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‘Chicken and Duck Talk’: Life and Death of Language Training at a Japanese Multinational in China

Author

Listed:
  • Yu Zheng

    (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

  • Chris Smith

    (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK)

Abstract

This article examines social relations in language learning through a case study of two cohorts of Chinese workers in a Japanese multinational company (MNC). The two cohorts weigh learning Japanese in the context of internal and external opportunities, and pursue different strategies – deliberative acquisition and deliberative opposition. Exploring the broader meanings of language learning beyond skill acquisition, the article suggests that language is more than an individual asset or a common code for workers to build collective power. Social reproduction of language is embedded in workers’ choice of pathways for social mobility which was created in the social transition and has shifted over time in China. These findings make a contribution to the sociology of language training in work, by challenging structural and cultural theories that underplay the agency of workers in assessing language as a resource for labour power development.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu Zheng & Chris Smith, 2018. "‘Chicken and Duck Talk’: Life and Death of Language Training at a Japanese Multinational in China," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(5), pages 887-905, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:32:y:2018:i:5:p:887-905
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017017719008
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elger, Tony & Smith, Chris, 2005. "Assembling Work: Remaking Factory Regimes in Japanese Multinationals in Britain," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199241514.
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    3. Chris Smith, 2006. "The double indeterminacy of labour power," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(2), pages 389-402, June.
    4. Mehdi Boussebaa & Shuchi Sinha & Yiannis Gabriel, 2014. "Englishization in offshore call centers: A postcolonial perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 45(9), pages 1152-1169, December.
    5. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Rebecca Piekkari & Risto Säntti, 2005. "Language and the Circuits of Power in a Merging Multinational Corporation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 595-623, May.
    6. Victoria W. Miroshnik & Dipak Basu, 2014. "Corporate Culture in Multinational Companies," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-137-44766-1, October.
    7. Eero Vaara & Janne Tienari & Risto Santti & Rebacca Piekkari, 2005. "Language and the Circuits of Power in a Merging Multinational Corporation," Post-Print hal-02311809, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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