This paper presents a model of language-based communication zones in international
business communication. The model builds on Du-Babcock and Babcock's (1996)
descriptions of expatriate-local personnel communication patterns by reconfiguring
and adding new zones, which vary according to the language proficiency matches of
the interactants. The eight new communication zones represented here can contribute
to a more comprehensive framework that represents the dynamic, bi-directional, mul
tiply influenced, and tmnsformational translation process integral to international
business communication. Previous research has operated on the assumption that all
participants within an international business communication setting function as fully
proficient users of all languages being spoken, with no accounting for communica
tion difficulties based on varying levels of language proficiency. This study asserts
that there is, in fact, a language-competency variable that greatly impacts communi
cation and communication dynamics within the eight identified language-based com
munication zones. Research-based incidents from four countries illustrate likely
communication patterns in the language-based communication zones.
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