Job market demands: Educating translators

and language education for employees

University and the job market

– collaboration ensures success

Zofia Berdychowska, Jagiellonian University

Job market

Demand

University

Supply

What kind of competences?

How to collaborate more effectively? Does supply match demand?

Why KRAKÓW? Poland:

– Excellent job quality,

– Relatively low business costs.

– Investment incentives,

– Availability of office space (about 415,000 m²),

– Attractive office rental rates (report of Division on Investment and Enterprise of

UNCTAD, July 2011).

Kraków:

• 1st place on the list of 10 best localizations for global outsorcing companies (raports: 2010 – Global Services and Tholons; July 2011 – Division on

Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD)

• More than 30% BPO / SSC / R&D companies localized in Poland; June 2010 - 51 companies, 16,000 employees (87% - university graduates, 13% -students); June 2011 - 64 companies

• University city – provides highly qualified workforce.

Junior accountant fluent in German –

Małopolska Voivodship

For our client – an international outsourcing company, well established on the market - we are looking for a junior accountant fluent in German. The successful candidate’s main responsibility will be serving the needs of a German-language client in the area of monitoring a prompt and proper payment management. The candidate will be also responsible for adjusting and processing financial data, veryfing and settling accounts and preparing and correcting periodic reports. The candidates should be fluent in German and in English, should have a university degree in finances, economy or German studies, should have excellent analytical skills and be well-organized. Accounting or previous customer experience is a plus. Our client offers a professional development opportunity in an international environment and an opportunity to learn modern processing techniques. The candidates should send a CV in English to: ....

1. Analysis of job preparation and market qualifications (2008) How language skills count as a recruitment criterion: 84% of employers – important/very important

2. Analysis of JU alumni career choices (2008/2009). Working alumni - competences which are most valued by employers: knowledge of second language and stress resistance (89% responses each)

3. Analysis of job and internship offers sent to JU Career Development Centre Requirement employers consider the most important one on the ranking list of all requirements – knowledge of at least one foreign language (61% offers, N = 1913), other requirements – interpersonal skills, knowledge of a chosen field, computer skills

Competence study: job market (JU Career Development Centre)

Demand for language skills (acc. to Aspire Languages Survey June 2010)

• Number of languages in centers- 30 (most: Capgemini BPO – 28; IBM BT - 24)

• 98% employees use English

• Development:

– Demand for a large number of foreign languages;

– 2-year projection: Highest demand for English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish (contradicts Study of Human Capital in Poland !!!)

– Necessity to improve language competence

Language education at

universities • Language studies at institutes bearing the

names of languages they offer, plus combinations of languages (eg. German and English, English and German, French and Arabic)

• University language centers, teaching languages across all programmes of study at all educational cycles (different languages!)

Jagiellonian University

Faculty of Philology • Number of students: 4150 (the end of 2010)

• Programmes of study: – 59 programmes of study in two specialities:

philology; cultural studies – Three cycles (levels) of education:

• First cycle – undergraduate studies (3 years) • Second cycle – graduate studies (2 years) • Third cycle – doctoral studies (4 years); non-degree post diploma studies (2-4

semesters)

Language

Number of centres offering

language

English 18

French 19

German 18

Spanish 16

Polish 15

Italian 15

Russian 14

Dutch 11

Hungarian 11

Czech 10

Portuguese 9

Swedish 9

Slovak 9

Romanian 7

Ukrainian 6

Language

Number of centres offering

language

Danish 5

Croatian 5

Finnish 5

Greek 4

Turkish 4

Lithuanian 4

Latvian 4

Bulgarian 3

Norwegian 3

Slovenian 3

Estonian 3

Serbian 2

Hebrew 2

Arabic 1

Japanese 1

• English • German, Swedish • French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Galician • Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian • Russian, Ukrainian, Belorussian • Hungarian, Estonian, Finnish • Latin, Greek & Modern Greek • Arabic (Syro-Palestinian and Libyan), classical & modern Japanese, classical & modern Hebrew, Chinese, Turkish, Armenian, Ossetian, Georgian, Bashkir, Tuvan, Hindi, Sanskrit, Vedic, Tamil, Urdu, Pashto, Persian, Old Persian, Avestan, Kurdish, Pahlavi

Jagiellonian University, Faculty of Philology 52 languages:

First Cycle (undergraduate studies)

• Provides a comprehensive instruction in the leading language (C1 level) and in an additional one (B2 level)

• Provides a solid background in linguistic and cultural elements of language acquisition

• Provides tools for knowledge acquisition, fact recognition, linguistic and cultural analysis and knowledge synthesis

• Programme exceeds minimum standards set for full-time studies by 20-25% (2300-2500 taught class hours versus 2000 required hours)

Second Cycle (graduate studies)

• Choice between specializations in applied linguistics, translation and philological fields and, in the case of French studies, cummunication.

• Communication and translation classes are taught with the aid of modern technology and software (SANAKO LAB 100, SANAKO STUDY 1200, TRADOS); they prepare students for non-degree post diploma programmes of study in specialist translation and interpreting (UNESCO Chair)

• Programme exceeds minimum standards set for full time studies by about 15% (900-1000 taught class hours versus 800 required hours)

Third Cycle (non-degree

post diploma studies)

• For interpreters - English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian (other languages, eg. Persian or Ukrainian, depending on the need in a given academic year)

• For translators of specialized texts - English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian (other languages depending on the need in a given academic year)

UNESCO Chair in Translation and Intercultural Communication Three years ago: • Applied linguistics (English) • Languages: English, French, German taught at the applied

linguistics programme of study for teachers of other programmmes and specializations.

