Workplace Oral & Written

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    Workplace Oral and Written Language Needs for Graduate Students: A

    Review

    Seyed Mohaad Mohaadi!" #" Mani$eh Masoudi Moghada%

    1Faculty of Humanities, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

    2Faculty of Continuing Education and Training, eneca College, Toronto, Canada

    &ail address:

    !" #"#ohammadi$

    !#" #" #oghadam$

    'o cite this article:

    eyed #ohammad #ohammadi, #ani%eh #asoudi #oghadam" &or'(lace )ral and &ritten *anguage +eeds for raduate

    tudents- . /evie0"Communications" ol" , +o" 3, 2413, ((" 56141" doi- 14"11789:%"com"2413443"1

    A(stract: *iterature on *anguage for (ecific ;ur(oses !*;$ and English for (ecific ;ur(oses !E;$ has sho0n thatindividuals 0or'ing in a (articular conteasic com(onent of (rofessional academic s'ills, (articularly in countries 0hich have ma%or >usiness

    contacts 0ith the 0orld and their native languages are not among the ma%or 0orld languages" The surveys indicated that

    there 0ere su>stantial uses of English, >ut 0ith far greater use of 0ritten com(ared 0ith s(o'en English" Close co6o(eration

    0ith em(loyers in (lanning language courses is thus needed in order to tailor language teaching to ade=uately meet the needs

    of the future academic 0or'force"

    )eywords: *;, E;, &ritten, Conteering"8" .>>reviations"3" rammatical .ccuracy"7" Tone"@" Ausiness Bargon"9"

    Connectives"5" Incom(lete entences2+ *onclusionReferences

    !+,ntroduction

    *anguage teaching courses in *;:E; are therefore targeted at a s(ecific grou( 0ith (articular needs" The *;:E;

    a((roach, often focusing on the >usiness contele insight into the language needed at 0or'" Ho0ever, our a((roach is different" )ne of the

    inherent (ro>lems in language teaching at university language centers is not 'no0ing enough a>out the students future

    careers and language s'ills needed at 0or', so 0e concentrate on the DDcommon core of the 0or'(lace to hel( teachers (lan

    courses for students from many different disci(lines"

    .lthough there have >een an increasing num>er of studies related to 0or'(lace English, this >ody of 'no0ledge into the

    language of the 0or'(lace is gro0ing and many scholars !t Bohn, 1557 0ales, 2444 He0ings, 2442$ have (ointed out that

    it is still rather limited com(ared to many other 0ell6researched a((lied linguistic areas of study"

    In recent years calls have >een made for graduates to >e (roficient in oral communication s'ills so that they can function

    effectively in the 0or'(lace" Ges(ite the need, and the varied and often creative 0ays of including oral communication s'ills in

    su>%ects, there a((ears to >e little research availa>le that (rovides (recise understandings of the nature of 0or'(lace

    communication for graduate em(loyees"

    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    For ele to (rioritize the most im(ortant learning outcomes and tries to achieve them" He:she also needs

    to dis(lay ada(ta>ility, fleility, discretion, and em(athy 0hile teaching and 0or'ing 0ith the organization"

    In a similar vein, #oslehifar and I>rahim !2412$re(orts on an investigation of English *anguage )ral Communication !E*)C$

    needs of H/G undergraduates from a (u>lic university in the outhern (art of #alaysia and concluded that there 0ere some

    s(ecific oral communicative events and s'ills re=uired >y H/G trainees at the 0or'(lace"

    The follo0ing revie0 attem(ts to com(are E&; (rograms in different countries 0ith different language settings and (olicies"

    A) Finland

    )ne study 0as conducted 0ithin the contelic sector are re=uired >y

    la0 to >e a>le to function in the t0o official languages of Finland, and thus graduates 0or'ing in the (u>lic sector are re=uired

    to have a good 'no0ledge of >oth languages"

