Abstract

In Pakistani corporate set-ups, proficiency in English is taken as competence in communication; other important aspects of communicative competence are overlooked. The research carried out so far is from the point of view of Management and Organizational Behavior and none from the linguistic perspective. The current study is an attempt to find out the relationship between English as linguistic capital as part of Communicative Competence and employees' job performance via job satisfaction and promotion in the Corporate Sector. As a theoretical framework for this study, a hybrid model has been established by combining the model of communicative competence by Celce-Murcia (2007) and the model of types of Capital by Bourdieu (1986). The model includes competence in five areas, viz. Socio-Cultural, Discourse, Linguistic, Formulaic and Interactional. To see the effect of communicative competence on the employees' performance, i.e., job satisfaction and promotion, both quantitative and qualitative approaches have been used.

Key Words

Communicative Competence, Linguistic Capital, Job Performance, Job Satisfaction

Introduction

The current study aims at ascertaining the relationship between English as linguistic capital as part of Communicative Competence (CC) and employees' job performance (JS) via job satisfaction and promotion in Private Corporate Sector Organizations in Pakistan. For the current study, the model of CC presented by Ceclé-Murcia (2007) has been employed.   On the other hand, linguistic capital is the term taken from Bourdieu’s (1986) model of Capital. He regards language as a linguistic capital that has an exchange value.  

Corporate sector organizations are the organizations that work to generate revenue. They are important segments of a country's economy. Following are the three major types of corporate sector organizations: 

? the primary sector (dealing with raw materials)

? the secondary sector (dealing with manufacturing goods)

? the tertiary sector (dealing with sales and services

For the current study, only tertiary-level corporate sector organizations dealing with sales and services are studied. On the other hand, since the current models of CC do not account for English specifically and take language in general terms, a hybrid model consisting of elements of both the models of Capital and CC is used as the framework. 




Background of the Study  

With the emergence of global multinational corporate culture due to technological advancement, satellite links, emails and the latest computer applications, good communication skills have become important for people involved in the management of different types. Competencies, on the other hand, especially in the corporate sector, are assessed and used in recruitment interviews and in appraisals. One of the competencies is employees' ability to communicate effectively because it is significant not only for the effective transmission of information but also for the job satisfaction of the employees (Shamim, 2011). Having good communication is, thus, considered to be one of the cornerstones in modern organizational set-ups. 

Pakistan in the current global corporate culture is no exception; the sudden outburst of multinational organizations has given rise to new organizational and corporate trends. These trends include due consideration to be given to employees' effective communication and job satisfaction (henceforth, JS). Now, the role of communication in most multinational organizations is not seen as simply a technical issue; rather, due consideration is given to it at the time of appointment and promotions of the individuals (Rababah, 2002). However, in the Pakistani Job market and corporate set-ups, there is a lack of adequate research from the perspective of Linguistics. Moreover, the research that has been done so far is from the viewpoint of Management and Behavioral Sciences, including leadership. The current study aims at ascertaining the relationship between English as linguistic capital as part of Communicative Competence (henceforth, CC), which is a purely linguistic topic,  and employees’ job performance (henceforth, JP) via job satisfaction (JS) and promotion in Private Corporate Sector Organizations of Pakistan.




Linguistic Capital as Symbolic Capital 

At this stage, it is also pertinent to discuss symbolic capital in relation to its significance for corporate sector organizations. Symbolic Capital can be defined as the resources a certain person has on the basis of honour, respect, recognition and language expertise (Bourdieu, 1986). The symbolic capital serves as the value that a person holds within a certain culture. A mufti and the Pope hold special value in different cultures and have symbolic capital. People who have symbolic capital have more effect on certain topics and are respected by the people in the sense that their orders and talks are more influential as compared to other people. People who have symbolic capital are respected, even by the highest authorities in a country, but that does not mean that people with symbolic capital have authority over other higher authorities. For example, a war hero may have symbolic capital in the context of running for a political position and have more recognition in front of people. People who are more skilled and eligible for a position in the corporate sector are more likely to have more influence in the corporate sector. Symbolic capital is useful in the sense that it can be easily converted and used as leverage in social and political spheres (Lan, 2011). 