Language studies - knowledge

• Key skill: an ability to compare the world view organized by one’s native language and culture and the world view organized by studied languages and cultures

• Ability to use acquired analytical skills in the context of one’s native culture, specifically to compare and contrast familiar communities and to mediate among them

Impact of programmes of study on competence formation and development (JU

Career Development Office 2007/2008; )

To a very high or high degree

• Self-education (80%),

• independence (74%),

• Effective communication skills (64%),

• Ability to think analytically (63%)

• Good work management skills (61%)

To a very low or low degree

• Foreign language fluency (54%),

• Computer skills (46%)

• Management skills (37%)

Competence study (JU Career Development Office UJ 2008)

Evaluation of knowledge gained during studies:

„Highly theoretical or only tangentialy related to practical skills”

(students – 82%, academics – 84%, employers– 45%)

Evaluation of alumni skills by employers – knowledge of a foreign language: 78% - very high mark or high mark (most highly marked competence)

listening/reading

comprehension

skills

Speaking and writing

skills

JU Career

Development Office

2009/2010

Foreign language/s – listening comprehension: English – relatively high fluency (95%) Second foreign language: German - 45%; French - 10%; Russian – 15% ; Spanish – 7%; Italian - 3% (Study of Human Capital in Poland)

Competence study: students and alumni (JU Career Development Office 2008/2009)

Competence study

Supply

University

Demand

Job market

Incompatibility in specialist communication due to competence gaps

Communicative competence

• Language skills – one of the so called functional, threshold binary competences

• Behavioral competences (soft), including interpersonal competences (team collaboration, contacts with people/clients, communicative skills)

Specialist communication

• Specialist language competence,

• Specialist interactive competence (discursive), including interpersonal competence

• Specialist cultural competence

EVALUATION BY EMPLOYERS (Study of Human Capital in

Poland): Apart from professional and language competences, responsibility, discipline, creativity and management skills many applicants lack interpersonal competences

specialist : •obiects •events •mutual relations

perception

specialised fragment of reality

(discipline X)

knowledge

Language(s) – ontological

status

1. Partly constituting man’s mental framework;

2. Bound to individuals;

3. Multi-variant character - multi-lect forms related to man’s various roles (technolects, sociolects, dialects)

Specialist languages (technolects) are selected features of specialists

University (supply)

Students and alumni: high evaluation of

language skills

Job market (demand)

Ever growing demand for many different languages

& demand for „proficiency level”

(specialist communication)

Summing up

Summing up University

• University education is

a long-term enterprise (takes a few years)

• Higher education undergoing radical reforms

• Higher level education closely dependent on lower level education

• Economic situation

• Gross enrollment ratio 40%

Job market

• Job market demands are changeable (two-year projection)

Good practices

Initiatives

• ASPIRE: Collaboration initiative (meeting at JU in July 2010); Registered demand for Dutch, Norwegian, Danish.

• Shell: commission to prepare written language tests, minimum level B1 (on the CEFR scale), languages: German, French, Russian, Dutch, Italian;

Effects

• JU (German Studies): Introduction of Dutch as a second specialization (other languages in future)

• JU: Agreement details settled, authors selected;

Good practices

Initiatives

• IBM Polska: Commission to create English teaching e-books

• JU (German Studies): M.A. thesis on developing communicative competence at language studies in the context of employers’ expectations – pilot study; Employers were asked about expectations related to specific communicative needs.

Effects

• JU: 2010/2011 project completed, continuation in 2011/2012

• Shell: multiple meetings

Good practices

Initiative

• ArcelorMittal: Providing specialized teaching aids for students learning foreign languages (English and German) and for delegated ArcelorMittal Poland S.A. employees to make them more competitive on the job market.

Effects

• JU: Language lab - Sanako Study 700

Thank you!

1. Aspire Languages Survey 2010.

2. Z. Berdychowska, Komunikacja specjalistyczna na studiach filologicznych – podstawy lingwistyczne i profile kompetencyjne, [w:] Lingwistyka Stosowana 3/2010, 61-70.

3. M. Ćwiąkalska, P. Hojda, M. Ostrowska-Zakrzewska, Badanie losów zawodowych absolwentów UJ, rocznik 2007/2008.

4. M. Ćwiąkalska, P. Hojda, M. Ostrowska-Zakrzewska, Badanie losów zawodowych absolwentów UJ, rocznik 2008/2009.

5. M. Ćwiąkalska, P. Hojda, M. Ostrowska-Zakrzewska, Studia pod kątem przygotowania do zawodu i wejścia na rynek pracy w opinii studentów, pracowników naukowych oraz pracodawców, Kraków 2009.

6. Grucza, F., Języki specjalistyczne - indykatory i/lub determinanty rozwoju cywilizacyjnego, [w:] J. Lukszyn (red.), Podstawy technolingwistyki I, Warszawa 2008, 5-23.

7. P. Hojda, Uczelnia a rynek pracy w kontekście umiejętności posługiwania się językiem obcym, Biuro Karier Uniwersytet Jagiellooski, prezentacja Kraków, czerwiec 2011.

8. M. Jelonek, Bilans Kapitału ludzkiego, Studenci – przyszłe kadry polskie gospodarki , Warszawa 2011.

9. M. Kiertowicz, Wymagania w ofertach pracy, praktyk i staży BKUJ, Kraków 2009.

10. M. Kocór, A. Strzebooska, Bilans Kapitału Ludzkiego, Jakich pracowników potrzebują polscy pracodawcy, 2011.

11. M. Sidor – Rządkowska, Zarządzanie kompetencjami – teoria i praktyka, Zarządzanie zmianami, Biuletyn Polish Open University, grudzieo 2006.

12. http://www.aspire.org.pl/news/krakow-1st-among-10-emerging-cities-for-global-outsourcing/BPO Krakow Q2 2011 FINAL

Bibliography