Language Selection Policies in International Standardization – Perception of the IEC Member Countries

Hans Teichmann and Henk de Vries

ERIM Report Series Research in Management from Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract: International standards setting organizations have different language selection policies. These policies have, besides their financial aspects, also an important cultural/ political dimension. The standards setting organizations are either bilingual (English/ French), or unilingual (English), or multilingual (English, French and further languages). We have investigated the references of the 65 national members of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The main findings are a moderate preference for the use of both English and French for the technical work, and a strong preference for the use of English only for communication.. The obvious dominance of the English language is seen as a necessity, rather than an indication of a hypothetical Anglo-American linguistic/ cultural imperialism. Finally, some conclusions regarding language selection policies in international standards setting organizations are presented.

Keywords: IEC; bilingualism; international standardization; language selection policies; multilingualism; unilingualism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L15 M M11 O31 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-06-02
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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