Investigating the Impact of Personality Factors on Perceived Communication Mobility of Non-native English Speaking Thai Professionals in International Companies

A Journal of Language Teaching and Learning in Thailand. 2014. No. Vol.47. P. 61–95.

Olga A. Marina, Rajprasit K.

Communication mobility (CM) has been suggested as an element of the complex construct of professional communicative competence, with a shared core of English in the oral mode, for professional international communication. This study aims (1) to investigate the possible correlation between the perceived level of communication mobility, and the influence of the personality factors of non-native English speaking Thai professionals in international companies, and (2) to identify the conditions in which this desirable quality may be developed. The researchers are interested in gauging the level of communication mobility, as well as looking for the possible relationships between its development and the personality factors of these professionals, such as age, work experience, and the frequency of English language use in their daily lives and in the workplace. The responses to the specifically designed questionnaire were obtained from 54 Thai professionals working in international companies. An analysis of the communication mobility strategies used by the respondents was undertaken, using descriptive statistics for the levels of the strategies used, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, an independent t-test for correlations between variables, and multiple regression analysis to estimate personality factors, which contribute to the development of communication mobility. The findings revealed that the participants were effective users of communication mobility, and only the frequency of English language use in their workplaces can explain the variance of their perceived communication mobility. The research aimed at testing the application of the CM approach developed in NRU HSE in a different cultural context.

Keywords: communicative competence, личностные факторы, communication mobility, коммуникативная мобильность, иноязычная профессиональная коммуникативная компетентность, personality factors, non-native English speakers