Lai worked on a global team for an american company, and all her work had to be completed in her second language, english. sometimes her teammates misinterpreted her meaning. lai has unintentionally created of a(n) barrier to communication.

The answer is "Encoding Barrier" to communication.

This kind of barrier mean when what you say to someone is not expressed as you originally had desired it to be. For example if someone is working in an environment where his/her first language is not being used as the primary way of communication, he/she may have issues explaining what they mean to their co-workers, subordinates or bosses. 

Accumulating more land so that your country can continue expanding without running into problems such as overpopulation