首届全球语言治理论坛主旨发言专家简介及摘要之三：郑咏滟丨新自由主义的缄默力量——政治经济视角下跨国公司的语言管理

郑咏滟教授简介

郑咏滟，应用语言学博士，复旦大学外文学院教授、博导，现任外文学院副院长。中美富布赖特高级研究学者（2016/2017），复旦大学卓学计划人才，复旦大学双一流建设项目“多语能力发展与第二外语习得研究”创新团队带头人。获得上海市第十四届哲学社会科学优秀成果学术学科类（论文类）一等奖。研究兴趣：第二语言习得、复杂动态系统理论、双语及多语发展。主持包括国家社科基金、教育部人文社科项目、上海市哲学社科项目等多项省部级以上项目。近年来出版学术专著（编著）三本，发表中英文学术论文60余篇。

The silencing power of neoliberalism: unpacking language management at the multilingual workplace from a political economic perspective

QIU Yixi , ZHENG Yongyan , SUN Wen

This study binds together research on multilingual workplaces and political economy by probing into the language management of a Shanghai-based subsidiary of a German multinational company. We conducted a seven-month ethnographic study and collected data from the company’s publicly accessible documents on its website, meeting transcripts, ethnographic notes, and semi-structured interviews with five local employees. Qualitative data analysis revealed conflicts within the company’s language management. Specifically, we found three main conflicts: conflicts in language requirements during recruitment; conflicts with the company’s implicit monolingual assumption of English as the lingua franca for business; conflicts with language training programs. Overall, the conflicting language management limited local employees’ upward mobility for career development and limited their participation in the company’s business by silencing their voices. We problematize the conflicting language management and underlying power structures through the lens of neoliberalism, arguing that multinational companies are contexts in which the inherent contradictions in neoliberalism itself may be reflected in the company’s language management. Ultimately, we highlight the value of neoliberalism as an analytic tool for studying language dynamics in multilingual settings. We call for policymakers at multinational companies to reconsider local employees’ linguistic capital and to establish a sustainable multilingual working environment where local employees can rely on their linguistic repertoires to fully participate in corporate affairs.