    In addition to the need for Finnish and 0edish, there is an a((arent need for English at 0or', and the 'no0ledge of some

    other foreign languages is normally assumed to >e a >onus" The s'ills in English are normally estimated to >e relatively good,

    >ut 'no0ledge of other foreign languages seems to >e declining"

    .ccording to the government decree on university degrees in Finland !2448$, all universi ty graduates are re=uired to sho0

    they are (roficient in >oth official languages of the country and at least one foreign language" The decree states that, in

    addition to gaining language s'ills relevant to his:her field, the graduate should >e a>le to o(erate in an international

    environment in a foreign language"

    . (ro%ect called Language Needs at the Workplace 0as launched at the *anguage Center of the University of Helsin'i in 244"

    The aim 0as to investigate the actual language use of em(loyees 0ith an academic degree and to intervie0 re(resentatives of

    em(loyers a>out issues related to language use"

    The (ro%ect consisted of t0o (arts, a (ostal survey to em(loyees and intervie0s 0ith em(loyers" First, Hor((u and +is'anen

    !2448$ carried out a (ostal survey !structured =uestionnaire$ on the actual use of languages at 0or', and the fre=uency and

    ty(e of usage five years after graduation" The survey 0as sent to 28@8 and returned >y 1154 graduates of the year 1555 from

    the University of Helsin'i" The res(ondents re(resented all faculties, and the res(onse rate 0as highest among those 0ho

    graduated from the faculties of cience !32$, Aehavioral ciences !31$ and .rts !34$" findings suggest that English is

    needed on a regular >asis, and a>out a third of the Finnish6s(ea'ing res(ondents use 0edish regularly" .lmost all 0edish6

    s(ea'ing graduates, ho0ever, res(onded that they use Finnish regularly"

    #oreover, an earlier study had revealed that 0ell over 54 of all graduates from 1555 and 2441 had fulfilled the degreere=uirement in English" econd, the em(loyer intervie0s 0ere collected in the s(ring of 2443 in and around Helsin'i, Finland"

    15 staff mem>ers involved in recruitment or (ersonnel management for 13 em(loyers 0ere intervie0ed" The intervie0s dealt

    0ith various matters related to foreign language use and need at 0or'" These 13 em(loyers re(resented the sectors that

    em(loy university graduates- to0n councils, state offices, universities or other institutions of higher education, the *utheran

    church of Finland, i"e" the (redominant religious community, +)s, and (rivate or state6o0ned com(anies !em(loyers in the

    fields of la0, (harmaceuticals, (a(er, insurance, (u>lishing and >roadcasting$"

    The general message received from the em(loyers 0as that, today, language s'ills are im(ortant in (rofessions re=uiring

    university education" In fact, these s'ills are often regarded as self6evident, and %o> a((licants 0ith a (oor 'no0ledge of

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    languages are not even considered" Furthermore, language s'ills may >e decisive in recruitment, if a((licants are other0ise

    very even" .ll intervie0ees named Finnish, 0edish and English as languages used in their conteility to interact and ada(t to various linguistic and cultural conditions"

    The intervie0ees stated that a language has to >e at a high level in order for it to >ear any (ro(er relevance" They mentioned

    several high6level rece(tive and (roductive tas's that em(loyees need to (erform, such as negotiating, giving and attending

    lectures and (resentations, 0riting u( contracts and drafting (ro%ect (lans"

    The intervie0ees also discussed issues related to culture" The focus of (rofessionals at the 0or'(lace seems to >e on smooth

    communication in conteasic re=uirement and sets high

    demands on language s'ills" u>%ect ee true in other countries similar to Finland"

    The Euro(ean (olicies 0hich (romote the 'no0ledge of ones mother tongue (lus t0o additional languages also seem to

    reflect the needs of the 0or'(lace in the sense that languages are not necessarily used se(arately >ut often in con%unction

