Enhancing Linguistic and Intercultural Skills for the Labour Market

1. TNP3-D Conference West - Friday 29 June 2007, Southampton Presentation of the main points of the regional synthesis report onLinguistic and cross-cultural skills and competences for enhanced opportunities on the European and international labour market Brigitte Forster Vosicki, Université de Lausanne Regional synthesis report sub-project 2 - Western Europe: Gail Taillefer Updates of national reports by: BE: Ian Tudor, IR: Fionnuala Kennedy, FR: Gail Taillefer/Claire Lecointre, CH: Brigitte Forster Vosicki, UK: Elisabeth Lillie

2. West group : countries included • Belgium • Germany • France • Ireland • Lichtenstein • Luxembourg • Netherlands • Switzerland • United Kingdom Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

3. Economic, societal and labour market developments (1/4) • All countries: similar economic context • Growing importance of the service sector (high and low qualifications) movement from agricultural and industrial societies towards a knowledge-based economy • Rapid evolution and massive use of information and communication technology • Internationalisation of all sectors of society • Immigration and mobility of workforce (within EU, migration from new member states) Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

4. Economic, societal and labour market developments (2/4) • High-level trade and intensification of business relations both within the EU and at international level carried out by large, medium and small companies • Economic growth and decreasing unemployment • Increasing outsourcing and investment, cross-cultural mergers • Globalisation of not only production but also service activities • New job profiles • Growing interdependency and action in a European and whole-world working space - high level of international contacts Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

5. Economic, societal and labour market developments (3/4) • Dramatic changes in recent years - one of the fastest growing economies in the developed world/ prosperous member of the EU • Rapid growth of migratory movements – from a monocultural to a multicultural society – increase in number of languages spoken • Foreign investment esp. USA (ICT sector) – English-speaking with broad access to the European market • Booming construction and service sectors/manpower shortages Ireland Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

6. Economic, societal and labour market developments (4/4) Lack of communicative language and intercultural skills • lost business • barrier to trade • influence on quality of work Negative influence on competitiveness Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

7. Main consequences for skills and competences needed for sustainable employability et competitiveness (1/2) • Professional relevance of linguistic and intercultural competences: more interaction, negotiation and exchange necessary in a multilingual and multicultural context • Growing importance of extended plurilingual and pluricultural competences as a resource at individual and societal level Languages needed • English is becoming more important but also other languages: European and extra-European languages Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

8. Main consequences for skills and competences needed for sustainable employability et competitiveness (2/2) • Linguistically and interculturally well-qualified and mobile graduates able to act effectively in multilingual situations and with people from different cultural backgrounds • Confident and competent users of languages in a variety of situations Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

9. Main skills and competences needed In a multilingual and multicultural context • Understanding and interacting in job-related communication situations (e.g. hosting a visitor, telephoning, travelling, talking about your job, giving presentations, etc.) • Participating in, and leading, meetings/negotiations • Networking and collaborating in face-to-face and virtual environments • Communicating in order to manage international relations and customer contacts • Reading and writing e-mails and short factual texts • Understanding and interacting in important multicultural contexts (i.e. with an awareness of intercultural differences in communication) Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

10. Diversity of linguistic contexts and effects on the perception of language needs3 types of groups (1/3) • Small countries with more than one national language • Languages high on the list of employment requirements for graduates, important factor of employability • English plays a significant role, but two or more languages necessary • National languages necessary for domestic employability • Many companies have contacts in foreign languages – plurilingual repertoire factor of competitiveness BE, CH (LU, NE, LI) Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

11. Diversity of linguistic contexts3 types of groups (2/3) • Role of English in the global market place • Companies and sizable section of population: unawareness of the importance of foreign languages and intercultural skills • Political level : promotion of language learning • Decline in foreign language learning at tertiary level education, even though language graduates most immediately employable group • Low investment in human resources (UK) – low level of competence • National deficiencies supplemented through recruitment of foreign workers – thus avoiding language and cultural barriers in their different markets • Promotion of intercultural competences even without foreign language skills (IR) Ireland/UK Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

12. Diversity of linguistic contexts3 types of groups (3/3) • Large countries with one national language • Predominance of English (other languages exist, but tendency to regression) France/Germany Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

13. Reactions and developments in Higher Education (HE) • All countries: at HE level – growing awareness of the importance of languages for employability / new initiatives and offers at BA and MA level (Bologna structure) • All countries apart from France: languages not systematically integrated in study programmes of different faculties • France: languages integrated in study programmes - often English – dissatisfaction with language preparation in HE (competences and level of competences – differences between highly selective HE institutions and other universities) Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

14. Future prospects and needs – similar among Western European countries (1/2) • Need for more structured and continuous cooperation and consultations with employers and graduates as a basis for curriculum development and innovation (UK tradition) • Need for student tracking/needs analyses/surveys Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

15. Future prospects and needs – similar among Western European countries (2/2) • Plurilingual and outcome oriented approach and development of intercultural and lifelong learning skills • Comparability and transparency through the use of European standards (Common European Framework of Reference for languages - CEFR)/level descriptors • Modularisation and different flexible scenarios for language learning in a lifelong learning perspective/pedagogical development/teacher training Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton

16. Future prospects and needs • IR: « market » foreign languages better – show how they can provide a competitive advantage • UK: ascertain actual level of foreign language skills • BE: convince graduates of the importance of language learning – develop stategies to motivate students • FR: raise language awareness, meta-awareness of language learning, use of the European Language Portfolioand CEFR • CH: Need for development of common standards for quality and for research to develop better understanding of the impact of plurilingualism on employability and competitiveness Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton