Within education, the 2000’s have been synonymous with the growth of Transnational Education (TNE), which is typically associated with the exporting of English medium instruction (EMI) education and educational models. TNE can be identified as one element of the internationalization of education
To date, there has been very little research on the impact that working in a TNE environment may have on the daily working lives of professional support staff. Staff are often called upon to perform difficult tasks at a high level of competence, with little thought to the training for the skills needed, or the impact that working in a second or foreign language may have. This study looks at one area, that of ‘speech to text reporting’ or ‘writing interpreting’ through note-taking. Using a multi-method qualitative framework, its research questions look at the relationship between language variety and accuracy within note-taking, as well as accommodation techniques that professional support staff may need to use. It also questions what the relationship is between professional services staff representations of their understanding of English/es in a TNE working environment, and their perceptions of English in intercultural speech to text reporting. This is a timely study as TNE institutions continue to develop, and should give pointers to future training needs as well as add to the body of work in the broader area of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and note-taking processes in intercultural settings.