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Foreign language management in Lazio SMEs

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Abstract

This paper investigates the foreign language management strategies of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lazio, Italy. Based on empirical data from a questionnaire survey and ethnographic interviews, it also aims to validate the hypothesis that macro-level language planning (on a national scale) may not reflect language problems occurring in the micro-dimension of a company or region, giving rise to discrepancies in the language education system. Using this approach, I have attempted to build on the Language Management Theory framework proposed by J. Nekvapil and M. Nekula [Current Issues in Language Planning, 7(2&3):302–327, 2006] in their study of Czech multinationals. There will be a high price to pay for companies that fail to have the linguistic competence to play a full part in a competitive global market increasingly centred on English as the lingua franca as well as on multilingual communication. This leads to the need to carefully observe the relationship between macro- and micro-level language planning and reconsider national education policies.

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Abbreviations

LM:

Language management

SMEs:

Small- and medium-sized enterprises

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the employees of the companies for their cooperation in helping me conduct this investigation. I am also indebted to Prof. Giuseppe Burgio, Federico Capo (junior researcher) and Fabrizio Lo Giudice (post-graduate student), Faculty of Economics, Rome University ‘La Sapienza’, for their assistance in processing the database.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Studi Geoeconomici, Linguistici, Statistici e Storici per l’Analisi Regionale, Facoltà di Economia, Università di Roma ‘La Sapienza’, Via Castro del Laurenziano 9, Rome, Italy

    Ersilia Incelli

  2. Via Fausto Cecconi, 20, Int. 2, Frascati, 00044, Rome, Italy

    Ersilia Incelli

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Correspondence to Ersilia Incelli.

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Incelli, E. Foreign language management in Lazio SMEs. Lang Policy 7, 99–120 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-008-9085-8

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