Antecedents and consequences of host nationals’ attitudes towards hybrid language in MNCs: the case of MNC-tone
研究中国员工对中英混合语MNC-tone的态度，发现多语言背景和社交网络带来积极态度，进而影响对使用该语言的跨国公司的吸引力和人际关系。
Multiple language use in multinational corporations (MNCs) crossing linguistic boundaries can lead to code-switching and the creation of hybrid languages. Hybrid languages in MNCs can facilitate or impede organizational processes. The source of such ambiguous findings may lie in individuals’ attitudes toward hybrid languages. The sociolinguistics literature suggests that language attitudes impact individuals’ in- and out-group behavior and may explain mixed findings of hybrid language use. We conduct research in the context of MNC-tone—a hybrid English-Chinese language popular in MNCs in China, which has also spilled into Chinese society among non-MNC workers. We examine the attitudes of Chinese nationals toward MNC-tone, the geo-social antecedents that contribute to attitude formation, and the consequences of such attitudes on perceived organizational attractiveness and interpersonal guanxi (informal and positive relationship between individuals facilitating processes in organizations). With survey data collected from Chinese employees in two interconnected studies (N = 342 and 502), we find that individuals from a multilingual landscape with access to foreign media and a multilingual social network have positive attitudes toward the hybrid language. Individuals with positive attitudes are likely to be attracted to work in MNCs that use the language and exercise interpersonal guanxi with others that use the hybrid language.