The Living Conditions of Workplace Language in Foreign Enterprises in Shanghai

The Living Conditions of Workplace Language in Foreign Enterprises in Shanghai

Foreigners participate in the management of foreign-funded enterprises, and foreign employees whose mother tongue is not Chinese work with domestic employees whose mother tongue is Chinese, which makes the language life in the workplace of foreign enterprises very different from that of domestic enterprises. What is the language life in the workplace of foreign companies? In order to solve this problem, the author investigated 80 foreign-funded enterprises in Shanghai, involving investors of different scales, industries, countries and regions.

Foreign employees generally can't speak Chinese on important occasions.

When foreign enterprises invest in China, they usually send personnel from the host country to participate in the operation and management of the invested enterprises. In this survey, 92% of foreign-funded enterprises have foreign employees, and there are more than two mother tongues in the workforce. Some foreign-funded enterprises have more than three joint ventures with investors from different countries. Some foreign-funded enterprises employ not only domestic employees, but also employees from other countries to work in China companies. These foreign employees have three or more mother tongues. The mother tongue of foreigners is mainly English, but nearly 33% of them are languages other than English, such as German, French, Dutch, Japanese and Korean.

Most foreign employees from non-English-speaking countries in Europe and America have mastered English or even other foreign languages, while employees from Japan and South Korea have weak foreign language ability. Although some Japanese and Korean senior managers also have certain foreign language skills, they generally can't speak foreign languages on important occasions. The survey found that many foreign employees can also speak Chinese, but only in informal occasions, such as informal communication with employees in China, and generally do not speak Chinese in important occasions. Among the employees in China, the second language is mainly English, and only a few people have mastered other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, German and French. A few non-Shanghai employees working in foreign companies in Shanghai have mastered Shanghai dialect to some extent, but they rarely use it in the workplace, whether it is white-collar or blue-collar.

Situational language in the workplace of foreign companies

As one of the most important management tools, language is widely and frequently used in the workplace. Workplace situational language generally includes the following 1 1.

Company document language. Company documents mainly refer to company system documents, including articles of association, systems, procedures, operation and financial reports, etc. Due to the diversification of investors and employees in foreign companies, the languages of official documents in foreign companies are also diversified, some are only English, some are Chinese, some are foreign languages, and a few are only Chinese. Official documents are all in English, mainly foreign-owned enterprises whose investors' language is English; The official documents are all in Chinese, mainly enterprises whose investors are Chinese-speaking Chinese businessmen; Chinese and foreign languages are mainly used in Sino-foreign joint ventures.

Company management meeting language. Management meeting is a common form of management, which is generally attended by middle and senior managers at home and abroad. The survey results show that English is the most commonly used language in management meetings of foreign companies in Shanghai, and some only use Chinese or sometimes use Chinese and sometimes foreign languages.

Email language. E-mail is the most widely and frequently used in foreign-funded enterprises. It is the most important way of communication and the most popular written language. The survey results show that English is the most commonly used e-mail for employees in foreign companies; There are also quite a few employees who sometimes use English, sometimes Chinese, and rarely use foreign languages such as Chinese. The use of Chinese is mainly seen in foreign-funded enterprises with no foreigners involved in management, sometimes in Chinese and sometimes in English, mainly used by employees in China.

Contract language. In business transactions of enterprises, various contract documents are often used, including contracts, agreements, letters of intent, orders, project proposals, tenders, etc. As an important tool for business communication between enterprises, contract documents are read by employees of foreign-funded enterprises and other enterprises, including employees of other domestic-funded enterprises whose working language is Chinese, so the contract language is mostly in Chinese and English, which not only facilitates employees of foreign-funded enterprises, but also takes care of employees of other domestic-funded enterprises. There are also many foreign-funded enterprises, sometimes in English and sometimes in Chinese, depending on the situation. If the trading partner of a foreign-funded enterprise is also a foreign-funded enterprise, the contract language can be English.

Technical document language. Technical documents mainly include drawings, product specifications, process documents and technical parameters. As far as we know, a considerable part of the technical documents of foreign-funded enterprises come from foreign investors, who directly transfer the technology of the parent company to the investment enterprises in China by means of technology transfer, thus bringing technical documents originating from foreign investors. In order to make it easier for employees in China, especially grassroots employees in China, to read and understand, and at the same time to ensure accuracy, foreign-funded enterprises translated these documents into Chinese and expressed them in Chinese and English.

