English in the Workplace in Switzerland between Ideologies and Practices

Abstract

A widely shared opinion states that English in its international form is particularly suited for the economy. Consequently, a shift from national languages to English as corporate language has been observed in many countries. However, this choice is not based on the results of scientific research, but rather on ideologies. In many cases, the real  practices can differ quite significantly from what people think and/or tell they do. This calls for empirical research. In this paper, we will analyse the demolinguistic situation of Switzerland with a special focus on English at work, have a look at the public debate about English and national languages at school and acknowledge the actual linguistic practices in several types of economic environments, in order to answer the question w ether English and/or any other language dominates communication at work in Switzerland.