    0ith other languages in any one (articular situation" The intervie0ees im(lied that a (erson might ma'e use of more than one

    foreign language in a (articular situation or in a (articular %o> and that s'ills in these languages may vary"

    ince the tas' of the University is to (re(are students for real life after studies, language educators (erha(s need to (ay more

    attention to the needs of the 0or'(lace" .s sho0n in this research, the s'ills needed at 0or' are at a high level- an em(loyee

    needs to carry out com(licated tas's using com(licated language" This means not only >asic communication >ut

    communication in highly demanding 0or'(lace6related situations should >e the target of language courses that (re(are

    students for life after studies"

    The intervie0ees referred to levels e=uivalent to A2, C1 and C2, 0hen discussing good language s'ills" If these indeed are the

    levels of (roficiency eut also to as(ects such as

    vocabulary range, pronunciation and accuracy, to hel( learners 0ho are already good communicators to >ecome even >etter"

    Instead of (lacing em(hasis on (rofessional language s'ills, language teaching in Finnish language centers is often more

    geared to0ards academic language s'ills such as academic reading, 0riting and (resentation" This is understanda>le,

    >ecause students need language s'ills in their studies as 0ell, and language courses that meet the degree re=uirements

    generally form a very small (art of all the credits needed" Ho0ever, a (rofessionally relevant language dimension should also

    >e (art of all university degrees"

    )ne of the messages to language educators in Finland is that there is a correlation >et0een languages taught and 'no0n, and

    the languages actually used at 0or'" The languages that are most often taught in the Finnish school system and in the

    university language centers are those used at the 0or'(lace, >ut the need for English >y far eeen studied" If languages that are not needed as often as English are to >e (romoted, university

    students must gain good s'ills in these additional languages in order to function 0ell in demanding settings"

    B) alaysia

    In the conte

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    Hermanson !2444$, oral communication s'ill in English is an im(ortant s'ill for managers to (ossess in order to carry out tas's

    efficiently at the 0or'(lace" In a study >y Kassim and .li !2414$, the significant role of oral communication s'ills in

    multinational com(anies 0as re(orted >y >et0een @1 to 94 (ercent of the res(ondents" They ran'ed the usage of oral

    communication s'ills in multinational com(anies as follo0s telephone conversation, informal !ork related discussions,

    meetings, giving oral presentations, e"plaining and demonstrating to subordinates and other colleagues# Higher Institutions in

    #alaysia are see'ing to generate creative managers in different fields to meet the needs of thriving resources in various

    situations" In fact, at (resent, one of the 'ey o>%ectives in #alaysian higher institutions is to generate large num>er of

    graduates 0ith high a>ility to communicate effectively at the 0or'(lace" To achieve this goal, higher institutions are attem(ting

    to design language (rograms 0ith a focus on communicative s'ills"

    Alair and Beanson !1553$ >elieve that, a high (roficiency in English language, es(ecially in oral communication s'ills 0ould >e

    valua>le to solve different (ro>lems that ta'e (lace in 0or'(lace situations" Unfortunately, des(ite the (rofessional and formal

    training given to students and graduates, there is still a s'ill ga( in 0or'(lace situations" It is mentioned that there are

    significant ga(s >et0een the eilities of these managers" Ho0ever, since the role of English as the glo>al language or lingua

    franca in >oth multinational and many local com(anies in #alaysia has increased dramatically, H/ managers no0 must >e

    a>le to communicate effectively more than 0hat 0as eoth inside and outside the 0or'(lace"

    Thus, em(loyers find themselves in circumstances in 0hich the a>ility to communicate 0ell is crucial in order to function

    effectively at the 0or'(lace" Furthermore, H/# related 0or' involves a variety of activities" The main activity involves ma'ing

    decisions on the needs of the com(any for elems at the

    0or'(lace are related to lo0 (roficiency in English language and the s'ill ga(s >et0een the e

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    3 .s'ing for clarifications

    7 iving clarifications

    @ ;ara(hrasing

    9 Facilitating discussions:negotiations

    5 )rganizing ideas during oral (resentations

    14 iving an oral (resentations

    Finally the overall em(hasis on oral communication s'ills for future H/G trainees 0as decided to >e-

