Duality of language as a tool for integration versus mobility at work: utility of a polyphonic perspective

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss how language in the context of work has two divergent outcomes. First, a national/official language in the workplace is often essential for workplace integration. Second, language learning could help individuals become mobile, even internationally. In the first case, a national/official language may be used as an instrument of migration control, and status signalling based on class, gender, ethnicity, and other demographic hierarchies. In the second case, learning a second language allows learners to compete for a wider pool of jobs. However, there is politics of desirability in terms of choices of language and the language is, therefore, a site of power at work. We propose multilingual and polyphonic approaches at work in order to eliminate linguistic violence based on pecking order of languages. We use two extreme national contexts, Britain and Turkey, to illustrate the dynamics of language learning and speaking at work.