Etiqueta: Instituto de Lenguas Modernas

Empleabilidad y competencia lingüística: la importancia de certificar un nivel C1 de inglés en un mundo globalizado

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Autora: Melisa Téves

 

En el mercado laboral actual, contar con un buen nivel de inglés ha pasado de ser una herramienta deseable que proporciona un valor añadido al curriculum vitae de un candidato, a convertirse en un requisito indispensable a la hora de encontrar trabajo o acceder a un puesto mejor remunerado. Según un reciente informe elaborado por Infoempleo y Adecco, publicado el pasado mes de octubre, el 34,84% de las ofertas de trabajo requiere conocer al menos un idioma extranjero. Asimismo, este informe nos revela que el inglés es un requisito imprescindible en el 93,66% de dichas ofertas; lo que lo lleva a consolidarse como el idioma de los negocios por antonomasia.  

 

Imagen: Informe sobre el requerimiento de idiomas. Fuente: Infoempleo Adecco 2017[1]

 

A fin de responder a la creciente demanda de idiomas impulsada por la internacionalización del sector empresarial, algunas universidades españolas han empezado a exigir a sus alumnos que acrediten un nivel intermedio o intermedio alto de inglés (B1 – B2[2]) para poder obtener el título de grado, así como para optar a una beca Erasmus. No obstante, en la universidad Antonio de Nebrija creemos que dichas medidas no son suficientes para garantizar la calidad educativa y mejorar las perspectivas laborales de nuestros alumnos. Es por ello que nos atrevemos a ir un paso más allá apostando firmemente por un aprendizaje de idiomas que permita a nuestros estudiantes certificar un nivel avanzado (C1) de competencia lingüística en inglés al egresar de la universidad.Fuente: Infoempleo Adecco 2017[1]

Teniendo en cuenta los nuevos retos de formación lingüística de la Nebrija, el Instituto de Lenguas Modernas (ILM), bajo la dirección del Vicerrectorado de Integración Transversal, ha diseñado el Diploma in English Professional Communication (DEPC); un título propio obligatorio para todos los estudiantes de grados presenciales de la universidad, el cual tiene como objetivo principal dotar al alumnado de las competencias lingüísticas interculturales y profesionales necesarias para desenvolverse en un entorno laboral globalizado. Este nuevo modelo de enseñanza-aprendizaje, que sustituirá al actual Diploma in English Professional Skills, es el resultado de años de investigación de los diferentes enfoques y métodos aplicados a la enseñanza de inglés, y de un profundo proceso de reflexión sobre las necesidades y desafíos a los que se enfrentan nuestros estudiantes. Es así como el DEPC nace para suplir las carencias de aprendizaje que afloraron tras nueve años de implantación del actual diploma, y pretende romper con la inercia del proceso de aprendizaje tradicional que suele desembocar en falta de motivación, frustración y absentismo en las aulas.

Por esta razón, el DEPC ha incorporado el modelo de Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos, decantándose por un enfoque multidisciplinar que estimule el trabajo colaborativo y permita desarrollar diversas competencias transversales como la autonomía del aprendizaje, la responsabilidad, la capacidad de autocrítica, y la habilidad de interactuar con otros y resolver problemas. Nuestro modelo metodológico apuesta por aprender de forma práctica e interactiva los diversos aspectos gramaticales, léxicos y culturales del idioma, poniendo especial énfasis en el desarrollo de las competencias comunicativas, ya que son éstas las de mayor demanda en el mercado laboral. Tal y como explica Bernadette Holmes, jefa de campaña del programa Speak to the Future, en su ensayo “The Age of the Monolingual Has Passed: Multilingualism Is the New Normal” [La era de los monolingües ha terminado: El multilingüismo es la nueva normalidad]:

“Una gran parte de la actividad profesional en todos los sectores del empleo se basa en el fortalecimiento de las relaciones. Cuando los clientes provienen de una comunidad lingüística diferente, si una empresa puede conectarse utilizando un idioma común, esto aumenta su credibilidad y su ventaja competitiva. Los contratos pueden ganarse o perderse por la capacidad de una organización para comunicarse.” (2016: 184)[3]

No obstante, es evidente que un proyecto tan ambicioso como éste ha de necesitar todo un ecosistema de apoyo que maximice las horas de contacto con el idioma. Por esta razón, el Vicerrectorado de Integración Transversal ha puesto en marcha numerosas acciones que buscan impulsar el uso de la lengua fuera de las aulas de inglés, y convertir a los alumnos en los principales protagonistas de su formación y crecimiento personal. Estas acciones o puntos de contacto con el idioma (touchpoints) serán piezas clave en la formación lingüística de nuestros estudiantes, no solo para completar las horas lectivas del DEPC, sino para integrar el uso del inglés en nuestra comunidad educativa, tal y como lo llevan haciendo los programas de movilidad internacional, las asignaturas bilingües ofertadas en los grados, el programa Buddy o el Socializing CEHI-Erasmus.

