Cultivating linguacultural competence in business English communication : a mixed-methods intervention study

Abstract

Internationally operating business professionals use English as a business lingua franca (BELF) for their transnational communication, which requires linguacultural competencies (LCCs). This study explores classroom interventions designed to improve professionals’ LCCs for business communication. Drawing on a novel conceptualization (i.e., the LCC framework) and adopting a mixed-methods design, this experimental study investigated the effects of an intervention on two groups of job-experienced Chinese professionals who used English for work: a control group receiving instruction on an existing business English textbook unit and an experimental group exposed to an adapted version of the unit specifically targeting two LCCs. Quantitative results revealed that both groups showed statistically significant and similar improvement from pre-to post-intervention assessments. Qualitative data provided evidence of LCC development and particular characteristics of the job-experienced participants as moderating factors. These results illustrate the utility of LCCs to curricular development and Business English pedagogy. However, they also exemplify challenges in the design and practicalities of experimental research on BELF communication. Importantly, this investigation provides insights into how to develop Business English curricula to prepare learners for transnational communication in the workplace, ideally contributing to more efficient professional communication.