    1 )ral (resentation s'ills

    2 Giscussion s'ills

    +egotiation s'ills

    8 Ariefing s'ills

    3 #eetings

    7 Tele(hone s'ills

    @ Conversation s'ills

    9 ;ronunciations

    .nother study descri>es an effort to identify and evaluate the needs of engineering students 0ith the ho(e of (roviding

    a((ro(riate communication s'ills needed at the 0or'(lace" In todays most com(etitive 0orld, engineers are not only re=uired

    to effectively convey technical information, >ut they also need to have acce(ta>le social and communication s'ills in order to

    ey engineering em(loyees" The information for the develo(ment of the survey =uestionnaire

    0as collected >ased on- !1$ reference to (revious studies on needs analysis, !2$ feed>ac' from informal ver>al discussions

    and through emails 0ith a num>er of engineers and human resources managers from the industries 0ithin the universitys

    net0or', !$ feed>ac' from informal intervie0s and discussions 0ith the engineering lecturers in the faculties, and !8$ teaching

    ee given higher (riority com(ared to the other s'ills, since many surveys conducted 0ith em(loyers have sho0n that

    oral communication is the 'ey s'ill loo'ed for >y em(loyers and many ne0 local undergraduates lac' this s'ill"

    oral communication s'ills is defined >y referring to all s'ills 0hich are used 0hen communicating ver>ally, 0hich may include

    a((ro(riate use of >ody language and correct intonation or (ronunciation" )n the other hand, communicative events refer to

    ha((enings and occurrences in engineering 0or' settings 0here em(loyees have to communicate using English for e

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    chemical engineering field, >ut also from other engineering fields, namely mechanical engineering and electrical and

    electronics engineering" This is not uncommon since most engineering disci(lines are >ound to >e interrelated and intert0ined

    at some (oint or another"

    The current communication sylla>i used at that university, 0hich include courses such as English for .cademic

    Communication, Technical Communication, Ausiness Communication and ;rofessional Communication em(hasizes the

    (roductive s'ills- 0riting and s(ea'ing, 0ith em>edded teaching of grammatical elements" *ess em(hasis is (laced on reading

    and listening s'ills, as these activities are mostly carried out inde(endently >y the students through self6access activities using

    (rocured language soft0are" Therefore, in order to ensure that the sylla>i 0e have >een using (rovide learners 0ith the

    industrys actual needs, the researchers re=uested the engineers to rate the im(ortance of the four >asic language s'ills-

    0riting, reading, s(ea'ing and listening, in the engineering 0or'(lace" They mentioned that more focus and stress should >e

    given to the (roductive s'ills"

    The follo0ing list dis(lays the lists of communicative events in 0hich English oral communication s'ills 0ere re=uired of the

    engineers"

    1 Giscussing 0or'6related matters informally

    2 Giscussing 0or'6related matters formally

    Teleconferencing

    8 Conversing informally and socially

    3 iving oral (resentations

    7 +et0or'ing- develo(ing contacts for advice and information

    @ Instructing, e

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    C) &ermany

    Ed0ards, +" !2444$ conducted an E; case study 0hich too' (lace in a s(ecialized >usiness contean'ers" The socio6cultural contean'" Initially, the course 0as to last for

    three months >ut this 0as eventually euild >oth general and s(ecialist voca>ulary" The most im(ortant overall o>%ective of the course 0as to

    im(rove the s(ea'ing confidence of the students, es(ecially that of the 0omen, 0hen functioning in a native6s(ea'er

    environment" Guring the course the students 0ere as'ed for their valua>le feed>ac' and o(inions on the eout the general direction of the course" . flele and multi6layered sylla>us 0hich consisted of three sections-

    functions, to(ics, and voca>ulary 0as used" electively eletime 0hile (roviding the students 0ith the language s'ills they re=uired" The overall a((roach to the course 0hich Ed0ards

