translation. What would you do and why?
Example Two
Your uncle has had his will drafted, signed and witnessed in English.
The will refers to property that exists in another country where English
is not an official language. Your uncle requests that you, an accredited
translator, translate the will into the official language so it will be
available when the time comes to deal with the authorities. What should
you do and why?
(National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd, 2013)
144
1 Decide which principle is in question in each case.

2 If you were a professional translator presented with these situations, what
should you do?
Comment
Here are the example answers taken from the original document.
1 The principle involved is Accuracy, which indicates that translators

use their best judgements in remaining faithful at all times to the
meaning of the text. This means optimal and complete message
transfer into the target language, preserving content and intent of the
source text without omission or distortion. Accuracy is always of
primary concern and translations should reflect the original
document’s content and register accurately and faithfully. Any
changes resulting in a different meaning, when compared to the
English original, are unacceptable. I would contact the client and
advise him/her that I can not make the requested changes. If the
client insists, I would ask the client to rewrite the English original in
that house style and I could then do the translation from the revised
original document. A translator should not be involved in producing
a document that does not accurately reflect the meaning of the
original document.
2 The principles involved are Impartiality and Professional Conduct.
That is translators frankly disclose all conflicts of interest, e.g. in
assignments for relatives or friends and those affecting their
employers, and translators maintain their integrity and independence
at all times I would have to decline the request as there might be a
real or perceived conflict of interest, given the document is for a
relative. As the request relates to a legal document, I would not want
to risk having my translation not accepted when presented. I would
explain my reasoning to my uncle. If I did translate the document, I
would ensure that as part of certifying the document I declared my
relationship with the document owner.
(National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd, 2013)
145
Conclusion
In this unit you have looked in some detail at what exactly it is that a
professional translator does, and at the kinds of knowledge and skills they
need. These include not just competence in two or more languages but also
an in-depth understanding of how languages work, familiarity with the
relevant cultures and excellent writing skills. You will often need expert
knowledge of specific subject areas or the research skills to acquire that
knowledge. Work-related skills, such as the ability to keep to tight deadlines
and to adhere to ethical principles, are also important. Some professionals
translate and also interpret, but many stick to just one of the two disciplines.
In the next unit you will find out more about how the work of an interpreter
and the process of interpreting are similar but also very different from
translation.
146
Answers
Activity 16.1
1 You would expect to find all of these signs in public parks, except for (c),
which would be more likely to be found in a restaurant.
2 The signs are aimed at visitors who do not read the local language. Their
meanings are as follows:
(a) asks visitors not to frighten the wild sheep
(b) asks people not to step on the grass
(c) informs visitors about a dish on the menu
(d) tells people to look out for the less obvious fauna
3 The translators were presumably not native English speakers.
4 In examples (a) and (c) the translator selected the wrong words. In the
case of (d) a number of problems, including an incorrect use of syntax,
created a nonsensical meaning. As for example (b), the sign was
translated in a way that does not adhere to the conventions of the target
language. In English-speaking countries a much more directive style
would be used (e.g. ‘Please keep off the grass’). In all these examples the
translators in question were clearly not aware of the comic effect they
created.
Activity 16.3
(a) 5; (b) 4; (c) 7; (d) 6; (e) 1; (f) 2; (g) 3; (h) 8
Activity 16.4
1 (a); 2 (c); 3 (d); 4 (b); 5 (f); 6 (e)
Activity 16.8
1 (a), (e) and, to a limited extent, (c) and (d). The transcreationist would
have needed more market awareness, including some understanding of the
trade history of Volkswagen in Brazil as well an understanding of
psychological factors governing trust in a product.
2 (c) and (d). A knowledge of the sectarian nature of Northern-Irish society
and the history of Ireland was needed to avoid a marketing disaster.
3 (b) Linguistic knowledge, including knowledge of phonology and the
correlation between the written sign and its sound in Chinese, was needed
to come up with this solution.
147
4 (f), and also (b) and (d). The campaign was built on stereotypical views of
the French as particularly elegant. The creator of this campaign also
needed the cultural and linguistic knowledge to judge whether the code
switching in the slogan was easy to understand and would be received
positively in both France and Britain.
Activity 16.9
Here are the words suggested by the Plain English campaign (n.d.):
6 consequently (so)
7 ensure (make sure)
8 in excess of (more than)
9 in the event of (if)
10 on request (if you ask)
11 particulars (details)
12 per annum (a year)
13 persons (people)
14 prior to (before)
15 purchase (buy)
16 regarding (about)
17 should you wish (if you want)
18 terminate (end)
Activity 16.10
Here are the simplified versions as suggested by the Plain English Campaign
(n.d.):
2 Please read the notes opposite before you fill in the form. Then send it
back to us as soon as possible in the envelope provided.
3 Thank you for your letter asking for permission to put up posters in the
library. Before we can give you an answer we will need to see a copy of
the posters to make sure they won’t offend anyone.
148
References
AUSIT (2012) AUSIT Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct [Online]. Available at
http://ausit.org/AUSIT/Documents/Code_of_Ethics_Full.pdf (Accessed 13
October 2014).
Baker, M. (2011) In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation, 2nd edn, Abingdon,
Routledge.
Barinas (n.d.a) ‘How to set requirements for translations’ [Online]. Available at
www.barinas.com/guide_buying_translations.htm (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Barinas (n.d.b) ‘How to obtain effective feedback on translations & interpretation’
[Online]. Available at www.barinas.com/feedback.htm (Accessed 22
September 2014).
Bass, S. (2013) ‘Transcreation for marketing: why you need it more than
translation!’, ALT TranslationWireBlog, 14 August [Blog]. Available at http://blog.
advancedlanguage.com/blog/bid/331074/Transcreation-for-Marketing-Why-you-need
it-more-than-translation (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Bellos, D. (2011) Is That a Fish in Your Ear? , London, Penguin.
Grimm, J. and Grimm, W. (2008) The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grimms’ Fairy
Tales [Online]. Available at www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-h/2591-h.htm
(Accessed 13 October 2014).
Grimmstories.com (n.d.a) The Bremen Town Musicians [Online]. Available at www.
grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_bremen_town_musicians (Accessed 13
October 2014).
Grimmstories.com (n.d.b) Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten [Online]. Available at www.
grimmstories.com/de/grimm_maerchen/die_bremer_stadtmusikanten (Accessed 13
October 2014).
Hahn, D. (2007) ‘¿Hagrid, qué es el quidditch?’, Guardian, 27 January [Online].
Available at www.theguardian.com/books/2007/jan/27/featuresreviews.
guardianreview17 (Accessed 1 May 2014).
Humphrey, L., Somers, A., Bradley, J. and Gilpin, G. (2011) The Little Book of
Transcreation, London, Mother Tongue Ltd [Online]. Available at www.
mothertongue.com/gb/services/transcreation/definition (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Ingram, D. (2008) ‘Chapter 13: Language and style – translation’, The News Manual
[Online]. Available at www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%201/
volume1_13.htm (Accessed 13 October 2014).
Kwintessential (2013) ‘Types of Translation’, Kwintessential: The Translation
Company [Online]. Available at www.kwintessential.co.uk/translation/articles/types.
html (Accessed 11 October 2014).
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters Ltd (2013) Ethics of
Interpreting and Translating [Online]. Available at www.naati.com.au/PDF/Booklets/
Ethics_Booklet.pdf (Accessed 13 October 2014).
Norquist, R. (n.d.) ‘Pragmatics (language)’, About.com [Online]. Available at http://
grammar.about.com/od/pq/g/pragmaticsterm.htm (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Oxford University Press (1989) Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edn, Oxford,
OxfordUniversity Press [Online]. Available at www.oed.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/
oed2/00256327 (Accessed 20 June 2014).
Oxford University Press (2014) Oxford Dictionaries [Online]. Available at www.
oxforddictionaries.com (Accessed 22 September 2014).
149
Plain English Campaign (n.d.) ‘How to write in plain English’ [Online]. Available at
www.plainenglish.co.uk/files/howto.pdf (Accessed 13 October 2014).
Simons, F. (2010) ‘Translation ethics: moral issues in the translation business’,
Articlesbase [Online]. Available at www.articlesbase.com/ethics-articles/translation

ethics-moral-issues-in-the-translation-business-1698911.html (Accessed 22
September 2014).
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Introduction
While Unit 16 concentrated on translation, this unit focuses on its spoken
counterpart, interpreting, which involves translating orally or into sign
language the utterances of someone speaking another language. In both
translating and interpreting, the driving purpose is mediation between
different languages and cultures, and indeed there are many similarities
between the two activities. For that reason, the structure of this unit is quite
similar to the structure of Unit 16. You will begin by comparing the principal
similarities and differences between translating and interpreting, and will then
learn about different modes of interpreting, such as simultaneous, consecutive
and liaison interpreting. After that, you will explore how the role of the
interpreter varies according to the settings in which interpreting is used and
the people involved.
Interpreting at a major conference is very different from interpreting in a
hospital, a courtroom, or a business meeting. Each of these domains involves
specialist skills and you will look at what the differences between conference,
community and court interpreting mean in practical terms.
Just like translation, interpreting requires a wide variety of skills, ranging
from note-taking to public speaking, memorising, teamwork and research
skills.
Mediation between different language speakers is as old as language
differences themselves, but it only really started to be regarded as a
profession in the twentieth century, especially after simultaneous interpreting
was extensively used at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials, following the end
of the Second World War. Since then, the standards of training and good
practice have become more established, and interpreting is now highly
professionalised. In the final section of this unit you will learn about current
codes of practice, the ethical principles that interpreters need to comply with,
and the moral dilemmas they occasionally face.
Learning outcomes
. understand the differences between translation and interpreting
. be familiar with several modes of interpreting and the challenges they
may present
. be familiar with the different settings in which interpreting is used
. understand what constitutes good practice in interpreting
. be aware of the knowledge and skills required to be an interpreter.
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17.1 Translating and interpreting

The main difference between translating and interpreting is that translation
uses the written language whereas interpreting uses the spoken language.
While both share many common features, the fact that they use different
channels (visual versus auditory) results in some important differences.
Glossary
Channel: the mode of transmission – visual, auditory or tactile –
through which a message is communicated. Different media may belong
to the same channel. For example, the books in this series are available
in different media (print or ebook), but in both cases information is
conveyed through the visual channel.
Visual: concerned with seeing. Writing, reading and sign language all
use a visual channel.
Auditory: concerned with hearing. Speaking and listening both use an
auditory channel.
Tactile: concerned with touch. The Braille system uses a tactile channel
to enable blind and partially sighted people to read and write.
Before we look at different types of interpreting it is important to understand

the similarities and differences between translation and interpreting.
Activity 17.1
In Unit 16 you learned about translation as a product, and the processes,
clients and providers involved in producing it. What similarities do you think
there might be between translating and interpreting? Make notes on the
following:
1 The purpose of the translation and interpreting
2 The types of language involved
3 Whether language is the only thing to be mediated or if cultural
assumptions, norms, behaviours, etc. are also relevant
4 The providers of interpreting and translation services
5 The ideal ‘presence’ of the translator/interpreter (i.e. should they be
invisible or not?)
Comment
You might have mentioned some of the following similarities between
translating and interpreting:
1 The purpose of both activities is mediation between speakers of different

languages.
152
2 The language involved may be general, involving commonly understood

lexis, or highly specialised, using technical or very specific terminology. lexis: the vocabulary of a
language
3 In addition to the language itself, the two activities may also require a
degree of cultural mediation (think about what you learned concerning
‘transcreation’ in Unit 16).
4 Non-professional interpreters and translators are often used as and when
the need arises, especially in informal situations. However, translation and
interpreting are both well-established professions and there is a wide
range of freelance and corporate providers of interpreting and translation
services.
5 The translator/interpreter should normally aim to be an ‘invisible link’
between the two parties, following a strict ethical code of impartiality.
However, in a creative context, such as translating fiction, translators may
be more visible as they add their own layer to the work.
Insofar as translation means turning a message from one language into

another, translating and interpreting can both be defined as types of
translation. However, there are also some differences between the two
modalities. While a translator may occasionally act as an interpreter and vice
versa, these are two distinct professions with very different demands.
Activity 17.2
The following extract is a personal account by Sarah Halys, a professional
translator, where she describes her experiences the first time she was asked to
step out of her specialist area and do an interpreting job.
Step A
Read the text. How does what she says modify your understanding of the
difference between translation and interpreting (interpretation)?
On translation vs interpretation
Many people don’t realize there’s a difference between ‘translation’ and
‘interpretation’. Even people who work with translators all the time will
sometimes ask us, ‘Can you translate at a meeting I’m holding?’ And
I’m sure interpreters frequently get handed documents and asked to
translate them. Perhaps it’s easier to go from interpretation to
translation; I wouldn’t know and wouldn’t like to assume. However, as
a professional translator I can definitely say that interpretation is so
unlike translation as to be an entirely different proposition and much
more difficult for me.
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So what is the difference between ‘translation’ and ‘interpretation’?

