English as a lingua franca in Nordic corporate mergers: Two case companies

The article is based on findings from research into communication and language use in two international corporations, both formed as a result of a merger between a Swedish and a Finnish company. A questionnaire was sent to representatives of each case company, focusing on language use, communication practices, and cultural views. Using some of the results of the questionnaire as a starting point, we have studied two of the most frequent communicative events where English was used as a lingua franca in internal communication: email messages and meetings. This article focuses on the discoursal (dis)similarities of Swedish and Finnish interactants, and the resulting cultural and communicative challenges. (c) 2005 The American University. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.