tnp3-d conference west - friday 29 june 2007, southampton

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 - Southampton2

West group : countries included• Belgium • Germany• France• Ireland• Lichtenstein• Luxembourg• Netherlands• Switzerland• United Kingdom


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)



• 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



• 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



Lack of communicative language and intercultural skills• lost business• barrier to trade• influence on quality of work

Negative influence on competitiveness


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


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


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


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)


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


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


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)


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


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


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

tnp3-d conference west - friday 29 june 2007, southampton

Documents

labour market developments

intercultural competences

pluricultural competences

crosscultural skills

international level

service sector high

competent users of languages

multicultural society