University graduates’ workplace language needs as perceived by
employers
Instructor: Dr. Pi-Ying Hsu
Presenter: Wei – Ting Chien
Date: April 13, 20101
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. Reflection3
Background
• Finland is a bilingual country. (Finnish/Swedish)
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• Employees in the public sector are required to
be able to function in these two official language.
(Lehtonen & Karjalainen, 2008)
Background
• There is an apparent need for English at work, and the knowledge of some other foreign languages is assumed to be a bonus.
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(Huhta, 1999)
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)
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Methods
Interviewswith employers
Postal Survey to employees (Horppu, 2005)
Language Needs
at the Workplace
Methods
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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
Methods
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Interviews 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?
•English
•Need for languages
Language skills are important and even decisive in recruitment.
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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
•Level of knowledge
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Interview Findings
Knowing one or two foreign language proficiently is more useful than severallanguages 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
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.
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•Cultural sensitivity
• Communication paramount in preparing students for real life
It is important to have cultural sensitivity in professional
situations at workplace.
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!24
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