Managing micro-level language problems in the Japanese multilingual workplace

Although there is a growing body of work focusing on micro-level multilingual interactions, very little attention has been given to the Japanese context, and in particular the Japanese workplace. In fact, research focusing on the Japanese workplace has tended to focus on interactions between Japanese workers and native speakers of English, with little attention being paid to lingua franca interactions occurring between non-native speakers of English or with speakers of other languages. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper examines how plurilingual employees working in Japan manage their linguistic repertoires in their everyday work interactions. 

Based on interviews conducted with plurilingual employees at three multinationals in Japan, this paper focuses on the language problems that employees report relating to English, Japanese and their other languages. Applying Language Management Theory (e.g. Nekvapil 2009), I highlight the types of language issues my participants were particularly sensitive to and demonstrate how they attempted to overcome these problems. In addition to noting purely linguistic problems, connected to vocabulary use, pronunciation and syntax, the participants were particularly sensitive to problems relating to sociolinguistic and discourse features of their interactions, including pragmatic meaning, politeness, non-verbal behaviour and the ordering of components within communication. However, despite the participants’ awareness of a variety of language issues at work, it was found that the power constraints of the workplace often deterred them from making adjustments to remove those problems, or forced them to make adjustments covertly. I argue that no examination of multilingual interaction can be complete without also addressing the power framework within which that interaction occurs.

Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Sociolinguistics (ICS2), Budapest, Hungary, September 6-8, 2018.