 

Imagen: Touchpoints Nebrija: Puntos de Contacto con el idioma inglés. Fuente: Nebrija.

 

Como profesionales en el ámbito de la enseñanza de inglés como segunda lengua, asumimos el reto del C1 con compromiso e ilusión, sabiendo que la coyuntura actual requiere profesionales competentes que sean capaces de hacer un uso flexible del inglés para fines sociales, académicos o profesionales. Asimismo, entendemos que la globalización del mercado laboral debe traer consigo un cambio de mentalidad que nos lleve a comprender que el inglés juega un papel hegemónico como lengua franca internacional, y que cualquier profesional —por muy preparado que esté— quedará fuera de los procesos de selección si no es capaz de demostrar un alto dominio del idioma. Por todo ello, defendemos la imperiosa necesidad de dejar atrás los estigmas reflejados en frases tan conocidas como “yo lo entiendo, pero no lo hablo” o “a mí el inglés siempre se me ha dado mal”, y comenzar una nueva tradición de excelencia lingüística que nos acerque a países con sólidas políticas de aprendizaje de idiomas como Suecia, Noruega o Dinamarca. Sólo así podremos ser parte de un mundo globalizado sin barreras de comunicación que obstaculicen nuestro progreso.  

 

 

Melisa Téves

Instituto de Lenguas Modernas

Centro de Estudios Hispánicos

 

[1] https://iestatic.net/infoempleo/documentacion/Informe-Infoempleo-Adecco-2017.pdf

[2] Todos los niveles a los que se hace mención se basan en el Marco Común Europeo de Referencia para las Lenguas (MCERL)

[3] Ver: Holmes, Bernadette. “The Age of the Monolingual Has Passed: Multilingualism Is the New Normal.” Employability for Languages: A Handbook, edited by Erika Corradini et al., Research-Publishing.net, 2016, pp. 181–187

 

 

Employability and linguistic competence: the importance of certifying a C1 level of English in a globalised world

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Author: Melisa Téves

 

 

In today’s job market, having a good level of English has turned from being a desirable tool that provides added value to a candidate’s resume, to becoming indispensable when finding a job or accessing a better paid position. According to a recent report by Infoempleo and Adecco —published last October— 34.84% of job offers demand knowledge of at least one foreign language. Furthermore, this report reveals that English is an essential requirement in 93.66% of those offers; a fact that consolidates English as the language of business par excellence. 

 

Source: Infoempleo Adecco 2017[1]

 

In order to respond to the growing demand for languages driven by the internationalisation of the business sector, some Spanish universities have begun to request their students to accredit an intermediate or upper-intermediate level of English (B1 – B2)[2] in order to obtain a bachelor’s degree, as well as to apply for an Erasmus scholarship. However, at Antonio de Nebrija University, we believe that these measures are not enough neither to guarantee the quality of education nor to improve the job prospects of our students. That is why we dare to go one step further by firmly committing to a language learning policy that allows our students to certify an advanced level of linguistic competence in English (C1) upon leaving university. 

Taking into account the new challenges of language training in Nebrija, the Institute of Modern Languages (ILM, by its initials in Spanish), under the direction of the Vice-rectorate of Transversal Integration, has designed the Diploma in English Professional Communication (DEPC); a compulsory programme for all the students of in-campus degrees of the university. Its main objective is to provide the students with the necessary intercultural and professional language skills to develop in a globalized working environment. This new teaching-learning model, which will replace the current Diploma in English Professional Skills, is the result of years of research into the different approaches and methods applied to language learning, and of a profound process of reflection on the needs and challenges faced by our students. It is in that context that the DEPC was born to make up for the learning deficiencies that emerged after nine years of implementation of the current diploma. Furthermore, it aims to break with the inertia of the traditional learning process that often leads to lack of motivation, frustration and absenteeism in the classroom.

For the reasons mentioned above, the DEPC has incorporated the project-based learning model, opting for a multidisciplinary approach that stimulates collaborative work and allows the development of diverse transversal competences such as autonomous learning, responsibility, self-criticism, and the ability to interact with others and solve problems. Our methodological model bets on learning in a practical and interactive way the diverse grammatical, lexical and cultural aspects of the language. Moreover, it puts special emphasis on the development of communicative competences, since these are the most demanded in the labour market.

