The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism by Martin-Jones Marilyn; Blackledge Adrian; Creese Angela

Author:Martin-Jones, Marilyn; Blackledge, Adrian; Creese, Angela
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 981961
Publisher: Routledge

Getting the work done

A final example of high-end multilingualism shares some features in common with examples above but adds the dimension of multilingual workplaces where English functions as an indispensible technical language. Research by Hill and van Zyl (2002) into the South African engineering workplace was concerned with the relative use and value of languages in play in a number of engineering companies in the Witwatersrand. Following the transition from apartheid, the democratically elected new South African government extended the number of official languages from two — English and Afrikaans — to 11 and committed the state to ‘elevate and advance the use’ of those indigenous African languages previously disadvantaged. However, perhaps reminiscent of Lüdi’s research described above on the gap between policy and practice, some have argued that whereas the power of Afrikaans appears to have decreased, the status of the Indigenous languages is little changed and the dominance of English has been further entrenched.

Given the global dominance of English, it is unsurprising that most South African companies have followed a predominantly ‘English-only’ policy, whereas companies ‘allow’ locallanguages for everyday workplace spoken interactions, all have a policy of English as the basic language of business, as do the major mining houses. As Hill and van Zyl report:

The engineering workplace … uses English as more than just a business language. The technical knowledge upon which engineering practice is based, and the global interests of many South African engineering companies ensure that both theory and practice are discussed in an international standard language which possesses the necessary technical terms. In addition many engineers receive their professional training in an international language which connects them to a world wide ‘community of experts’ … who use the same language and its specialized resources. In South Africa that language is English.

(2002: 24)

For young black engineers, whose primary language is commonly one of the African languages, being professionally fully functional makes demands of a high order on English-language competency but at the same time can also involve important strategic use of African languages. The engineering profession necessarily involves regular and critical interactions with a multilingual workforce. Here the black engineers are at an advantage, particularly as many bring to their work a fluency in several African languages and familiarity with a range of cultures.

Hill and van Zyl’s research was designed to investigate the linguistic context of engineering in South Africa and particularly the practices and attitudes of young black engineers. A sample of 58 engineering students with varying amounts of site work experience and newly qualified engineers participated in this research. Methods included focus groups, interviews, survey questionnaire and observational work. Engineering fields covered included electrical, chemical, mining and aeronautical. Respondents were asked to specify the languages used predominantly at work, whether there was a company policy prescribing language use and, crucially, to indicate any other language used ‘to get the work done’.

As well as the anticipated finding that English was important across a range of interactions and was also used for documentation and that

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