The paradox of coaching in a non-native language

Steel, N. C. T. and Karmowska, J. (2024) The paradox of coaching in a non-native language. Journal of Managerial Psychology. ISSN 0268-3946 doi: 10.1108/JMP-01-2023-0058

Abstract/Summary

Language plays a complex role in coaching, facilitating communication, comprehension, and meaning construction. Yet, the implications of coaching in a non-native language are uncertain and under-researched. This study explores the role of non-native language (NNL) in dyadic workplace coaching practice. Specifically, it explores how working in a NNL influences the coaching experience from the coach’s perspective. A qualitative approach was chosen to explore the way coaches view coaching in a NNL. Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted with coaches experienced in coaching in NNL. Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA) was applied for data analysis. NNL coaching presents a paradoxical mix of negative and positive tensions for the coach and coachee in communication, relationship, and insight. NNL coaching is nuanced and may be accommodated using coaching competencies to mitigate the potential for misunderstanding and relationship rupture. It offers alternative perspectives to existing worldviews, eliciting deeper insights. Coaches’ confidence in coaching in a NNL varies from a challenging struggle that perceptually hinders performance, through ambivalence, to a sense of greater resourcefulness. The study contributes to the stream of literature on language in international business, sociolinguistic research, and how meaning is constructed in a coaching process. First, the work develops a distinction between coaching in a native language (NL) and a NNL. Second, study results indicate that the context of NNL creates challenges as well as opportunities in a dyadic coaching process, particularly regarding aspects of the coach–coachee relationship and insight elicitation via alternative perspectives. Moreover, several practical implications of the study for the coaching practice are discussed.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/115659
Identification Number/DOI	10.1108/JMP-01-2023-0058
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour
Publisher	Emerald Group Publishing
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