As Bernadette Holmes, campaign manager of the Speak to the Future program, explains in her essay «The Age of the Monolingual Has Passed: Multilingualism Is the New Normal»:

A great deal of professional activity in all sectors of employment relies on leveraging relationships. When clients come from a different language community, if a company can connect using a common language, this adds to their credibility and to their competitive advantage. Contracts can be won or lost on an organisation’s ability to communicate. (2016: 184)[3]

However, it is clear that a project as ambitious as this one needs an entire ecosystem of support which maximizes the hours of contact with the language. For this purpose, the Vice-rectorate of Transversal Integration has launched relevant actions that seek to promote the use of the language outside the English classrooms, and make students the main protagonists of their learning and personal growth. Said actions or touchpoints will be key pieces in the linguistic training of our students, not only to complete the teaching hours of the DEPC, but also to integrate the use of English in our educational community. For instance, the international mobility programmes, the bilingual subjects offered in the degree, the Buddy programme or the Socializing CEHI-Erasmus, just to mention some of them.

English promoting Touchpoints Nebrija. Source: Nebrija

 

As professionals in the field of teaching English as a second language, we take up this challenge with commitment and enthusiasm, since we believe that the current situation requires competent professionals who are able to make a flexible use of English for social, academic or professional purposes. We also understand that the globalisation of the labour market must bring with it a change of mentality. This change leads us to understand that English plays a hegemonic role as an international lingua franca, and that any professional, no matter how well prepared, will be excluded from any recruitment processes unless a high command of the language is proved. That is why we defend the urgent need to leave behind the stigmata reflected in well-known phrases such as «I understand English, but I don’t speak it» or «I’ve always been bad at English». It is time to begin a new tradition of linguistic excellence, one that brings us closer to countries with solid language learning policies such as Sweden, Norway or Denmark. Only then will we be able to be part of a globalized world without communication barriers that hinder our progress.

 

Melisa Téves

Instituto de Lenguas Modernas

Centro de Estudios Hispánicos

 

[1] https://iestatic.net/infoempleo/documentacion/Informe-Infoempleo-Adecco-2017.pdf

[2] All levels mentioned are based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

[3] See: Holmes, Bernadette. “The Age of the Monolingual Has Passed: Multilingualism Is the New Normal.” Employability for Languages: A Handbook, edited by Erika Corradini et al., Research-Publishing.net, 2016, pp. 181–187

English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) Innovating with responsibility

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The universities around the world are increasingly facing an unstoppable internationalization process. Its transversal lines of action and research are partially encompassed in the term “English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)”. To put it simply, EMI is the use of English to teach academic subjects in countries or areas where English is not the first language of most of the population. When favoring EMI, two frequent assumptions are that the students’ proficiency in English will improve as a result of EMI, and that the transition to normalizing it might be unproblematic. Yet, there is still no scientific evidence that proves the first assumption. The second assumption is far from reality. The goal of the following lines is to introduce EMI, applied to higher education, to those who are not familiarized with it, and also to encourage some further critical thinking on how we would like to implement this new methodology at our university.

 

Who are the actors involved in EMI? To identify them is one of the main responsibilities of the universities. Without any doubt, an initial action of the EMI process at any university should be to decide who those actors are going to be and why. They can vary slightly depending on different factors, among others the size and the internal structure of each university. What is important is that universities take responsibility to create a powerful and active committee and provide it with the necessary human and financial resources. Once identified and appointed, the members of the committee should constantly do research on the topic, know the characteristics of their university and help adopt consistent measures in order to move forward in the right direction.

 

Commonly, the language centers of universities are always present in committees of this kind, and they are regarded as key agents in any EMI planning. There are various reasons for this. First of all, the scope of action of language centers is usually transversal, which gives them a thorough and realistic panorama of the academic institution in particular: language centers work regularly with the administrative staff, the academic staff, with all the undergraduate students, and they also have a good perspective of what is being done at other universities.  Secondly, language centers are made up of experts in languages and culture (native or non native, very often with international professional experience), as is the case at the Instituto de Lenguas Modernas at Nebrija. Besides, the teams from the language centers are proud to be “English teachers”, but most of them are not only that. They also do research on specific topics considered essential in the EMI studies (e.g. translation, intercultural studies, second language acquisition and education, bilingualism, multilingualism etc.). It could be discussed whether there is a common assumption that language teachers are second-rate teachers at universities, and it would also be worth discussing if language centers are properly equipped in terms of resources. For the universities it will only be beneficial to count on the expertise of language centers in the EMI process. It goes without saying that they should have the necessary resources and that their roles should be redefined in part.

 

The scope of EMI is enormous. Therefore the decision-making agents, the students, the academic staff and the administrative staff of every single department should be aware that new insights will be imperative. The reasons why universities are willing to face EMI are numerous and complex: to attract international students, to be better positioned in the university rankings, to increase revenue, to give our students the possibility to study abroad, to further student and staff career possibilities, to modernize universities or even to follow global trends of how universities are supposed to become more international (“everybody is doing EMI now, so we should too”).

