Leading on languages in the business world

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

European Commissioner Leonard Orban shares his thoughts on how multilingualism is a key advantage in a globalised business landscape.

Multilingualism is at the heart of the European project. Our languages reflect our different cultures and identities and, at the same time, allow us to understand each other. European citizens who speak several languages can integrate more easily into another country to study and work, and have easier access to other cultures.

Knowledge of foreign languages is highly sought after by the business world. Good language skills make it easier for people to improve their career prospects. Languages are the prime tools of communication because our societies are more and more multilingual at every level: from hospitals to courts or police stations, from schools to working places and because we all have more and more contacts across Europe and around the world.

As a recent Eurobarometer survey shows, half of the citizens of the European Union state that they can hold a conversation in at least one language other than their mother tongue. The percentages vary between countries and social groups: 99% of Luxemburgers, 93% of Latvians and Maltese, and 90% of Lithuanians know at least one language other than their mother tongue, whereas a considerable majority in Hungary (71%), the UK (70%), Spain, Italy and Portugal (64% each) master only their mother tongue. Men, young people and city dwellers are more likely to speak a foreign language than women, senior citizens and rural inhabitants.

In 2002, the Barcelona European Council called for further action 'to improve the mastery of basic skills, in particular by teaching at least two foreign languages from a very early age', given the title 'Mother Tongue + 2'.

The first Commission response was the Action Plan on 'Promoting language learning and linguistic diversity 2004-2006', which set out three strategic areas for intervention: promoting lifelong language learning, improving language teaching and building a language-friendly environment.

In September this year, the European Commission adopted a report on the implementation of the Action Plan 2004-2006. The report concludes that nearly all Member States have improved their language teaching, especially for the younger age groups. At secondary level, the teaching of two foreign languages has been made available to an increased number of students, but this trend does not apply to all Member States. Further, the report notes some weaknesses in the provision of language teaching for adults.

The report is rich in providing examples of good practice. Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Spain – for instance – are mentioned for having introduced bilingual instruction, including teaching a subject in a different language. Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Norway and Sweden encourage teaching neighbours' languages, sometimes establishing bilingual classes.

To stimulate language learning in adults, some countries, such as Belgium and the Czech Republic, have introduced 'voucher' systems, jointly financed by the State, employers and users. In Estonia, Poland and other eastern European countries, a re-qualification of teachers, especially from Russian towards English, took place. In Romania, postgraduate distance training in French and English has been introduced for teachers in rural areas.

A High Level Group on Multilingualism was put together to make recommendations to the Commission. The Group, comprising 11 experts from across Europe, was set up in response to the 2005 communication 'A new framework strategy for multilingualism'. The Group was given the remit to 'provide support and advice in developing initiatives, as well as fresh impetus and ideas for a comprehensive approach to multilingualism in the European Union'.

The Group's recommendations are very valuable and can inspire concrete projects, for instance: research into aspects of multilingualism where there are currently gaps in our knowledge; how language learning can be promoted outside formal educational settings; how to encourage language learning at an older age; and how multilingualism can be used for integrating linguistic minorities.

The Group's report concentrates on several areas: raising awareness and enhancing motivation on language learning; the potential of the media in evoking, enhancing and sustaining motivation for language learning; languages for business; interpretation and translation – new trends and needs; regional or minority languages; and research into multilingualism.

Some of the Group's specific recommendations are:
• Launching information campaigns among parents, young people, education and culture organisations, decision-makers, etc. to raise awareness of language learning;
• To increase motivation, the Group recommends that languages be included as part of leisure activities such as sports, the extra-curricular activities of young students and 'edutainment' on television. Subtitles are considered a friendly and practically free way of teaching languages;
• The Group draws attention to the potential of immigrants as a source of language knowledge and opportunity for companies to use their linguistic and cultural abilities to enter the markets where immigrants come from;
• Third countries' language training, such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Russian, by creating pan-European benchmarks, is considered important for boosting competitiveness;
• Developing masters in translation and interpretation;
• Developing higher education programmes in the field of legal, court and community translation and interpretation.

Since January 2007, the lifelong learning programme 2007/2013 has been extended beyond the 23 official languages to include around 60 minority, regional, migrant and third country languages.

In summary, promoting multilingualism within the different policies of the European Union, such as culture, education, communication, employment and integration of migrants, is at the centre of my strategy objectives. I want to make a real contribution to the competitiveness of the European Union.