Social Integration of Immigrants within the Linguistically Diverse Workplace: A Systematic Review

Authors

  • Vibha Kaushik Ph. D. Student, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
  • Christine A. Walsh Professor, Associate Dean, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
  • Diana Haefele MLIS Student, Faculty of Information and Media Studies, Western University North Campus Building, Room 240, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/rss.v1i1.5

Abstract

As a consequence of international migration, a large number of workplaces are becoming linguistically diverse. This creates challenges for the workplace integration of immigrants and increases the risk of their social exclusion. A systematic review was conducted to determine the effects of linguistic diversity on social integration of immigrants within the workplace. Articles were identified by reviewing abstracts in electronic databases using key words related to linguistic diversity, social integration, immigrants and workplace. The search yielded ten peer reviewed articles, published in English, between 2000 and 2014. Information was extracted and synthesized from both quantitative and qualitative studies. The studies in this review were found to be concerned on three key areas of investigation: (1) social integration or social inclusion/exclusion, (2) social interaction and inter-group perception, and (3) accent discrimination. Smooth social and professional assimilation and the equality of opportunities for the immigrants were considered as the determining factors of their complete social integration in the workplace. Most studies in this review established a connection between social integration and local language skills; some also identified that factors such as racial discrimination and ethnicity based stereotyping contributed to social exclusion of immigrants, particularly when the studies involved visible minorities. The review enhances our understanding of challenges of complete social integration faced by immigrants and reinforces the need to invest in policies and program aimed at preventing marginalization of immigrants. However, due to limited number of studies identified by this review and the variation in findings, further research is necessary to investigate the role of linguistic diversity in the workplace integration of immigrants in immigrant receiving countries.  

References

Akomolafe, S. (2013). The invisible minority: Revisiting the debate on foreign-accented speakers and upward mobility in the workplace. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 20(1), 7-14.

Berger, P. L. & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality. New York: Double Day.

Bergman, M. E., Watrous-Rodriguez, K. M. & Chalkley, K. M. (2008). Identity and language: Contributions to and consequences of speaking Spanish in the workplace. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 30(1), 40-68.

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Bourdieu, P. (2004). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. London: Routledge.

Boyd, M. & Cao, X. (2009). Immigrant language proficiency, earnings, and language policies. Canadian Studies in Population, 36(1–2), 63-86.

Charles, D., Gill, M. L., & Scaltsas, T. (1994). Unity, identity, and explanation in Aristotle's metaphysics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Chomsky, N. (1996). Language and problems of knowledge: The Managua lectures. Cambridge (Mass): The MIT Press.

Clegg, S. R. (1989). Frameworks of power. London: Sage Publications.

Colic-Peisker, V., & Hlavac, J. (2014). Anglo‑Australian and non‑Anglophone middle classes: ‘foreign accent’ and social inclusion. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 349-371.

Creese, G. (2010). Erasing English language competency: African migrants in Vancouver, Canada. Journal of International Migration & Integration, 11(3), 295-313.

Dhir, K. S. & Góké-Paríolá, A. (2002). The case for language policies in multinational corporations. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 7(4), 241-51.

Dustmann, C. & Fabbri, F. (2003). Language proficiency and labour market performance of immigrants in the UK. The Economic Journal, 113, 695-717.

Feely, A. J. & Harzing, A. (2003). Language management in multinational companies. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 10(2), 37-52.

Gibson, J. W. & Hodgetts, R. M. (1991). Organizational communication: A managerial perspective. New York: Harper Collins.

Grünhage-Monetti, M., Halewijn, E., Holland, C., & European Centre for Modern Languages. (2003). Odysseus: Second language at the workplace: Language needs of migrant workers:

Lønsmann, D. (2014). Linguistic diversity in the international workplace: Language ideologies and processes of exclusion. Multilingua, 33(1/2), 89-116.

Luo, Y. & Shenkar, O. (2006). The multinational corporation as a multilingual community: Language and organization in a global context. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 321-339.

Marschan-Piekkari, R., Welch, D. & Welch, L. (1999). In the shadow: the impact of language on structure, power and communication in the multinational. International Business Review, 8, 421-40.

Nelson, M. (2014). ‘You need help as usual, do you?’: Joking and swearing for collegiality in a Swedish workplace. Multilingua, 33(1-2), 173-200.

Remennick, L. (2004). Work relations between immigrants and old-timers in an Israeli organization: Social interactions and inter-group attitudes. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 45(1/2), 45-71.

Sacks, O. W. (1989). Seeing voices: A journey into the world of the deaf. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Scaheffer, P. V., & Bukenya, J. O. (2010). Assimilation of foreigners in former West Germany. International Migration, 52(4), 157-174.

Schulter, A. (2010). Kurdish voices in Istanbul workplaces. The International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, 10(4), 127-140.

Shields, M. A. & Wheatley-Price S. (2002). The English language fluency and occupational success of ethnic minority immigrant men living in English metropolitan areas. Journal of Population Economics, 15(1), 137-160.

Tange, H., & Lauring J. (2009). Language management and social interaction within the multilingual workplace. Journal of Communication Management, 13(3), 218-232.

Vaara, E., Tienari, J., Piekkari, R. & Säntti, R. (2005). Language and the circuits of power in a merging multinational corporation. Journal of Management Studies, 42(3), 595-623.

Von Glinow, M. A. Y. (1988). The new professionals: Managing today's high-tech employees. Cambridge, Mass: Ballinger Pub. Co.

Wittgenstein, L., Ogden, C. K., & Russell, B. (1922). Tractatus logico-philosophicus. London: Kegan Paul. Retrieved from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5740/5740-pdf.pdf.

Downloads

Published

2016-01-20

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2016): January

Section

Articles

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).