‘Translation’ refers to the translation from one language to another of
something which is frozen in time: a book, a TV show, a letter, a play,
a speech someone has already delivered which is recorded and then
given to the translator in its entirety. ‘Interpretation’ is a real-time
exercise – when you interpret, conversation, speech, etc. is actually
taking place, and as it happens you are taking what is said in Language
A and communicating it in Language B. It may be that you are
interpreting at the same time as others are speaking, or it may be that
you wait until the end of a chunk of speech and then interpret it into
another language while the speaker pauses to wait for you.
Although many people seem to regard ‘translation’ and ‘interpretation’
as the same or at least activities that the same person would do, and
although there are people who do both translate and interpret, the two
are radically different both experientially and practically.
Just recently I had my first interpretation gig. I had the honor of
interpreting at two Question & Answer panels and two autograph
sessions for Mr Yoshitaka Amano at Oni-Con* 2006 in Houston, Texas.
I think a large part of the reason why I was approached about the job
(about 48 hours before the con[vention] began) was that assumption so
many people have that translators interpret and vice versa. However, I
took the job and am glad I did so; it was fascinating. ...
*A Japanese pop culture convention.
(Halys, 2013)
Comment
The main way in which Halys modifies our understanding of the differences
between translation and interpreting is that she sees the former as working
with material that is fixed and ‘frozen in time’ and the latter as taking place
in ‘real time’. So, the language in a film, despite being spoken, would be
translated rather than interpreted into another language, because the translator
is able to view and review the language used rather than having to interpret it
as it is uttered.
Step B
Complete the following table, summarising the main differences between
translation and interpreting. The first row has been completed for you.
If you cannot fill in all of the table, look up the answers in the Answer
section at the end of the unit before reading the comment below.
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Translation Interpreting
What channel is used? Visual (the written Auditory (the spoken
word) word)
What is the time span?
Is there an opportunity to
correct?
How high are the expectations
with regard to accuracy?
What skills are specific to this
form of mediation?
What is the typical working
environment?
Comment
Translators normally work by themselves with a text that is fixed and
complete. They can think at length about language choices, look things up,
take breaks and revise what they have written. Interpretation, on the other
hand, generally takes place in a group of people and the interpreter must
interact with these people in real time. This means that whereas a translation
can be fine-tuned, the instant turnaround required of an interpreter means that
they must go straight to the core meaning of the language to be mediated.
While a translator must be good at writing, possibly in different specific
styles, an interpreter must have the ability to speak to people, perhaps from
different backgrounds and in different settings. Interpretation may also
involve speaking in multiple languages – in other words, within one
conversation a Spanish/English interpreter may have to switch between
interpreting Spanish-to-English to Person A and English-to-Spanish to Person
Interpreting involves spoken
B. Some translators may also work in both directions but this is highly
language, translation involves
unusual. Interpretation also poses particular challenges for the concentration, written language
memory and note-taking skills of the interpreter. In simultaneous
interpretation they must listen and speak at the same time; in consecutive
interpretation, the statement to be interpreted may be long and complex
before there is a break to repeat it in the target language. You will learn more
about these two kinds of interpreting in the next section.
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17.2 Methods of interpreting

Interpreting can itself take many forms, depending on the languages that need
to be translated into and from, the number of speakers and listeners involved,
the facilities available, the formality of the occasion, and so on.
In simultaneous interpreting, the interpreter delivers the message in the target
language while the speaker continues to speak in the source language without
stopping. (You were introduced to these terms in Unit 16.) The simultaneous
interpreter usually works in a sound-proofed booth, listening to the speaker
through headphones and conveying what is said into the target language
through a microphone into the headphones of the listeners. In consecutive
interpreting, the interpreter speaks after the speaker finishes or pauses their
speech. The consecutive interpreter generally sits next to the speaker and
takes notes to aid their memory of what has been said. Whispered
interpreting is essentially simultaneous interpreting but with the interpreter
speaking softly into the ear of a listener rather than working in a separate
booth with a headset. For practical reasons, whispered interpreting is usually
only used in one-to-one meetings.
Consecutive interpreting
When there are a large number of source and target languages involved (for
example, in major international conferences), it may not be possible to find
interpreters for all possible language combinations. In such cases a method
known as relay interpreting may be used. It consists of getting an interpreter
competent in the relevant source language to interpret into a language
common to all of the other interpreters present, so that each of them can then
render the message into their own target language. For example, a message in
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Swahili might first be rendered into English and then into a number of other
target languages.
In conversational situations, a single interpreter may be used as the only
mediator through the entire conversation, alternating languages as different
speakers take their turn. This is known as liaison interpreting. It is a highly
demanding modality due to the constant language switches involved.
Sight interpreting is a peculiar mixture of interpreting and translation, where
the interpreter relays in speech the content of a written document to one or
more listeners. It is sometimes used in legal or medical contexts, where
previously unseen documents may become available during the proceedings.
Remote interpreting, where the interpreter is not physically present in the
same location as the speakers and listeners, has become another option since
the arrival of technological advances, such as video conferencing. This is
especially useful when an interpreter is needed at short notice and/or there
are few local interpreters available.
Glossary Remote interpreting: breaking

down geographical boundaries
Simultaneous interpreting: a method of interpreting where the
interpreter relays the message without the speaker stopping speaking.
Consecutive interpreting: a method of interpreting where the speaker
stops speaking to allow the interpreter to relay the message in part or in
full.
Whispered interpreting: a form of simultaneous interpreting where
interpreters whisper into the ear of the listeners instead of using
interpreting equipment.
Relay interpreting: the relaying of a message from a particular source
language into a language common to all interpreters, who then render
the content into their own target language.
Liaison interpreting: interpreting where a single interpreter renders
both sides of a two-way conversation, switching language as speakers
take their turns.
Sight interpreting: a method of interpreting where a written text in the
source language is rendered orally into the target language.
Remote interpreting: interpreting performed at a distance, when
participants are in different physical locations.
As you can see, there are a number of different forms of interpreting, but the
mechanics are only one of the elements that differentiate one form from
another. To gain a better understanding of interpreting professions, it is
essential to consider the social contexts in which interpreting is performed.
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17.3 The contexts of interpreting

Interpreting may be used in any situation where people who do not speak
each other’s language need to communicate with each other. Such situations
are a common occurrence in a variety of social contexts. Some of these
contexts involve very specific communication needs and constraints, therefore
a variety of specialist areas have emerged in the interpreting profession. This
section focuses on community, conference, business and court interpreting.
Community interpreting
In the following article, which was published on the AIIC (International
Association of Conference Interpreters) website, AIIC member Margareta
Bowen explains what community interpreting is. The article describes and
identifies some of the challenges that face community interpreters. As you
read it you will also practise a reading strategy that can be very useful when
reading texts where abstract concepts are mentioned or where the meanings
of some expressions or phrases are not immediately clear.
Active reading: understanding abstract expressions

Academic texts, reports and other written sources may often include a
high proportion of abstract expressions that can make them hard to
understand. Other expressions or phrases may cause difficulties, not
because they contain abstract words, but because they refer to facts or
ideas that are not explicitly mentioned within the text itself.
When this happens, the following strategy should help you to make
sense of the text you are reading.
. First identify those expressions whose meaning is not immediately
obvious to you.
. Then look at each expression and see if you can identify its meaning
from its component parts such as its prefixes and suffixes (see
Unit 5).
. If you are having difficulty with an abstract expression, think about
the meaning of each of the words that make up the phrase. If
necessary, use a dictionary to clarify their meaning. Once you have
confirmed the meaning of the individual words, look at the rest of
the sentence to see how this meaning fits into the general point being
made.
. If you are having difficulty with the meaning of a phrase, look at the
general thrust of the argument and see if this helps you to uncover
what it is trying to say.
This strategy can be summed up into three basic steps:
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1 Identify key expressions/phrases.

2 Divide the word or expression into its component parts.
3 Relate this meaning to the overall meaning of the text.
By giving yourself time to stop and think in this way, you will probably
find that you can actually understand many texts that looked difficult at
first.
Activity 17.3
Read Bowen’s article about community interpreting and look at the
expressions shown in bold (the superscript numbers refer to footnotes in the
original paper: in scientific papers footnotes are often used to give the full
details of the sources used). Then complete the tasks below.
Community interpreting
‘The community interpreter has a very different role and responsibilities
from a commercial or conference interpreter. She is responsible for
enabling professional and client, with very different backgrounds and
perceptions and in an unequal relationship of power and knowledge,
to communicate to their mutual satisfaction.’1
This definition still applies today. The clients it refers to are mainly
immigrants, refugees of all age groups, migrant workers and their
children. Even if they have been living in their host country for years,
their community, like New York’s ‘Little Italy’ or the Polish area of
Chicago, has protected them from the need to learn English until they
need social security or health care. The settings are hospitals and
doctors’ offices, schools, the various offices dealing with immigrant
matters, housing and social security, and police stations. Compared to
conference interpreting, the range of languages needed is enormous,
even when compared to what is in store for the European Union.
Moreover, the language level may be quite different from that of a
diplomatic conference: regional variations and dialects can be a
problem. Previously, the difficulties of dealing with this population have
only been described by psychologists in the literature on the questioning
of suspects or victims of accidents. The clients are worried, afraid, and
sometimes illiterate. They find themselves in strange surroundings. Add
to these difficulties the fact that the professionals – the doctors, nurses,
police officers, social workers etc. – are usually in a hurry. They have a
1
Shackman, J. (1984) The Right to be Understood: A Handbook on Working With, Employing
and Training Community Interpreters, Cambridge, National Extension College.
159
given case load to take care of and are disinclined to let the interpreter
do ‘a beautiful consecutive’ [two-way interpretation]. In a nutshell,
community interpreters need people skills as well as language and
cultural knowledge – and interpreting know-how.
Some languages dominate: Spanish in the US, Turkish in Germany and
Austria, Italian and Greek in Australia. But the Health Care Interpreting
Services office of the Heartland Alliance in Chicago at present has
demand for 28 languages. It is also obvious that it is not only the
clients of community interpreters who are usually immigrants, but that
the interpreters themselves are foreign-born. Their backgrounds vary
accordingly. Hardly any of these interpreters have proper training in
interpretation. Even where some efforts in this direction are made, the
most common length of training is 40 hours.2 ‘Most interpretation in
health care settings, unfortunately, is still provided by a variety of
other people who have been neither screened, nor trained, and who do
not self-identify as being interpreters.’3
(Bowen, 2000)
Interpreting at the doctor’s

Explain what the author means by each of the terms in bold. Use your own
words and concentrate on the points she’s making rather than the words she
uses to make them. For example, to explain the expression ‘a variety of other
people’ you may want to think of examples of the kind of people this could
be referring to.
Comment
There may be an unequal relationship of power and knowledge in the
sense that the professional is likely to be a person familiar with the context
and the language used in the situation, for example, a national or local
2
(Cynthia E. Roat, ATA Chronicle, March 2000)
3
Ibid.
160
government official, a doctor or a (head) teacher. The client may be a recent

immigrant, a refugee or a migrant worker and therefore unfamiliar with the
functioning of the agency in question or local cultural norms. In addition,
they will possibly be in difficulty, ill or worried. The professional has the
power to take decisions which will affect the life of the client.
Regional variations and dialects may be an issue insofar as the interpreter
may speak a different language variety or dialect to the client even though
they share the same language. This is particularly likely where the language
in question is not well-represented in an area and there is a shortage of
interpreters. This may cause difficulties in terms of vocabulary and
pronunciation in both directions of the mediation.
The variety of other people interpreting in health-care settings is likely to
include relatives, friends or neighbours of the client or possibly members of
staff within the professional agency who have ‘some knowledge’ of the
client’s language. These people will be untrained in interpreting and may
themselves be unfamiliar with the functioning of the agency, the specialist
language it uses and/or the client’s specific situation and requirements. When
the interpreter is a relative, there may also be a conflict of interest between
the two roles. For example, a child acting as interpreter for their parents at
school may omit to translate their teacher’s comment about poor attendance.
Conference interpreting
International conferences take place in many contexts. They may involve
governmental or non-governmental organisations, have a political, economic,
social or academic focus, and are attended by people from different linguistic
backgrounds and cultures. It is the job of an interpreter to enable conference
participants to communicate with each other, not by translating every word
they utter, but by conveying the ideas that they express. The interpreter
renders a message from one language into another, adopting the tone and
convictions of the speaker and speaking in the first person. Conference
interpreting may be either simultaneous or consecutive, depending on the
nature of the event, and many conferences also provide interpreting into sign
language.
The expression ‘language regime’ is used to describe the range of source and
target languages from and into which interpretation takes place at a
conference. In the context of the European Union (EU), at the time of
writing, the EU has 24 official languages. At some EU conferences all of
these languages are interpreted into all of the other languages, thereby
guaranteeing the right of delegates to speak in their own language and to hear
the speeches of other delegates interpreted into their own language. Such a
regime is called ‘complete’ and ‘symmetric’. At other meetings there is a
‘reduced’ regime, that is to say interpretation may only take place between a
certain number of the official languages, for example, English, French,
German, Greek, Italian and Spanish, thereby limiting the choice of languages
in which delegates can speak and listen. In an ‘asymmetric’ regime,
participants can speak more languages than they can listen to. For instance, a
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‘15-3’ regime means delegates may speak in 15 of the official languages, but
interpretation is only provided into three languages, for example, English,
French and German.
Conference interpreting
Whatever the language regime of an international conference, the interpreters
will each have their ‘active’ and ‘passive’ languages. (An active language is
a language the interpreter speaks that delegates can listen to; a passive
language is a language the interpreter understands that is spoken by the
delegates.) The expression ‘language combination’ refers to the number of
languages an interpreter works into and from, in other words, the
combination of their active and passive languages. In most cases, interpreters
work from their passive languages into their mother tongue, although some
interpreters have such a good command of a second language that they also
interpret into that language.
Glossary
Language regime: the range of languages which are interpreted from
and into at a multilingual conference.
Active language: a language that an interpreter speaks competently
enough to interpret into.
Passive language: a language that an interpreter understands and is able
to interpret from, but not necessarily into.
Language combination: the combination of active and passive
languages that an interpreter is able to work with.
Business interpreting
Business interpreting may occur at large conferences but it can also take
place on a much smaller scale in more customised settings. The modalities
involved will therefore be determined by the purpose of the meeting and by
162
the people present. The choice between simultaneous and consecutive

