english, communication skills and employability

Catherine Moore ETS TOEFL

English, communication skills and employability

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English, communication skills and employability

Cath Moore ETS TOEFL

[email protected]

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Introduction



English communication skills and

employability: Outline

1. What are employers looking for?

2. Why do English communication skills matter to

employers? (Employer expectations)

3. Why do English communication skills matter to

students?

4. How can we assist students to develop English

communication skills?

5. Resources

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The employer’s perspective:

What are employers looking for?

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Most important selection criteria when employing new graduates (2014)

58.3% Interpersonal and communication skills

Least desirable attributes in new graduates

24.5% Poor oral communication

21.5% Poor communication skills

Source: http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Graduate-Outlook-Report-2015-FINAL1.pdf



Q1. When employers talk about English communication skills

what do they mean?



Why do English communication skills matter to employers?

• English communication skills vs English proficiency

• Communication skills are the foundation of many other employer requirements – teamwork, leadership, problem solving

• Includes not only work related communication but intercultural competence, social (and technical) language

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Why do English communication skills matter to employers?

• English communication skills vs English proficiency

An example: What are the generic attributes you require in an employee and why are these important in the workplace?

Good communication skills, especially active listening and understanding. Someone who is willing to question things, is innovative, and can think for themselves….

http://sydney.edu.au/science/career/employers_want.shtml

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Do you have what employers are looking for ?

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http://whyenglishmatters.com/docuseries/intel-english-assessed-business-ready



Employer expectations



Workplace communication: Tasks and skills - examples

Accountants and Engineers

(Knoch, May et al 2015)

1. Emails

Range of purposes – inc. follow up from spoken interaction

Skills needed:

Register

Accuracy –content and grammar

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Workplace communication: Tasks and skills - examples

Accountants and Engineers

2. Reports

Templates used (accountants)

Bullet points

Constructed by teams

Skills needed:

Clear Brief

Concise Relevant

Accurate

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Workplace communication: skills - examples

Health Professionals

Writing Skills valued:

• Appropriateness

• Conciseness and sufficiency (all key information present, no irrelevant information)

• Clarity – content, organisation, presentation, language

(Knoch et al 2015)

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Workplace communication: skills - examples


Speaking skills valued (Elder et al. 2012, O’Hagan et al al 2013):

Most important skill for health professionals

• Approach

• Manner

• Techniques in interaction and communication

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Workplace communication: skills


Speaking skills valued :

• Approach: attitude/sensitivity to patient's needs, etc.

• Manner: behaviours towards patient

• Communication skills: (inc. non verbal and manner)

• Content: coverage of issues, clinical knowledge

• Organization: structure/sequence of tasks; process

• Techniques: interactional tools- eg. Use of open questions

• Terminology: medical language, technical/lay terms

• Nonverbal communication e.g., eye contact, posture

• Language: e.g., intelligibility, grammatical accuracy

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Q2. What is the role of the English language centre in developing communication

skills for employability?



Role of ELT Centre

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ELT centres

• Help students recognise that developing English communication skills (for employability) is a process – not a subject, a course, an event.

• Equip students to take the development of English language skills outside the classroom

• Encourage students to engage in a broad range of activities outside their language group

• Make explicit importance of skills taught in class and ongoing development of English communication skills



Why do English communication skills matter to students?

• Students want to find employment here or overseas:

Part-time employment Working holiday

Graduate career opportunities

• However, many students have focussed on developing technical/ subject area language skills but not general communication skills

• As a result they may have evidence of language proficiency (successful completion of courses, language tests) but have challenges obtaining employment

• The process of developing communication skills enriches student experience – help improve cultural capital, confidence.

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Why do English communication skills matter to students?

Employability is an increasingly important aspect for international students, as they seek out a high return on investment for undertaking their higher education study abroad.

“[It’s] at the forefront of the minds of students in all regions, at all levels, whether it’s expressed as a desire to gain the international experience employers covet, or a keenness to develop entrepreneurial skills,” said Moran (Education writer at QS).

https://thepienews.com/news/stanford-tops-employability-rankings-australia-makes-headway/

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Q3. What is your centre currently doing to assist

students to become employable in the global market place?



Examples of current practice

• Sessions on understanding workplace in Australia

• Group work – builds confidence

• Done by student experience coordinator:

• Career sessions – looking for jobs, CVs, teach resume writing

• Run workshops – how to read ads, volunteering, internships

• Business English class

• Building communication skills:

• Social clubs, volunteer for credit, student leadership roles

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Q4. What can your centre do better to empower students to

function successfully in the global marketplace



Developing communication skills: Strategies

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• Partner with student organisations

• Partner with Careers offices/ staff

• Use your alumni, community groups

• Explicitly show transferability of activity / tasks to employment e.g. through employability mapping tool, e-portfolio….

• Learn from other institutions

• University of Newcastle - International Leadership Experience and Development (iLEAD) Plus Program

• Monash University – Let’s Chat – peer to peer



Resources

• IEAA Employability symposium documents and Youtube clips

https://www.ieaa.org.au/researchprojectsarchive/international-employability

Doyle, J. 2015. International Employability Guide. International students

International student employability

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6gxwMke2FE

• Why English Matters

http://whyenglishmatters.com/

• Graduate Outlook

http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Graduate-Outlook-Report-2015-FINAL1.pdf

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Resources

• University websites


• State Study hubs

For example: Study Melbourne LIVE program

https://www.studymelbourne.vic.gov.au/live

LIVE - stands for Lead, Intern, Volunteer and Experience.

LIVE offers opportunities for all international students studying in Victoria to make the most of their time here.

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Resources

MOOCS

• Unlocking your employability

https://www.edx.org/course/unlocking-employability-uqx-employ101x-1

ESL employability skills

http://guides.dtwd.wa.gov.au/c.php?g=595358&p=4118849

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https://www.edx.org/course/career-edge-communication-teamwork-fullbridgex-career2x





References

• Arkoudis, S. et al .2014. English language proficiency and employability framework for Australian higher education institutions. CSHE for Australian Government Department of Education.http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/research/teaching/docs/ELP_Employability_Framework_Final_Report_181114.pdf.Retrieved, November 17, 2015.

• Australian Government, 2013. Core skills for work developmental framework. https://www.education.gov.au/core-skills-work-developmental-framework Retrieved 17 November 2015.

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http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/research/teaching/docs/ELP_Employability_Framework_Final_Report_181114.pdf






References

• Elder, C., Pill, J., Woodward-Kron, R., MCnamara, T., Manias, E., Webb, G. and MCcoll, G. (2012), Health Professionals' Views of Communication: Implications for Assessing Performance on a Health-Specific English Language Test. TESOL Quarterly, 46: 409–419. doi: 10.1002/tesq.26

• Gribble, C., Blackmore, J. & Rahimi, M. (13 February 2014). Challenges facing Australian international graduates transitioning into the Australian labour market. Edu Research Matters. Australian Association for Research in Education (Website). Retrieved from http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=174

• Knoch, K., May, L.,Macqueen, S. et al. (2015). IELTS academic writing tasks from the perspective of engineering and accounting students, academics and professionals. Paper presented at ALAA/ALANZ/ALTANZ conference ,Learning in a multilingual world, Adelaide, December 1, 2015

• QS World University Rankings https://www.topuniversities.com/

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http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=174

http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=174

english, communication skills and employability

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