Dorte Lønsmann
Biographic Data
| ID | 197262 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dorte Lønsmann |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dorte |
| FAMILY NAME | Lønsmann |
| SIGNATURE | LØNSMANN D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Copenhagen Business School |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2216-2695 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Ethnographic focus groups in communities of practice: Maximal variation and emic perspectives
This article introduces the method of ethnographic focus groups, arguing for the advantages of extending focus group methodology to include an ethnographic component and composing groups based on participants’ membership in communities of practice. Combining the situated and focused interactions from focus groups with the in-depth knowledge gained from ethnographic observations, ethnographic focus groups allow for a multi-sited research design an…
Beyond Language: The Complex Positioning Work by Language Teachers in an Integration Classroom
This article investigates the roles of language teachers in a language and integration programme in Denmark. The results show that the teachers’ work goes beyond the role of language teacher per se. The teachers are shown to take on the role of integration workers, who, as part of the integration system, contribute to socializing the students into a marginalized position. At the same time, the teachers also use their agency to bend the rules and…
Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work
Article Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work was published on March 1, 2020 in the journal International Journal of the Sociology of Language (volume 2020, issue 262)
Language, employability and positioning in a Danish integration programme
In many European countries, integration policies focus on getting refugees quickly into the labour market. In order to accomplish this, refugees in Denmark are placed in work internships. Based on fieldwork in an integration programme that combines mandatory Danish language classes with so-called "language internships", where refugees do work internships for the purpose of learning Danish at work, the present study takes a critical look at discou…
The family spirit: Making Sense of Organisational Internationalisation Through Founder's Stories
Language policy and practice in multilingual production workplaces
Transnational mobility results in a diversification of languages and cultures in the workplace. A common means of managing this diversity is to introduce language policies that often privilege English or the locally dominant language(s). In contrast, managing their everyday working lives may require employees to draw on a range of multilingual and non-verbal resources. Such tensions between policy and practice in multilingual workplaces may impac…
Language policy and social change: A critical examination of the implementation of an English-only language policy in a Danish company
The article examines the introduction of English as a corporate language in a Danish consultancy company from a critical angle. Based on analyses of language policy documents and interviews with language policy makers in the company, we investigate the underlying assumptions of the policy-making process, and explore how the language policy functions as a means of exerting power beyond the domain of language. The article shows how the language pol…
Embrace it or resist it? Employees’ reception of corporate language policies
Corporate language policies and particularly the use of English as a corporate language have been studied in multinational corporations (MNCs) for almost two decades now. Despite these volumes of research, very little has been written about the process of implementing a corporate language and even less about the employee perspective. The article contributes to the field of language in cross-cultural management by exploring when and why corporate …
Introduction to Special Issue on Transience: Emerging Norms of Language Use
In this introduction to the special issue, the concept of transience is introduced as a theoretical perspective and as an object of research. The perspective of transience foregrounds the temporality of norm formation, located within the practices of people on the move. The introduction suggests that it is beneficial to apply the concept of transience in order to understand processes of norm development, including those pertaining to language cho…
A Catalyst for Change: Language Socialization and Norm Negotiation in a Transient Multilingual Workplace
This case study of a team in an international workplace investigates processes of language socialization in a transient multilingual setting. Using interview and observational data, the analysis shows how social and linguistic norms are negotiated, with the newcomer positioned as a catalyst for changing language practices toward more English, with the ultimate aim of creating a "global mindset" in the organization. Language socialization in a tra…
Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe, Power and Politeness in the Workplace. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work
Review of: Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe: Power and Politeness in the Workplace. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work. Second edition. London: Routledge, 2015, xv + 200 pp
Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language: ‘It has to be English’
With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as th…
Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion
This article draws on a study of language choice and language ideologies in an international company in Denmark. It focuses on the linguistic and social challenges that are related to the diversity of language competences among employees in the modern workplace. Research on multilingualism at work has shown that employees may be excluded from informal interactions and from access to power structures on the basis of language skills in the company’…
From subculture to mainstream: The spread of English in Denmark
Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion
This article draws on a study of language choice and language ideologies in an international company in Denmark. It focuses on the linguistic and social challenges that are related to the diversity of language competences among employees in the modern workplace. Research on multilingualism at work has shown that employees may be excluded from informal interactions and from access to power structures on the basis of language skills in the company’…
A Catalyst for Change: Language Socialization and Norm Negotiation in a Transient Multilingual Workplace
This case study of a team in an international workplace investigates processes of language socialization in a transient multilingual setting. Using interview and observational data, the analysis shows how social and linguistic norms are negotiated, with the newcomer positioned as a catalyst for changing language practices toward more English, with the ultimate aim of creating a "global mindset" in the organization. Language socialization in a tra…
Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language: ‘It has to be English’
With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as th…
Language policy and practice in multilingual production workplaces
Transnational mobility results in a diversification of languages and cultures in the workplace. A common means of managing this diversity is to introduce language policies that often privilege English or the locally dominant language(s). In contrast, managing their everyday working lives may require employees to draw on a range of multilingual and non-verbal resources. Such tensions between policy and practice in multilingual workplaces may impac…
Introduction to Special Issue on Transience: Emerging Norms of Language Use
In this introduction to the special issue, the concept of transience is introduced as a theoretical perspective and as an object of research. The perspective of transience foregrounds the temporality of norm formation, located within the practices of people on the move. The introduction suggests that it is beneficial to apply the concept of transience in order to understand processes of norm development, including those pertaining to language cho…
Embrace it or resist it? Employees’ reception of corporate language policies
