Will international business always speak English?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show the development of English as the main international language for business, its advantages and disadvantages and the different variants of English.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses competition from other languages and emphasises need for British business itself to acquire fluency in foreign languages and thereby understand other cultures to gain competitive advantage. The author deplores HE's reduction in language teaching and stresses need for development of a simpler, standardised international English for business which can be more easily used by both English native speakers and others. The paper analyses the reasons for spread of English and its strengths and weaknesses and deduces need for a simpler form of international English for global business use..

Findings – The paper concludes that British business should itself acquire linguistic and cultural fluency in foreign languages as well as supporting ways of making English more standardised and simpler for foreigners to acquire.

Originality/value – The paper shows how British business competitive advantage can be increased by reducing linguistic complacency in parallel with supporting the development of a more effective means of communication in English in international business.