The Effects on Professional Identity of Language Policies in Multilingual Organizations

This research project asks the question what language policies Swiss-based multilingual companies follow and how these policies effect employees' professional identities. The study aims at mapping which language strategies Swiss-based multilingual organizations today practice to deal with the multiple languages in their national and international setting and how they deal with the upcoming tendency in business and organizational life to use English as official language. Furthermore, the study aims at understanding the qualitative impact of the diverse language strategies on the professional identity construction of their employees with regard to their career possibilities, professional effectiveness and their personal self-esteem. Especially, we are interested to find out the effects when companies have adopted a common corporate language-policy.