Corporate language policies and particularly the use of English as a corporate language have been studied in multinational corporations (MNCs) for almost two decades now. Despite these volumes of research, very little has been written about the process of implementing a corporate language and even less about the employee perspective. The article contributes to the field of language in cross-cultural management by exploring when and why corporate …
Language, employability and positioning in a Danish integration programme
In many European countries, integration policies focus on getting refugees quickly into the labour market. In order to accomplish this, refugees in Denmark are placed in work internships. Based on fieldwork in an integration programme that combines mandatory Danish language classes with so-called "language internships", where refugees do work internships for the purpose of learning Danish at work, the present study takes a critical look at discou…
Language policy and social change: A critical examination of the implementation of an English-only language policy in a Danish company
The article examines the introduction of English as a corporate language in a Danish consultancy company from a critical angle. Based on analyses of language policy documents and interviews with language policy makers in the company, we investigate the underlying assumptions of the policy-making process, and explore how the language policy functions as a means of exerting power beyond the domain of language. The article shows how the language pol…
The family spirit: Making Sense of Organisational Internationalisation Through Founder's Stories
From subculture to mainstream: The spread of English in Denmark
Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work
Article Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work was published on March 1, 2020 in the journal International Journal of the Sociology of Language (volume 2020, issue 262)
From subculture to mainstream: The spread of English in Denmark
Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion
This article draws on a study of language choice and language ideologies in an international company in Denmark. It focuses on the linguistic and social challenges that are related to the diversity of language competences among employees in the modern workplace. Research on multilingualism at work has shown that employees may be excluded from informal interactions and from access to power structures on the basis of language skills in the company’…
Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe, Power and Politeness in the Workplace. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work
Review of: Janet Holmes and Maria Stubbe: Power and Politeness in the Workplace. A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Talk at Work. Second edition. London: Routledge, 2015, xv + 200 pp
Language ideologies in a Danish company with English as a corporate language: ‘It has to be English’
With the spread of English as a global language, concerns have been voiced over the impact of English on local languages. This article presents results from an ethnographic study of language ideologies in a Danish workplace with a particular focus on ideologies of English in relation to the local language and to other foreign languages. In this international company, conflicting ideologies construct the local language Danish on the one hand as th…
Embrace it or resist it? Employees’ reception of corporate language policies
Corporate language policies and particularly the use of English as a corporate language have been studied in multinational corporations (MNCs) for almost two decades now. Despite these volumes of research, very little has been written about the process of implementing a corporate language and even less about the employee perspective. The article contributes to the field of language in cross-cultural management by exploring when and why corporate …
Introduction to Special Issue on Transience: Emerging Norms of Language Use
In this introduction to the special issue, the concept of transience is introduced as a theoretical perspective and as an object of research. The perspective of transience foregrounds the temporality of norm formation, located within the practices of people on the move. The introduction suggests that it is beneficial to apply the concept of transience in order to understand processes of norm development, including those pertaining to language cho…
A Catalyst for Change: Language Socialization and Norm Negotiation in a Transient Multilingual Workplace
This case study of a team in an international workplace investigates processes of language socialization in a transient multilingual setting. Using interview and observational data, the analysis shows how social and linguistic norms are negotiated, with the newcomer positioned as a catalyst for changing language practices toward more English, with the ultimate aim of creating a "global mindset" in the organization. Language socialization in a tra…
Language policy and practice in multilingual production workplaces
Transnational mobility results in a diversification of languages and cultures in the workplace. A common means of managing this diversity is to introduce language policies that often privilege English or the locally dominant language(s). In contrast, managing their everyday working lives may require employees to draw on a range of multilingual and non-verbal resources. Such tensions between policy and practice in multilingual workplaces may impac…
Language policy and social change: A critical examination of the implementation of an English-only language policy in a Danish company
The article examines the introduction of English as a corporate language in a Danish consultancy company from a critical angle. Based on analyses of language policy documents and interviews with language policy makers in the company, we investigate the underlying assumptions of the policy-making process, and explore how the language policy functions as a means of exerting power beyond the domain of language. The article shows how the language pol…
The family spirit: Making Sense of Organisational Internationalisation Through Founder's Stories
Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work
Article Epilogue: Blurred boundaries, language ideologies and social inequality in global care work was published on March 1, 2020 in the journal International Journal of the Sociology of Language (volume 2020, issue 262)
Language, employability and positioning in a Danish integration programme
In many European countries, integration policies focus on getting refugees quickly into the labour market. In order to accomplish this, refugees in Denmark are placed in work internships. Based on fieldwork in an integration programme that combines mandatory Danish language classes with so-called "language internships", where refugees do work internships for the purpose of learning Danish at work, the present study takes a critical look at discou…
Beyond Language: The Complex Positioning Work by Language Teachers in an Integration Classroom
This article investigates the roles of language teachers in a language and integration programme in Denmark. The results show that the teachers’ work goes beyond the role of language teacher per se. The teachers are shown to take on the role of integration workers, who, as part of the integration system, contribute to socializing the students into a marginalized position. At the same time, the teachers also use their agency to bend the rules and…
Ethnographic focus groups in communities of practice: Maximal variation and emic perspectives
This article introduces the method of ethnographic focus groups, arguing for the advantages of extending focus group methodology to include an ethnographic component and composing groups based on participants’ membership in communities of practice. Combining the situated and focused interactions from focus groups with the in-depth knowledge gained from ethnographic observations, ethnographic focus groups allow for a multi-sited research design an…
Linguistics (10 works) · Multilingual Education and Policy (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Political science (7 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Second Language Learning and Teaching (6 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (5 works) · Danish (4 works) · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning (4 works) · Law (4 works)