Are ‘diversity management’ and monolingualism compatible? About learning and using foreign languages in a context of globalisation

Abstract

Ideologies and communication practices vary hugely in multilingual workplaces. On the one hand, many companies include Diversity Management in their corporate culture because there are theoretical and empirical reasons to believe that a company which employs a diverse workforce enhances its opportunities in a global marketplace whilst improving employee satisfaction and thus productivity. On the other hand, globally oriented companies, often the same ones, choose English preferentially as their corporate language as it has become widely accepted that this is the language of international business. Thus, diversity in general (i.e. cultural diversity) and linguistic diversity are dissociated.