Symbolic capital has a very important role in communication in the corporate sector. The corporate sector is all about business, and the only thing that matters is the numbers. People who are at higher positions in a certain corporation have more authority and are likely to have more influence in communication in the corporate sector. People with symbolic capital might have influence over common people and political figures, and so they have authority in the corporate sector (Smith, 2011). Symbolic capital can also be linked to the language a person speaks, the accent he uses and, more importantly, the country he lives in. Now, if a person speaks in the English language but uses a British accent in some English-speaking country, then that person will have symbolic capital towards other people in that particular sector. If a person speaks British English in Pakistan's corporate sector, where the official language is Urdu, then he might have less symbolic capital than a person with the same skills but speaks Urdu. In simple words, having symbolic capital depends upon the culture, language spoken and the country of the corporate sector. 




Communicative Competence 

As far as communicative competence is concerned, the concept of competence initially started with Hymes (1972), who defined communicative competence as a broader term associating it not only with the knowledge of the grammatical rules or linguistics as such but the appropriate use of language. Light's (1989) proposed definition suggests communicative competence as a relative and dynamic interpersonal construct based on functionality and adequacy of communication and sufficiency of knowledge, judgment, and skill in four interrelated areas: linguistic competence, operational competence, social competence, and strategic competence. Linguistic and operational competencies refer to knowledge and skills in the use of the tools of communication; social and strategic competencies reflect function knowledge in interaction. 

Canale (1983) built upon a theory which was initially developed by Canale and Swain (1980). He is of the view that communicative competence is knowledge and skill both carrying out interaction in actual communication. According to him, the framework of Communicative Competence and Communicative Performance should take into account not only the contextual variables but also the strategic and discourse factors.

In the same way, Lan(2011) defines communicative competence as the ability to interact well with others.   He further explains that 'well' refers to accuracy, clarity, comprehensibility, coherence, expertise, effectiveness and appropriateness. A more comprehensive operationalization is provided by Hrehova (2010), who suggests that communicative competence is best understood as a situational ability to set realistic and appropriate goals and to maximize their achievement by using knowledge of self, other, context, and communication theory to generate adaptive communication performances.

Communicatively competent employees share certain common traits; they listen to others' points of view actively and share and respond to the information in a prompt manner. Moreover, they not only communicate clearly and concisely, but they are also adept at utilizing different communication channels. Monge, Backman, Dillard & Eisenburg (1982) developed the key indicators of communicative competence and developed a questionnaire to measure communicative competence. An adapted version of the same questionnaire will be used for the current study (to be discussed in Research Methodology Section). Celce-Murcia (2007), in her synthesized and updated model, presents communicative competence in terms of six aspects or skills, which include: socio-cultural, discourse, linguistic, formulaic, interactional and strategic competence. The same model will be used as a framework for the current study to be discussed later. 




Job Performance

There are two key indicators of employees’ job performance, i.e., how productive an employee is in his own domain and how far he is progressing through ranks. Job productivity is greatly the outcome of job satisfaction and perks (Munisamy, 2013). Job satisfaction, in comparison with CC, has received much more attention from researchers (e.g., Arches, 1991; Glenn and; Hackman and Oldman, 1972; Orpen, 1979). Generally, job satisfaction has been associated with a number of determinants, which include factors such as age, gender, salary and other incentives. 

However, the most prominent factors of job satisfaction are those emerging from the nature of the job itself, within which interpersonal communication and relationships occur between the managers and the employees (Kienzle & Shadur, 1998). They are of the opinion that one of the most important factors contributing to enhanced job satisfaction is the relationship between employees and managers. These relationships take place in official set-ups through various methods of communication, whereas the lack of communicative competence, at times, results in the employees leaving their jobs. 

Sometimes the notion of JS is associated with higher perks and remuneration in minimum exhaustion. However, it is wrong to assume that JS is only the outcome of higher salary packages. Employees at times compromise on their salary once it involves less fatigue and mental stress. Considering job satisfaction from the perspective of workers, Locke (1976) conducted a study. According to him, JS is associated with a state of mind that is enjoyable and positive. Almost similar ideas were presented by Richmond, McCroskey, Davis & Koonts  (1980), who brought to light the significance of supervisor's communication and Avtgis & Taber (2006), who associated the factor of humour with employees' JS. In one way or the other, job performance is thought to be directly linked to promotion in the job.

