developing transferable skills and enhancing employability through liaison interpreting
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Developing transferable skills and enhancing employability through liaison interpreting. F. Chouc French Teaching Fellow [email protected]. Liaison interpreting for business student : the activity placed in context The class, its pedagogical use and the development of key transferable skills - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Developing transferable skills and enhancing employability through liaison interpreting
F. ChoucFrench Teaching Fellow
Liaison interpreting for business student : the activity placed in context
The class, its pedagogical use and the development of key transferable skills
From feed-back to self-assessment : a good basis for forward development
What is liaison interpreting ?
The activity itself:
« an exercise in communication » (H. Keith), « a means of developing the learner’s communicative competence » (R. Towell).
Setting : a dialogue staged between 2 teachers, communication managed by the students.
The activity in context
Liaison interpreting as part of the IML course
- a course combining management modules and language modules
- 3rd year abroad, in a partner institution (business school)
- languages activities specifically designed for the IML course: case studies in 4th year
The activity in context
Example of case-study : the wine industry - fictive company created, with a basic scenario : the
wine producers from Auvergne want to improve their brand image and expand sales.
- Series of Spoken and written activities organised around the theme (marketing project, summary of related documents, etc …)
The activity in context
- simulation of business meeting between a representative of a British wine retailer and a representative of the Auvergne wine producers – students act as interpreters at this meeting.
Liaison interpreting often at the end of the case-study.
The activity in context
Aims and objectives of the course :
Address an audience in an appropriate manner.Manage face-to-face interaction.Develop the principal skills and practices associated with business situations requiring an advanced level of linguistic competenceDivide attention (multi-tasking).Develop a critical understanding of intercultural and interlingual issues.Demonstrate some originality and creativity in dealing with professional level issues. (http://www.sml.hw.ac.uk/undergraduate/modules/languages/c40/fj2.html)
The expectations of the market
Key skills valued by employers (CIHE survey 2008, AGR survey 2008):
Communication
Team Working
Integrity
Intellect
Confidence
Personality
Planning & Organising
The expectations of the market
The skills gap (CIHE survey 2008, AGR survey 2008):• 49% of employers are disappointed with
graduates’ foreign language skills• 86% of employers value good communication skills
but are « disatisfied that graduates can express themselves effectively »
• There is also a gap between the skills of graduates and expectations of employers for commercial awareness and analytical skills
Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills
Why make management students do liaison interpreting ?
A communication exercice
Adjusting the focus : business-related skills at the core of the activity
Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills
Communication challenges Obvious one : languageBUT also :- how to bridge cultural gaps- learning to ask questions and seek explanations / clarifications- communication manners / gate-keeping techniques : empowering the communicator and building up confidence
Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills
- voice-management
- problem solving skills / creative solutions (the « nose-rubbing » technique)
• Integrated learning : interconnected activities around one theme
- pulling resources together from different sources (other activities, other types of materials on the theme)
- glossary building and anticipation : targetted research for the activity
Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills
Team-work and ICT skills
- brief discussion in class: brainstorming on the liaison scenario beforehand
- ICT tools for practice : self-study lab, manipulation of free-ware for recordings
- the VLE : a platform for further team-work with the use of online wikis
Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills
Awareness of current issues on a global scale:
The themes : business sectors and business-related activities
The content : updated and in keeping with current issues
Skills development : beyond the classroom
The feed-back : a tool for a constructive critical reflexion
- general feed-back in class / how students work
- discussing the issues : the focus on communication
- how to improve ? Discussing solutions and following up on practice
Skills development : beyond the classroom
Towards autonomous learning, for forward development planning
- self- assessment tools : assessment sheet, scripts and audio recordings = tools to redo the task and analyse it
- filming a session : unpopular but constructive exercise
- the autonomous liaison assignment
Critical analysis based on graduate survey
The survey- sample of graduates (2005-2009)- Current field of work of the graduates:
Management role/business-related job: 50%
Language-related careers : 20%
Teaching : 30%
NB: considered IML students and students from other courses who did liaison interpreting
Critical analysis based on graduate survey
Top 3 key skills ranked (CIHE/AGR list )
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Communication Planning/Org. Personality Confidence Team w ork Analytical
1st
2nd
3rd
Critical analysis based on graduate survey
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Communication Planning/org Personality Confidence Team work Analytical
Relevance of liaison interpreting related to skills
Critical analysis based on graduate survey
Key skills identified by graduates surveyed :- Communication- Planning and organising- Personality
= Quite consistent with what employers have identified.
Relevance of liaison exercise in developing these skills
= fairly to very relevant for the top 4 skills identified
Conclusion
http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/skillsmap.htm
Conclusion
- Liaison interpreting can develop many key skills valued by employers.
- It is a relevant exercise for business students too, as this activity is very versatile and develops more than just language skills.