The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals

Using effective English language is one of the most desired communication skills for successful international engineering workplace. However, the way in which this language is used in terms of computer engineering has not been much studied, despite being one of the key aspects of international bus...

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Main Authors:	Krich Rajprasit, Saengchan Hemchua
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2015
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/1/9222-27896-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-9072
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-90722016-12-14T06:48:53Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/ The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals Krich Rajprasit, Saengchan Hemchua, Using effective English language is one of the most desired communication skills for successful international engineering workplace. However, the way in which this language is used in terms of computer engineering has not been much studied, despite being one of the key aspects of international business. This study aims to explore the nature of international communicative situations; to identify how Thai engineers self-report their language proficiency, ability to perform English-related tasks and their opinions regarding language use in an international workplace. The participants were Thai engineers working in companies located in the Bangkok metropolitan area. A mixed-methods approach was employed, and the results revealed that English language proficiency plays a key role in their workplace and in terms of career advancement; their interpersonal communication mostly took place between colleagues in the same base, or between overseas bases, in terms of cooperation, teamwork, and meetings; oral communication skills were the most needed; their perceived language proficiency level was fair, and their perceived reading skills were the best in comparison to their other skills; and using perfect English was not a priority, yet intelligibility was more important for reaching their communicative goals. Such findings have led to pedagogical implications such as specifically designing courses containing realistic knowledge and skills; introducing the concept of BELF to raise awareness among engineering students regarding comprehensibility of non-native-like English speech; and practicing listening with both native and non-native accents to be familiar with these accents and more confident communicating in real-life situations. Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM 2015 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/1/9222-27896-1-PB.pdf Krich Rajprasit, and Saengchan Hemchua, (2015) The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 21 (3). pp. 109-124. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	Using effective English language is one of the most desired communication skills for successful international engineering workplace. However, the way in which this language is used in terms of computer engineering has not been much studied, despite being one of the key aspects of international business. This study aims to explore the nature of international communicative situations; to identify how Thai engineers self-report their language proficiency, ability to perform English-related tasks and their opinions regarding language use in an international workplace. The participants were Thai engineers working in companies located in the Bangkok metropolitan area. A mixed-methods approach was employed, and the results revealed that English language proficiency plays a key role in their workplace and in terms of career advancement; their interpersonal communication mostly took place between colleagues in the same base, or between overseas bases, in terms of cooperation, teamwork, and meetings; oral communication skills were the most needed; their perceived language proficiency level was fair, and their perceived reading skills were the best in comparison to their other skills; and using perfect English was not a priority, yet intelligibility was more important for reaching their communicative goals. Such findings have led to pedagogical implications such as specifically designing courses containing realistic knowledge and skills; introducing the concept of BELF to raise awareness among engineering students regarding comprehensibility of non-native-like English speech; and practicing listening with both native and non-native accents to be familiar with these accents and more confident communicating in real-life situations.
format	Article
author	Krich Rajprasit, Saengchan Hemchua,
spellingShingle	Krich Rajprasit, Saengchan Hemchua, The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
author_facet	Krich Rajprasit, Saengchan Hemchua,
author_sort	Krich Rajprasit,
title	The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
title_short	The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
title_full	The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
title_fullStr	The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
title_full_unstemmed	The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals
title_sort	english language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of thai computer engineering professionals
publisher	Pusat Pengajian Bahasa dan Linguistik, FSSK, UKM
publishDate	2015
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/9072/1/9222-27896-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:53:56Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:53:56Z
_version_	1777406403444473856

The English language & communication in the international workplace: an examination of Thai computer engineering professionals

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