You, Too, Will Speak English Soon: The Pros and Cons of English as a Business Lingua Franca

This paper discusses the increasing use of English as a Business Lingua Franca (BELF). In particular, this paper examines case studies from several companies located in diverse countries (Japan, Germany, and Finland), where English has been implemented as an internal lingua franca. The case studies show that most employees at these companies adjusted to BELF in a very pragmatic manner, while others considered the employment of BELF to be an intrusive course of action. This paper also investigates how BELF is viewed by native speakers of English and argues that attitudes towards foreign language learning by native speakers of English may constitute an impediment to efficient communication between speakers of different native languages and backgrounds. Finally, this papers shows that the acceptance of BELF, at least to a certain degree, is dependent on attitudes towards the global spread of English

Reevaluating diglossia: data from Low German

Ever since Ferguson published his seminal paper “Diglossia” in 1959 it has been the subject of much discussion. There has been wide agreement among researchers (Fishman, 1967; Britto, 1986; Hudson, 2002) about the necessity of the concept of diglossia in sociolinguistics as a term that defines two varieties of the same language spoken in the same language community. Yet, in spite or maybe because of the general acceptance of Ferguson’s concept it has been more often modified, redefined, and extended than almost any other idea in sociolinguistics. In fact, as Kaye (2001: 121) points out, no other topic has generated such prodigious research in sociolinguistics over the last five decades. Much of the discussion centers around the fact that the concept of diglossia is used rather liberally in sociolinguistics and is often extended to language situations that are not truly diglossic in the Fergusonian sense. Furthermore, diglossic research of the past and present has not yet produced a definite, contemporary theoretical outline of diglossia (Hudson, 2002: 2), thus leaving the field open to both new impetus and overuse. The purpose of this work is to reassess Ferguson’s original definition of diglossia by examining the results of a sociolinguistic field study on Low German (Platt) that I conducted in spring 2003 in the Grafschaft Bentheim (northwest Lower Saxony). Different researchers, such as Sanders (1982), and Stellmacher (1990) have pointed out that the coexistence of Low German and High German in many communities in northern Germany constitutes a diglossic situation that corresponds closely to Ferguson’s four original case studies. Although Low German research has gone to great lengths to document the many different varieties of Platt in northern Germany, there does not yet exist a comprehensive, contemporary sociolinguistic study in this field. Moreover, no study on Low German has ever extensively taken the concept of diglossia into account. This dissertation discusses how the results of my 2003 survey on Platt fit into diglossic theory but also how they diverge from it. In fact, diglossia in my target area, the Grafschaft Bentheim, is quite a unique phenomenon because several of Ferguson’s original nine rubrics diagnostic of diglossia either do not apply to the Grafschaft Bentheim or they have been reversed there. The relevance of a sociolinguistic field study on Low German becomes clear if one considers that the only major study in this field (GETAS study 1984) dates back more than two decades and has been the subject of much controversy due its methods of evaluation. My 2003 study is also one of the first attempts, both in Low German and diglossic research, to address the language competence and language attitudes of three different speaker groups: (1) Platt speakers (L-speakers, 88 participants), (2) Non-Platt speakers (H-speakers, 35 participants), and (3) children and young adults (573 participants). Most studies in diglossic research are exclusively concerned with speakers of the Low Variety (e.g. Britto, 1986) and thus often give an incomplete or slanted representation of the respective speech community. By including three different speaker groups my 2003 survey presents a more complete and representative, overall picture of the current sociolinguistic situation of Platt than other surveys. This study also goes beyond Low German research and diglossic theory by setting the massive erosion of Platt into the context of the world-wide erosion of minority languages and by discussing ways and means to revitalize the language. In fact, the alarming pace at which Platt has been eroding in the last couple of decades makes this work not only relevant but necessary to the fields of sociolinguistics, in particular diglossic studies, Low German research, and studies in endangered languages.Germanic Studie

Digital Divide: Low German and other Minority Languages

This paper investigates the online presence of Low German, a minority language spoken in northern Germany, as well as several other European regional and minority languages. In particular, this article presents the results of two experiments, one involving Wikipedia and one involving Twitter, that assess whether and to which extent minority languages are used on these websites. The article argues that minority and regional languages are not only underrepresented online due to a combination of historical, linguistic, sociological, and demographic reasons, but that the overall architecture of the World Wide Web and its most visited websites is such that smaller languages do not stand a chance to gain a meaningful online presence.

Global variations in heart failure etiology, management, and outcomes

Importance: Most epidemiological studies of heart failure (HF) have been conducted in high-income countries with limited comparable data from middle- or low-income countries. Objective: To examine differences in HF etiology, treatment, and outcomes between groups of countries at different levels of economic development. Design, Setting, and Participants: Multinational HF registry of 23 341 participants in 40 high-income, upper–middle-income, lower–middle-income, and low-income countries, followed up for a median period of 2.0 years. Main Outcomes and Measures: HF cause, HF medication use, hospitalization, and death. Results: Mean (SD) age of participants was 63.1 (14.9) years, and 9119 (39.1%) were female. The most common cause of HF was ischemic heart disease (38.1%) followed by hypertension (20.2%). The proportion of participants with HF with reduced ejection fraction taking the combination of a β-blocker, renin-angiotensin system inhibitor, and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist was highest in upper–middle-income (61.9%) and high-income countries (51.1%), and it was lowest in low-income (45.7%) and lower–middle-income countries (39.5%) (P < .001). The age- and sex- standardized mortality rate per 100 person-years was lowest in high-income countries (7.8 [95% CI, 7.5-8.2]), 9.3 (95% CI, 8.8-9.9) in upper–middle-income countries, 15.7 (95% CI, 15.0-16.4) in lower–middle-income countries, and it was highest in low-income countries (19.1 [95% CI, 17.6-20.7]). Hospitalization rates were more frequent than death rates in high-income countries (ratio = 3.8) and in upper–middle-income countries (ratio = 2.4), similar in lower–middle-income countries (ratio = 1.1), and less frequent in low-income countries (ratio = 0.6). The 30-day case-fatality rate after first hospital admission was lowest in high-income countries (6.7%), followed by upper–middle-income countries (9.7%), then lower–middle-income countries (21.1%), and highest in low-income countries (31.6%). The proportional risk of death within 30 days of a first hospital admission was 3- to 5-fold higher in lower–middle-income countries and low-income countries compared with high-income countries after adjusting for patient characteristics and use of long-term HF therapies. Conclusions and Relevance: This study of HF patients from 40 different countries and derived from 4 different economic levels demonstrated differences in HF etiologies, management, and outcomes. These data may be useful in planning approaches to improve HF prevention and treatment globally