Career enhancement through foreign language skills

Abstract

Illustrates the rising significance of foreign-language training with respect to employment opportunities in commerce and industry. Draws on a wide-ranging and diverse base of literature in order to indicate the value of learning a foreign language, the manner in which such training can be utilized and several other fundamental considerations relating to language and employment. Issues analysed include: the linkage of linguistic with other skills, which students are likely to benefit the most from language training, the impact of various levels of proficiency, language for business as opposed to general language training and the cultural element in terms of career prospects. Makes objective and subjective evaluations as to the significance of these various issues with the aim of assisting students, employees and educational institutions in assessing the benefits and costs, advantages and shortcomings of different types and levels of language education.

Spillover effects between work and non‐work adjustment among public sector expatriates

“…Aryee, 1997;Black and Mendenhall, 1990;Brewster, 1995). However, the difficulty of achieving high levels of proficiency, especially in non-European languages, should not be underestimated (Bloch, 1995). Parent organizations of PS expatriates may take the position that training high-level employees in a foreign language does not make much sense since it is a large investment with high front-end costs.…”

‘Language is only a tool’: Japanese expatriates working in China and implications for language teaching

“…This view that prioritizes work competence over language proficiency and regards language as a tool or dôgu was shared by all managers, paralleling a previous study with smaller companies (Kubota 2011) as well as others (Bloch 1995;Piekkari 2008). …”

“…However, language specialists per se are few-they might initially be hired for communication purposes but they are trained to acquire other work skills. This echoes the career requirement that typically goes beyond being a "pure "linguist"" (Bloch 1995). Overall, many expatriates are compelled to use language(s) other than Japanese with varied levels of sophistication.…”

“…Although proficiency in an additional language is important in transnational work, employers typically look for workers who are not linguists but those with strong professional competency in addition to language skills (Bloch 1995). In fact, an overemphasis on teaching language skills may neglect other skills and dispositions required for the globalized workplace.…”

Does English Help You Accomplish More? Exploring the Instrumentality of English Learning in East and Southeast Asia

“…Second, English proficiency positively influences personal accomplishment by enabling one to access and seize opportunities in the globalized economy, and thus promote one's career development (Vandenbroucke, 2016) and professional lives (Grosse, 2004;Wei & Su, 2015;Botha, 2014). Globalization is one of the most important social and economic trends in recent decades, and as it progresses, acquiring English as a global language has long become a valuable resource, and more and more jobs present explicit requirements for English proficiency (Bloch, 1995;Warschauer, 2000;Markee, 2000), which means that those with strong English language competence easily stand out in the job market. Moreover, with the language skill permeating into the basic career competence of knowing how, why and whom, those with good language skills are able to cross boundaries and demonstrate high levels of career mobility, both psychologically and physically (Itani et al, 2015).…”