Abstract
Recent Chinese trade expansion into many African countries has brought new communities of Chinese migrants into the region. In the “China Town” shopping centres established in the Western Cape, many employ African migrants as shop assistants. This study considers the notion of “language policy” as it is applied in developing a foundation for business communication in a setting where interactants have mutually unintelligible first languages and relatively low English lingua franca proficiency. Taking an ethnographic approach, this article investigates the linguistic diversity of such a market place where workers rely on English as the workplace language, developing patterns of language choice regarding which languages and styles occur in different kinds of conversational events and sequences. We focus first on the nature of the communicative practices in such a multilingual trading centre and, second, interpreting these observed practices, we indicate how an informal business language policy tacitly develops.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.