A few days ago, our team was tasked to interview some people. Our team is having mix of people from various geographies. There a discussion point came as people whose first language is not English, can we use local language to conduct the interview. There were different views on this point. Some people thought that as people would be comfortable in the local language, interviews should be done in the native language only. Some of them were opinion that, this way it would limit other people who are outside of the region and cannot speak the local language, so it would be a hurdle for those people. Finally, it went to higher management, and the direction we got that, the primary mode of communication would be through English only.
I have a different opinion here. It is something like having the awareness of the audience and then deciding what language should be used. If all the people are comfortable in any native language, then it is ok. If even one person does not understand that language, then the mode of communication should be a common language that everyone can understand. It is more of promoting or favoring any language. It is about showing empathy to the people, making language not a barrier but a bridge to communicate.