interpreting, and the use of processes such as whispering, sight and remote
interpreting will depend on the specific situation. It is likely that the
interpreter will need to translate from and into both languages. A meeting
between two senior managers will have very different interpreting
requirements to a training session for technicians from an overseas branch of
a company. In the first case, interpretation could be simultaneous (whispered)
or consecutive, there may be documents to interpret and the meeting could
take place face-to-face or at a distance (remote interpreting). In the second
case, the emphasis is on the communication of information from trainer to
trainees, which will probably be consecutive, but the interpreter may also
have to ask questions or request clarifications on behalf of the trainees. In
both cases, thorough preparation will be essential for the interpreter, not only
in terms of specialised vocabulary but also in terms of the background to the
meetings and the cultural norms of the participants.
Court interpreting
Under the legal system of England and Wales, everyone should have equal
access to justice. (This is, of course, also true of Scotland and Northern
Ireland, but since they have distinct legal systems, the following examples
refer only to England and Wales.) Access to an interpreting service is
therefore necessary to ensure fairness and equality where a defendant, litigant
or witness cannot speak or understand English or is subject to another
linguistic challenge such as deafness or hearing impairment. But who should
be responsible for providing this service and who should pay for it?
Activity 17.4
Consider the following scenarios. Under the current laws of England and
Wales, what are these people entitled to in each of these situations?
How consistent and fair do you think such laws are?
1 A D/deaf person wishes a friend or relative who is not a qualified
interpreter to interpret for them in court.
2 A defendant who cannot understand or speak English very well has been
charged with a serious offence. They demand that the court provide and
pay for an interpreter.
3 A defendant who cannot understand or speak English very well has been
charged with a minor offence. They demand that the court provide and
4 A bilingual speaker of Welsh and English wishes to speak Welsh in court.
They demand that the court provide an interpreter for non-Welsh speakers.
Comment
The answer here details the situation under the legal system of England and
Wales at the time of writing. Whether you agree that this is fair and
163
appropriate will obviously depend on your personal point of view. You may
feel that in Scenario 1 the judge might not be qualified to make this decision
of linguistic competence, and that in Scenario 3 the principle of equality
before the law is compromised because access to a qualified interpreter
depends on the defendant’s family situation.
You might have noticed from personal experience or from watching

courtroom dramas on television, for example, that the behaviour of witnesses
may affect their credibility in the eyes of the jury, and this also extends to
their language. Where a testimony is mediated by an interpreter, this could
have potentially serious consequences for fairness and equality. In a research
paper published in 1996, Gibbons and Grabau considered how the conduct of
a court interpreter might influence the legal process. As might be expected of
a legal journal, the language is quite complex.
Coloring the interpretation

Legal literature is replete with instances in which a misinterpretation
affected the substantive rights of parties, and linguists have discovered
what attorneys [lawyers] naturally know – that the manner and
Court interpreting poses demeanor of a witness affects credibility. For example, a defendant
particular challenges testifying using complete sentences is more likely to be acquitted than a
defendant testifying in sentence fragments. However, many judges and
attorneys are not aware of the impact that even minor alterations by an
interpreter may have on a juror. Even minor differences such as dialect,
accent, voice quality, and linguistic fluency are related to how a listener
views the speaker’s trustworthiness, ‘likability’, and benevolence.
Accordingly, interpreters may subtly, even unconsciously, affect the
outcome of the proceedings through their interpretation strategy. This
section discusses six ways a court interpreter may ‘color’ the
interpretation and affect how a juror evaluates a witness or attorney in
four areas: convincingness, competence, intelligence, and
trustworthiness. These four areas are essential in making a credibility
determination.
(Adapted from Gibbons and Grabau, 1996)
Gibbons and Grabau based their discussion on an experiment investigating

how the English-language interpretation of testimonies given in Spanish
influenced the perception of the credibility of witnesses in the eyes of mock
jurors. Interpreters will often use a polite form of address even if such was
not used in the original. An example of this is the witness saying ‘No’, and
the interpreter saying ‘No, Sir’. Research suggested that jurors viewed
witnesses who used terms like ‘Sir’, ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Miss’ more favourably.
Other interpreters rendered the Spanish testimony of witnesses into a more
formal style of English than was the case in the original Spanish. These
164
witnesses were evaluated more favourably than those whose testimony was
interpreted in a less formal style. On the other hand, witnesses whose
testimony was interpreted in the passive voice were generally evaluated as
less intelligent or trustworthy than those whose utterances in Spanish were
interpreted in the active voice. ‘Hedging’ (avoiding making a definite
statement) and the use of words like ‘well’, was considered to indicate
uncertainty in a witness, so the addition or deletion of such words by the
interpreter could affect the perceived credibility of a witness.
Gibbons and Grabau concluded that:
Existing research demonstrates even minor errors in interpretation may

affect how a factfinder views a witness. Accordingly, judges, attorneys, and
interpreters must be constantly vigilant that at all times the interpreter is
interpreting everything that is said in the appropriated grammatical form
and register. Moreover, the ‘visibility’ of the interpreter in the courtroom
may affect how the jury views the counsel, the witness, and possibly, the
court itself. This research further supports the need for professional certified
court interpreters because most of the problems discussed above can be
eliminated or minimized through proper court interpreter training.
(Adapted from Gibbons and Grabau, 1996)
Court interpreters face further challenges, such as when court personnel use
language whose literal translation may be confusing to a witness, or when a
witness makes a slip of the tongue, the literal translation of which could
create confusion. Court rules require that interpreters should translate exactly
what has been said, preserving the original linguistic register, and should not
address questions directly to witnesses to request clarification. But what if
following these rules to the letter creates obstacles to communication? Can
court rules come into conflict with the need for interpreting to be fair and
equitable?
Activity 17.5
Look at the following four examples of court interpretation.
1
Witness: Ahora, si yo no me tomé ningún acto de echarla, porque yo le
prometí que no la iba a echar. (Now, if I didn’t take any act to throw
her out, because I promised her that I wouldn’t throw her out.)
Interpreter: And also I had promised her that I wouldn’t evict her.
(Hale, 1997, cited in Keratsa, 2005)
165
2
Solicitor: And you are the defendant before the court?
Interpreter: ¿Y usted es el que está aquí en la corte? (And you are the
one who is here in court?)
(Hale, 1997, cited in Keratsa, 2005)
3
Witness: (in German): Some said they would not travel to Israel.
Interpreter: … to Germany; witness says Israel but it must be
Germany.
(Morris, 1995, cited in Keratsa, 2005)
4
Witness: No.
Interpreter: No, Sir.
What strategy (a–d) is being followed by the interpreter in each case?

Do you think the interpreter was doing a good job?
(a) Simplifying complex words
(b) Correcting an error in the original
(c) Adding politeness
(d) Formalising common words
Comment
You might argue that the interpreter was doing a good job in all four cases.
In examples 1 and 4, the interpreter rendered the witness’s language into a
form that would be more appropriate to a court-room setting. In example 2,
the solicitor’s legal jargon was made more accessible to the defendant and
thereby helped the court’s proceedings. In example 3, confusion was avoided
by the interpreter’s clarification.
166
You might be interested to know that examples 1, 2 and 4 could all be

subject to the criticism that the interpreter did not translate exactly what had
been said and that in examples 1 and 4 a false impression was created with
regard to the witness’s status and/or personality. In example 3, the
interpreter’s correction of the witness’s slip of the tongue caused the court’s
disapproval and reprimand since the speaker’s intention was presumed and
his words altered.
These examples and the research reported by Gibbons and Grabau (1996)
show that the performance of an interpreter may affect how the jury views
what happens in court. Gibbons and Grabau (1996) conclude that, just as the
appearance and behaviour of a witness affects their credibility in court, the
performance of an interpreter as they relay the words of a witness may
influence how the witness is perceived by the jury in the areas of
convincingness, competence, intelligence and trustworthiness, all of which are
important to their overall credibility. Therefore, it is essential to have
qualified, trained interpreters in court. You will look at the skills required for
interpreting in the next section.
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17.4 The skills of interpreting

So far in this unit you have had the opportunity to appreciate the vast range
of skills and strategies that interpreters need to deploy in the course of their
work. In this section you will consider these in greater detail.
A number of organisations have produced assessment scales for qualified
Level descriptor: a short interpreters in which different levels of skill are described. For example, the
description used for defining a following descriptor was written by the Interagency Language Roundtable
particular level in the skill being (ILR) (n.d.), a US organisation for sharing information about language-related
assessed.
activities. The descriptor refers to the highest level of the ILR framework,
known as ‘Master Professional Performance’:
[An interpreter at this level is] able to excel consistently at interpreting in

the mode (simultaneous, consecutive, and sight) required by the setting and
provide accurate renditions of informal, formal, and highly formal
discourse. Conveys the meaning of the speaker faithfully and accurately,
including all details and nuances, reflecting the style, register, and cultural
context of the source language, without omissions, additions or
embellishments. Demonstrates superior command of the skills required for
interpretation, including mastery of both working languages and their
cultural context, and wide-ranging expertise in specialized fields.
Outstanding delivery, with pleasant voice quality and without hesitations,
unnecessary repetitions, and corrections. Exemplifies the highest standards
of professional conduct and ethics.
(ILR, n.d.)
In order to be a good interpreter it is not enough to be a native speaker of the

target language and to have an excellent knowledge of the source language.
Being a native speaker of a language does not necessarily mean that a person
has the ability to move between ‘informal, formal and highly formal’
language forms; an excellent knowledge of the source language, in the sense
of understanding core meanings, does not automatically include sensitivity to
a wide range of styles and registers. In addition to meeting these exacting
linguistic criteria, a good interpreter must also be sensitive to the cultural
assumptions and conventions of speakers and listeners. Finally, the fact that
interpretation is a spoken activity requires the interpreter to be a good public
speaker, a quality that does not necessarily follow from having outstanding
language skills or cultural awareness.
While the linguistic goal of a good interpreter is to provide spoken
translations which are accurate in terms of grammar and meaning, they also
need to possess certain generic skills that are required for successful
performance in a wide range of professions.
The diagram below shows the specific and more general skills used in high
quality interpreting:
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Interpreting skills
Activity 17.6
Step A
For each of the following skills, explain why that particular quality is needed
by an interpreter or think of an example to illustrate it. You do not need to
write or type your answers in full, but do take the time to decide what your
answer would be in each case. The first one has been done for you.
. Note-taking: In consecutive interpreting you may not remember
everything that was said by the time you have to repeat it.
. Research skills:
. Tact and diplomacy:
. Good public speaking:
. Calm under pressure:
. General knowledge and interest in current affairs:
Step B
Now choose one more skill or quality from the diagram and give a brief
explanation of why this is needed by an interpreter. Look at the answers to
169
Step A to see how reasons and examples can be expressed concisely in a

single sentence.
Comment
Your answer will depend on your choice of quality/skill. Here is an example:
Teamwork: If you are a conference interpreter you might be
working in a booth with two or three other people, so you need to
be able to share the documents between you, or help each other out
with difficult words, or even coordinate so that you take turns.
(Adapted from NNI, n.d.)
Step C
Assuming that you had the necessary linguistic skills (‘mastery of the mother
tongue’ and ‘excellent knowledge of the foreign language’), would you like
to be an interpreter? Why? Why not?
Comment
Your answer will depend entirely on your personality and preferences.
However, you are now in a position to make a better-informed judgement of
whether interpreting would be a good career choice for you. Even if you only
ever experience interpreting from a client’s or user’s perspective, a better
awareness of the interpreter’s role should help you get the most out of their
mediation.
Not everyone is cut out to be an interpreter. Even if you are considering a

career in this area, you may find that your personal qualities and skills would
be better suited for translation, or you may feel that it is too soon in your
study of another language or languages to envisage a career as an interpreter
or translator. In any case, some of the skills you have just been thinking
about may also be required for a wide range of other professional activities.
Mapping your skills is a useful basis for creating a personal profile for
employment purposes.
Activity 17.7
Many of the skills or qualities from the ‘Interpreting skills’ diagram may also
be needed in other occupations. Think about your job, or if you are not
working, think about a job you have had in the past or you would like to do.
Choose three of the skills or qualities from the ‘Interpreting skills’ diagram
and explain how they are needed in your job. Give examples.
Comment
Your answer will depend on what job you chose to write about. Here is a
possible answer for a supermarket cashier.
. Calm under pressure: The supermarket gets very busy at times,

with long queues; this can make customers impatient and even rude,
so it is really important to stay calm under pressure and not get
flustered.
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. Teamwork: Everyone in the supermarket has specific responsibilities

and expertise, so it is important for the cashier to understand who
does what in order to refer customers with a problem or a query to
the correct member of staff.
. Tact and diplomacy: Sometimes there is a problem when a
customer’s debit card doesn’t work; this can be embarrassing for
them, so this kind of situation has to be dealt with tactfully.
While the mechanics and social settings in which interpreting is performed

may differ from those involved in translation, professionals in both areas face
ethical challenges which relate to almost identical principles, which you will
consider in the next section. In that respect the two professions are very
similar to each other.
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17.5 The ethics of interpreting

