Article published In:
Dutch Journal of Applied LinguisticsVol. 4:1 (2015) ► pp.6–20
English-only job advertising in the Low Countries
The impact of job-related and company-related predictors
This paper presents a multifactorial quantitative corpus-based analysis of the distribution of English-only ads in the Low Countries. The dataset consists of approximately one thousand job ads, published in Vacature (a Belgian Dutch job ad magazine) and Intermediair (a Netherlandic Dutch job ad magazine) in 2007 and 2008. About one in seven ads are written entirely in English. Using logistic regression analysis, we find that the occurrence of English-only advertising is mainly linked to occupational contexts where English plays a practical role: the phenomenon is typical for companies with headquarters located outside of the Low Countries (specifically US/UK-based companies), for companies with English-oriented corporate communication and for companies that are recruiting for IT and technical staff. Finally, more English-only ads are published in Flanders than in The Netherlands.
References (28)
Angouri, J
(2014) Multilingualism in the workplace: Language practices in multilingual contexts. Multilingua, 33(1–2), 1–9. 
Brown, T.J., Dacin, P.A., Pratt, M.G., & Whetten, D.A
(2006) Identity, intended image, construed image, and reputation: An interdisciplinary framework and suggested terminology. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Volume, 34(2), 99–106.
Charles, M
(1998) Europe: Oral business communication. Business Communication Quarterly, 61(3), 85–93.
Cheshire, J., & Moser, L.-M
(1994) English as a cultural symbol: The case of advertisements in French-speaking Switzerland. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 151, 451–469.
Didiot-Cook, H., Gauthier, V., & Scheirlinckx, K
(2000) Language needs in business, a survey of European multinational companies.
HEC Paris, Languages and Cultures Department working papers, 725
. Inter-faculty Group for Languages joint study project, Community of European Management Schools (CEMS): Paris, France.
Friedrich, P
(2002) English in advertising and brand naming: Sociolinguistic considerations and the case of Brazil. English Today, 71(18), 21–28.
Graddol, D
(2003) English in the future. In A. Burns & C. Coffin (Eds.), Analysing English in a global context: A reader (pp. 26–37). London: Routledge.
Gunnarsson, B.-L
(2009) Professional discourse. London/New York: Continuum.
House, J
(2003) English as a lingua franca: A threat to multilingualism. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 556–578.
Kachru, B.B
(1985) Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle. In R. Quirk & H.G. Widdowson (Eds.), English in the world: Teaching and learning the language and literatures (pp. 11–30). London: Cambridge University Press.
Kelly-Holmes, H
(2006) Multilingualism and commercial language practices on the Internet. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 10(4), 507–519.
Korzilius, H., Van Meurs, F., & Hermans, J
(2006) The use of English in job advertisements in a Dutch national newspaper: On what factors does it depend? In R. Crijns & C. Burgers (Eds.), Werbestrategien in Theorie und Praxis. Sprachliche Aspekte von Deutschen und Niederländischen Unternehmensdarstellungen und Werbekampagnen (pp. 147–174). Tostedt: Attikon.
Louhiala-Salminen, L., Charles, M., & Kankaanranta, A
(2005) English as a lingua franca in Nordic corporate mergers: Two case companies. English for Specific purposes, 241, 401–421.
Louhiala-Salminen, L., & Kankaanranta, A
(2012) Language as an issue in international internal communication: English or local language? If English, what English? Public Relations Review, 381, 262–269.
Melewar, T.C
(2003) Determinants of the corporate identity construct: A review of the literature. Journal of Marketing Communications, 91, 195–220.
Nickerson, C
(2005) English as a lingua franca in international business contexts. English for Specific Purposes, 241, 367–380.
Piekkari, R., Vaara, E., Tienari, J., & Säntti, R
(2005) Integration or disintegration? Human resource implications of a common corporate language decision in a cross-border merger. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(3), 330–344.
Polzenhagen, F., & Dirven, R
(2008) Rationalist or romantic model in globalisation. In G. Kristiansen & R. Dirven (Eds.), Cognitive sociolinguistics (pp. 237–299). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Poncini, G
(2003) Multicultural business meetings and the role of languages other than English. Journal of Intercultural Studies, 24(1), 17–32.
Saulière, J
(2014) Corporate language: The blind spot of language policy? Reflections on France’s Loi Toubon. Current Issues in Language Planning, I(2), 220–235.
Seidlhofer, B
(2009) Orientations in ELF research: Form and function. In A. Mauranen & E. Ranta (Eds.), English as a Lingua Franca: Studies and findings (pp. 37–59). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Skutnabb-Kangas, T., & Phillipson, R
(1994) Linguistic human rights. Overcoming linguistic discrimination. Berlin/New York: Mouton De Gruyter.
Van Meurs, F
(2010) English in job advertisements in the Netherlands — reasons, use and effects. Utrecht: LOT.
Van Meurs, F., Korzilius, K, & Den Hollander, A
(2006) The persuasive effect of the use of English in external business communication on non-native speakers of English: An experimental case study of the impact of the use of English on a Dutch job site. In J.-C. Palmer-Silveira, M. Ruiz-Garrido, & I. Fortanet-Gomez (Eds.), Intercultural and international business communication: Theory, research and teaching (pp. 139–179). Bern: Lang.
Van Meurs, F., Hornikx, J., & Bossenbroek, G
(2014) English loanwords and their counterparts in Dutch job advertisements: An experimental study in association overlap. In E. Zenner & G. Kristiansen (Eds.), New perspectives on lexical borrowing (pp. 171–190). Berlin/Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.
Watts, R.J
(2002) English in Swiss job adverts: A Bourdieuan perspective. In A. Fischer, G. Tottie, & H.M. Lehmann (Eds.), Text types and corpora. Studies in honour of Udo Fries (pp. 105–122). Tübingen: Narr.
Zenner, E., Speelman, D., & Geeraerts, D
(2013) Macro and micro perspectives on the distribution of English in Dutch. A quantitative usage-based analysis of job ads. Linguistics, 51(5), 1019–1064.
Zenner, E., Ruette, T., & Van de Velde, F
(2014) Taalkeuze in personeelsadvertenties: een verkennend onderzoek door drie science floor managers. In F. Van de Velde, H. Smessaert, F. Van Eynde, & S. Verbrugge (Eds.), Patroon en argument (pp. 771–784). Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven.
Cited by (1)
Cited by 1 other publications
Hornikx, Jos
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 1 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.