Communicative Effectiveness in BELF (English as a Business Lingua Franca) Meetings: ‘Explaining’ as a Pragmatic Strategy

Abstract

AbstractThe study investigates business professionals of different language backgrounds using English as a business lingua franca (BELF) in formal internal meetings. In particular, it examines how these participants deploy ‘explaining’ as a pragmatic strategy to increase communicative effectiveness. The data comprise 6 internal business meetings, totaling 293 minutes of video recordings. A discourse analysis of the meeting data reveals that the participants move to explain even in the absence of a request for an explanation or following an implicit request for further information. The strategy of explaining allows the speaker to provide additional information or background details that contribute to increasing communicative clarity and enhancing shared knowledge. The findings offer insights into the pragmatic competence of BELF users that is crucial in the accomplishment of communicative goals in the business setting. The findings also have pedagogical implications in that they point to the relevance of incorporating the teaching of pragmatic strategies such as explaining in business communication courses to address the needs of future business practitioners in a globalized world.