Mexican migrant workers and workplace communication: the influence of informal labor on English language usage, literacy, and perceptions of 'the American Dream'

摘要

This article describes the findings of an exploratory field study of Mexican migrant workers and the daily realities they experience when it comes to communicating for work in the United States, mainly in informal sectors of the economy. In unstructured interviews or 'conversations,' migrants share narratives about the type of communication they do at work, communication challenges, what they perceive as strengths and weaknesses/easy or difficult communication, and what profession they held when in Mexico. In addition, they provide insight into their feelings about the current state of the immigration in the United States, how much they know about the immigration debates, and how this might impact how they communicate at work. The article features migrant narratives, social-political-economic implications, and implications for continued research possibilities in this area, which is largely unexplored by communication research.