THE LANGUAGE OF CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY: AT THE CROSSROADS OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND LAW

Abstract

This paper addresses the topic of teaching English for specific purposes to international students through content and a comparative approach with a focus on the language of corporate sustainability and responsibility in a multicultural working environment. The purpose of the study is to show that enhancing foreign students’ awareness of the Romanian business language and culture can be seen as a step towards a better understanding of today’s socio-political challenges, as well as social and cultural inclusion in the field of corporate sustainability and responsibility. The research methodology is anchored in comparative and translation studies, applied linguistics, jurilinguistics and intercultural management. It is based on a fifteen-year teaching and training experience in French and Romanian universities within various academic fields such as human rights, applied languages, legal studies, translation studies, professional training, etc. The comparative approach emphasizes the importance of legal and economic terms and discourses in raising awareness of intercultural and linguistic connections while awakening curiosity and stimulating reflection on issues such as minority names and cultural clichés, neology and cross-cultural communication, English borrowings in professional and everyday Romanian as compared to French and other Romance languages, Eurojargon and the challenges of legal languages within EU institutions. The main results show that the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society, which is the new definition given by the European Union to CSR in 2011, is often translated into the language and terms used by and within companies, while human rights have become an important aspect of responsible business conduct. Drawing attention to linguistic aspects can help shed more light on issues related to equality, diversity, education and training.