The issues discussed in the previous section demonstrate why appropriate
training and good practice are essential in all areas of professional
interpreting. In Unit 16, Section 16.5 you learned about the Australian
Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) Code of Ethics and Code of
Conduct for translators and interpreters, which can be summarised by the
following nine principles:
1 Professional conduct
2 Confidentiality
3 Competence
4 Impartiality
5 Accuracy
6 Clarity of role boundaries
7 Maintaining professional relationships
8 Professional development
9 Professional solidarity
(AUSIT, 2012)
There are other codes of practice used in different countries and by different
organisations, but the basic principles remain the same. You will now look at
a similar example from the UK.
Activity 17.8
Below is an extract from the code of practice for interpreters employed by
Bristol City Council’s Translation and Interpreting Service. As you read it
you may recognise some of the AUSIT (2012) principle(s) listed above. Find
at least two further principles from the AUSIT list that are reflected in the
Bristol City Council code of practice, and indicate which principle (1–9)
from the AUSIT list is being discussed. For example, paragraph 2.14 relates
to principle 4 (Impartiality).
The purpose and objective of the Code of Practice is to ensure that

there is consistency, competence and impartiality across language and
culture, and to ensure that all those who are involved in the process are
clear about what may be expected from it. …
2 AT THE ASSIGNMENT, THE INTERPRETER IS
RESPONSIBLE FOR EXPLAINING THEIR ROLE
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2.1 Appropriate seating shall be discussed and advice taken from the
interpreter before the assignment commences. Everyone needs to check
they can hear well and that there is not undue noise from outside the
meeting place.
2.2 The interpreter shall explain to both the service provider and the
service user that:
2.3 The interpreters will communicate all that is spoken and all that is
said. Whatever is not to be interpreted must not be said.
2.4 Everyone needs to speak for a short time allowing for regular
interpreting.
2.5 The service provider is responsible for making sure that only one
person speaks at a time.
2.6 An interpreted interview takes twice as long as one in the same
language.
2.7 The service provider is responsible for making sure the work gets
done in the arranged meeting time or arranging extended meeting time
or arranging to meet again.
2.8 The interpreter may intervene/interrupt only in the following
situations:
2.8.1 To ask for clarification if s/he does not fully understand the
concept s/he is being asked to interpret.
2.8.2 To point out if a service user has not fully understood the concept
although the interpretation was correct.
2.8.3 To alert the parties to a possible missed cultural inference,
i.e. information, which has not been stated, but knowledge of which
might have been assumed.
2.8.4 To ask a service provider to modify his/her delivery to
accommodate the interpreting process, e.g. if the client is speaking too
quickly or for too long.
2.9 The interpreter shall inform both clients of the reason for
interruption and interpret the explanation.
2.10 The interpreter shall only be the medium through which the
dialogue takes place. Both the service providers and service users
should address each other directly.
2.11 The interpreter should not be alone with the client.
2.12 The interpreter must abide by the Code of Ethics or be liable to
disciplinary procedures.
2.13 The interpreter shall not give out his/her personal details.
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2.14 If for any reason the interpreter’s impartiality is being jeopardised,

s/he should withdraw.
(Bristol City Council, 2014)
Comment
Here are some examples. You may have identified others as some of the
principles overlap with each other.
. Paragraph 2.3 relates to principle 5 (Accuracy).
. Paragraphs 2.10 and 2.13 relate to principle 6 (Clarity of role boundaries).
. Paragraph 2.12 relates to principle 1 (Professional conduct).
The aspects of interpreting covered so far show that to be successful, you

must be much more than an excellent linguist. The challenges facing
interpreters in their daily work go far beyond matters relating to linguistic
knowledge alone, and include a wide range of ethical and other professional
concerns. In Unit 16 you looked at two examples illustrating some of the
ethical dilemmas that translators might face in their work. You will now look
at two similar scenarios illustrating the kinds of challenges that interpreters
might face.
Activity 17.9
You will now consider two examples relating to interpreting situations. Read
the examples and then answer the questions below. You should look again at
the nine AUSIT principles at the beginning of this section in order to
complete this activity.
Example One
While interpreting in an interview between a police officer and a
witness, the officer asks you for your comment on the client’s
background and whether he is telling the truth. How would you reply?
Example Two
You are interpreting for a patient and a psychiatrist. The patient seems
rather uncomfortable and does not respond with complete sentences.
Their answers to the psychiatrist’s questions do not make much sense.
What would you do and why?
(NAATI, 2013, p. 5)
174
1 Decide which principle is in question in each case.

2 If you were a professional interpreter presented with these situations, what
should you do?
Comment
Here are the example answers taken from the specimen test section of the
original document.
Example One
The first principle involved is Impartiality. This states that
interpreters do not voice or write an opinion, solicited or
unsolicited, on any matter. The second principle is Clarity of Role
Boundaries, which states that interpreters draw attention to any
situation where other parties misunderstand the interpreter role or
have inappropriate expectations.
I would explain to the police officer that as an interpreter my only
role is to enable communication between two parties who do not
speak a common language. As part of this process it is important
that I do not express an opinion in relation to his question as this
would mean that I do not maintain my independence in relation to
the communication.
(NAATI, 2013, p. 5)
Example Two
This issue relates to Impartiality and Accuracy. Impartiality states
that interpreters remain unbiased throughout the communication
exchanged between the participants in any interpreted encounter.
Accuracy states that an interpreter use their best professional
judgement in remaining faithful at all times to the meaning of
messages.
Because of these principles, the interpreter must not improve on
the coherence of the patient’s replies by making them more
articulate than they are in the original. Whatever the client says
must be interpreted for the psychiatrist, even if such a client’s
response bears no relation to the question or makes no sense. It is
the psychiatrist who will take appropriate action, should this be
required.
(NAATI, 2013, p. 5)
175
Conclusion
In this unit you have considered some of the similarities and differences
between translation and interpreting. While both processes involve mediation
between different languages and cultures by a third-party (the translator or
interpreter), the fact that this is accomplished through different channels
(written and spoken language respectively) means that the modalities and
contexts of the two activities and the skills required to practise them
effectively are quite distinct.
Beyond these differences, interpreters and translators alike are bound by a
strict code of practice and ethics because both professions are based on the
delicate premise of mediating between people who do not share the same
language, culture, and sometimes status. As you have seen, professional
interpreters require a wide variety of skills and qualities which go far beyond
their linguistic competence in the two languages to be mediated.
In the course of your studies you may also find that, while language
competence is often key to a successful career, other skills and qualities may
be just as important in terms of employability. Language graduates often tend
to underestimate the relevance of skills that are not directly language-related.
In Unit 18 you will look at the role that intercultural skills can play in
improving employability.
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Answers
Activity 17.2
Step B
Translation Interpreting
What channel is used? Visual (the written word) Auditory (the spoken
word)
What is the time span? There is time to think, Happens in real time.
consult dictionaries, etc.
Is there an opportunity Yes No
to correct?
How high are the Very high Also high, but perfection
expectations with is not expected.
regards to accuracy?
What skills are specific Accurate, appropriate and Face-to-face interaction,
to this form of clear writing style, memory, pronunciation
mediation? spelling, time and oral fluency.
management to meet
deadlines.
What is the typical Desk job, can be done Normally on location
working environment? remotely. Now highly (conferences, meetings,
reliant on technology etc.), with or without
(e.g. databases). specialist equipment.
Activity 17.4
Under the current laws, people are entitled to the following:
1 If a person who is D/deaf or has a hearing impairment wishes an
unqualified friend or relative to interpret for them, they must first ask
permission from the judge. If the judge is not satisfied that the
person has the necessary competence, then the court will arrange and
2 The court will ensure that anyone attending a committal case

(i.e. where the defendant has been charged with a serious offence)
has the free assistance of an interpreter if they cannot understand or
speak English.
3 The court will only provide an interpreter for non-committal (i.e. less
serious cases) if the defendant cannot afford to privately pay for an
interpreter and has no family member or friend who can interpret for
them.
4 Any party has the right to speak Welsh in legal proceedings in
Wales, so the court will arrange and pay for an interpreter for non
177
Welsh speakers if the case is being heard in Wales. This does not
apply to other areas of the UK.
(Adapted from Gov.uk, 2014)
Activity 17.5
1 (d); 2 (a); 3 (b); 4 (c)
Activity 17.6
. Research skills: You may need to research a topic for a meeting, look up
terminology or acronyms, or find out something about the background of
the client (either an organisation or an individual).
. Tact and diplomacy: You may be working in delicate situations, such as
a police station, so tact and diplomacy are necessary.
. Good public speaking: Interpreting usually takes place in face-to-face
settings, such as business meetings, so you need to establish eye contact,
dysfluencies: unintentional avoid hesitation and dysfluencies (like ‘er’ and ‘um’), and use a natural
breaks or sounds within the intonation and appropriate speed of delivery.
natural flow of speech
. Calm under pressure: Having to rely on short-term memory while you
process two languages in real time is a very demanding and stressful task.
People may also be relying on you in stressful situations, such as a
hospital or court, so you have to be able to remain cool and think on your
feet.
. General knowledge and interest in current affairs: This may help you
to understand what people are talking about and the background to the
points they are making, for example, in relation to matters such as
benefits, housing or education.
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References
Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT) (2012) AUSIT Code of
Ethics and Code of Conduct [Online]. Available at http://ausit.org/AUSIT/Documents/
Code_Of_Ethics_Full.pdf (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Bowen, M. (2000) ‘Community interpreting’, AIIC Webzine [Online]. Available at
http://aiic.net/page/234 (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Bristol City Council (2014) ‘Translation and interpreting services’ [Online]. Available
at www.bristol.gov.uk/page/community-and-safety/translation-and-interpreting
services (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Gibbons, L.J. and Grabau, C.M. (1996) ‘Protecting the rights of linguistic minorities:
challenges to court interpretation’, New England Law Review, vol. 30, no. 227
[Online]. Available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=870481 (Accessed 22
September 2014).
Gov.uk (2012) ‘Court interpreters’ [Online]. Available at www.justice.gov.uk/courts/
interpreter-guidance (Accessed 21 October 2014).
Halys, S. (2013) ‘On Translation vs. Interpretation (Repost)’, The Detail Woman
[Blog], 11 August. Available at http://sal.detailwoman.net/on-translation-vs

interpretation-repost/ (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Interagency Language Roundtable (n.d.) ILR Skill Level Descriptions for
Interpretation Performance [Online]. Available at www.govtilr.org/skills/
interpretationSLDsapproved.htm#0m (Accessed 21 September 2014).
Keratsa, A. (2005) ‘Court interpreting: features, conflicts and the future’, Translatum,
no. 5 [Online]. Available at www.translatum.gr/journal/5/court-interpreting.htm
National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) (2013)
Ethics of Interpreting and Translating: A Guide to Obtaining NAATI Credentials,
Canberra, National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters [Online].
Available at www.naati.com.au/PDF/Booklets/Ethics_Booklet.pdf (Accessed 22
September 2014).
National Network for Interpreting (NNI) (n.d.) ‘Interpreting skills map’ [Online].
Available at www.nationalnetworkforinterpreting.ac.uk/tasks/int_skills/player.html
Oxford University Press (1989) Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edn, Oxford, Oxford
00256327 (Accessed 20 June 2014).
179
Unit 18 Intercultural skills and

employability
Introduction
In this unit you will concentrate on the workplace, and the skills and personal
attributes required to operate successfully in an intercultural work
environment.
You will start by thinking about the different intercultural skills needed in
different jobs. You will then consider some aspects of working in
intercultural settings. For this, you will look at the National Occupational
Standards for Intercultural Working which the National Centre for Languages
(CiLT) has developed.
You will think about how cultural values and beliefs can influence how
people behave and communicate in the workplace, and will consider the
importance of language and body language in that environment.
Throughout this unit, you are asked to think about and reflect on your own
intercultural skills and how you use them in your own life. This will help you
to keep an up-to-date record of your skills in this area, an important part of
demonstrating your employability.
The global workplace
Glossary
Employability: ‘is about making connections between study, personal
development and other activities in order to find, gain and be successful
in your chosen career. Developing a strong employability profile will
make you much more employable and successful in your career’ (Open
University, 2014).
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Learning outcomes
. have an understanding of what intercultural skills are and why they are
required in different work settings and professional roles
. be familiar with the National Occupational Standards for Intercultural
Working and what they can be used for
. be aware of how cultural differences can affect working relationships
. have an understanding of how language and body language can impact on
intercultural communication at work
. be aware of possible courses of action for avoiding or minimising
intercultural misunderstandings
. be aware of your own qualities and expectations, and the conventions of
your professional environment in relation to intercultural communication.
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18.1 Intercultural competence in the workplace

You may remember from Book 1 in this series that intercultural competence
refers to a person’s ability to communicate with people from other cultures in
a manner that is both effective and appropriate. In this section you will be
looking at a variety of job advertisements for posts that require a wide range
of intercultural skills.
Activity 18.1
Look at the organisation chart below, showing the structure of Guidance, a
global engineering company, based in Leicester. The company has a number
of teams that are fairly standard in manufacturing companies, for example, a
sales team, a business development team, a customer service team, a
manufacturing team and a software engineering team.
. Which of these teams is likely to require intercultural skills?
. What kind of intercultural skills might be needed and in what contexts?
Pick one or two examples and make some notes.
Managing
Business
Director
Development
Jan G
Commercial
Director
Sales Product Customer

Manufacturing Finance
(vacancy) Manager Services
Software Software Applications Hardware

Engineer Engineer Engineer Engineer
Organisation chart of Guidance’s industrial section

