DOI: 10.4324/9781003349860-3
2 The role of language in
organisations
2.1 The influence of language in organisations: A review of the
literature
Language plays a fundamental role in the social construction of reality (Berger
& Luckmann, 1966; Wittgenstein, 1968). Dierent languages reflect dierent
introspective states (i.e. an individual’s own conscious thoughts and feelings),
perceptions, and beliefs, all of which direct and guide information processing
and, ultimately, behaviour (Brown & Lenneberg, 1954; Slobin, 1987; Slobin,
1991; Costa et al., 2014a). Words encode core concepts and intrinsic meanings
that give individuals access to information and stimulate dierent cognitive
frames (Tyler & Evans, 2001).
Language influences the way we per ...