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http://bcq.sagepub.com/content/61/3/85Theonline version of this article can be found at:

DOI: 10.1177/108056999806100312

1998 61: 85Business Communication QuarterlyMirjaliisa Charles

Europe: Oral Business Communication

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sites, conference roundtables, and think tanks have done. Even more,it would require continuing efforts toward developing a kind of com-mon currency for global knowledge production and exchange,

improving our distribution systems and networks to disseminateresearch and pedagogical materials, as well as reaching some consen-

sus regarding our communal goals and global standards for member-

ship.And, I believe, it would require coming to terms with issues suchas our differing national commitments and our divided perspective on

English. 1 I ..:..&dquo;. ~ . .. ,

References

Ahmad, U. K. (1997). Scientific ResearchArticles in Malay:A Situated DiscourseAnalysis. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan.

Andrews, D. C. (1988). Technical Communication in the Global Community. Upper Sad-dle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Graves, R. (1997). Dear Friend (?): Culture and genre inAmerican and Canadiandirect marketing letters. The Journal of Business Communication, 34 (3), 235-252.

Hagen, P. (1998). TeachingAmerican business writing in Russia: Cross-

cultures/cross-purposes. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 12 (1),109-126.

Locker, K. O. (1998). The role of TheAssociation for Business Communication in

shaping business communication as an academic discipline. The Journal ofBusiness Communication, 35 (1),14-49.

Louhiala-Salminen, L. (July 1997). Investigating the genre of a business fax:AFinnish case study. The Journal of Business Communication 34 (3),316-333.

Europe: Oral Business CommunicationMirjaliisa CharlesHelsinki School of Economics and BusinessAdministration, Finland

RESEARCH on oral business communication in Europe is deeplyrooted in the multicultural and multilingual reality of the continent.Most European businesspeople (with the possible exception of the

British) must use at least one foreign language to do business. For

most, that foreign language is English-with French and German hav-

ing clear significance. It is no surprise, therefore, that European busi-

ness communication research is closely linked with the needs of

foreign language learning and teaching. Indeed, instead of speakingabout business communication, researchers, teachers, and trainers fre-

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quently use the terms Business English (BE) and English for SpecificPurposes (ESP), and business communication is typically taughtunder those labels. (For an informative survey of the use of various

umbrella terms see Johnson, 1993; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1996;Crandall, 1984.) Within this context, European researchers study threebroad areas: (i) the language and discourse of business events; (2)communication flows and systems, linguistic auditing, and needs

analyses; and (3) language acquisition and language learning. Thisarticle concentrates on the first area, in which studies proliferate, andincludes the addresses for

pertinentWebsites and contact information

about conferences as well as research and teaching projects.

The Language and Discourse of Business Events

The business events drawing by far the most research attention are

various forms of sales interaction, essentially negotiations and busi-ness meetings. This reflects a close link between research and teach-

ing, as these events are particularly challenging for non-nativespeakers of English. This section briefly describes methods for

researching sales interactions and reviews significant European litera-ture on the topic.

Methods

Most studies use linguistic methods; three approaches are easily iden-tified. One is conversation analysis, based on the work of Sacks, Sche-

gloff, and Jefferson (e.g., 1974) and supplemented by ethnographicmethodology. Such studies have greatly benefited from Drew and

Heritages recent work in applied linguistics (1992; see also Heritage,1987). Researchers tend to focus on oral business communication as a

conversation jointly created by the interactants, with the analyst aim-

ing to reveal regularities within that process.A second approach is discourse and genre analysis. One source ofdiscourse analysis is the seminal work of the Birmingham linguistsSinclair and Coulthard (1975). Swales (1990; see also Johns, 1986;Dudley-Evans, 1989; Bhatia, 1993) is the leading proponent of genreanalysis. Oral business communication events are seen as instances of

specific business discourse, often with specific structures and genericfeatures.A third approach is rhetorical analysis. Rhetorical studies

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view oral business communication events as culturally bound interac-tions and aim to identify cultural similarities and differences.

These approaches at times blend and overlap. In addition, many

researchers incorporate methods from marketing, management, andsocial and organizational psychology (see, for example, Holden &

Uljln,1992; Charles & Charles, 1996). For an informative discussion of

terminology and methodology, see Ehlich (1992) and Wagner (1993).The annual ENCoDe conference provides an interesting forum forresearchers in this field (www.kueichstaett.de/docs/wwf/sprachren/encode.htm). The Nordic LSP Network also

organizes postgraduateseminars and conferences.

Representative European Studies

European research relevant to oral business communication surged at

the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s.The first study to use

negotiation data actually recorded in a company and, indeed, the first

comprehensive linguistically oriented study was Lampi (1986). Thisstudy marks an early effort to bring findings into linguistics from non-

linguistic negotiation research, especially social psychology. Lampiprovides a case study of one negotiation between two British native

speakers of English and shows how cooperation is built through a

variety of linguistic devices in different stages of the negotiation.Lampi later applied and extended this study (ig8g, ~990).