Language of applying for resume. Resume is the applicant's self-introduction of his work and ability, an important text used in recruitment activities, and an important content for foreign companies to inspect the quality of candidates. In order to adapt to the working environment of foreign enterprises, most foreign-funded enterprises regard mastering English as a prerequisite for qualified candidates, and accordingly, candidates are required to submit resumes showing their English ability. At the same time, in order to clearly understand the background of candidates, a considerable number of foreign companies require candidates to submit resumes in both Chinese and English.

Presentation language. Demonstration activities are very common in foreign companies, which mainly refer to presenting their views and opinions to the participating members with slides and causing discussion. Presentation language mainly refers to the language used in slide presentation. The survey results show that 75% of the presentation languages are English, and only a few are Chinese, other languages or bilingual.

Enterprise internal publication language. There are two kinds of internal publications in enterprises, one is for employees and reflects their lives; The other is customer-oriented, which mainly publicizes the products, services and after-sales services of enterprises. Most of the internal publications of foreign enterprises are in English and Chinese-English contrast, and a few are in Chinese and other foreign languages.

Notice announcement language. Notifications and announcements are real-time management and language behaviors, and the objects of communication are sometimes all employees and sometimes only some employees. The survey results show that notices and announcements in Chinese and English account for a large proportion, and some are only in Chinese and English. The reason why only Chinese or English is used is related to the target of the Notice. If the notices and announcements mainly involve China employees, only use Chinese; If the content is only related to employees who know English, such as white-collar workers in the office, just use English.

Telephone language. There are many cases where Chinese is used to answer the phone. The use of English mainly occurs in some representative offices and professional service companies with foreign employees. Due to the multilingual language environment, the language used by China employees of foreign companies will change according to different communication objects. Use Chinese more when communicating with employees in China. When the caller is a foreign employee, English is used. When foreign employees talk with China employees, they mainly use English; Foreign employees whose mother tongue is a language other than English will communicate in other foreign languages such as Japanese, Korean and German.

Everyday conversation language. Employees in foreign companies use Chinese more, some talk in English, some sometimes use Chinese and sometimes English, and few speak Shanghainese. Employees who speak Japanese and Korean are limited to a few representative offices of Japanese and Korean enterprises. When talking with English-speaking supervisors, on the contrary, most of them use English. Address forms are the reflection of language and culture. In Shanghai, 79% of employees and 80% of supervisors are called by their first names in English. However, the typical address forms in China enterprises such as "Xiao Zhang" and "Master" and the popular address form "Teacher" in Shanghai government agencies are relatively rare.

To sum up, English has become the most widely used language in the workplace language life of foreign companies in Shanghai, especially written English, accounting for 44%. The conversation between employees in China is mainly in Chinese, and the proportion of using written Chinese alone is less than 10%. However, Shanghainese dialect does not have much market in the workplace life of foreign companies. This can be seen as a demonstration of the language attitude of employees of foreign companies in Shanghai.

Excessive use of English leads to the lack of Chinese.

Although the English ability of employees in foreign companies is generally good, there are two imbalances. First, the ratio of middle and senior managers to ordinary employees is unbalanced, and the language ability of middle and senior managers is higher than that of ordinary employees; Second, the ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing is unbalanced, and the ability of speaking is lower than that of reading, writing and listening. These two imbalances are not only related to the internal problems of foreign language education in China, but also related to the language environment. Middle and senior managers have more opportunities to contact foreign employees than ordinary employees, and they also have more opportunities to practice English. Foreign employees' oral ability is worse than their reading, writing and listening ability because they have fewer opportunities to speak than to read, write and listen.

The overuse of English has caused the problem of lack of Chinese. The survey found that in some foreign-funded enterprises, English was inappropriately used when Chinese was required by law and management. For example, some enterprises sign labor contracts in English. Although employees of foreign companies have the ability to read and accept English contracts, once disputes occur, they lack standardized text basis. Some enterprises use English too much in workshops and grass-roots units, and grass-roots employees can't fully and accurately understand it.

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