Company-Internal ELF Communication: The Case of Email Requests between Professionals

Abstract

The email medium plays a prevalent role in globalised professional communication. Where English as a Lingua Franca is the language of choice, challenges may arise based on differing assumptions about the appropriate degree of directness, in particular with face-threatening speech acts such as requests. Given the frequency of email requests between colleagues, they are investigated here with the aim of identifying common practices in diverse speaker groups. Requests for information and requests for action were analysed with respect to request perspective and realisation strategy. The results indicate that these request types differ on both measures. The former are primarily realised as impersonal questions, focusing on the content rather than highlighting the requestive character. The latter make use of different realisation strategies and perspectives, one of them being the most direct strategy in hearer perspective, i.e. placing emphasis on the requestive illocutionary force. Direct requests are common in business (email) requests, but are less in line with both native and L2 English speakers’ preferred choices outside this context. We urge for raising awareness of ELF language use in language policies and instruction on business communication.