Preparing for English at Work: Intercultural Communicative Competence in Language Education

The advancement of globalization, the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration, the ongoing negotiations for major free trade agreements involving all countries within the Asian region, and the institutions, companies, and individuals involved rely on successful communication across borders. Although English cannot always be and should not be presumed to be the lingua franca for any given multilingual context (Kubota, 2013; Kubota & McKay, 2009; Matsuda & Friedrich, 2011) in Asia, it is often the language chosen. The choice of English as a lingua franca (ELF) is exemplified by ASEAN’s decision to use English as the working language of the association (Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 2007) and by companies’ increasing use of the language for international and internal business communication. While English has long been often used for international meetings, some Asia-based companies, such as Nissan, Rakuten, Fast Retailing, Bridgestone, and Samsung (Mukai, 2013; Neeley, 2012), have adopted English throughout their organizations. The use of English for communication is not limited to employees of multinational or major domestic companies. With tourism reaching more remote areas and the rising mobility of students and workers in the region, service employees may at times need to communicate with customers using the shared knowledge they have of a language, which may often be English (Yoneoka, 2011). Additionally, English may be necessary to access information for workers in many jobs (Frazier, 2012; Louhiala-Salminen & Kankaanranta, 2012). Furthermore, even when spoken communication is in another language, written communication may be required to be in English (Evans, 2013).