ABSTRACT

This chapter presents an empirical study which was conducted with 45 international graduates to examine: (i) their difficulties in communication competencies; and (ii) how they developed strategies to overcome their difficulties. The findings revealed that the graduates faced a range of communication limitations related to linguistic or grammatical (capacity to speak and write), discourse (capacity to speak and write in a suitable context), actional (capacity to convey communicative intent), sociocultural (capacity to use culturally appropriate language) and strategic (capacity to learn the language in the context) competencies. To overcome these difficulties, the graduates needed to not only enhance linguistic skills but also articulate good understandings of local culture. Besides, the study found that limitations in communication did not necessarily block the graduates’ employment opportunities. Instead, they developed various strategies to use their own capitals to both overcome their communication limitations and obtain employment outcomes. The findings imply that institutions should not only provide language support services to international students. Instead, international students should be given more opportunities to enrich cultural capital and practise their learning gains in reality. These real-life experiences help enhance various aspects of their communication competencies.