ELF and super-diversity: a case study of ELF multilingual practices from a business context

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the link between English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and super-diversity in the multilingual business context of a small IT company, where English is used as a lingua franca and various linguistic resources play an important role in the company practices. The aim of the study is to examine the practices, orientations to and use of ELF and multilingual resources within an ethnographically-oriented approach, with data collected through observations, interviews, focus groups and recordings of naturally-occurring interactions. The findings show that the company's practices are highly multilingual, whereby ‘languaging’ is a common and positively valued phenomenon. Results also show that ELF is highly collaborative, both in spoken and written communication, and the staff's sociolinguistic repertoire is sensitive to the interlocutors' communicative resources.