Having discussed the key terms and the ideas discussed, it is pertinent to deliberate on the Pakistani job market in terms of the statement of the problem. In the Pakistani job market, proficiency in English alone is taken as competency in communication skills, whereas other significant aspects of communicative competence are either ignored or taken into account from behavioural and leadership perspectives only. Due to an over-emphasis on English language proficiency, a large number of employees face difficulties in professional progression. Moreover, in the Pakistani job market, there is a lack of an adequate system for gauging the employees' communicative competence. Even the Human Resource Departments, which are primarily responsible for hiring, trainings and promotions, lack a comprehensive understanding of communicative competence as a set of skills. There is a dire need for a holistic communicative competence analysis designed specifically for the Pakistani job market that can cater for both English language proficiency as well as communicative capabilities on the whole. The current study is an attempt to ascertain a link between employees' communicative competence and their job performance, particularly from the perspective of English as linguistic capital in the Pakistani job market. 




Research Questions 

1. What role does English language proficiency play in employees' hiring and promotions in the Pakistani job market? 

2. Why is there a need to establish a link between the overall communicative competence of the employees and their job performance? 

3. How can a holistic communicative competence analysis of the employees be a better indicator of their job performance as compared to a linguistic one?

Literature Review

Berman and Hellweg (1989) carried out one such study whose findings showed the supervisor's communicative competence and its effect on the subordinates' job satisfaction. Avtgis (1998) also carried out a similar study, examining the relationship between the perception of subordinates about supervisors' communication skills, including their level of organizational identification. Their findings indicate a very strong relationship between the supervisor's communicative competence and the subordinate's organizational identification. 

One of the common factors for the importance to be laid on communicative competence in organizations is the fact that organizations have employees of diverse skills and knowledge. Organizations with strong coordination through communication outperform those that lack coordination. It is because coordination not only enhances teamwork it also improves employees' job satisfaction, as suggested by Luo & Shenkar (2006). Non-existence or incapability of the managers to communicate competently subsequently  results in the inability of the organization to achieve a common goal 

Holladay and Coombs (1993) state that leadership is a typical way of behaviour displayed through communication. They are of the view that the leader's charisma is shaped and perceived through the way he conveys the messages through the process of communication. Hall and Lord (1995), on the other hand, suggest that when leaders communicate their vision effectively, the followers or the subordinates demonstrate a greater level of confidence in them which in turn results in stronger communication satisfaction between the leader and the follower. This, in the long run, results in enhanced job satisfaction. 

Thus, the task of a manager is not only to get the job done but to get it carried out with a relational orientation. Castaneda and Nahavandi (1991), in this regard, suggest that the subordinates who recognize their manager's behaviour to be both task and relationship-oriented report a greater level of job satisfaction than otherwise. 

Craig and Cushman (1976)   are of the opinion that CC engages individuals to show skills and competence in areas such as speaking, listening and negotiating. A recent study conducted by Salacuse (2007) suggested that due to the changing work set-ups and environment, with more educated and intelligent employees, leaders are expected to be competent in communication and lead by negotiation. Salacuse significantly stated that leaders need their vision to be followed. For this, they need to persuade their employees by appealing to their interests. The leader thus must employ resources such as voice, tone, gestures and language (Stohl, 1984). Similarly,  for supervisors to be taken as competent communicators, they must listen to the point of view of the other people, share and respond to the information timely, concisely and clearly to all tiers of the organization (Shaw, 2005).

Researchers such as Postmes (1986) and Ray and Miller (1994) also suggest the same significance of CC involving interactions that are carried out to exchange information between the supervisors and their subordinates. Effective communication results in influencing the subordinates psychologically and produces positive job outcomes with enhanced job satisfaction. Spitzberg and Cupach (1981), on the other hand,  stated that CC  represents a form of influential interpersonal skill.   The primordial purpose of such skill is to attain common goals while at the same time maintaining the norms of conversation. 