    ado(ted 0as essentially to(6do0n in nature" It focused more on meaning than on form, on communicating and articulating

    ideas in meaningful conteac'ground 'no0ledge or content schemata, rather than sim(ly decoding

    deconteasic, individual grammatical units at the sentence level" Communicative information6ga( and o(inion6ga(

    eled sentences 0ere

    used to hel( students >ecome familiar 0ith the discourse (atterns of language used to conduct >usiness meetings, to

    negotiate and to engage in small tal'" Charts, gra(hs, ta>les and summaries of statistics and trends in financial re(orts 0ere

    used to (ractice scanning for information" hort articles dealing 0ith economics or >an'ing 0ere selected from various

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    magazines such as %he 'conomistand used in a teulary elan' s(eech >u>>les 0ere used" The students 0ere as'ed to

    record ne0 voca>ulary along 0ith eering the ne0 0ords" hort voca>ulary =uizzes

    0ere held orally in the >eginning of each class in order to recycle (reviously learnt voca>ulary and 'ey 0ords from (ast

    articles and discussions" ome class discussions and role (lays simulating a meeting or negotiation 0ere ta(e6recorded" The

    students 0ere then as'ed to evaluate their o0n (erformance" In addition to the material used in the three core teoo's

    mentioned, various authentic materials 0ere e%ect matter 'no0ledge constituted the most valua>le

    source of course material" Ed0ards 0as not allo0ed to o>serve >an'ers 0hile 0or'ing" He 0as also una>le to record any of

    the students English tele(hone conversations or to o>tain co(ies of authentic internal memos, fausiness letters or

    E6mail messages for reasons of tight security" Test results, discussions, intervie0s and informal means had >een used to

    assess the course" Fre=uent informal testing in the form of role (lays, (resentations, and discussions in class all demonstrated

    im(rovement in fluency and s(ea'ing confidence" The necessities, lac's, 0ants, and learning needs of the students 0ere allconsidered and addressed in the course"

    *) +ong ong

    .nother study 0as conducted to investigate the 0or'(lace English needs of teuying:selection

    o(eration, =uantities, size >rea'do0n, distri>ution, contracts, etc" The (osition of merchandiser normally involves

    communication 0ith several customers and may include-

    1 the >uyer 0ho (laces the order for a consignment of garments

    2 the su((lier of fa>ric, yarn and accessories

    the manufacturer:factory involved in (roducing the garments"

    ince the >uyers, su((liers and manufacturers are normally >ased in different countries, it is fre=uently necessary for the

    merchandiser to communicate 0ith the different (arties in the international language of >usiness, English"

    The design of this needs analysis has >een largely influenced >y the 0or' of Hutchinson and &aters" They define needs in

    terms of target needs !i"e" 0hat the learner needs to do in the target situation$ and learning needs !i"e" 0hat the learner needs

    to do in order to learn$"

    The target needs are further >ro'en do0n into the necessities, 0ants and lac's of the students and these have >een

    investigated >y using all of the standard data collection methods listed >y Hutchinson and &aters" Juestionnaires, follo06u(

    tele(hone intervie0s, collection of authentic 0or'(lace te

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    %+'echni-ues .sed to Gather /ata

    %+!+Tele(hone Intervie0s

    Tele(hone intervie0s 0ere used to follo0 u( on the =uestionnaire res(onses of 19 of the KTTI graduates" The intervie0s 0ere

    conducted in Cantonese, the first language of the su>%ects and the KTTI investigator" .n intervie0 (rotocol 0as used 0hich

    consisted of 13 semi6structured =uestions" In addition to the intervie0s 0ith graduates, 13 of their 0or'(lace su(ervisors 0ere

    also intervie0ed via the tele(hone to gather details of the com(any communication (rofiles and to o>tain their vie0s a>out the

    graduates? (articular communication needs" These intervie0s, 0ith >oth the graduates and their su(ervisors, 0ere used to

    su((lement the information o>tained via the =uestionnaire in order to achieve greater relia>ility and validity" The use of these

    multi(le sources hel(ed to corro>orate the results of the data collected"