Comment
Any of the teams may be made up of various nationalities, so would need to
be able to work successfully with colleagues from different cultures.
The sales team is likely to deal with clients from all over the world, face-to
face in meetings, by email and phone. Intercultural skills and ideally some
language skills would presumably be expected across all levels of this team.
Staff should be able to communicate confidently with their clients, using any
of the mediums listed above, so job training might include lessons on
183
etiquette in general, and on specific local customs and traditions, for example,
to avoid scheduling meetings or calls during festive periods.
The customer service team will also have direct contact with Guidance’s
clients, many of whom may be based overseas. The team will provide
customer support and deal with complaints, so intercultural skills will be
essential, for example, in knowing how complaints and dissatisfaction are
expressed and negotiated in different cultures.
The business development team may also need good intercultural skills, such
as knowledge of other markets. Knowledge of the cultural context of their
disparate client base will presumably be important for knowing how to
expand the business.
Manufacturing and software engineering will often mean working in
multicultural teams. Knowledge about cultural norms of behaviour will help
to maintain positive work relationships within the team and company. For
example, there may be different attitudes towards time keeping within a team
made up of members from different cultures, so these would need to be
balanced or managed.
Intercultural skills may not explicitly be mentioned in job advertisements but

the type of tasks listed in the job descriptions and the person specifications
should indicate whether these are necessary or desirable. In order to
demonstrate their intercultural skills, it is a good idea for applicants to show
evidence of, for example, having worked effectively in a multicultural team.
In the next few activities you will consider a range of job advertisements and
their potential need for intercultural competence.
Activity 18.2
Step A
Read the following extract from a job advertisement on the Guidance website
to see what the job involves and the personal qualities the company is
looking for. Then answer the question below.
Operations/Shipping Apprentice
Who are we and what do we do?
Guidance Navigation Limited is a world leader in the design and
manufacture of sophisticated real-time, rugged laser and radar-based
position and navigation systems for industrial automation … and
marine/offshore applications ...
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The opportunity:
We have an exciting new opportunity for an apprentice to join our
Operations team. It is for an initial one-year fixed-term period but there
might be an opportunity for the right candidate to remain with the
company and continue to progress via further training. We will provide
you with on-the-job training to complement an NVQ which will be
delivered by a local college.
What you can expect from the role:

The main function of this role will be to assist with the shipping
department and tasks will include, but not be limited to:
. Gaining a sound knowledge of international import and export
regulations
. Preparing documentation for UK and international shipments
. Liaising with couriers to ensure timely delivery of goods to our
customers
. Booking in returned items using our bespoke software
. Other administration tasks as required
Also part of the role will be providing support to other departments and
the successful candidate may have the opportunity to work with
Accounts, Production Management, Stores and Customer Services.
What we are looking for from you:
Our key requirements are that you are hard-working and flexible. You
will need to be well organised with strong attention to detail and able to
work well in a team. You will need to be friendly and approachable and
committed to a career in Operations or Shipping. It is also essential that
you have good interpersonal skills and are comfortable communicating
with all internal and external customers. ...
(Guidance, n.d.)
What evidence is there that language skills and intercultural competence

would be useful for this position?
Comment
As Guidance is an international company (the advert mentions ‘international
import and export’), the last sentence of the advert indicates that the
successful applicant will have a high level of intercultural skills.
Given the company’s international market, even very basic skills in one of
their clients’ languages would be an advantage when communicating with
customers overseas.
185
Basic reading skills in one of their clients’ languages would also be an asset,
allowing the successful applicant to read shipping documentation. More
advanced reading skills would allow access to information about import and
export regulations which monolingual, English-speaking colleagues might not
be able to understand.
Local cultural knowledge would also be an advantage, for example, knowing
who actually makes the decisions, when customers may be away for lunch, or
when prompt replies are less likely, such as at the end of the working week.
Step B
Now look at the following extracts from real job advertisements which either
implicitly or explicitly mention language and intercultural skills. Then answer
the questions below.
Advert 1: Power and gas

Employer operates in global energy market and needs an executive
assistant.
Responsibilities: Supporting the Chief Financial Officer and Finance
Management team. In addition to a wide range of typical PA tasks such
as setting up appointments, preparing and following up management
meetings, travel planning, etc., the following responsibilities are
required:
. Constant exchange with assistants of other directors in affiliated
international companies to contribute to the effective operations of
the Executive Management team.
. Professional representation of the company regarding all
international telephone calls to and from the company.
. Follow-up on and keep track of ongoing matters in an international
context (Norway, UK, Russia, Algeria).
Person specification: Excellent communication skills as well as

confident, courteous and team-focused behaviour. Intercultural
competence and excellent interpersonal, organisational and prioritisation
skills. Fluent verbal and written English language skills, and ideally
strong German and Norwegian language skills.
186
Advert 2: Hospital
Employer is an internationally renowned hospital in London and needs
a midwife.
Responsibilities: Provision of high-quality care within the midwifery
led delivery (MLD) service for women with low-risk pregnancy. They
will also provide antenatal, intranatal and inpatient postnatal care to a
caseload of low-risk women. The post holder will participate in the on
call rota to ensure all women have access to a MLD midwife 24/7.
Person specification: Ability to work within a team and independently
and support on-call service. The ideal candidate should also embody the
hospital’s core values of: greetings, respect, teamwork, initiative,
responsibility and acknowledgement.
Advert 3: Education provider in private sector

Employer: Fitness and educational teaching service for schools across
the UK, working with young people and in partnership with teachers,
delivering military-style fitness and team building to often disengaged
pupils, inspiring pupils to take pride in their academic work. Motivated
pupils mean improved achievement in all subjects.
Person specification: Clearly you must be physically fit. Experience of
working with young people from a variety of cultural backgrounds and
ages up to 16 is highly desirable. You should have an understanding of
levels of knowledge and skills appropriate at different ages. You will
possess excellent communication, organisational and presentational
skills and be able to work under pressure while maintaining a positive
professional attitude. You will have excellent interpersonal skills and
have the ability to work collaboratively. You should have a strong
personal commitment to equal opportunities in practice which
encompasses gender, race, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
Full training is given.
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Advert 4: Sanitary ware

Employer supplies sanitary ceramic, bathroom furniture for an
international expanding market and needs a manager for a plant in
India.
Responsibilities: Managing a newly established production site, being
responsible for all operational aspects of the manufacturing site,
ensuring the production targets (quantity, quality, time), planning and
controlling of the budget, motivating the team for continuous
improvement of the production process, managing the team in
accordance with HR policies and continuing further education. Should
be ready to relocate to Anand, Gujarat.
Person specification: strong leadership and communications skills,
intercultural competence, fluent in English (speaking and writing),
person who knows German language is an asset and at an added
advantage.
What examples of intercultural skills might give a candidate the edge over
other applicants for any of the jobs listed above?
The following questions might help you with this step.
1 What are the main intercultural competences needed for the post?
2 Can you think of one example of a potential intercultural issue that the
post holder may be required to manage in the course of doing this job?
Comment
Here are some possible answers.
Advert 1 features a role that requires a range of intercultural skills
because the company is ‘global’ in its scope. The advert
emphasises that the post will involve ‘constant exchange’ with
assistants in ‘affiliated international companies’ and ‘professional
representation … regarding all international telephone calls to and
from the company’, so an applicant with strong skills in the
specified languages (English, German and Norwegian) and/or any
languages used by other major business partners should stand a
good chance of being considered for the post. Knowledge about
local working practices and cultural conventions in conversations
will be important skills here, especially in relation to the countries
listed in the advert. The employer also specifies that the successful
candidate will have to ‘keep track of ongoing matters in an
international context’, which could suggest that a proven record of
interest in current affairs would stand an applicant in good stead.
Given that organising meetings and schedules is part of the job, the
post-holder would need to be aware of potential cultural
differences in attitudes to time, and plan accordingly.
188
Advert 2 does not explicitly mention intercultural competence.

However, as the hospital is located in London, its patients are
certain to include people from a wide range of cultural
backgrounds. These patients could be very vulnerable at times,
which will require good interpersonal communication skills.
Furthermore, nursing, especially in London, attracts people from
around the world, so the post holder would need to operate well in
a multicultural team.
Issues that arise in the course of the job may include differing
expectations about social practices around childbirth, such as who
should be present. Ideally, this needs to be discussed with the
mother-to-be beforehand.
Advert 3 is most explicit about the need for intercultural
competence, as the job requires experience of ‘working with young
people from a variety of cultural backgrounds’. It also requires
‘commitment to equal opportunities’, citing race and religion, etc.,
which is another indication that intercultural competence is
important. It also emphasises ‘excellent interpersonal and
collaborative skills’, which presumably implies that the successful
applicant will be working with young people from a variety of
backgrounds and competences in English. This suggests that they
need to be able to adapt their language to the varying needs of
their audience.
Issues that might arise include differing expectations and attitudes
towards gender mixing in sports activities.
Advert 4 makes its requirement for intercultural competence
explicit. If a candidate did not have the ‘added advantage’ of
German, skills in other languages might be considered as they
would prove that the candidate had the required motivation to learn
other languages. As the position requires relocation to a specific
region, intercultural skills relating to that regional or national
culture would be important, especially as the post-holder will be
managing multicultural teams and needs to be sensitive to cultural
differences. However, as with the specific language skills listed,
knowledge of another culture (but not necessarily that of Gujarat)
might be enough.
The advantage of speaking German suggests that the company is
headquartered in Germany. Issues may arise in the differing
expectations of the German employers and the Gujarati workforce,
which the post holder will need to deal with in a way that is
culturally sensitive to everyone.
Intercultural competence is an important skill for many areas of work and is

useful at all levels. This may seem at odds with the increased standardisation
of processes and people (e.g. through staff uniforms, scripted phone
greetings) that is part of a wider movement which sociologist George Ritzer
once called ‘The McDonaldization of Society’ (1993). It is sometimes
assumed that globalisation is gradually eroding cultural and national
differences, facilitated by technological advances that allow people to interact
189
more across cultural and linguistic boundaries, and to share popular culture.
However, looking at the evidence, cultural homogenisation does not seem to
be a reality, as Mark Fenton-o’Creevy from the Open University Business
School states: ‘There’s no doubt that globalisation has brought about
significant changes around the world, but differences in culture, legal
frameworks and business environments remain very significant, and
organisations doing business across national boundaries face some very
important challenges’ (2014). Others have also questioned how much
globalisation has really penetrated the regions and nations in the world, and
instead focus on the cultural diversity that can be found in a globalised
world. In fact, many companies eschew running their businesses like a fast
food chain and emphasise instead quality over quantity, and well-trained
workers over casual labour. There is a countertrend towards ‘localisation’ that
even fast-food chains participate in by partially adapting their menus to fit
national and regional contexts.
190
18.2 Standards for intercultural working

Intercultural skills are needed in many professions, from import–export
businesses to care homes, where residents may come from any cultural
background. Companies may invest in appropriate intercultural training
themselves or may expect that this is taught in schools and universities, for
example.
Everyone can learn the intercultural skills that are needed to work effectively
in intercultural environments. In 2008, the National Centre for Languages
(CiLT) developed a framework of National Occupational Standards for
Intercultural Working. The document formalises the wide range of
intercultural skills, attitudes and personal qualities that will benefit
organisations or companies working in an intercultural context. This sort of
framework is often used as a basis for developing courses and training
programmes to teach intercultural competence.
CiLT (2008) maintains that its standards are beneficial for the following
reasons:
1 better communication between people of diverse cultures or different

countries;
2 mutually respectful and supportive working relations;
3 more productive workforce;
4 improved customer service;
5 more effective international trade;
6 strengthened diversity and equality policies and procedures;
7 greater community cohesion
(CiLT, 2008, p. 1)
Traversing the cultural divide

Documents like the CiLT (2008) framework can be useful in many ways. It
can be used by training providers to develop training and assessment in
intercultural skills. It can be used by employers when developing in-house
intercultural competence training or assessing such training run by outside
providers. Finally, it can also be used by individuals to help them assess and
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articulate their intercultural skills when preparing for a new role or for a job
interview.
Even if you have a job which does not entail dealing with clients from other
countries, most of the topics covered in the CiLT Standards will provide
useful skills for living or working in a multicultural environment.
The National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working (CiLT, 2008)
document is made up of six main units focusing on particular themes. Each
unit includes lists of ‘performance outcomes’ which describe what needs to
be achieved to show competence, the ‘personal qualities’ that underpin the
standards, and the ‘knowledge and understanding’ needed to meet the
‘performance outcomes’. You will look at the unit names in the next activity.
Activity 18.3
Read through the following six ‘Performance Outcome’ statements taken
from the CiLT (2008) framework. Some of these are commonsensical and can
be applied to many workplace environments. Match each statement (a–f) to
the unit you think it comes from (1–6, listed below).
1 Develop your skills to work (a) Base your decisions to employ
effectively with people from or promote people on their potential
different countries or diverse to do the job rather than on accent
cultures or dress, stereotypes, prejudice, old
information or common perception
of their skills and work ethics.
2 Build working relationships with (b) Check that service users are
people from different countries or satisfied with the service and resolve
diverse cultures differences between their needs and
the service offered so that it attracts
and does not discriminate against the
people you are providing services
for.
3 Appoint people from different (c) Deal constructively with
countries or diverse cultures situations that you find unclear or
confusing when working with people
from different countries or diverse
cultures and maintain respect for
individuals when you are unable to
understand or empathise with their
views or behaviour.
4 Manage a multicultural team (d) Develop a working culture that
maximises productivity while
balancing the cultural needs and
expectations of all team members.
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5 Manage delivery of a service to (e) Recognise how your use of

people from different countries or language, body language, gestures
diverse cultures and tone of voice may appear to
people from different countries or
diverse cultures and of how theirs
may affect your perceptions of them.
6 Develop new markets with (f) Recognise ideas from different
different countries or diverse countries or cultures that may help
cultures you to be more innovative in your
international business strategy and
operations.
(Adapted from CiLT, 2008)
Comment
You may have felt that some of these performance outcomes were applicable
to other units in the Standards as well, so you may have come up with
slightly different results. For example, the outcomes for Unit 1 and 2 sound
quite similar and the key difference between them is that Unit 1 focuses more
on personal development and performance (‘develop your skills’), whereas
Unit 2 focuses on how you relate to others (‘working relationships with
others’). Both units relate to Unit 4, which is about how to ‘manage a team’,
though the emphasis here is on how you encourage other people to become
sensitive to intercultural diversity.
A greater understanding of all the elements that make up intercultural

competence will help you to evaluate claims about how open a society, a
service or a company is towards people from different cultures.
People see the world through their own eyes
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Activity 18.4
Imagine that you head a multinational project team. In the course of the
project, various members of the team have complained to you about the
behaviour of individual colleagues. Note down, for each scenario, what you
think the argument of the complainant would be and what the ‘perpetrator’
would say in their defence. In the final column, make a note of the measures
you would take to prevent the issue arising in the future.
The objective of this activity is to get you to put yourself into other people’s
frames of mind, a useful skill when dealing with intercultural issues.
Complete the table as suggested in the first example.
Scenario 1
Punctuality: A member of the team often turns up 15 minutes late for
meetings
How the complainant

