ARTICLE A

CONCLUSION

In this research we studied the professional language needs of Finnish university graduates as seen
by their prospective employers. Representatives of 15 employers were interviewed on various
themes concerning language skills and recruitment, language use at work and future language needs.

The findings confirm that foreign language skills are an increasingly important basic component of
professional academic skills, particularly in a country like Finland, whose native languages are not
among the major world languages. Close co-operation with employers in planning language centre
courses is thus needed in order to tailor language teaching to adequately meet the needs of the
future academic workforce. This again may call for attitude change in language centres as language
teaching has tended to be geared towards the academic needs of students, or considered as
contributing to their personal development. Responding to workplace needs has not always been a
clear target despite the long tradition of LSP/ESP.

A clear message from the employers interviewed in this study was the need for language centres to
see language skills from a wider perspective essentially including skills such as fluent presentation
and interaction, use of a lingua franca or lingua francas, confidence to communicate in a variety of
situations, cultural competence, and learning-to-learn skills.

The employers also sent another message that concerns countries where several foreign languages
may be needed at work: professionals need to be highly proficient in languages. In effect, this means
that university students starting to learn a new language should be encouraged to continue their
studies in that language to a level that enables them to actually use the language effectively. It is
therefore important to start as early as possible, preferably in the first year of university, and be
systematic about the study. This goal also places increasing demands on course design and
development as well as on study guidance.

We believe that our findings may be generalized to other countries with a similar language situation
to ours. However, more research like this is needed in other contexts, e.g. other regions of Finland or
other countries, different academic fields and different languages. Research focusing on the real life
of individuals and their language use at work is also needed in order to create a link between this
reality and the applications of the CEFR.

IMPLICATION

This research paints a picture of a workplace that regards foreign language skills as a basic
requirement and sets high demands on language skills. Subject expertise alone no longer suffices –
what is integral is the ability to communicate this expertise in one’s mother tongue and also in other
languages in speaking and writing. This is especially true in Finland, whose national languages are not
widely used in international terms, and may well be true in other countries similar to Finland. In the
following, we aim to link the findings of our research with practice.

5.1. The demanding plurilingual workplace

Our findings show that the current workplace of university graduates in Southern Finland is
plurilingual and that the required tasks are demanding. These findings are in line with the European
Union language and educational policies (Council of Europe, 2007) which promote the idea of
linguistic diversity and plurilingualism as a means of creating a more democratic, socially just and
economically competitive European area.The aim is to educate Europeans who not only master their
mother tongue, but are also able to use two additional languages. Accordingly, plurilingual education
is one of the main goals set by the Council of Europe (2007). In addition, the CEFR (Council of Europe,
2001) also refers to plurilingual competence as a goal.

5.2. Learning to use two or more languages in one situation

The European policies which promote the knowledge of one’s mother tongue plus two additional
languages also seem to reflect the needs of the workplace in the sense that languages are not
necessarily used separately but often in conjunction with other languages in any one particular
situation. The interviewees implied that a person might make use of more than one foreign language
in a particular situation or in a particular job and that skills in these languages may vary. For example,
breaking the ice may happen in one language and negotiating in another, the latter very often
English.

We have two courses in Dutch for the personnel. They just started last autumn. We started these
groups to give our employees enough knowledge of Dutch to be able to do some reading and
speaking in Dutch. The actual negotiations [with our Dutch partners], however, will be in English.
(Private company: publishing)

In language education, the CEFR (Council of Europe, 2001) is one tool that is increasingly used to
guide the planning, testing and teaching of languages in many European countries. The Framework
states that ‘‘[t]he profile of competences in one language is different from that in others” (Council of
Europe, 2001, p. 133). This is particularly important in professional contexts, where people may be
expected to know several foreign languages to different degrees. This bears close resemblance to the
idea of partial skills discussed by Glaser (2005, p. 203): ‘‘the languages we learn are hardly ever used
to an equal extent under the same circumstances. This means that we draw on the different
languages that we master at different levels for different purposes in different settings”. If this
indeed is the situation, teaching foreign languages in higher education could possibly take different
forms to the ones normally in use. It could perhaps be worth trying to arrange language teaching that
combines the learning and using of two languages at the same time, within one course/context.
Furthermore, learning-to-learn skills will probably be highly valued in the future. This is in line with
the goal of life-long learning, also emphasized in the Bologna Process (London Communique´, 2007).
If a need arises at the workplace for employers to use languages they do not yet know, or do not
know well enough, the employer often offers language tuition. The employees may be expected to
brush up their language skills or even to learn a new language at rather short notice, and in these
circumstances the skills to learn a language do matter.

It is actually not such a big issue if you don’t know a particular language [that you might need at
work] well enough. What is important is that you know how to deepen your knowledge and learn
more, if needed. (The Lutheran Church)

5.3. Communication paramount in preparing students for real life

Since the task of the University is to prepare students for real life after studies, language educators
perhaps need to pay more attention than earlier to the needs of the workplace. As shown in this
research, the skills needed at work are at a high level: an employee needs to carry out complicated
tasks using complicated language. This leads us to suggest that not only basic communication but
communication in highly demanding workplace-related situations should be the target of language
courses that prepare students for life after studies. What would this mean in terms of the CEFR? Our
interviewees referred to levels equivalent to B2, C1 and C2, when discussing good language skills. If
these indeed are the levels of proficiency expected, language teaching ought to not only pay
attention to communication, but also to aspects such as vocabulary range, pronunciation and
accuracy, to help learners who are already good communicators to become even better.

