Career Experiences of Non-Native English Speaking Workers in US Organizations in Relations to Communication Competence: A Structured Literature Review

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the importance of communicative competence on employees’ career development in US organizations. The study aims to examine the career experiences of non-native English (NNE) speaking workers at workplaces and offer recommendations to improve experiences discovered. < br>A structured literature review was conducted in education, applied linguistics psychology, and business and management databases limiting the search to peer-reviewed articles only published during 2001-2023. Sixty articles related to career development, career experiences, communicative competence, acceptance and performance perceptions of NNE speaking workers in US organizations were included in the final analysis. < br>Findings: The analysis found that a lack of communicative competence is associated with NNE speaking workers' experiences including poor impressions, stereotype threat, stigma, status loss, power differentials, negative emotions, feelings of exclusion and discrimination. The findings showed that NNE speaking workers’ experiences are mostly marginalized. < br>Career development of linguistically diverse employees is still a relatively new and understudied area of research in human resource development. Therefore, the present study makes an original contribution in terms of how to better support this important but overlooked employee population.