In organizations, a relationship grows out of effective communication, while an effective relationship is essential for the survival of organizations (Harris & Nelson, 2008). Similarly, communication is important for the flow of information both through formal and informal channels. Formal channels include memos, official letters, policy statements and reports, etc. Informal communication, on the other hand, is horizontal.   Employees believe that both of them are essential for a better understanding of organizations and organizational culture (Burton, 2008)

Employees with competent communication are preferred as communication has a relationship with global team performance as well. Global team characteristics include demography, skill and culture, while communication is an essential component of culture (Chen, Gulyukins & Choi, 2006). 

Marschan (1997) conducted a relevant study in Finland and Denmark on the organizations which have a flatter structure and require horizontal interaction for the purpose of strong assimilation of all parts and stakeholders of the firm. This study aims at finding the ways in which the staff members operate in English while their L1 is different as local responsiveness is also a requirement for keeping the contact with all the stakeholders. Marschan further finds that staff with good language and communication expertise is able to develop strong personal links within the multinational organization. These findings relate to the Pakistani context as in the Pakistani corporate sector, and written correspondence is carried out in English. Similarly, official meetings and presentations are conducted in English, though, for routine interactions, regional and national languages are used.

Researchers, on the other hand, such as Tsui & Tollefson (2008), signify the perception of the policymakers regarding communication as a multinational tool that helps in achieving national goals and serves as a central resource for personal development. Communicative Competence thus enables an individual to be linked with the national and international community, enhancing his chances of success in the profession.

Geffner (1998) regarded competence in English as a marketable skill at the workplace, necessary to cope with speedy technological advancement. With more sophisticated communication tools, information is transmitted and utilized at a speed that was unimaginable only a few years ago, and the future seems to be even more unimaginable. Mastery of Business English thus adds one more skill to the individual's resume. 

Muukati (2008) talks about the necessity of competence in language for certain positions. Insufficient competence in language and communication may hamper a person's progression to a higher-level position. This is true of a large number of corporate sector organizations where a person is required not only to have technical expertise in a specific field but in order to progress to a strategic level position. He is required to have management and communication skills as well. 

Having discussed the previous literature, it may be stated that the organizations take communicative competence into consideration at the time of appointment and promotion of the employees because organizations have employees of diverse knowledge and skills. Moreover, multinational organizations tend to hire and promote employees with expertise in the English language. This is due to the reason that effective communication is essential for the survival of the organization. English has become a prerequisite for employees, especially the managers working in multinational organizations, because it is the language of international business and trade. On the other hand, Organizations in the modern corporate culture maintain constant liaison and links with national and international business organizations. Therefore, they require their employees to be efficient in English as it is a central tool that helps in achieving national and organizational goals. Furthermore, organizations, especially multinational organizations, require their managers to be efficient in English as it has acquired the status of lingua franca of global business. Similarly, organizations do consider proficiency in English at the time of employees' promotion because of the fact that it is the language of online commercial communication and trade.

 The literature review thus indicates that though communicative competence in English in relation to job performances has its significance, it has not been sufficiently studied from the perspective of English as linguistic capital. Most of the relevant studies have been conducted from the leadership, management and behavioural perspectives. 




Theoretical Framework

To serve as a theoretical framework for this study, a hybrid model has been devised by combining the model of communicative competence by Celce-Murcia (2007) and the model of types of capital by Bourdieu (1986). Celce-Murcia's model of communicative competence generally caters for language and not specifically to the English language. This has been accommodated by merging Bourdieu's concept of linguistic capital. Moreover, keeping the scenario of the Pakistani job market in view, the English language is taken as symbolic capital. 

As far as Celce-Murcia's model of CC is concerned, she takes linguistic competence as competence in any language, not specifically in English. Moreover, strategic competence, according to this model, is only specific for instructional purposes.   

The Hybrid Model specifically devised for this study is a model comprising five elements of CC, which include: Socio-Cultural Competence, Discourse Competence, Linguistic Competence, which is accommodated as English as Linguistic Capital, Formulaic Competence and Interactional Competence. However, this model does not include Strategic Competence as it only accounts for instructional purposes.

 Celce-Murcia (2007), in her synthesized and updated model, presents communicative competence in terms of six aspects. These include socio-cultural, discourse, linguistic, formulaic, interactional and strategic competence. 

