Needs Analysis and language policy in international companies in Belgium: a meta-literature review

The presence of multinationals and the increasing importance of international business bring about an internal multilingualism in international companies located in Belgium, meaning that not all employees share the same native language. In order to cope with this situation and to encourage the collaboration between the different language groups, companies tend to recruit multilingual staff, on the one hand, and adopt multilingual policy solutions, on the other. At this respect, companies have the following questions: – What are our language policy needs? – What is the legal frame? – How should we test the language competences of our staff? How are we to differentiate between proficiency levels? – What are the different language policy options? What are their implications?

Keywords:LANGUAGE FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES, LANGUAGE POLICY, LANGUAGES FOR BUSINESS, LANGUAGE PLANNING

Disciplines:Business administration and accounting, Economic development, innovation, technological change and growth, Management

Project type:Service project