In other studies using recordings of British negotiations, Lampi(1993; see also Charles, 1995) focused on the linguistic manifestationsof power in sales negotiations. In a more comprehensive study,Charles (1994) described discoursal differences between &dquo;Buyer talk&dquo;

and &dquo;Seller talk&dquo; reflecting different role concepts of buyers and sell-ers and differences in the stage of the business relationship at which

the negotiation is carried out (see also Charles,t996; Charles&

Charles, 1996).Although rooted in the Birmingham tradition of lin-

guistic inquiry, Charless study is interdisciplinary, drawing on mar-

keting research and sociological concepts. These findings inform the

negotiation skills training organized for business students in theHelsinki School of Economics and BusinessAdministration

(HSEBA), Finland. The Languages and Communication Departmentof the HSEBA also organizes a bi-annual conference, Language and the

Economy, which focuses on communication and training issues.



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Other studies of actual negotiations include Firth (i99t; see also

Firth, 1995) and Ohberg (1995). Firth uses conversation analysismethodology to analyze the way actors-in this case Danes andArabs

using English as a linguafranea-overcome interorganizational con-flict through discourse in order to do business with each other. Firths

study uniquely combines both written and oral materials. In analyz-ing Swedish and international data, Ohberg focuses on phase struc-tures in negotiation and on miscommunication between native andnon-native speakers of English.

While these researchers

mainlyaddress the process of

negotiating,others use genre analysis or rhetorical analysis, particularly in inter-cultural studies (e.g., Trosborg, 1995). Bargiela-Chiappini (1992) and

Bargiela-Chiappini and Harris (1996; 1997), for example, look at busi-ness meetings conducted in English between an Italian and a British

company. They view business meetings as a genre and identify salientfeatures as manifested by the two cultures examined. In a similar

vein, Bulow-Moller (1992) andAndersen (1995) compare English andDanish communicative behavior.

A variety of studies analyze English language business interactionwhere both interactants are non-native speakers of English. Rehbein

(1992), for example, focuses on business negotiation in European set-

tings in which participants from different mother tongue backgroundschoose French,

English,or German as one of their

languagesof com-

munication. Using an ethnographic approach, Poncini (forthcoming)examines a series of (mostly English language) meetings at an Italian

headquarters, attended by agents from io European countries. Takinga more theoretical point of view, Firth (1g9i) examines the verynature of lingua franea communication.An interesting feature of European business negotiation research is

the relative wealth of intercultural studies carried out in languagesother than English. Examples published in English include Wagner(1989) on Danish and German; Fant (1990 and 1995) on Swedish and

Spanish; and Grindsted (i99oa, b, c; 1995) on Danish and Spanish.Significantly, research carried out by European non-native speakers of

English frequently has a contrastive focus (see, for example, Neu-

mann, 1994), reflecting the pedagogical activity from which it stems.

European business schools offer extensive English business communi-cation programs for non-native speakers.An opportunity to major in



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English business communication is offered by, for example, the

Copenhagen Business School (www.cbs.dk/departments/engl). This

program has a contrastive approach and focuses on translation skills

for business. HSEBA, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive, lin-guistically and discoursally oriented English business communication

program. The Nottingham Trent University in the UK organizes anMA in European business communications, which is designed to

&dquo;develop the European Communications Directors of tomorrow&dquo;

(www. nbs. ntu. ac. uk/ mktg/pgcrse/ maebc).. ,

Small centers like Ostfold College in Halden, Norway, also publish

working papers and reports relevant to business negotiations and

meetings. In the European fashion, contributions are accepted in Eng-lish, French, German, or the Scandinavian languages (e-mail contact:

Ingrid.Neumannchiof.no).An example of purely teaching-orientedresearch is White (1993). White draws on his experience in teaching

English to the Japanese to review cross-cultural problems in sales

negotiations and suggest applications for English language teachingmaterials and techniques. Finally, in this brief survey of research on

business negotiations and meetings, Wagner (~990; 1995) asks the

basic question, &dquo;What makes a discourse a negotiation?&dquo; and Francis

(1995) examines the link between negotiation and decision-making.

Communication Flows and Systems: NeedsAnalyses

and LinguisticAuditingResearch on communication flows and systems tries to answer the

question of what language(s) should be used-and, therefore, taughtto non-native speakers-and in what kind of situations. Two

approaches are common as researchers try to answer that question,each with a different starting point. Needs analysis, stemming as it

does from

applied linguistics, approachesthe

questionfrom the

pointof view of individuals needing to operate in business. Linguisticauditing sees communication, and communicative needs, as integralelements of corporate strategy. The method assumes that languageand communication are strategic tools for management, with lan-

guage training an investment.Reeves and Wright (1996) have developed a language or &dquo;linguis-

tic&dquo; audit system that achieves significant findings (see also Euraudit,1994; Wright & Wright, 1994). Its objective is to &dquo;help the management

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of a fimi identify the strengths and weaknesses of their organizationin terms of communication in foreign languages.&dquo; Similarly, Marschan

(1996) and Marschan, Welch, and Welch (1997) address the question

through examining communication flows and systems within multi-national corporations (see also Holden & Uljin, 1992). The EuropeanUnion has started sponsoring research in this area, as well as

exchanges between business communication students and researchers

(in the Erasmus program), so much more such research is expected.

