survey of perception and knowledge of the english language amongst youngsters between 16 and 18...
TRANSCRIPT
Survey of perception and knowledge of the English language amongst youngsters
between 16 and 18 years in the Brussels metropolitan area
off
Press conference
29 février 2012
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Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions2
HEC Consulting Group in a nutshell
Active in marketing-consulting
Number 1 as enterprise leading by students
Lead by 17 students of the HEC – ULg (University of
Liege)
35 surveys accomplished in 2011
Cumulative turn-over of € 915,000 since establishment
National coverage linguistically with possibilities
for interventions in English, Italian and Spanish
Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions4
Context & objectives The non-profit organisation ‘Business Route
2018 for Metropolitan Brussels’, in short ‘Brussels Metropolitan’, was founded by the four interprofessional employers organisations in Belgium: UWE, BECI and Voka for each of the regions, and VBO-FEB on a federal level.
The mission of ‘Brussels Metropolitan’ is to contribute to the economic development of metropolitan Brussels, an international centre “par excellence”.
From an economic point of view, the region involved concerns Brussels Capital Region and larger parts of the Nivelles and Hal-Vilvorde districts.
‘Brussels Metropolitan’ has called upon HEC Consulting Group to check the knowledge and the importance of the English language amongst the youngsters.
HEC Consulting Group is presenting today the findings of this survey held in the Brussels Capital Region and in Walloon & Flemish Brabant.
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The Brussels Metropolis: Brussels Capital Region District of Nivelles District of Hal-Vilvorde
Brussels, a multilingual capital
English is THE language for doing business
453 young people questioned (sample established in accordance
with the demographic data of the area defined)
Young people between 16 and18 years old
Target audience questioned before taking up higher studies, maybe
influencing their choice
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CONTEXT
Brussels, European capital, where many languages interfere
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MULTILINGUAL CHARACTER
MOTHER TONGUEOCCURREN
CE
African 2
Albanian 2
German 1
English 4
Arabic 28
Armenian 1
Bengali 1
Berber 1
Bulgarian 1
Chinese 1
Spanish 6
French 196
MOTHER TONGUEOCCURRENC
E
Greek 1
Italian 4
Rif (North of Morocco) 1
Lingala 1
Moroccan 9
Dutch 161
Pakistani 5
Polish 8
Portuguese 6
Russian 4
Serbian 1
Turkish 9
Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions8
Age & gender
Number of questionnaires in French and Dutch (Flemish)
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PROFILE PEOPLE QUESTIONED
FEMALE MALE TOTAL
1994 79 74 153
1995 66 85 151
1996 74 75 149
TOTAL 219 234 453
FRENCHDUTCH
(FLEMISH)TOTAL
FEMALE 112 107 219
MALE 109 125 234
TOTAL 221 232 453
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FIRST SECOND LANGUAGE STUDIED
Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions11
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IMPORTANCE OF ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH
96% of the youngsters consider the ability to speak English important to very important
A couple of reasons:
International language, spoken worldwide and know by everybody Useful for the future (for everyday life as well as professionally) Important language for communication
Rating on a scale of 1to 4:
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IMPORTANCE OF ABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH
Social contacts
Studies The economyProfessional
careerAverage 2,64 3,05 3,27 3,42
Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions14
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KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The person questioned was evaluated on the basis of two questions asked Only a minority has an active knowledge of the English language (31,8% answered clearly, 6,6% answered in a perfect way)
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KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Details of knowledge of English by mother tongue
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KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Details of knowledge of English in function of first second language
studied
Motivations most often named:
Possibility for travelling, living and working abroadWork towards a better professional future and an international careerFor studying abroad
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MOTIVATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Content
Who are we
Survey
Context & objectives
Profile of respondents
Importance of the English language
Knowledge of the English language
Conclusions19
For a vast majority of young people it is important
to speak English
However, the knowledge of the English language
is not always good
…Are they solely responsible for this?
Or should the quality of education be improved or
reviewed?…
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CONCLUSIONS
Review performed by:
Rue Louvrex 144000 Liègewww.heccg.com
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Rue Louvrex 144000 Liègewww.heccg.com
Maxime HEUTZ
Project Leader
+32 491 34 43 [email protected]
Lionel BLANCHARD
Project Leader
+32 491 34 43 [email protected]
Rue Louvrex 144000 Liègewww.heccg.com
Johan VAN LANGENDONCK
Project Leader
+32 492 31 15 [email protected]
Lars VERCAMMEN
Project Leader
+32 492 31 15 67 [email protected]
Rue Louvrex 144000 Liègewww.heccg.com
www.heccg.cowww.heccg.comm
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Thank you for your attention