This qualitative single-case study explored the dynamic English communication practices of a regional export entrepreneur in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, bridging local producers and global markets. Bounded by digital and logistical constraints, the study described the implementation of Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF) on WhatsApp and analyzed linguistic, pragmatic, and digital challenges along with their mitigation strategies. Data were triangulated from a semi-structured interview, content analysis of the selected WhatsApp chat logs, a formal Quotation Letter, and multimodal visual materials (stuffing videos and photos), excluding field observations to ensure empirical honesty. The findings showed that dynamic English was implemented as an adaptive, goal-oriented tool. The exporter prioritized functional clarity over grammatical accuracy, adhered strictly to standardized trade jargon (FOB, CIF) as a business anchor, and established trust through transactional reliability. Furthermore, three-tier challenges were successfully resolved: linguistic barriers (foreign scripts, non-standard English) via AI translation tools and active clarification; pragmatic barriers (bounded fluency) through material visual evidence (branded sacks and stuffing videos); and digital challenges (asymmetrical interaction) by leveraging WhatsApp's asynchronous nature for process gains. In conclusion, digital trade success is driven by technological agency and pragmatic BELF adaptation rather than native-speaker grammatical perfection.
Keywords
Dynamic English, International Trade, BELF, Bounded Fluency, Pontianak Exporter