Multifaceted effects of host country language proficiency in expatriate cross-cultural adjustments: a qualitative study in China
While expatriates often face language barriers in host countries, relatively little research has focused on the influence of host country language proficiency on cross-cultural adjustment. We drew on social identity theory and conducted an interview-based study with 70 expatriates and
their host country national (HCN) colleagues to provide a contextual account of host country language proficiency's effects on work and non-work-related adjustment in China. Our findings suggest that expatriate host country language proficiency has multifaceted effects on expatriates' HCN
interaction, social support, and network-related work and non-work adjustment.
Keywords: China; cross-cultural adjustment; expatriate; language proficiency
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland 2: Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan
Publication date: 19 July 2016
- Editorial Board
- Information for Authors
- Subscribe to this Title
- Ingenta Connect is not responsible for the content or availability of external websites
- Access Key
- Free content
- Partial Free content
- New content
- Open access content
- Partial Open access content
- Subscribed content
- Partial Subscribed content
- Free trial content