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University graduates’ workplace language needs as perceived by

employers

Instructor: Dr. Pi-Ying HsuPresenter: Wei – Ting Chien

Date: April 13, 2010

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Citation

Lehtonen, T., & Karjalainen, S. (2008). University graduates’ workplace language needs as perceived by employers. System, 36, 492-503.

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Contents

I. Introduction

II. Literature Review

III. Methodology

IV. Discussion & Conclusion

V. Reflection

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Background

• Finland is a bilingual country. (Finnish/Swedish)

• Employees in the public sector are required to be able to function in these two official language.

(Lehtonen & Karjalainen, 2008)

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Background

• There is an apparent need for English at work, and the knowledge of some other foreign languages is assumed to be a bonus.

(Huhta, 1999)

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Background

• All university graduates are required to show they are proficient in both official languages of the country and at least one foreign language.

(Finland, 2004)

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Background

• Students’ future careers and language skills needed at workplace should be largely emphasized by language educators at universities.

(Lehtonen & Karjalainen, 2008)

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Purpose of the study

• to investigate the language needs of university graduates at today’s workplace according to the views of their employers

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Literature Review

• Individuals working in a particular context are expected to have specific skills in a particular language, and that the language often differs from that used in other contexts.

(Dlaska, 1999)

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Literature Review

• There is a insufficient attention of workplace language needs in language teaching at universities.

(London communique, 2007)

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Literature Review

• Graduates’ need for language skills should be paid enough attention by language course designers to bridge the gap between language

teaching and the linguistic needs of the workplace.

(Horppu & Niskanen, 2004)

Methods

Interviews with employersInterviews with employers

Postal Survey to employees (Horppu, 2005)

Postal Survey to employees (Horppu, 2005)

Language Needs at the Workplace

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Methods

Postal Survey to employees

Participants University graduates of Helsinki

Instrument Structured questionnaire( actual use of languages at work)

Response rate Sent: 2474Returned : 1190 ( Science, Behavioral Science & Arts)

(Horppu, 2005)

Questionnaire Results

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•1/3 Finnish-speaking respondents use Swedish regularly•Almost all Swedish-speaking respondents use Finnish regularly

•English is needed on a regular basis

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MethodsInterviews with employees

Participants 15 Employers (town councils, state offices, universities and private or

state-owned companies, etc)

Time 60-90 minutes

Data • Transcribed & recorded• The transcripts were translated from Finnish into English

Questions •How important are language skills in recruitment?•What languages are used in your company? and for what purposes?

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•English

•Need for languages

Language skills are important and even decisive in recruitment.

Interview Findings

English is widely spoken throughout Europe since its fluent use in professional matters at workplace.

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Interview Findings

Finnish and Swedish are required at the workplace, but the majority of language speakers do not be proficient at both official languages at the same time.

• The national languages of the country

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•Level of knowledge

Interview Findings

Knowing one or two foreign language proficiently is more useful than several languages at an elementary level.

Good communication, presentation skills, confidence to use a foreign language and the ability to interact and adapt to various cultural conditions

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Interview Findings

Graduates are required to have cross-cultural knowledge since the workplaces are in the multi-culture contexts.

•Knowledge of culture(s) needed

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Discussions & Implications

• The demanding plurilingual workplace

• Learning to use two or more languages in one situation

Graduates should not only master mother tongue, but also two additional languages.

Employees might be expected to read documents in Dutch, but negotiated in English.

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Discussions & Implications

Language courses at university should aim to train students to handle complicated communication to satisfy the needs at workplaces.

•Cultural sensitivity

• Communication paramount in preparing students for real life

It is important to have cultural sensitivity in professional situations at workplace.

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Conclusion

• Foreign language skills are important basic components of professional academic skills.

• University graduates are expected to use foreign languages in advanced level.

• knowledge of some other languages is advantaged for employees at workplace.

• Cultural competence is needed at a international communication.

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Reflection • Collecting sufficient qualitative data since the

interviewees are from different fields.• Providing interview protocol• Giving valuable suggestions to language teaching

courses at university• Giving supportive ideas to conducting similar

researches in other contexts• Not providing the sample questionnaire

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Thanks for your

attention!