Language Graduates: Addressing the issue of employability

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Language GraduatesAddressing the issue of
employability

• Graham Webb
• Head of Languages
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• g.webb_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

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Issues addressed in this presentation

• Employers views on the employability of (Joint
  Honours) Languages Graduates
• A Work Based Learning Module for students that
  develops their employability
• To convince employers of the graduates
  employability
• To convince the students of their own
  employability
• Graduates experience and opinions

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Whats the situation?

• Employability of language graduates is good
• Keith Marshall (Uni of Wales)
• Unemployment rates of Graduates (2002)
• Medicine 0.44
• Education 3.76
• Language Graduates 5.34
• Business 6.76
• Engineering/technology 7.56
• Media Studies 9.76

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Whats the situation?

• Employability of language graduates is good
• Prof. Tim Connell (City University)
• A Question of Careers (2002)
• The number of jobs requiring languages is
  growing (4.3)
• The value of transferable skills should be made
  plain to students (2.15.3.2)

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Whats the problem?

• Competition is growing
• We must keep up the pressure
• We should make employability increasingly
  explicit
• To employers
• To language students

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Questionnaire to 91 businesses across West
Yorkshire that import or export or
both.Research carried out in 2007 by Graham
WebbHead of LanguagesLeeds Metropolitan
University
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How many employees has your company?
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Does your company specifically employ people with
language skills?
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Are you ever likely to employ people specifically
with language skills?
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Does your company ever need or use any of the
following?
  Yes No
Written translations from English to a foreign language?  68 32 
Written translations from a foreign language to English  66 34 
Interpreting between English and a foreign language?  93 7 
Use of foreign languages on the telephone? 66  34 
Use of foreign languages on overseas trips?  69 31 
Reading documents/brochures/websites in a foreign language?  61 39 
Reading business letters/e-mails in a foreign language?  59 41 
Professional translation agencies?  39 61 
Professional interpreters?  25 75 
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If you employed a language graduate would you
expect them to be able to..?
  Yes No
Undertake translations from English into the foreign language?  92 8 
Undertake translations from the foreign language into English?  92 8 
Interpret between English and the foreign language?  92 8 
Undertake general correspondence in the foreign language?  92 8 
Write formal documents or reports in the foreign language?  73 27 
Use the foreign language on the telephone?  96 4 
Learn new foreign languages as required?  42 58 
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What do you think about the value of foreign
languages to your business currently?
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What do you think about the value of foreign
languages to your business in the future?
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If you employed a language graduate how much
would you expect them to know about the business
world of the country whose language they studied?
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Addressing the needs of employers

• Focus on applied language skills
• Not just language for business
• Languages for the world of work
• A Work Based Learning Module for students that
  develops their employability
• To convince employers of language graduates
  employability
• To convince the students of their own
  employability

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Our solutionA Level 3 Work Based Learning
Module

• For all Level 3 languages undergraduates
• Provides undergraduates with practical experience
  of the application of languages and transferable
  skills in a professional situation
• Gives hard evidence to employers and language
  graduates of employability

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Key features of Module

• Single 15 credit module in Level 3 (Sem 1 2)
• Students work in groups of 5
• Grouped by their main foreign language
• Local companies provide each group with an
  international market research project
• Students use the full range of their language and
  transferable skills to complete the project

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A typical project

• Jacuzzi UK
• Re Classic design bathroom products in Spanish
  speaking markets
• Identify
• Macroeconomic situation in Spain
• Evolution of the sanitary ware sector
• Key competitors and market share
• Distribution channels for Classic design
  products
• Recommendations for market entry/development

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Skills developed

• Teamwork
• Project management
• Research
• Time management
• Language
• research, questionnaires, e-mails, business
  culture, correspondence, telephone, technical
  vocabulary
• Report writing
• Presentation skills

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Assessment

• Final group written report (in English)
• Formal presentation to company managers (in
  English)
• Individual reflective Report (in English)
  analysing the value of the learning experience
• An element of peer assessment

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Engaging the employers

• Identify and meet them to explain
• Ask company managers to arrange
• Factory tour
• Presentation of the Project brief
• Employers allocate a liaison person
• Company managers attend the final assessed group
  presentation (video recorded)

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What do the students get?

• Direct contact with professionals
• Practical experience using languages in the way
  they are needed at work
• Hard evidence of output
• Reflection on the skills developed and applied
• Demonstrate they can hit the ground running in
  their first job

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What do the employers get?

• Some valuable research
• Opportunity to identify potential employees
• Engagement with the university
• Way to demonstrate social responsibility
• Contribute to education and preparation of
  enterprising graduates
• Exposure through links from our website

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What do employers say about working with us?

• Comments from
• Ian Burn, Camira Fabrics Ltd
• David Attia, Jacuzzi UK
• Karen Hirst, thebigword

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Ian BurnMarketing Manager, Camira Fabrics

• Re the student market research projects provided
  by Camira Fabrics
• the students came up with really valuable
  information for us
• we were absolutely stunned to be honest by the
  amount of information they unearthed.
• they developed skills that will really make them
  highly valued employees to future employers.

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David AttiaInternational Business
DirectorJacuzzi UK

• Re the student market research projects provided
  by Jacuzzi UK
• weve been working with Leeds Met for 7 years
  and take great delight in offering their students
  projects on markets we are focusing on
• for students to use their linguistic skills is
  absolutely essential for todays international
  marketplace

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Karen HirstHR Manager, thebigword

• (the projects Leeds Met language students do)...
  give added value to their applications and makes
  them valuable employees when they come and work
  for us at thebigword

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Language GraduatesAddressing the issue of
employability

• Graham Webb
• Head of Languages
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• g.webb_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

29
Questionnaire to 30 language graduates from
between 1998 and 2005 Research carried out in
2007 by Graham WebbHead of LanguagesLeeds
Metropolitan University
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Have you used your languages at all since
graduating?
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Have you had any jobs where languages have been
essential?
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Do you use languages at work now?
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Have your languages been useful at all since you
graduated?
34
Have you ever been paid more because of your
language skills?
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Do you specifically want a job where you use your
language skills?
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Have you travelled abroad with any of your jobs
so far?
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Have you learned any other languages since
graduating?
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Are you glad you studied languages at university?
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Language GraduatesAddressing the issue of
employability

• Graham Webb
• Head of Languages
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• g.webb_at_leedsmet.ac.uk