Language and translation at work: a grounded theory approach to B2B customer service in an Irish-based multilingual team
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Date
2025
Authors
Muñoz Gómez, Estefanía
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
Despite the increased focus on workplace-based research in translation studies, limited attention has yet been paid to the translating carried out in international businesses by multilingual staff or non-professional translators and interpreters (NPIT). Acknowledging the translational nature of multilingual communication, this thesis aims to explore the role of translation as part of the cross-cultural and cross linguistic practices of a multinational corporation and offer new insights on language management and language use in such a setting from a translation perspective. Motivated by policy calls for greater alignment between language provision and industry needs in the Republic of Ireland, this work investigates how staff resolve the multifaceted communication situations they encounter in their daily work within a multilingual B2B customer service unit of an Irish-based international organisation in the IT sector. A grounded theory approach is used as a systematic method of analysis to make sense of qualitative data from interviews, field observations, and text samples. Through constant comparison and abstract conceptualisation of incidents in the data, the theory of BALANCING BELONGING is proposed as an integrated explanation of variations in participants’ behaviour encompassing the diverse activities, roles, and positions taken on by NPIT as well as the norms, values and beliefs that inform them.
In addition to serving as an example of grounded theory for the interdisciplinary exploration of under-researched translation practices in today’s complex multilingual environments, the study brings to light the lack of a common language to recognise NPIT’s inter- and intralingual practices as a demonstration of strategic competence in exchanges with a range of audiences and purposes, which in turn accentuates a view of language as a discrete, transparent resource, possessed rather than developed, and conceals the cross-linguistic and cross-cultural nature of interactions. The findings underscore the need for the explicitation and critical assessment of language management strategies in multinational organisations to facilitate the deployment of effective and sustainable language policies which acknowledge the role of NPIT in shaping business communication, as well as to shed light on the human ability to translate and its developmental potential by promoting the investigation of the social and scholarly understandings of translation and translating in an ever-evolving professional landscape.
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Keywords
Non-professional translation , Paraprofessional translation , International business management , Grounded theory , Workplace research , Multilingualism
Citation
Muñoz Gómez, E. 2025. Language and translation at work: a grounded theory approach to B2B customer service in an Irish-based multilingual team. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.