Analyzing Workplace English Communication Use and Needs: Insights from Korean Corporate Employees

Despite the ever-increasing use of English in international business encounters, there seems to be comparatively little attention given to the interface between actual workplace communication and language programs in terms of identifying and meeting learners' needs. To fill that void, the present study reports on the routine communicative practices in English of fifty-one Korean corporate employees. Insightful data from the so-called 'domain experts' who use English on a regular basis were obtained through an online survey with eight participants invited to a follow-up telephone interview. Based on the types of needs operationalized in the study, the findings imply that there indeed exist different dimensions of needs. The study indicates that transactional and non-transactional communicative genres were both important but to a different extent with each genre being assessed differently according to their profession. Lastly, implications regarding the importance of incorporating needs analysis as a key process that requires constant reexamination of language programs concerning workplace communication is discussed.