Figure 1

Celce-Murcia (2007) - Model of Communicative Competence



Linguistic Capital

 In order to understand the term Linguistic Capital, it is imperative to understand the term in its broader sense, i.e., Capital as distinguished by Bourdieu (1986). According to Bourdieu, the term capital in a wider sense is to employ a system of exchange in which assets of different types are exchanged and transformed into different assets within numerous fields. These assets are both symbolic and monitory. Bourdieu distinguished between economic capital and symbolic capital. Symbolic capital further includes linguistic capital, scientific capital, cultural capital and literacy capital in accordance with the fields in which they are located.  

Figure 2

Figure 3

Hybrid Model of Communicative Competence

The study focuses on two key variables, which include: communicative competence as an independent variable and employees' job performance as a dependent variable.  

Research Methodology

To see the effect of CC on the employees’ performance, i.e., JS and promotion, both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to ensure the validity and reliability of the results of the study. To test both the dependent variables, i.e. JS and Promotion, two different questionnaires were developed. For the quantitative analysis of the study, the results were analyzed through tables as well as graphical illustrations using MS Excel. The questionnaires were administered by professionals working in Private Sector Organizations located in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

The research design used for the current study is descriptive, for which surveys were carried out, and interviews and questionnaires were undertaken as tools.   According to Creswell (1994), a quantitative study investigates a phenomenon by collecting numerical data; the data is then analyzed using statistical and mathematical tools. Sounders (2007), on the other hand, states that a survey is the most suitable approach to undertaking research. According to him, a sample size that is larger than 30 and lesser than 500 is appropriate for research. Similarly, Thomas (2004) suggests that the rule for research is to seek as many cases as required, but generally, a sample of 140 is sufficient to provide ample scope for the analysis. For the current study, a total of 250 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 235 were returned.

 




Total respondents from Corporate Sector

Beverages Food Electronics Telecom Banks Hotels Total

40 35 35 45 40 40 235




 

A questionnaire for assessing the effect of communicative competence on JS with three sections (A, B and C) was designed. Section A included demographic questions, whereas section B had a Communicator Competence questionnaire adapted from Monge et al. (1982). This section had questions in accordance with the hybrid model of CC, including segments both from Celce’s model of Communicative Competence and Bourdieu's model of capital, from which English was taken as linguistic capital. For the measurement, a 5-point Likert – type was used; the scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Section C includes a job satisfaction scale, including questions such as Likert Scale choices ranging from strongly undesirable to strongly desirable. 

The points given by the participants for each segment of CC in section B were added. All the responses in this section were grouped in points ranging from 10-20, 20-30, 30-40 and 40-50. In order to see the link between CC and JS, these points in ranges were compared with responses in section C of the questionnaire.  

A separate questionnaire was designed to evaluate the impact of CC in English on employees' promotion. This section also caters for the hybrid model devised for this study. This questionnaire was administered to the same participants. 

In order to validate the data from questionnaires, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 6   participants from corporate sector organizations. The interviews were conducted by experts in the field, which included managers and directors of the selected organizations. All these interviewees were from the HR department. The idea was to validate the data at the strategic level.

Data Analysis and Findings

In this section, first, the analysis and findings of the first questionnaire are presented. Initially, the first five questions have been analyzed; these questions deal with the role of English as linguistic capital. Subsequently, the analysis is carried out in terms of sales and services sector organizations separately. The next part of the section presents the analysis of the second questionnaire, which deals with the role of communicative competence on employees’ job satisfaction. 

 




Table 1. English Language Requirement (Sales Sector)

Table 2. English Language Requirement (Services Sector)
Table 3. Job Requirement Traits (Communicative Competence) Sales Sector  
Table 4. Job Requirement Traits (Communicative Competence)  Services Sector  


Analysis of the Impact of Communicative Competence on Job Satisfaction

This questionnaire 2  determines to what extent the communicative competence of the immediate supervisor of an employee has an effect on the job satisfaction of the employees. The respondents at first give their immediate supervisor a rank based on how well he communicates by answering 10 statements and giving them a score between 1-5 (1 being strongly disagreed and 5 is strongly agreed). After rating their supervisor, the respondents then answer how much they themselves are satisfied with the job working under their supervisor by rating their job on a job satisfaction scale with 5 options. 