    %+%+Collection of .uthentic &or'(lace Testantial use of English, >ut 0ith far greater use of 0ritten com(ared 0ith s(o'en English"

    This =uestion aimed to gain an a((reciation of the range of countries 0ith 0hich Hong Kong com(anies trade and it 0as found

    that 87 different countries 0ere mentioned"

    China 0as most fre=uently mentioned in >oth surveys follo0ed >y the U." )ther ma%or trading countries included Ba(an,

    #acau, Tai0an, Korea, Canada, Italy and the UK"

    Even though English is not the first language of many of these countries, the international language of >usiness, English, is

    used >y the Hong Kong merchandisers in their communications 0ith most of them" )nly 0ith China, Tai0an and #acau is it

    (ossi>le for communications to >e carried out in Chinese"

    &hile the survey results indicate the eviously vary according to individual >usiness contacts at any time"

    +ot sur(risingly, fa< 0as rated as the most common channel in each survey, follo0ed closely >y the tele(hone" E6mail 0as not

    very 0idely used at the time these surveys 0ere conducted ho0ever, it is >ecoming an increasingly (o(ular channel and

    further investigations are >eing carried out to determine current usage"

    Three activities 0ere ran'ed highly, and in the same order, in >oth surveys"

    They 0ere-

    1 follo0ing u( on an order

    2 advising u(dated order status

    clarifying order =ueries"

    8 negotiating for >etter order terms

    3 negotiating or settling a claim

    7 ma'ing a claim"

    The identification of the most fre=uently re=uired 0ritten communication activities has (rovided an insight into the s(ecific

    communication needs of these merchandisers and as a result, teaching and learning materials have >een develo(ed to

    (rovide (ractice in such activities"

    /es(ondents 0ere as'ed if they used a>>reviations in their o0n 0ritten communications" They 0ere also as'ed to (rovide ten

    e>reviations used and the ta>le >elo0 gives the most fre=uently mentioned from over @4 e

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    1 the use of standard a>>reviations, am:(m

    2 the use of a>>reviations for t0o or more 0ords

    the use of a>>reviations ty(ically associated 0ith teleer of eloc's of teering

    These features, 0hich 0ere in evidence in some sam(les, made the messages easier to read" tudents are advised to

    consider their use so as to im(rove the a((earance of the message and to ease com(rehension"

    0+2+.>>reviations

    .lmost all of the sam(le te>reviations and this su((orts the survey findings 0hich sho0ed over an 93

    usage" tudent activities to (ractice com(rehension and (roduction of a>>reviations are no0 included in the (rograms"

    0+3+rammatical .ccuracy

    Ey students in Hong Kong and a

    selection of these follo0s"

    +oun:ad%ective confusion- B.;.+ U;;*IE/ should read B.;.+EE U;;*IE/"

    er> tense- ;* +)TEG should read ;* +)TE .FTE/ )U/ AULE/ EE should read .FTE/ )U/ AULE/ .&"

    &ord order for =uestions- &H.T &E C.+ G)M should read &H.T C.+ &E G)M

    0+4+Tone

    The use of an a((ro(riate tone 0as mentioned as an im(ortant issue >y the su(ervisors" This facilitates an effective

    relationshi( >eing >uilt >et0een the merchandiser and the customer"

    L)U BUT ;U/CH.E " " "

    L)U #UT .GIE " " " .+G #UT GEGUCT " " "

    L)U #UT T.KE FU** /E;)+IAI*ITL"

    .0areness of the im(act of such negative, accusative language is an im(ortant language teaching area no0 included in the

    teaching (rograms, (articularly as a result of the comments made >y the su(ervisors"

    0+5+Ausiness Bargon

    Eusiness %argon 0ere noted in the sam(le corres(ondence, e"g" Nhere0ith?, N;lease >e informed

    that " " "?, NIt has >een >rought to our attention that " " "?, N;lease contact the undersigned"? ,etc"