How the perpetrator What I can do or what
feels
feels can be done about it
Punctuality is important What is important is the . I could factor in a
for the efficient running productivity of the
buffer period when
of the project. It is also a meeting itself, not what
planning a meeting.
sign of respect for others. time it starts. Allowing
For example, meetings
each other a little
could be announced
flexibility is a sign of a
for 10.15 to start at
healthy relationship
10.30 to allow time
between colleagues.
for social interaction
before the meeting.
. If the meeting needs
to start punctually, I
need to communicate
this clearly to the
whole team well in
advance.
Scenario 2
Personal space: Someone is very tactile with other team members
How the complainant How the perpetrator What I can do or what can be
feels feels done about it
Scenario 3
Naming: Someone refers to the rest of the team by their titles and surnames
rather than their first names
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Scenario 4
Working hours: A team member gives the rest of the team a 100-page
document on Friday evening and expects them to read it over the weekend
Scenario 5
Politeness: A team member criticises colleagues’ work in a very direct way
way
Scenario 6
Behaviour in meetings: One or more colleagues frequently interrupt others
during meetings and start their own discussions
Comment
In every case, inviting a discussion between the different parties should help
to resolve the matter. When people realise that their own and others’
behaviour is often down to contrasting cultural norms, they are usually
prepared to accommodate to each other.
When looking at the different behaviours above, you probably found that you
instinctively sided with the complainant or the ‘perpetrator’, depending on
the scenario. You need to be aware of your own cultural norms and
expectations in such contexts. Such an awareness can help to ensure that your
own norms do not prejudice your words and actions.
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Generally, it is useful to distinguish between how people feel about a

situation and what can be done about it. One can be tolerant of other people’s
sense of punctuality and politeness but still decide on action that serves the
needs of the organisation and the needs of individuals.
So far you have come across four different aspects from the first unit of the
National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working with the heading
‘Develop your skills to work effectively with people from different
countries’. They are:
(a) Recognise your own values, beliefs and cultural conventions and how
they affect your perceptions and expectations in work situations.
(b) Actively seek to understand how your values, beliefs, cultural
conventions and language use appear to other people.
(c) Base your opinions of people on your own interaction with them rather
than on common perception, stereotypes, their accents or their dress.
(d) Challenge and adapt your own assumptions about the behaviour of
people from different countries or diverse cultures.
(CiLT, 2008, p. 6)
One relevant element of intercultural competence raised in the CiLT

framework is the need to challenge stereotypes, prejudice and racism
expressed by others, whether it concerns you or other people. However, this
is not an easy task and involves speaking out, which not everyone is
comfortable doing.
The CiLT (2008) Standards also suggest that you should deal constructively
with any unclear or confusing situation that arises when people with different
cultural backgrounds work together. This is something you will consider in
the next activity.
Activity 18.5
Think of a work-related situation you have encountered that was in some way
confusing because of cultural differences. You may not have known how to
deal with it at the time or have chosen not to deal with it, or may even have
felt that it was up to someone else to say or do something about it. How
would you tackle a similar situation now?
Comment
Your thoughts here will be specific to the situation you encountered. Perhaps
you were not in a position to voice constructive feedback at the time, but you
may now have thought of an effective way of dealing with it.
Dealing constructively with confusion does not automatically mean that you
need to contribute explanations and clarifications – it may be culturally
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important to address the issues in a less direct manner, perhaps because of

the status of the parties involved.
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18.3 Language in the intercultural workplace

Intercultural competence to some extent relies on personal qualities that come
more readily to some people than to others. However, training in intercultural
awareness, knowledge and understanding will help to develop the requisite
skills. The examples you have considered in this unit should have made it
clear that intercultural competence is a useful skill for anyone to develop.
Monoculturalism in the workplace, as in the wider context, is likely to
become even less common as worldwide migration continues.
As one might expect, language plays a key role in intercultural competence.
Language is full of and reflects cultural assumptions, and first-language
speakers may not always be aware of how non-native speakers have
interpreted what they have said. How language is used in terms of formality
and register can differ between people from different cultural backgrounds.
For example, addressing strangers by their first names may seem very rude in
some cultural contexts. Being on first-name terms with the boss might be
seen as inappropriate in some cultures. Colloquial or regional expressions
used by people you don’t know can be confusing, such as being referred to as
‘mate’, ‘duck’, ‘pet or ‘love’, all of which are regional expressions for
establishing rapport. Being called ‘love’, for example, has little overlap with
what an English learner might have learned about the word ‘love’ in class.
Linguistic misunderstandings can happen for many reasons, and in some
cases they can hurt feelings and cloud working relationships.
Activity 18.6
The CiLT (2008) Standards state that to work successfully in an intercultural
context people need to ‘Communicate in ways that can be understood by the
people from the countries or cultures you are working with’ (p. 6). The
framework also recognises that the language you use and how you use it can
have an effect on your working relationship with people from different
backgrounds.
Step A
Have a look at the following five incidents where the use of particular
phrases or the way they are said may lead to misunderstandings for someone
who is not familiar with particular meanings, cultural contexts or language
conventions.
1 How might the following three alternative phrasings for the same request
from a manager (a–c) be understood by a person who is unfamiliar with
British culture and language use?
(a) I wonder if you could possibly come to my office for a
moment?
(b) Please come to my office immediately.
(c) I need you in my office right away.
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2 A proposal of yours was discussed at a meeting you could not attend, so

one of your colleagues reports back on what was said. In each example
(a–c below) a different word is emphasised by the speaker. What does
each version mean?
(a) Jeremy was not happy with your progress.
(b) Jeremy was not happy with your progress.
(c) Jeremy was not happy with your progress.
3 At a trade fair, you meet some business partners from Europe and North
America. You have a good time and when it is time to go, an American
partner says: ‘See you, guys. I had a great time. You must come and see
me when you are next in my neighbourhood’. How might this be
misinterpreted?
4 Chris has made an inappropriate remark about a team member from a
different cultural background. His colleague, Mustafa, whispers to other
members of the team, ‘Chris must have come top of the political
correctness course’. How could Mustafa’s words be misunderstood?
5 It is noisy and Maria is talking to a new colleague from another country
for whom English is a second language. Maria says, ‘Let’s look at the
patient record tomorrow. It’s time to call it a day’. Maria’s colleague
looks perplexed. Why do you think this is?
Comment
1 The wording of option (a) is indirect and suggests that it might be up to
you when to come (‘I wonder if you could possibly come’) but it is, in
fact, a command, albeit politely framed. No time scale is indicated but, in
fact, without a specific time reference, the implication is that it should be
done now. Options (b) and (c) would be considered rude if used in an
office context unless in real emergencies.
2 ‘To be not happy with something’ is an expression which has more to do
with the unacceptability of something rather than the emotion it generates.
Option (a) emphasises the unacceptability of the progress made through
its emphasis on the negative element in the sentence. The stress on
‘Jeremy’ in option (b) suggests that others may well have been happy.
Similarly, the stress on ‘your’ in option (c) suggests that Jeremy may well
have been happy with the progress of others. So, stressing particular
elements generates implications beyond what is actually said.
Such implications are more difficult to grasp in a language which is not
the listener’s own, even though this is not a matter of vocabulary or
grammar.
3 The parting remarks are fairly typical and are one of many an American,
or indeed, a British speaker might use. In most cases, they are just a way
to say goodbye in a socially acceptable way. The speaker might have had
a great time or not, but certainly does not expect a visit any time soon.
4 It is probably fairly obvious that Mustafa’s comment was meant ironically.
The utterance shows that meaning cannot be ascertained from the words
alone. Context and tone of voice are important. The latter is harder to
identify in a language which is not the hearer’s native tongue.
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5 In a noisy environment, all kinds of reasons might explain why a person

has not understood what was said. It does not necessarily mean that the
listener’s English is not sufficiently developed. However, the idiomatic
expression ‘call it a day’ might have contributed to the problem. Native
speakers need to be aware of potential linguistic pitfalls and avoid them
where possible. This does not mean that they should avoid all colour in
their language but they should be prepared to adapt what they say to the
level of competence of their audience.
Step B
Now think about linguistic misunderstandings in general. Have you had any
personal experiences of such misunderstandings or can you remember any
from a film or a book, etc.? You could also draw on what you have learned
so far in this series of books.
. Think about how the misunderstanding could have been avoided in the
first place or its effects minimised.
. Based on the nature of the misunderstanding(s), draw up some advice for
native or very competent speakers of English to bear in mind when
communicating with people from other cultures (four or five items).
Comment
Here are examples, some of which follow on from Step A. Your suggestions
may differ slightly.
. Speak standard English as far as necessary and avoid colloquial or dialect
words.
. Monitor your counterpart’s reactions carefully. They may not necessarily
ask for clarification even if they need it. If they look doubtful, check that
they have understood you (without being patronising or resorting to
broken English).
. Repeat what you’ve said if your counterpart does not understand.
Rephrase it if it still causes difficulty.
. Be prepared to sacrifice variation and style in your communications for
greater clarity.
. Using gesture, pictures or diagrams at the workplace can help people to
understand each other.
Learners of a language and culture will be used to not understanding every
word and aspect of the conversations around them. People pick up much of
the cultural knowledge and the subtleties over time, often without detailed
explanations. However, in the workplace, communication will be more
effective if linguistic misunderstanding can be kept to a minimum.
The CiLT Standards suggest that interculturally skilled people in the

workplace should possess the following communication skills. You should
know and understand:
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(a) Ways to minimise misunderstandings and improve communication with

people with a different first language to you …
(b) the challenges in communicating with people from another culture who
share the same first language with you.
(2008, p. 7)
Challenges in communication between people from a different culture but

who speak the same languages are often overlooked, perhaps because they
are often seen in terms of personality differences.
Activity 18.7
Think about any experiences you have had with speakers who share your first
language but who live in other parts of the world.
What were the communication challenges you faced (if any)? How did you
overcome these?
Comment
The CiLT (2008) Standards list the following: ‘differences in vocabulary,
spelling, accent, expressions and directness’ (p. 7) as some examples for
potential challenges.
One of the main differences in communication style is to do with directness.
Less direct communication may be interpreted as indecisiveness or indicative
of a lack of authority, while directness may be seen as rude or worse. The
more you know about the people you work with, the better you can anticipate
such interpretations, in order to prevent them in future. It is worth
remembering that communication style differs from individual to individual
as well as from culture to culture.
When considering strategies to support communication or to help repair

misunderstandings, it is important to bear in mind the role of body language.
Some people naturally reinforce their words with expansive gestures and
facial expressions. For others, this is not part of their natural communication
style. For such people, it is necessary to consciously think about how
gestures can support and facilitate communication with people who are not
using their first language.
In the next activity you will look at one example of the many intercultural
competence resources available to help people do business internationally.
Such advice almost always relies on generalisations. However, despite the
necessarily generic nature of similar documents, they can be a good starting
point for any interaction in a foreign country or with members of
multicultural teams at home.
Activity 18.8
Read this extract from a blog about body language across cultures.
Summarise the main themes in note form, for example, ‘personal space in
different cultures’.
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While you read, also make note of the generalisations the blog author makes
and think of contexts in which these may not apply.
Body language across cultures

