presentation of the main points of the regional synthesis report on linguistic and cross-cultural...
TRANSCRIPT
Presentation of the main points of the regional synthesis report on
Linguistic and cross-cultural skills and competences for enhanced opportunities on
the European and international labour market
TNP3-D Conference West - Friday 29 June 2007, Southampton
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
Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton
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
• 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)
In a multilingual and multicultural context
Sub-project 2 Conference West Friday 29 June 2007 - Southampton
10
Diversity of linguistic contexts and effects on the perception of language needs
3 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 Portfolio and 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