Impact of communication competence on acceptance, performance perception, and career development: a mixed methods study of the experiences of non-native English-speaking employees in corporate America

Fabusoro, Adetutu Temitope

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Description

Title

Impact of communication competence on acceptance, performance perception, and career development: a mixed methods study of the experiences of non-native English-speaking employees in corporate America

Author(s)

Fabusoro, Adetutu Temitope

Issue Date

2025-07-18

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Li, Jessica

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Li, Jessica

Committee Member(s)

• Sadler, Randall
• Kwon, Chang-kyu
• Moton III, Theopolies John

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgnz & Leadersh

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• Communicative Competence
• Non-native English Speaking Employees
• Acceptability
• Performance Perception
• Career Development

Abstract

Multilingual employees have become an integral component of organizations in the United States (U.S.). This has made English Language communication competence an essential skill in U.S. organizations. There are Non-native English-speaking (NNE-speaking) employees from Global South countries who are experts in what they do, but not fluent in English language use or accented. There is limited empirical research in the field of Human Resource Development (HRD) that examines how everyday communication influences the workplace experiences and career development of NNE-speaking employees. Therefore, this study examined how the communicative competence of NNE employees is used to gauge the performance of NNE-speaking employees despite their level of expertise, the acceptance of the employees, stereotypes towards the employees, organizations' interventions, and the effectiveness of the interventions on NNE-speaking employees’ inclusion and career development. This research is situated in Critical HRD, using critical perspectives in HRD and guided by stigma theory. Critical perspectives in HRD are theoretical viewpoints that challenge traditional approaches to HRD by focusing on issues of power, inequality, and social justice, advocating for systemic change. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used for this study. For the quantitative phase of the research, survey data of 163 NNE-speaking employees who work in Fortune 500 Organizations, from Global South countries, and who had migrated to the U.S. as adults, that measured the impact of communicative competence on workplace acceptance, performance perception, career development, perceived stereotypes, and impact of training was collected and analyzed. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that communicative competence scores were significant positive predictors of acceptance, performance perception, and self-reported career progression of NNE-speaking employees in these organizations. For the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 purposively selected survey respondents. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze data. Findings revealed that the communication competence of NNE-speaking employees was interpreted as reduced professional competence, and NNE-speaking employees experienced partial acceptance, exclusion, stereotypes, underestimation, and low performance expectations, which often led to participants resorting to engagement in extra self-development, code-switching, or accent softening, and NNE-speaking employees working twice as hard to prove expertise. Integration showed that communication competence impacts NNE speakers’ career development in both phases, with qualitative findings corroborating the quantitative findings and contextualizing it through rich narrated experiences, and culturally matched mentorship, standing out as the most valuable intervention. This study advances HRD scholarship by offering practitioner-aligned implications for practice aimed at fostering more equitable workplaces and positively influencing the career trajectories of NNE-speaking employees in corporate America. It also provides implications for research that contribute to the advancement of communication-focused and linguistically inclusive critical HRD research.

Graduation Semester

2025-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130210

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2025 Adetutu Fabusoro

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