Abstract Many researchers agree that multicultural teams are a “double-edged sword” with the potential for high levels of creativity and production, but also conflict. This paper argues that effective communication is vital for developing “virtuous,” rather than vicious, circles and that research into (B)ELF offers an insight into what effective communication in multicultural and multilingual teams can look like. The conceptual frame develops research into ELF and BELF by also drawing on organisational and management research to examine team processes and the role of language within them. The second part of the paper presents illustrative examples from data collected in an ethnographic study from an English-medium marketing master’s programme at WU Vienna. The students’ teamwork project comprises an international market entry simulation and can be seen as a training ground for managing both business content and team processes. The findings indicate that both the ELF context and the ELF talk furthered the development of rapport, and that the students’ “casual talk” supported their “work talk.” The paper finishes with a call for more empirical research into language use among recent business graduates and how to prepare students better for a globalised workplace.

中文翻译：

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(B)ELF 多元文化学生团队合作

摘要 许多研究人员认为，多元文化团队是一把“双刃剑”，具有高水平的创造力和生产力，但也存在冲突。本文认为，有效的沟通对于发展“良性”而不是恶性循环至关重要，对 (B)ELF 的研究提供了对多元文化和多语言团队中有效沟通的看法的见解。概念框架还通过组织和管理研究来检查团队过程和语言在其中的作用，从而发展对 ELF 和 BELF 的研究。本文的第二部分展示了从 WU Vienna 的英语媒体营销硕士课程的民族志研究中收集的数据的说明性示例。学生的团队合作项目包括一个国际市场进入模拟，可被视为管理业务内容和团队流程的培训基地。研究结果表明，ELF 环境和 ELF 谈话都促进了融洽的发展，学生的“随意谈话”支持了他们的“工作谈话”。论文最后呼吁对最近的商科毕业生的语言使用进行更多的实证研究，以及如何让学生更好地为全球化的工作场所做好准备。