Presentation of the main points of the regional synthesis report

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
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


West group : countries included
• Belgium
• Germany
• France
• Ireland
• Lichtenstein
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
2 Sub-project 2 Conference West


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)

3 Sub-project 2 Conference West


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 wholeworld working space - high level of international contacts
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Economic, societal and labour market
developments (3/4)
Ireland
• 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

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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
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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

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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
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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)

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Diversity of linguistic contexts and
effects on the perception of language needs
3 types of groups (1/3)

BE, CH (LU, NE, LI)

• 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
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Diversity of linguistic contexts
3 types of groups (2/3)
Ireland/UK
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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)

11 Sub-project 2 Conference West


Diversity of linguistic contexts
3 types of groups (3/3)
France/Germany

• Large countries with one national language
• Predominance of English (other languages exist, but
tendency to regression)

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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)

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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

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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
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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

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