Host Country Language Effects on American Self-Initiated Expatriates' Adjustment in China, South Korea, and Japan

The topic of expatriates leaving their home countries to live and work in foreign environments has been of interest for the past few decades. Researchers have explored concepts related to expatriate success, failure, motivation, daily lives, etc. Though a variety of topics have been researched the majority of existing literature fails to differentiate between organizational expatriates and self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). In fact, most existing literature simply identifies expatriates as a singular group. The under-researched subpopulation of expatriates, SIEs, deserved attention as this group comprises a large percentage of the total expatriate population. This study helped to differentiate the field by examining the influences of host country languages on expatriate adjustment in China, South Korea, and Japan. To gather the data necessary to examine this topic a quantitative approach was utilized. A web based survey gathered responses from participants. The participants consisted of 93 American SIEs living and working in China, South Korea, and Japan. The results of this study indicated that host country language usage does not significantly influence general adjustment, p = .065, interaction adjustment, p = .078, or work adjustment, p = .061. These results could be utilized by potential SIEs by understanding that language usage may assist their adjustment process, but may not be a significant aspect. Future research could focus on participants from all English-speaking countries, participants who have completed formal language training, and utilizing a longitudinal format to further support these findings.