Abstract
AbstractAlthough international truckers are essential to the European supply chain, we know little about how they deal with their frequent multilingual workplace interactions. This paper examines the effects of participants’ Individual Multilingual Repertoires (Pitzl, Marie-Luise. 2016. World Englishes and creative idioms in English as a lingua franca.World Englishes35(2). 293–309.https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12196) on their behavior and attitude toward multilingual interactions. Five Polish truckers and six Dutch logistics professionals were observed and interviewed. An ethnographic case study approach allowed us to consider interactions from multiple perspectives. Findings from the study reveal that some, but not all, Polish truckers struggle to interact in the most common lingua francas in the Netherlands: English and German. We show that some of the Dutch logistics professionals have a low opinion of foreign drivers’ linguistic abilities, which impairs the potential to find shared multilingual resources, and ultimately to improve communication skills. Results of the study contribute to an understanding of the dynamics of multilingual interactions in the workplace. Practical suggestions for logistics professionals and future research are identified.
Highlights
Preliminary findings show that Eastern European drivers appear to be confident about their communication despite limited proficiency (Dijkstra 2017; Juhász 2013). This factor, combined with the high expectations which some people place on language learners as discussed in the Polish sociolinguistic profile, learning a Western lingua franca like English or German may not be so appealing for many Polish truckers
We performed two explorative multi-method case studies dedicated to shedding light on how Polish truck drivers deal with the linguistic requirements of their international profession when they are in the Netherlands
The purpose of these case studies is to learn about the strategies that these professionals employ to keep the European supply chain running smoothly
Summary
A substantial European shortage of truck drivers means that these companies may not have the luxury of placing high demands on the linguistic skills of their drivers. These drivers usually get the job done, yet little is known of how these multilingual interactions work. Understanding how truckers with varying levels of proficiency in languages other than their native language manage their international work, and where these differences originate from would contribute significantly to our knowledge about multilingual communication in organizations, and would provide opportunities to improve the effectiveness of these interactions. The specific question we address is: How do Polish truckers manage everyday multilingual workplace communication with Dutch logistics professionals?
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