Instead of placing emphasis on professional language skills, language centre teaching at least in
Finnish language centres is often more geared towards academic language skills such as academic
reading, writing and presentation. This is understandable, because students need language skills in
their studies as well, and language courses that meet the degree requirements generally form a very
small part of all the credits needed. However, a professionally relevant language dimension should
also be part of all university degrees.

5.4. Not only English

One of the messages to language educators in Finland is that there is a correlation between
languages taught and known, and the languages actually used at work. The languages that are most
often taught in the Finnish school system and in the university language centres are those used at the
workplace, but the need for English by far exceeds the need for the other languages that have been
studied. If languages that are not needed as often as English are to be promoted – and this would
follow EU language policies (Commission of the European Communities, 2003) and seems to be what
employers want – university students ought to gain good skills in these ‘‘additional” languages in
order to function well in demanding settings. A possible cure could be a more prominent role for
languages in the degree requirements (cf. TNP3, 2007, p. 8).

5.5. Cultural sensitivity

What also becomes evident from this research is the importance of cultural sensitivity in professional
situations. Employees are expected to develop meta-skills that enable them to ‘‘live psychologically
in two cultures” (Shanahan, 1996), or ‘‘to understand the meaning of culture in its broadest sense”
(Harris, 2004). This finding is in line with the idea of plurilingualism as presented in the CEFR (Council
of Europe, 2001). The concept of plurilingualism specifically includes a pluricultural component,
meaning that language skills always have a cultural side. There has been recognition of cultural issues
for a while now, but work-related aspects of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism have attracted
rather little attention in educational research and in the general research on multi- and bilingualism.
However, concrete steps to cultural sensitivity, especially in lingua franca situations, are needed.
ARTICLE B

CONCLUSION

It seems that no pre-packaged language course can sufficiently prepare tertiary level students for
diverse communicative competence in the workplace. This diversity is associated with the challenges
involved in providing a more focused development of language skills that are appropriate for specific
workplace communities. The data in this study obviously provide support for the need for a focused
development of workplace specific competency-based language skills. Findings of the study point
towards the development of a context-sensitive model of communicative competence that relates to
the real world of work.

Similarly, the data clearly indicate that speaking skills are the skills which are mostly needed to
enable graduates to perform effectively and efficiently at the workplace. An overwhelming majority
of the tasks being performed at workplaces require a high degree of speaking ability. At the same
time, writing ability is also rated highly.

While most of the respondents claimed that the English language courses offered by their respective
universities had adequately prepared them for the workplace, some of them felt that more still
needed to be done. Some suggestions include increasing the number of contact hours, lengthening
the period of industrial linkage, including more challenging tasks and activities in the language
courses to match the workplace environment, and ensuring that only qualified instructors are
engaged to teach these courses.

In conclusion, there is a great need to address the problem of employability, specifically the lack of
English language skills among Malaysian public university graduates. Language is a crucial element of
workplace communication and must be defined as a key competence area. A programme that helps
promote language and communication training linked to job-related workplace designed to help
students meet their future employment must be in place. This training project should especially
target those who need to improve their language skills in order to increase their chances of
employability.

IMPLICATIONS FOR LINGUISTIC INITIATIVES

The data from this study clearly indicate that a ‘gap’ exists between the workplace and pedagogical
resources. Forey (2004), for example, discovered that students’ interpretations of workplace
materials often diverged substantially from the researcher/ teacher’s and from those of the material
writers. The language and communication training programmes at tertiary institutions, thus, remain
to be shaped, and there are many actions and initiatives that can help to shape them into a
meaningful and positive direction, especially, in terms of preparing graduates for the workplace.

Clusters of language and communication activities may be derived together with the importance of
the different language skills used for the execution of the different activities. The patterning of the
activities and the language skills will allow a further match for informed decisions that will help the
graduates to realise their needs. For example, those entering the financial service sector must
recognise negotiation skills which include making proposals, making counter arguments, making
concessions, bargaining, and making small talk.

The content analysis of the interview sessions highlights the relevance, adequacy, and efficiency of
the courses offered in selected tertiary institutions that reflect the current practice in English
language training and preparation of graduates for gainful employment. Currently, tertiary
institutions do not follow rigid guidelines as to how their English language programmes are designed
to meet and match industry needs. Much of the design could be described as intuitive and
independent of the market desires for graduate employability.

Therefore, those responsible for the planning of English language training should be open to new
design approaches. Changes in the employment sector will also have a direct impact on higher
education, and vice-versa, so the symbiotic cooperation between the two sectors still needs to be
explored and strengthened. The main concern here is to prepare students for the twenty-first
century workplace by developing strong speaking and writing skills. Instructional considerations may
include the following:

• discussing topical issues in a classroom debate format

• providing opportunities for formal and informal oral interactions

• implementing strategies for writing for specific audience that is required of the workplace

• developing writing fluency and individual writing styles through frequent journal writing

• providing a grammar programme which emphasizes standardised or formal English