The data is presented in the following way; first, the immediate supervisors of the respondents are grouped into different ranks based on their 'total score', which is calculated by summing the scores of the aforementioned 10 statements. There are 5 ranks in total, each with a different score range (10-20 marks, 20-30 marks, 30-50 marks, 40-50 marks). Then the amount of respondents and their job satisfaction according to the job satisfaction scale is represented by bar graphs on each supervisor rank.

 




Sales Sector

Services Sector

With reference to the first research question, the findings of the study suggest that in all corporate sector organizations, CC in English is considered at the time of employees' hiring and promotions. On the other hand, an employee's lack of communicative competence hinders the person's professional progression. Overall, it can be clearly seen that communicative competence is essential for the entirety of the sales sector. While it is evident that the least priority overall is given to it by the food industry, it still does not negate the fact that CC is required to a considerable extent. 
From the sales sector, on the other hand, the telecom sector gives very high regard to communicative competence at the time of a person's hiring, even at the junior level, and the same amount of preference is given to communicative competence when an employee's promotion is considered. In the services sector also, a lack of communicative competence hinders professional progression. Finally, the need for communicative competence in English increases overwhelmingly with increasing job hierarchy in every position in the services sector and unlike the sales sector, the need here increases with every hierarchal position; whereas, for the sales sector, it only affects the top positions. Overall, throughout the corporate set-up, it seems that the need for communicative competence is the highest in the hotel industry among the services sector, so much so that it is absolutely essential in all regards.  
With regard to the second research question, the findings of the study suggest that there is a link between employees' communicative competence and their job performance because the supervisor's communicative competence is directly proportional to the employees' job satisfaction – the better the communicative competence, the higher the job satisfaction. In all the subgroups from the sales and services sectors, the results indicate a direct relationship between Job Satisfaction and Communicative Competence.
For the third research question, the findings suggest that holistic communicative competence is a better indicator of employees' job performance than an only linguistic one. It is because whether it is linguistic competence, formulaic competence, interactional competence, socio-cultural competence or discourse competence, the requirement of each of these competences is moderate to high both in the sales and services sectors in the corporate sector. 
Furthermore, the study brings to light the communicative traits based on the hybrid model required by both the sales and services sectors. These traits included the segments such as Linguistic, Interactional, Socio-cultural, Formulaic and Discourse. 
Command of language is a part of linguistic competence. The necessity for a good command of the English language is average in the sales sector, with the beverages subgroup showing the overwhelming preference for it compared to the other two subgroups. However, it can be concluded safely that the overall necessity for it and the associated linguistic trait is moderate. On the other hand, the necessity for a good command of the English language is huge in the services sector. Overall, the requirement for English language skills in the services sector, especially in the Hotel industry, is very high.
Skill to motivate and persuade is part of interactional competence, as suggested in the hybrid model. The necessity for Good Communication to motivate and persuade subordinates is highly necessary for the beverages subgroup and higher than average for the food and electronics industry. Similarly, in the services sector also, there is a moderately high requirement for this trait. Again the highest support level comes from the Hotel industry.
The necessity for maintaining appropriate distance is again a part of interactional competence. This competence is more or less required in all industries. However, the overall necessity level is nearing 50% throughout the entire sales sector, so it can be concluded that the desire for this and the associated interactional trait is about moderate. The necessity for maintaining appropriate distance and dressing up appropriately, on the other hand, is almost similar in the telecom and banking subgroups, where there is also a high level of partial agreement. In the case of the Hotels subgroup, however, it can be safely said that overall, this skill is highly required.
The necessity for paying attention to the employees' needs and considering their individual needs is a part of socio-cultural competence. Again the overall necessity level is nearing 50% throughout the entire sales sector. Hence it can be concluded that the desire for this and the associated socio-cultural trait is moderate. On the other hand, the scenario for the sales sector is slightly different. The desire for this skill and the associated socio-cultural trait is moderately high in the services sector. 
Discourse competence is an important segment of the hybrid model. There are two key elements of discourse identified, i.e., oral and written. As far as oral competence is concerned, it is used in conducting meetings, presentations and public speaking. For competence in writing, the employees are assessed on writing official documents such as letters and memos. The necessity for conducting meetings, presentations and public speaking is highly desired in all the sales sector organizations, especially in beverages. Similarly, these traits are significantly required in the services sector.   
