Examining linguistic proficiency in the multilingual glocal workplace: a Malaysian case study

The study was conceived from the concern that the twenty-first-century workplace in Malaysia lacks locally sited and empirically based research that provide evidence for a grounded view of language proficiency and use beyond the dominant idealized notion of Standard English language models for education policy. A qualitative case study of a Malaysian airline company was conducted to provide an analytic description of the features of linguistic proficiency and their use in the multilingual glocal workplace. Using emails, interviews and field observations, the findings point to a pluralistic view of linguistic proficiency that embraces functional business English, Malaysian English, English as a lingua franca and the use of other language codes. While the English language is shown to be dominant in the workplace, the data demonstrate the importance of a pluralistic view of linguistic proficiency in diverse glocal contexts. The study also provides insights into how language pedagogy in higher education can support diversity in the workplace.