The strategic use of English in strategy consulting presentations in Italy: how language choices shape identity in professional settings

Business is not always conducted in the same way from culture to culture. Problems in business communication often arise as a result of language or cultural misunderstandings. Many scholars and language practitioners have already focused on how culture directly affects the communication process in international business settings through several variables, such as language, social organization, power-relations, time conception and non-verbal language among others. In the last few years, however, due to the increasing globalization, more and more companies are adopting and adapting the English language to suit their needs. Most of the research on intercultural communication has traditionally focused on interactions between native and non-native speakers of English whereas interaction among speakers who share the same language and culture but use a different language in professional settings (e.g. Italians using English as a lingua franca) has not received much attention. In Italy, ipso facto, the field of strategy consulting provides an interesting example of how intra-culture interactions more and more often take place in English even in cases where all participants involved are Italians. This article explores how the use of English in strategy consulting presentations in Italy and among Italians shape the companies’ ideology and, in turn, identity. This paper will focus exclusively on PowerPoint (PPT) presentations and its analytical framework draws on critical discourse analysis (CDA).