On the other hand, writing skill is equally significant for both the sales and services sectors. The necessity of being good at writing official documents is very high for all the sectors, including both services and sales sectors, and the same behaviour is shown throughout the responses from the interview. It can be safely concluded that the need for discourse competence is highly desired in the corporate sector.
Communication in accordance with job situations and communication with politeness is again elements of socio-cultural competence. The cumulative agreement suggests that the desire for this skill and the associated socio-cultural trait is stronger than average for the sales sector.
The necessity for expressing ideas clearly and correctly relates to linguistic competence. The results show an absolute agreement level of just about 50%; however, the partial agreements are lower, and the partial disagreements are higher for the entire sales sector. Hence, the necessity for this skill and for the associated linguistic trait is moderate. 
Formulaic competence is yet another competence highlighted in the hybrid model. The necessity of carrying out good routine interaction relates to formulaic competence. The necessity for this trait has the highest level of absolute agreement from all the industries, especially the hotel industry.
The entire sales sector did not show a high or overwhelmingly high preference for any of the traits. In fact, most of the necessities lean towards moderate, with the beverage subgroup statistically frequently favouring certain skills lower than food and electronics. The only traits that actually have been given a higher preference than moderate are the socio-cultural and the discourse traits. Although high preferences towards the traits are missing, yet it still cannot be denied that the skills are required, even if moderately so. 
The services sector in its entirety shows much more preference towards some of the communicative traits compared to the sales sector subgroups, with the hotels subgroup giving the highest preference towards the traits indicated in the hybrid model. Similarly to the sales sector, the discourse trait is highly required, but there is a very high preference given to the rest of the traits, unlike the sales sector with the socio-cultural trait's demand being the lowest.
Another significant objective of the study was to determine to what extent the communicative competence of the immediate supervisor of an employee has an effect on the job satisfaction of the employees. The findings of the study clearly indicate that the supervisor's communicative competence is directly proportional to the employees' job satisfaction – the better the communicative competence, the higher the job satisfaction. In all the subgroups from the sales and services sectors, the results indicate a direct relationship between Job Satisfaction and Communicative Competence. 
As far as Bourdieu's notion of Linguistic Capital is concerned, as suggested in the hybrid model, competence in English does have an exchange value in the Pakistani corporate market. Whether it is the sales sector or services sector, CC in English is considered at the time of employees' appointments and promotions. On the other hand, an employee's lack of communicative competence hinders a person's professional progression. Overall, it can be clearly seen that communicative competence in English is essential for the entirety of the sales sector. Moreover, the need for communicative competence in English increases overwhelmingly with increasing job hierarchy in every position in the services sector and unlike the sales sector, the need here increases with every hierarchal position, whereas for the sales sector, it only affects the top positions. The case for the entirety of the services sector is such that communicative competence in English is necessary; the services sector entirely surpasses the levels of necessity established by the sales sector, which may be because of the direct interaction of the employees with the customers. The study, therefore, clearly demonstrates that English serves as a linguistic capital in the Pakistani job market.  

Recommendations

? As discussed before that, appointments and promotions in the corporate sector are made on the basis of general observations considering the CC of the employees. However, there is no suitable system in place to gauge the CCE of the employees at the time of appointments and promotions. The corporate sector organizations need to establish such a system for this purpose.

? It has also been observed that in the performance appraisal of competencies for promotion, there is no separate segment for competence in English though it is an important factor considered at the time of promotions. The companies must include this aspect in the appraisal.

? At the policy-making level or at the strategic level, the expectations regarding the CCE of the employees, at times, are observed to be higher than the expectations of the employees in the other departments, e.g., the HR department expects more from the employees in terms of their competence in English. The HR department, therefore, must communicate their exact level of expectation regarding employees' competence in English.

? Employees are trained on various technical aspects of their profession; however, there is no training given for the improvement of CCE. These trainings must include segments from the hybrid model, which encompasses a holistic competence in communication. A number of employees who are technically sound tend to have fewer chances of promotion because of their lack of command on CCE. These sectors must also carry out training programmes for the improvement of the CCE of the employees.  

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