The Role of English Language Proficiency in International Opportunity Recognition and Utilization: The Case of Iranian Pars Special Economic Energy Zone

Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Department of English language and literature, Faculty of Humanities, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr , Iran

2 Department of English Language and Literature, Persian Gulf University

3 Associate Professor, Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The present research draws from two streams of literature, i.e., English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and Entrepreneurship and thus falls into the category of interdisciplinary research. It was carried out with the aim of examining the role of the English language competency in international opportunity recognition and exploitation in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ). For this purpose, a survey questionnaire was developed by the researcher to gather data from PSEEZ companies as the context of the study. Overall, a body of 120 executive managers and decision makers in PSEEZ answered the questionnaire. The SPSS software was used for the analysis of the data. The findings showed that the English language competency has a positive and significant relationship with recognition and exploitation of international opportunities. This study calls for a more pronounced role of English in the region to further enhance the international opportunities of PSEEZ. The study has also several implications for English for specific purposes domain.

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