‘The cultural stuff around how to talk to people’: immigrants' intercultural communication during a pre-employment work-placement

Holmes, P.

Abstract

This paper reports on a small in-depth study of 16 immigrants' intercultural communication experiences as they enter the workforce in New Zealand through a volunteer work-placement scheme. The key research questions are: What intercultural communication challenges do immigrants face during work-placement with (1) co-workers and (2) employer(s)? How is intercultural communication facilitated/constrained in intercultural encounters in the workplace? The findings highlight how cultural, social, economic, political and contextual factors support immigrants' intercultural communication and work experience in their respective organisation. The outcomes provide important feedback to employers, immigrant communities, funders and other voluntary organisations, community workers, and politicians on the value of work-placement programmes and the intercultural communication challenges immigrants face when entering the workplace.

Citation

Holmes, P. (2015). ‘The cultural stuff around how to talk to people’: immigrants' intercultural communication during a pre-employment work-placement. Language and Intercultural Communication, 15(1), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.985309

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 3, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Jan 20, 2015
• Publication Date: Jan 20, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jan 29, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 20, 2016
• Journal: Language and Intercultural Communication
• Print ISSN: 1470-8477
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-759X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 109-124
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.985309
• Keywords: Social constructionism, Immigrant employment, Intercultural communication, Workplace communication, Intercultural encounters, Capabilities.