It used to be that the study of body language across cultures was an
academic pursuit interesting but not really vital in the course of daily
living. Now, however, with our globalised economy and greater
exposure to diverse cultures, understanding differences in body
language can have a huge impact on many aspects of work, business,
and personal life.
Examples of cultural differences
Cultural differences in body language may show up in a wide variety of
ways, such as the amount of physical touch, the conversational distance
between people, the interactions between same genders, the interactions
between different genders, and the like.
For example, some cultures are very expressive when it comes to
physical touch. Think about Italy where a big hug and kiss on each
cheek is considered a common and acceptable greeting, and then
compare it to Japan where a proper greeting consists of a respectful
bow and no touch at all.
Personal space and comfort distances are very personal, of course, but
they also are influenced by cultural expectations. In South America, for
instance, personal space and comfort distances tend to be quite small.
People stand very close to each other to talk, even when they don’t
know each other very well. Go to the United States, though, and
personal space becomes much larger; people are not as comfortable
when others stand close to them, especially if they are not very well
acquainted.
Cultural differences in body language extend to gender interactions as
well. Many cultures still view men as dominant and of higher status
than women, and their body language expectations reflect this view.
Women may be expected to avert their eyes in the presence of a man,
or walk a few steps behind him. Western cultures, in general, have
gradually revised their gender expectations to allow men and women to
share more equal status in terms of acceptable body language.
Practical applications of cultural differences
Anybody who travels to different countries, whether for business or
pleasure, must have a good understanding of body language
expectations. In the business world, the wrong body language messages
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can skewer a deal quite fast. In the world of general travel, the wrong
body language messages can lead to hostile and even dangerous
situations.
For instance, in the Middle East a male businessperson has much more
leeway in terms of where and how he walks than a female does, not to
mention much different levels of access to local business opportunities.
In fact, very few women do business in the Middle East because the
cultural aversion to interacting with women is just too much to
overcome.
If you are planning a vacation to other countries, you should always
pay attention to the body language expectations. For instance, if you get
lost in Japan you’re much more likely to get help from a local citizen if
you know to show respectful body language and follow local customs
of bowing and avoiding touch.
The bottom line when it comes to cultural differences is that knowledge
is the key. If you go to a different culture it only makes sense to learn
about their expectations and adhere to those expectations during your
time there. It shows respect for the culture, respect for the people, and
may even keep you from inadvertently breaking the law in some very
conservative countries. When you understand and apply appropriate
body language behaviours, your entire experience is likely to be more
pleasant and successful.
(Amos, 2012)
Comment
Including the example given above, the key themes mentioned were:
. personal space in different cultures
. physical contact (touch, kissing)
. gender rules regarding space or eye contact in relation to men
. gender rules regarding actions in public spaces.
There are some obvious generalisations, such as that all Italians hug and kiss
and all South Americans stand close to each other. Sometimes, the rules for
who kisses whom, when, where and how often can be subtle but are usually
well understood within their cultural context. The rules may not apply to a
foreigner or in a work context. South America is a big place, some 70 per
cent bigger than Europe, so one might wonder if conventions are really as
homogenous as the blog suggests. The image of North Americans who like
their personal space is based on a particular image of what ‘real Americans’
are like. Latin, Asian and European migrants living permanently in the US
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are likely to have developed their own sense of space and to contribute a
hybrid variant to the space perception of ‘all’ Americans.
When personal space is of no concern

It is always a good idea to be sensitive to different norms of behaviour when
you meet people from other cultural backgrounds, whether or not you share
the same first language. If someone does not follow the generalised idea you
have about certain cultural conventions, it should not necessarily be a cause
of concern. It may simply mean that their personal body language is a hybrid,
evolved version of the cultural norms of behaviour that you expected. Or it
may mean that their intercultural competence has made them adapt to what
they expect you to feel most comfortable with.
Body language is important in any business or travel context. Your
intercultural competence should also include a reflection on your own body
language conventions and those in the country or region where you live. This
should extend to dress code, too, though such codes can cut across national
contexts.
Activity 18.9
Make notes about your own body language expectations and the body
language conventions in the UK or the country where you live. Then expand
your notes to write a brief reflective text (about 250–300 words).
Comment
The example answer below was written from the perspective of a Chinese
person who has lived and worked in the UK for many years.
I still remember a few incidents of cultural clashes due to different
body language from over 20 years ago when I first came to the UK
as a student. In all instances either I made western students feel
uncomfortable or they made me feel uncomfortable.
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A giggle or smile
I was sharing a kitchen with some English students. Once someone
offered me a piece of cake and she cut it for me but dropped it on
the floor while trying to put it on my plate. I smiled and giggled in
a friendly way. She looked rather disturbed as she thought I was
laughing at her for being clumsy, but for me (and most Chinese
people) a giggle or smile under these circumstances simply means,
‘Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.’ It took me a while to
work it out that a giggle or smile in those situations would be
perceived as rude by westerners.
Physical space
We Chinese people are used to being in close proximity to one
another due to the fact that China has such a large population. I
remember going to a friend’s party and someone came up to me to
talk with me. I was standing very close to her and I realised after a
while that I was making her uncomfortable as she kept stepping
back to create space between us.
Hugging and kissing
The majority of Chinese people feel uncomfortable with physical
contact, such as being hugged or kissed on the cheek, although
young people in urban environments are adapting to western
customs quickly these days.
Winking, whistling and clicking fingers
I used to associate winking, whistling and clicking fingers with
people who are good for nothing, as these were the body language
used by the bad guys in a lot of Chinese literature. I remember
being really shocked when a famous academic winked at us during
his lecture.
The CiLT National Occupational Standards for Intercultural Working define

the ‘underpinning personal qualities’ that support intercultural competence at
work and which individual people might want to ‘aspire to and grow
towards’ (2008, p. 5). It is not essential to have all of these qualities and
some cannot be taught easily. For example, you may be someone who feels
that they work most effectively alone. But it is well worth reflecting on these
personal qualities and to what extent they apply to you. You may discover
traits that you did not know you had.
Understanding yourself and how you relate to the world around you is a
desirable goal in itself. From a work perspective it makes sense too: success
in a job is not just about what you achieve but also how you achieve it and
empower others to achieve, especially as you take on more responsibilities. If
you are looking for a job or are seeking to improve your position where you
are at the moment, better knowledge about your intercultural competencies
and your personal potential will help to showcase what you can bring to a
new position. You can then talk confidently about your intercultural
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capabilities wherever this is required. The following activity will help prepare
you for this.
Activity 18.10
Go through the list of personal qualities from the CiLT (2008) Standards
document and tick any that apply to you. For each statement try to find one
or more factual examples that will provide some evidence that you have this
quality. Your selection and examples will be entirely personal.
[1] You enjoy working alongside people with different cultural
experiences and perspectives to your own, and actively try to
appreciate why differences and similarities may exist.
[2] You are able to reflect on how your own working practices
might be perceived by others and are ready to negotiate new ways
of working.
[3] You are open to the positive potential of cultural diversity in
the generation of ideas and in developing workplace productivity.
[4] You are sensitive to the different levels of English language
skills that people have and [are] willing to adapt your language in
the interests of mutual comprehension.
[5] You are sensitive to how your use of language, tone of voice
and behaviour may be interpreted by others.
[6] You are able to look critically at work practices and projects
and make contributions designed to enhance intercultural
cooperation and understanding.
[7] You are working towards greater critical understanding of
difference while appreciating that this is a lifelong process.
[8] You are aware that others subscribe to equality and human
rights in different ways, but do your best to adopt an ethical
outlook which reflects how you would like to be treated yourself.
(CiLT, 2008, p. 5)
Comment
Remember to give concrete examples wherever possible, rather than making
general statements of intent.
The comments here focus on what you might have considered for three of the
personal qualities above.
[3] You are open to the positive potential of cultural diversity in
the generation of ideas and in developing workplace productivity.
For this point, consider any meeting, work-based or personal,
where people from different backgrounds have contributed ideas
that a monocultural group might not have come up with.
Remember that even seemingly monocultural groups are rarely so
in practice. People come from a variety of class and regional
backgrounds and even generational differences can contribute
interesting perspectives. What matters is that in your reflection you
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recognise the contribution made by the diversity of the group and

that you demonstrate it with a concrete example.
[4] You are sensitive to the different levels of English language
skills people have and are willing to adapt your language in the
interests of mutual comprehension.
You may be able to think of a specific work-based example where
you have adapted your language to the competence level of your
counterpart. Such an experience is also relevant in a language other
than English where you have had a greater knowledge and fluency
than the person you were communicating with. You can also show
your sensitivity in this regard when, for example, interpreting
specialist written language to the needs of your audience, as when
explaining technical or legal documentation. You may also be able
to recall non-work situations where you have adapted your
language to the needs of your audience. Even something as fleeting
as an encounter with a tourist who needs help can be relevant.
[7] You are working towards greater critical understanding of
difference while appreciating that this is a lifelong process.
For this point, you might consider relevant books you have read
and demonstrate how this has influenced your thinking about
difference. As the descriptor suggests, this is a lifelong process and
you don’t need to demonstrate mastery but continuous critical
engagement with the issue of difference. Studying a language and
this series of books are also good examples, and you may have
some possible examples in your learning log.
Glossary
Critical understanding: an intellectually defensible position that
demonstrates a clear understanding of relevant ideas, issues and sources.
This term is commonly used in education, especially when describing
the learning outcomes of a course, study programme, or learning task. It
can also be used to describe a person’s skills and competences.
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Conclusion
In this unit, you have connected much of what you have learned about
intercultural competence in the workplace to the National Occupational
Standards for Intercultural Working (CiLT, 2008). This framework helps
companies to describe the knowledge and skills that they need from their
staff or from candidates applying for a position in their company. The
framework can also help individuals to take stock of intercultural
competencies relating to their current roles and responsibilities, and to
identify training needs for the future. It can help job seekers with their
application forms and to prepare for interviews.
As you have seen, communication plays a vital role in intercultural
competency. The language we use is key, but other resources, such as the use
of gesture, can help in facilitating effective intercultural communication.
Ultimately, however, an openness to difference is the most important
ingredient for successful interaction with colleagues in your specific team and
workplace, and with people you encounter in other scenarios. Such an
attitude helps to generate respect for other cultural, regional and national
norms, and should enable you to deal effectively with the unexpected.
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Answers
Activity 18.3
1 (c); 2 (e); 3 (a); 4 (d); 5 (b); 6 (f)
Activity 18.4
Scenario 1
Punctuality: A member of the team often turns up 15 minutes late for
meetings
How the complainant

How the perpetrator What I can do or what
feels
feels can be done about it
Punctuality is important What is important is the . I could factor in a
for the efficient running productivity of the
buffer period when
of the project. It is also a meeting itself, not what
planning a meeting.
sign of respect for others. time it starts. Allowing
For example, meetings
each other a little
could be announced
flexibility is a sign of a
for 10.15 to start at
healthy relationship
10.30 to allow time
between colleagues.
for social interaction
before the meeting.
. If the meeting needs
to start punctually, I
need to communicate
this clearly to the
whole team well in
advance.
Scenario 2
Personal space: Someone is very tactile with other team members
How the complainant How the perpetrator What I can do or what

feels feels can be done about it
Such behaviour is Touching other people is a I need to bring the parties
overfamiliar and invades sign of affection and together to discuss this.
my personal space. friendship. Differing norms for
Physical distance is a sign personal space can easily
of respect. be misread, possibly
leading to suspicion and
mistrust.
209
Scenario 3
Naming: Someone refers to the rest of the team by their titles and surnames
rather than their first names

Addressing me by my Using titles is a sign of This needs to be discussed
family name and title respect and of with the parties concerned
makes me feel professionalism. because it would be
uncomfortable because it First names are only awkward for them to
is overformal and distant, appropriate for family and continue using different
something which is not close friends. naming conventions with
appropriate when we have each other. In most
contact on a regular basis. multinational companies,
first names between
colleagues is now the
norm.
Scenario 4
Working hours: A team member gives the rest of the team a 100-page
document on Friday evening and expects them to read it over the weekend

I have strong views about We need to be flexible. I need to set out some
the weekend as a time We cannot always expect ground rules so that the
reserved for rest and the demands on our time team know what can be
family. to accommodate our other expected of them. For
It is important to separate needs. example, I could signal
work and personal life. that weekend work should
be the exception rather
than the rule and should
only be undertaken or
asked of other team
members in urgent and
unforeseen circumstances.
210
Scenario 5
Politeness: A team member criticises colleagues’ work in a very direct way
How the complainant How the perpetrator

What I can do or what
feels feels
can be done about it
Direct criticism is It is important to be clear Again, it would be helpful
aggressive and and unambiguous in to bring the parties
unnecessary. dealing with colleagues, together to show that this
otherwise is probably a question of
misunderstandings can preferred language style.
easily arise. However, all team
members need to
understand that criticisms
should never be personal.
Scenario 6
Behaviour in meetings: One or more colleagues frequently interrupt others
during meetings and start their own discussions