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    Hong Kong >usiness 0riting guides advise against the use of such %argon"

    0+6+Connectives

    The use of connectives, 0hile effective in lin'ing ideas in a message, 0ere often over6used in the sam(le corres(ondence or

    used ina((ro(riately" e"g" Nany0ay, so, further, >ut, also?"

    tudents are alerted to the (ossi>le overuse of such 0ords"

    0+7+Incom(lete entences

    Incom(lete sentences noted in some corres(ondence can im(ly a careless attitude to0ards the 0or' in hand and may lead to

    misunderstandings"

    2+*onclusion

    In this revie0 0e studied the (rofessional language needs of university graduates as seen >y (ros(ective em(loyers" The

    findings confirm that foreign language s'ills are an increasingly im(ortant >asic com(onent of (rofessional academic s'ills,

    (articularly in countries 0hich have ma%or >usiness contacts 0ith the 0orld and their native languages are not among the

    ma%or 0orld languages" Close co6o(eration 0ith em(loyers in (lanning language courses is thus needed in order to tailor

    language teaching to ade=uately meet the needs of the future academic 0or'force" This again may call for attitude change in

    language (rograms as language teaching has tended to >e geared to0ards the academic needs of students, or considered as

    contri>uting to their (ersonal develo(ment" /es(onding to 0or'(lace needs has not al0ays >een a clear target des(ite the

    long tradition of *;:E;" . clear message from the em(loyers 0as the need for language centers to see language s'ills from

    a 0ider (ers(ective essentially including s'ills such as fluent (resentation and interaction, use of a lingua franca or lingua

    francas, confidence to communicate in a variety of situations, cultural com(etence, and learning6to6learn s'ills"

    .s sho0n >y Forey !2448$, the manner in 0hich the theme or the thematic choice is inter(reted can >e used in order to ra ise

    the a0areness a>out the (edagogy of 0riting in the 0or'(lace"

    In effect, this means that university students starting to learn a ne0 language should >e encouraged to continue their studies

    in that language to a level that ena>les them to actually use the language effectively" It is therefore im(ortant to start as early

    as (ossi>le, (refera>ly in the first year of university, and >e systematic a>out the study" This goal also (laces increasing

    demands on course design and develo(ment as 0ell as on study guidance"

    .n effect ive and f lele E; course design can >e (roduced from the teachers o0n (ractical elished for various fields can >e

    used selectively and efficiently according to the s(ecific needs of (articular students in an E; conteelieve that our findings may >e generalized to other countries 0ith a similar language situation" Ho0ever, more research

    is needed in other conte

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    3" #" ." #oslehifar, and +" ." I>rahim, English *anguage )ral Communication +eeds at the &or'(lace- Feed>ac'

    from Human /esource Gevelo(ment !H/G$ Trainees, ;rocedia 6 ocial and Aehavioral ciences, 77, ((" 325 O 37, 2412"

    7" /" Hor((u, and /" +is'anen, !eds$, Final /e(ort on the Evaluation of Education in *anguage and Communication

    'ills" Evaluation (ro%ects of the University of Helsin'i, 2, 2448"

    @" " tivers, B" Cam(>ell, and H" Hermanson, .n .ssessment ;rogram for .ccounting- Gesign, Im(lementation, and

    /eflection, Issues in .ccounting Education, ol" 13, +o"8, ((" 336391, 2444"

    9" G" A lai r, and " Beanson, &or'( lace )ral Communication Curricu lum" &inni(eg, #A- &or'(lace Education

    #anito>a teering Committee, #anito>a Ge(artment of Education and Training, Continuing Education Givision, 1553"

    5" +" Fairc lough, Giscourse and ocial Change, Cam>ridge- ;ol ity ;ress, 1553"

    14" #" Foucault, The order of discourse" In #" B" ha(iro !ed$ *anguage and (olit ics, )