LanguageAcquisition and Language LearningThe third research area-language acquisition and language learn-

ing-is the most directly pedagogical. Tammelin (~993) provides a

good example in his work on multimedia facilities in the teaching of

English business communication for business school undergraduates(www.hkkk.fi/tammelin/).Another example is BESIG-the Business

English Special Interest Group of The InternationalAssociation of

Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), a European-based organization whose members teach BE (www.lydbury.co.uk/

besig/index).

Final Remarks

As this brief review suggests, oral business communication-in

Europe, frequently amounting to Business English-is an area of

growing research and pedagogical interest. Research methods inEurope and the US are similar, and many researchers who mostly

operate in Europe also publish inAmerican journals and will, there-

fore, be familiar toAmerican readers. In addition,American and

European researchers increasingly attend the same conferences and

seminars on both sides of theAtlantic and cooperate in many ways

that must, of course, be continued and enhanced.

Many gray areas remain. One is intertextuality, for example, the

interaction between oral and written communication.Another is

management communication, especially oral communication, wherelittle work has been done to date.A new initiative, however, is

addressing this issue. The Discourses of Management, a joint European-American project, aims to get a realistic view of the communication

practices in businesses and explores the role of language in relation toother social practices in business.A pilot study has been carried out in

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four countries-England, Finland, Sweden, and the US. Spain and Bel-

gium may join later. To compile data, researchers in the four countries&dquo;shadowed&dquo; middle-level managers, collected copies of all writing,

and taped spoken interactions. Results of the pilot were reported in a

colloquium, Discourse of the Business Workplace, organized at theAAAL

1998Annual Conference in Seattle, Washington. For more informa-tion on the project, contact Ulla Connor, Indiana University (e-mail:uconnor0Iiupui.ed) or me.

Finally, the studies and activities mentioned here are merely exam-

plesof

European projectsmeant to illustrate the foci and methodolo-

gies used. Many projects, fully worth elaboration, remainunmentioned.

References

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negotiations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Bargiela-Chiappini, F. (1992). Empty words in business: Redundancy or rhetoric?In 4th ENCODE internationalseminar on perspectives for trainers and customers in a

Europe without barriers.Amsterdam: Free University Press.

Bargiela-Chiappini, F., & Harris, S. J. (1996). Interruptive strategies in British andItalian management meetings. Text, 16 (3).

Bargiela-Chiappini, F., & Harris, S. J. (1997). Managing language: The discourse of cor-porate meetings.Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Bhatia, V K. (1993).Analysing genre: Language use in professional settings. London andNew York: Longman.

Bulow-Moller,A-M. (1992). Coherence structures in negotiations: The strategy ofrepetition. InA. Grindsted & J. Wagner (Eds.), Communication for specific pur-poses/Fachsprachliche Kommunikation. Tubingen: Narr.

Charles, D., & Charles, M. (1996). Facts of life in business: Making them work for

you. In IATEFL/BESIG (Business English Special Interest Group) Conference Report.Potsdam: University of Potsdam Press.

Charles, M. (1994). Layered negotiations in business: Interdependencies between discourseand the business relationship. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Birming-

ham, UK.Charles. M. (1995). Organizational power in business negotiations. In K. Ehlich

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Charles, M. (1996). Business negotiations: Interdependence between discourse andthe business relationship. English for Specific Purposes, 15 (1).

Crandall, J. (1984).Adult ESL: The other ESP. The ESP Journal, 3.Drew, P., & Heritage, J. (Eds.) (1992). Talk at work: Interaction in institutional settings.

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Dudley-Evans,A. (1989).An outline of the value of genre analysis in LSP work. InC. Lauren & M. Nordman (Eds.), Special language: From humans thinking to think-

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Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M.J. (1996). Report on business English:A review ofresearch and published teaching materials. TOEIC research report 2, July 1996,University of Birmingham, UK.

Ehlich, K. (1992). Language in the professions: Text and discourse. InA. Grindsted& J. Wagner (Eds.), Communication for specific purposes/Fachsprachliche Kommu-nikation. Tubingen: Narr.

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Address correspondence to the author, Helsinki School of Economics and Business

Administration, Department of Languages and Communication, Runeberginkatu y-i6,ooioo Helsinki, Finland (e-mail: charlesu~hkkk.6).

to