 

Hosted by the Language Center (Centro de Lenguas) of the Universitat Politècnica de Valencia, the 2nd International Seminar «Internationalising learning: English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI)» was held on the 30th and 31st of March 2017. Representatives of different national and international universities (Nebrija was represented by the Instituto de Lenguas Modernas) had the chance to engage in discussions aiming at guaranteeing quality in teaching using EMI.

 

One of the main aspects of those discussions dealt with how difficult it is for universities to manage the innovation that EMI requires. Let’s remember that EMI is teaching academic subjects in English, in countries where English is not the first language. In order to teach in English I would like to highlight that the starting point, the implications and the consequences of an EMI process are different depending on the country’s current level of internationalization. But implementing EMI entails considerable implications for everybody, since the implementation means preparing the whole university for its internationalization: students should be ready to be taught subject content in English, and the academic staff should be able to teach through English — orally and in writing. Therefore, the right pedagogical strategies should be adopted and assessment issues should be reconsidered; the members of the directive board and the administrative staff should be ready to use English as a means of communication daily, progressively, etc.

 

Another aspect that caught attention at the international seminar was the design of language exams for lecturers and students taking part in EMI programs. It was discussed what the minimum starting level of English should be for students who are about to begin undergraduate studies through English. For example: at many universities, including Nebrija, a significant amount of our undergraduate students start their different degrees having an intermediate level of English (B1). This level would be insufficient to start an EMI program. Taking this into consideration, more questions arose: what are universities going to do with students that might be really bright but are not ready to start EMI programs? The same applies to lecturers: what should universities do with good lecturers not capable of teaching through English? And keeping the previous questions in mind: who should be responsible for the level of English of our students and our lecturers taking part in EMI programs, and up to what extent? (The institution? Themselves?) To sum up, the design of language exams, both for lecturers and potential students, requires previous reflection, critical thinking and sensitivity, in order to decide on issues such as the duration of the exams, the parts they will consist of, the mode of implementation (e.g. optional or compulsory for lecturers?), the piloting of the exams, and the positive actions that are going to be taken according to the results of the exam (e.g. in terms of support for lecturers willing to teach through English but still not ready to do it).

 

Finally, a feeling of resistance to EMI was perceived at the seminar, which was concluded to be due, among other reasons, to a mistrust of this new way of teaching (there is no scientific proof of the benefits of EMI yet), second thoughts caused by the amount of resources that are needed for the project to be successful, perceived threats (mainly by the lecturers that think e.g. “Am I ready to teach through English?”, “I am interested, but what will the incentives be?”, “I would be interested but my English skills are not high enough”, or “I do not want to teach through English”), students’ and parents’ fears (therefore it is our responsibility to inform them both appropriately, without following trends or particular interests), and also sociological reasons (e.g. will EMI mean losing our own language and culture?).

 

Some conclusions drawn at the international seminar were:

 

  • There is not proof yet of the fact that students improve their English skills by studying the content of their degrees’ subjects through English. We all should ensure priority of learning over innovation, which means that EMI should be the servant and never the master.

 

  • The academia is experiencing a big changing role: should EMI teachers be language teachers, content teachers or both?

 

  • There seems to be a lack of awareness in terms of language and cultural issues that leads to a certain relaxation when universities implement certain measures related to EMI, too frequently in a rush.

 

  • Universities should reflect on the importance of their language centers, such as the Instituto de Lenguas Modernas: their teachers have really high English language proficiency (very often of other languages too), an awareness of multicultural issues and an interactive pedagogy. Besides they can also provide language support for EMI academics, students and administrative staff or revise linguistic awareness through assessment and observation tools.

 

  • Human and financial resources are necessary, in order to research, to take action and to provide support to the university community in any EMI process.

 

  • We should not find excuses for implementing EMI with half measures. EMI will be beneficial and profitable with consistent measures that are the result of critical thinking and research. Actions resulting from a lack of reflection, isolated decision-making actors or trends could be comparable to a time bomb that would eventually explode with no rewards.

 

Much more could be read and said about EMI. I hope that I at least have been able to convey the great responsibility that it is for a university to embark on an EMI project. All in all, good EMI institutions should adopt solid policies for decision-making, teaching modes, training, support, and also for convincing all university stakeholders of the need for innovating with EMI. An irrefutable fact is that our university, Nebrija, is officially committed to the internationalization process, because it was an active member of the Grupo de Trabajo de Política Lingüística that, in collaboration with 22 Spanish universities, wrote the Plan para la Internacionalización Lingüística created by the Comisión CRUE-IC de Política Lingüística (coordinated by Mr. Plácido Bazo), on March 3rd 2016, in La Laguna (ULL). This should be a solid step forward for the EMI future at Nebrija.

 

Nuria Mendoza

Coordinator Modern Languages Institute

Researcher on EMI

Researcher on Audiovisual Translation