Interrupting is rude and Open debate is stifled if If I am chairing a
shows a lack of respect. we stick to a rigid and meeting, I need to explain
We can only get things formal meeting format. the communication rules
done efficiently if we Important ideas can get clearly at the outset in
allow each other time to lost or forgotten if we order to address differing
speak. A free-for-all each have to wait our turn expectations. As a team,
means that only the to speak. we need to establish a
loudest get heard. meeting format which
everyone can adhere to.
The format needs to allow
everyone the chance to
speak while also
incorporating more free
flowing discussion in
recognised phases of the
meeting.
211
References
Amos, J. (2012) ‘Body language across cultures’, BodyLanguageExpert [Blog] 4
December. Available at www.bodylanguageexpert.co.uk/
BodyLanguageAcrossCultures.html (Accessed 22 September 2014).
Fenton-o’Creevy, M. (2014) ‘Welcome to Leadership and management in
intercultural contexts’, BB848 Leadership and management in intercultural contexts
[Online]. Available at https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=576725
(Accessed 22 October 2014).
Guidance (n.d.) ‘Operations/Shipping Apprentice’ [Online]. Available at www.
guidance.eu.com/assets/_managed/cms/files/Operations%20Apprentice%20Sept%
202013.pdf (Accessed 22 October 2014).
The National Centre for Languages (CiLT) (2008) National Occupational Standards
for Intercultural Working: Standards for working with people from different countries
or diverse cultures, London, CiLT [Online]. Available at www.cilt.org.uk/home/
standards_and_qualifications/uk_occupational_standards/idoc.ashx?docid=204b8626
bcb5-4e33-ac6d-546d7c5dcf48&version=-1 (Accessed 22 September 2014).
The Open University (2014) Employability Skills [Online]. Available at www2.open.
ac.uk/students/careers/about-you/employability-skills (Accessed 25 June 2014).
Ritzer, G. (1993) The McDonaldization of Society, Los Angeles, Pine Forge Press.
212
Glossary
Glossary
Active language: a language that an interpreter speaks competently enough

to interpret into. [Section 17.3]
Auditory: concerned with hearing. Speaking and listening both use an
auditory channel. [Section 17.1]
Channel: the mode of transmission – visual, auditory or tactile – through
which a message is communicated. Different media may belong to the same
channel. For example, the books in this series are available in different media
(print or ebook), but in both cases information is conveyed through the visual
channel. [Section 17.1]
Community of practice: a group of people who form in pursuit of a mutual
endeavour. Communities of practice ‘are focused on a domain of knowledge
and over time accumulate expertise in this domain. They develop their shared
practice by interacting around problems, solutions, and insights, and building
a common store of knowledge’ (Wenger, 2001, p. 1). [Section 13.3]
Connotation: ‘that which is implied in a word in addition to its essential or
primary meaning’ (Oxford University Press, 2014). For example, the words
‘mum’, ‘mummy’ and ‘mother’ have the same primary meaning, but they are
associated with different situations and emotional meanings. [Section 16.2]
Consecutive interpreting: a method of interpreting where the speaker stops
speaking to allow the interpreter to relay the message in part or in full.
[Section 17.2]
Critical understanding: an intellectually defensible position that
demonstrates a clear understanding of relevant ideas, issues and sources. This
term is commonly used in education, especially when describing the learning
outcomes of a course, study programme, or learning task. It can also be used
to describe a person’s skills and competences. [Section 18.3]
Denotation: ‘the literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the
feelings or ideas that the word suggests’ (Oxford University Press, 2014).
[Section 16.2]
Diversity: ‘The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It
means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing our
individual differences. These can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity,
gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities,
religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.’ (United Nations
Studies Association, cited in GDCF, n.d.) [Section 14.4]
Employability: is about making connections between study, personal
development and other activities in order to find, gain and be successful in
your chosen career. Developing a strong employability profile will make you
much more employable and successful in your career (Open
University, 2014). [Unit 18, Intro.]
213
Equality: in an organisational or political context, this term is often used as

part of the phrase ‘equality and diversity’. The Oxford English Dictionary
defines equality as ‘the condition of having equal dignity, rank, or privileges
with others; the fact of being on an equal footing’. One common form of
equality is equality of opportunity, which means ‘equal chance and right to
seek success in one’s chosen sphere regardless of social factors such as class,
race, religion, and sex’ (Oxford University Press, 1989). [Section 14.4]
Essentialist/essentialism: the idea that a group (or other entity) has some
core characteristics that define the group. These core characteristics are held
to be true for all members of the group. [Section 15.3]
Gender: defines the distinctions between male and female in terms of social
conditioning, e.g. the roles people take on, the ways they talk and behave, the
clothes they wear, etc. [Section 13.1]
Idiolect: each person’s unique and distinctive way of speaking which, like
their fingerprints, differentiates every individual. It is characterised by
distinctive patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar use.
[Section 13.1]
Interpreting: in a multilingual context, interpreting refers to the action of
turning speech from one language into another. Interpreting may also be used
between a sign language and a spoken language. [Unit 16, Intro.]
Jargon: ‘applied contemptuously to any mode of speech abounding in
unfamiliar terms, or peculiar to a particular set of persons’ (Oxford
University Press, 1989b). [Section 13.4]
Language choice: in sociolinguistics, language choice refers to the language
that plurilingual people choose to use, either consciously or unconsciously, in
a given situation. Piller (2000) identifies language choice as ‘a major factor
in the linguistic construction of cultural identity’. [Section 14.2]
Language combination: the combination of active and passive languages
that an interpreter is able to work with. [Section 17.3]
Language regime: the range of languages which are interpreted from and
into at a multilingual conference. [Section 17.3]
Liaison interpreting: interpreting where a single interpreter renders both
sides of a two-way conversation, switching language as speakers take their
turns. [Section 17.2]
Mediation: the process of acting as a connecting link between two people or
things. In the context of multilingual and intercultural communication, the
term ‘mediation’ generally refers to translation, interpreting, or any other
intervention aimed at facilitating communication between people from
different linguistic or cultural backgrounds. [Unit 16, Intro.]
Nominalisation: the grammatical process by which actions, events, qualities
of events and qualities of objects are represented, not as verbs, adjectives and
adverbs, but as nouns (things, concepts). This process in its simplest form
involves using a verb as a noun. For example, ‘when you arrive’ becomes ‘on
your arrival’. Sometimes a structural transformation of the verb is involved,
214
Glossary
often with the addition of a suffix, e.g. ‘precipitate’ becomes ‘precipitation’.
[Section 13.4]
Passive language: a language that an interpreter understands and is able to
interpret from, but not necessarily into. [Section 17.3]
Persona: (plural: personas, personae) the identity that a speaker projects to
the world in their social interactions with others. [Section 13.3]
Pragmatics: ‘A branch of linguistics concerned with the use of language in
social contexts and the ways in which people produce and comprehend
meanings through language’ (Norquist, n.d.). For example, pragmatics looks
at the rules that speakers follow when taking turns in a conversation, the kind
of language that is considered appropriate in different situations, what sounds
polite or rude or strange, the structure of texts used for different audiences
and purposes, and so on. [Section 16.2]
Qualitative research: ‘gathers information that is not in numerical form. For
example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews
and unstructured observations. Qualitative data is typically descriptive data
and as such is harder to analyze than quantitative data’ (McLeod, 2008).
[Section 13.2]
Quantitative research: ‘gathers data in numerical form which can be put
into categories, or in rank order, or measured [...]. This type of data can be
used to construct graphs and tables of raw data’ (McLeod, 2008).
[Section 13.2]
Relay interpreting: the relaying of a message from a particular source
language into a language common to all interpreters, who then render the
content into their own target language. [Section 17.2]
Remote interpreting: interpreting performed at a distance, when participants
are in different physical locations. [Section 17.2]
Sex: the biological and physiological distinction between male and female,
e.g. chromosomes, hormones and anatomical differences. [Section 13.1]

Sight interpreting: a method of interpreting where a written text in the
source language is rendered orally into the target language. [Section 17.2]
Simultaneous interpreting: a method of interpreting where the interpreter
relays the message without the speaker stopping speaking. [Section 17.2]
Source language: the original language a translator or interpreter translates
from. [Section 16.1]
Tactile: concerned with touch. The Braille system uses a tactile channel to
enable blind and partially sighted people to read and write. [Section 17.1]
Target language: the language a translator or interpreter translates into, also
known as the receiving language. [Section 16.1]
Terminology: ‘the system of terms belonging to any science or subject’
(Oxford University Press, 1989a). [Section 13.4]
215
Translation: ‘the action or process of turning from one language into

another; also, the product of this; a version in a different language’ (Oxford
University Press, 1989). In that sense, interpreters and translators both
produce translations. However, the term translation normally refers to written
translation, whereas spoken translation is referred to as interpreting. [Unit 16,
Intro.]
Variable: a characteristic of a language, which manifests in clearly different
ways in different groups of speakers. These variables may be phonetic,
lexical or grammatical. For example, the pronunciation of the sound /h/ is a
variable. [Section 13.2]
Variant: a particular realisation of a variable by a speaker or group of
speakers, for example the retention or dropping of the sound /h/.
[Section 13.2]
Variation: refers to identifiable differences in the way that speakers or
groups of speakers use a language. [Section 13.2]
Visual: concerned with seeing. Writing, reading and sign language all use a
visual channel. [Section 17.1]
Whispered interpreting: form of simultaneous interpreting where
interpreters whisper into the ear of the listeners instead of using interpreting
equipment. [Section 17.2]
216
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources:
Images
Book cover: © iStockphoto.com/Robert Churchill; p. 10: © Cartoon Stock;
p. 11: © Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images; p. 14: © William Labov; p. 18:
from Finegan (2004) cited in English Language and Linguistics Online; p. 19
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Lana Rastro/Alamy; p. 64 (top left): © British Retail Photography/Alamy;
p. 64 (top middle): © hazelisles. This file is licensed under the Creative
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creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/; p. 64 (top right): © David Cole/
Alamy; p. 64 (bottom left): © Alan, Kaptain Kobold. This file is licensed
under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/; p. 64 (bottom middle): ©
Isriya Paireepairit. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by
nc/2.0/; p. 64 (bottom right): © Health Gauge. This file is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution Licence http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
by/2.0/; p. 75: © ktsdesign/Shutterstock; p. 82: Provided by kind permission
of Geert Hofstede B.V.; p. 84: © Ellerslie/Shutterstock; p. 87: © Geert
Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov, Cultures and Organizations,
Software of the Mind, Third edn, McGraw-Hill 2010; p. 98: © pdesign/
Shutterstock; p. 99: © Chones/Fotolia.com; p. 111 (left): © Jim Driscoll/
www.flickr.com. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives Licence http://creativecommons.
org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/; p. 111 (right): © Jim Bateman; p. 118: ©
Interfoto/Alamy; p. 126: © Anita Staff; p. 134: © istockphoto.com/robtek;
p. 157: © istockphoto.com/Rich Legg; p. 156: © Bill Alder; p. 157: ©
istockphoto.com/Ivcandy; p. 160: © Jim West/Alamy; p. 162: © European
Union, 1995–2014; p. 164: © Ann Alder; p. 169: © National Network for
Interpreting; p. 181: © photo-dave/Fotolia.com; p. 183: © Guidance
Navigation Ltd 2013; p. 185: ©iStockphoto.com/HHakim; p. 190: © Alex
Segre/Alamy; p. 191: © Gis-Fotolia.com; p. 193: © iStockphoto.com/
duncan1890; p. 204: photograph by Lynn Friedman, https://www.flickr.com/
photos/lynnfriedman/7016505011/, cleared under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 licence.
217
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laughter and intimacy’, Journal of Pragmatics, no. 39, pp. 29–49, www.
sciencedirect.com, Elsevier B.V.; p. 11: sourced from Dickens, C. (1999
[1861]) Great Expectations, W.W. Norton and Co.; pp. 14–15: taken from:
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simplypsychology.org/qualitative-quantitative.html; p. 21: sourced from
Etienne Wenger, http://go.webassistant.com; p. 23: Permission given by Jane
Percival, editor Archery UK to use text ‘“Thin” not always best’ by David
Cousins, Lizard Peninsula Bowmen, published in Archery UK, Summer 2013;
p. 29: taken from Wikipedia and used under CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported
licence; pp. 42–3, p. 44: BBC News (2012) ‘Welsh language plan for services
unveiled by commissioner Meri Huws’, BBC News Wales, 17 May [Online]:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18103982; pp. 49–50: taken from http://
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pp. 124–25: with kind permission of David Ingram, The News Manual, www.
thenewsmanual.net; pp. 126–29: © Guardian News & Media Ltd 2007;
pp. 131–2, p. 133 © Copyright Advanced Language Translation Inc;
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Little Book of Transcreation, London, Mother Tongue Ltd; p. 136: courtesy
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218
Acknowledgements
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Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders. If any have been
inadvertently overlooked the publishers will be pleased to make the necessary
arrangements at the first opportunity.
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L161 Exploring languages and cultures

Book 3 Intercultural competence at work

The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA

Unit 13 Language and community

13.1 Language and identity 8

13.2 Sociolinguistics and variation studies 13

13.3 Language and communities 21

13.4 Language and profession 27

Unit 14 Multilingual and intercultural contexts in the workplace

14.1 Government language policy and the workplace 42

14.2 Company language policies and their effects 52

14.3 The power dynamics of language use in the workplace 58

14.4 Culture and the multinational business environment 61

Unit 15 Theoretical perspectives on cultural differences

15.1 Personal and national outlooks 77

15.2 Hofstede’s framework 82

15.3 Reactions to Hofstede’s framework 91

15.4 The intercultural communications industry 98

Unit 16 Mediating through translation

Learning outcomes 110

16.1 Who needs translation? 111

16.2 What does translating involve? 123

16.3 Mediating through ‘transcreation’ 131

16.4 Translating strategies 136

16.5 The ethics of translating 140

Unit 17 The role of the interpreter

Learning outcomes 151

17.1 Translating and interpreting 152

17.2 Methods of interpreting 156

17.3 The contexts of interpreting 158

17.4 The skills of interpreting 168

17.5 The ethics of interpreting 172

Unit 18 Intercultural skills and employability

Learning outcomes 182

18.1 Intercultural competence in the workplace 183

18.2 Standards for intercultural working 191

18.3 Language in the intercultural workplace 198

Module team support

Gillian Çağlayan (media project manager)

Celia Copping-Meyler (copy editor)

Angela Davies (media assistant)

Kim Dulson (assistant print buyer)

Cayra Goodyear (rights assistant)

Sarah-Jane Hofton (graphics media developer)

Richard Law (learning media developer)

Unit 13 Language and community

13.1 Language and identity

1 But supposing that he raised someone from the dead?

14 she could have been in a coma [yeah]

Language and class

‘Say tea then,’ said Herbert, pouring it out.

1 What aspects of Joe’s behaviour reveal that he is feeling ill at ease?

13.2 Sociolinguistics and variation studies

The study of in language

Example: He played his par’

Example: He played his part

William Labov worked on a classic study on social stratiﬁcation for

He studied the speech of employees in three department stores in

Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar terminology

statements are true or false.

1 The non-rhotic accent is prestigious in New York.

2 Labov investigated the post-vocalic /r/ variable.

3 Labov asked people about their accents.

Wenger, E. (2001) Supporting Communities of Practice: A Survey of Community