PROBLEM STATEMENT

Seung Lee and Il Kim are two Korean young pitchers in the Philadelphia Phillies

organization. Both of them were assigned to the Batavia Muckdogs, the Phillies’ single-

A minor league affiliate in the short-season New York-Penn League. These two foreign

players experienced culture shock when playing abroad and are having difficulties in

adjusting to the behavioral and social customs of America because of the language

barrier as both of them could not speak in english. This case is about a

communication barrier and a culture difference between the foreign and American

players. Also, it is about the adjustment that the foreign players should make in order

to communicate with the American players effectively and break the gap to become a

united team.
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ANALYSIS OF ISSUE

In this case, both the Korean softball players do not know how to speak English

which makes it difficult for the both of them to communicate with the American

players. Baseball is a sport that needs team coordination and each player must know

how to communicate with each other despite how good of a player you are. It is a team

effort and the sport is won as a team. As a native in Korea this is a huge adjustment

for Seung Lee and Il Kim. Both of them are experiencing culture shock and isolation.

They do not like American food, and they found the United States to be large and

empowering which makes them homesick. Aside from that, they could not

communicate their feelings well because of the language barrier.

For Seung Lee and Il Kim, it is not easy to be in a place where everything is

unfamiliar, for them they were not in their comfort zone and the difficulties that they

are experiencing is totally understandable. Communication barriers are something

that prevents us from correctly getting and accepting the messages others use to

communicate their information, thoughts and ideas. Some of the examples of

communication barriers are information overload, choosy perceptions, workplace

gossips, semantics, gender differences, etc. Language differences are a common type of

communication barrier.

A language is an essential tool that assists in expressing feelings and stating

facts through a formal system. The term language barrier prevents two or more people
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from understanding each other in the absence of a common language. It is considered

as a roadblock in the business world and organizations are willing to spend lots of

time, resources, money and effort to face this challenge effectively. We can relate this

scenario in an office environment where the employees could not express their feelings

towards the management which is one of the causes the employees to feel burnout.
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RECOMMENDATION

In the case, it was mentioned that both players, Seung Lee and Il Kim expressed

interest in learning the English language which is a great step towards their pursuit in

succeeding their baseball dream. Learning the language could help them cross the

gaps between the American players and could be able to communicate with them well

especially during the game. This is a huge advantage for them if they want to pursue

their dream. They are both talented baseball players since they were invited to join an

American team and it would be a great opportunity for their careers to become a

renowned baseball player. I recommend that they should learn the language during

their off season and have them adapt to American culture.

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REFERENCES

Bhasin, H. (2021, October 18). What are Language Barriers? And How to

Overcome Them. https://www.marketing91.com/language-barriers/

Shukla, V. (2021, January 20). What are Communication Barriers & How to

Overcome Them.

https://learning.shine.com/talenteconomy/career-help/communication-

barriers-and-how-to-overcome-them/#:~:text=Communication%20barriers

%20are%20something%20that%20prevents%20us%20from,choosy

%20perceptions%2C%20workplace%20gossips%2C%20semantics%2C

%20gender%