An Analysis of Intercultural Communicative Competence: Hotel Front Office Personnel in Bangkok

Abstract

When we consider a strategy for dealing with globalization, it can be seen that intercultural interactions and encounters are very important and appropriate as effective outcomes are expected. Therefore, the need to assess the intercultural communicative competence (ICC) of those expected to achieve these outcomes is worth consideration. This study examined the intercultural communicative competence of front office personnel working in hotels in Bangkok. The study aimed to find out whether or not these hotel front office personnel were equipped with and/or have adequate intercultural competence to deal with interculturally diverse interactions within their workplace. The intercultural competence framework of Barrett, Byram, Lazar, Mompoint-Gaillard, and Philippou (2013) and the work of Byram (1997) provided a framework for analysis in this study. They were both operationally adjusted to fit within a 186 | PASAA Vol. 51 January-June 2016 Thai context. Byram's (1997) intercultural communicative competence objective-based approach was used as a guideline for the ICC assessment, and randomly selected hotel front office personnel were the target participants. The outcomes that emerged from the study can be used as guidelines for hotel human resources management in order to set up intercultural communication training courses, or by educational institutions to better enhance the ICC development of their graduates. Furthermore, the outcomes can also be used as an informational base for future research.