Business Language Policy
From APEC HRDWG Wiki
As part of International Education Week 2010, APEC has expanded on several themes of the seminar on "Language Education: An Essential for a Global Economy," to provide a guide for students and instructors interested in the critical importance of business language for strengthening business relations in a global context. These themes include Business in the 21st Century; Cross Cultural Awareness for 21st Century Business; Language for 21st Century Business; Business Language Learning; and Business Language Policy.
This page discusses business language policy, and how the success and failure of business partnerships may depend upon the particular language policies adopted by individuals, businesses, governments, and other institutions.
We typically do not think about language policy very often. Yet the language of street signs, sales ads, election ballots, textbooks, and prescription instructions reflect someone’s decision about some aspect of language policy. In a general sense, language policy is the formalization of language use or language practice for a given purpose. For purposes of public service, safety, or environmental protection, language use may need to be formalized into a legal policy at the economy or even international level. At other levels of society, and for other purposes, language policy may be more informal. However, it will still reflect the values and standards of an industry sector, a particular business, the educational / training system in general, or the language teaching profession, in particular. How an economy approaches its language policy can have a significant impact on how it conducts business, both within its own borders and with its neighbors. With increased communication and collaboration among economies in the 21st Century, economies should develop and implement language policies that seek to understand and reach out to diverse markets overseas, sharing their culture while bolstering their international trade.
Contents |
Key Topics
- An economy’s language policies must be closely aligned with the desired outcomes of its business relationships with other economies.
- Policies about language learning have historically focused on the educational system, but need to be expanded to the labor force to meet immediate requirements for economic growth and competitiveness.
- Setting language policy for education can no longer be only a consideration of the academic context or the academic period in a person’s life. One of the purposes of education is to produce an employable labor force for the economy.
- Language training with a labor force orientation should be introduced into the educational system to prepare for the economy of the future.
Scenario
In the fictional scenario presented below, a group of policymakers seeks to increase tourism in their economy and reforms language programs in the schools and workplaces to meet the unique needs of the tourism industry. During the course of these reforms, we learn how an economy can develop a language policy that impacts multiple levels of society and improve its international business sector.
Situation
An APEC member economy, recognizing slow growth in its traditional industries, desired to improve its tourism sector. Policymakers from the labor, education, and culture ministries met to develop a comprehensive plan of reforms and set goals to modernize the economy's technological, physical, and financial infrastructure in support of tourism. Since the ministries wanted to ensure not only appropriate but also meaningful communication, they decided to enhance their language policies as well. The policymakers contracted with international business and language specialists and adopted a comprehensive process of implementing best practices to address the language of job performance for the unique situations and issues that arise in the tourism and hospitality fields. Because most of the tourists to this economy spoke English, and many more spoke Mandarin Chinese, they decided to focus their efforts on developing both of these languages.
Thinking ahead to the future, the policymakers implemented new curricula in vocational schools and universities for students pursuing a career in tourism and hospitality. They worked with teachers to introduce into the classroom language concepts and tasks that are required of employees in the tourism occupation. While this economy already had a wonderful educational system that produced many fluent speakers of English and other languages, the new curricula bolstered this academic foundation with the specific needs for serving consumers of the tourism industry. For instance, the new language courses taught how to discuss airline delays to a stranded traveler, how to search an international hotel's website for customer service, or how to recognize foreign customs and phrases.
The policymakers were confident that students in tourism courses would be well prepared for increased international tourists, but they did not want to wait until the next cohort of youths graduated to provide exceptional service. Therefore, they thought about which current workers and managers within key service providers throughout the tourism sector needed to know how to speak the international language of tourism. They spoke to representatives from the airline, taxi, hotel, restaurant, travel agency, tourist attraction, retail, and other related businesses to determine what language tasks are required in their fields. They worked with the businesses to train 100 percent of tourism service workers in English for the tourism occupation, and sought to have many more fluent in tourism-specific Mandarin Chinese and other common languages.
The policymakers were surprised by the eagerness displayed by the students, industry representatives, and service workers while implementing their policy reforms. In only a few years, international travelers to the economy were greeted by friendly staff and workers who were able to converse fluently, communicate their rich history and culture, and handle all issues that arose during their stay. Because visiting tourists were able to enjoy themselves and easily connect with their hosts, the economy's tourism industry flourished.
Points to Consider
- Why did the policymakers in the scenario decide to develop their tourism industry? What natural or other resources would enhance an economy's tourism sector?
- Based on personal experiences as a tourist in a foreign land, what sort of language skills are required when you reserve a hotel room, book a flight, take a ride in a taxi cab, or visit a restaurant?
- Why did the policymakers focus on training both students preparing to enter the tourism sector and the workers already employed in that industry?
- How did the policymakers decide which languages to teach their tourism service workers?
- What groups of people other than policymakers should be involved in developing business language policies? How successful would the economy have been in implementing their policices if they had not reached out to the education and industry groups that they did?
Lessons Learned
- Policymakers took a holistic approach to reforming the tourism industry, including international business and foreign language improvements. They determined which skills and tasks would be required of the various service workers in the tourism field.
- The policymakers worked with members of the educational and tourism industries to enhance curriculum and training opportunities that would build core competencies in language and international business.
- The tourism service workers did not simply learn the tools of the language, but also the cultural and industry contexts that would make the skills directly applicable to working closely with their customers.
- Through careful planning and implementation, the economy was able to increase its foreign tourism and enhance its international trade.
Resources
- Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs) were created by the United States to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international understanding and competitiveness. CIBERs build on institutional capacities found among some of the top business schools across the economy, and seek to internationalize the curriculum through interdisciplinary courses, foreign language instruction, and research projects.
- Video from the APEC-RELC International Language Seminar presentation "Changes in Our Field: Where are We Going?"
- Related Tips for Teaching 21st Century Workplace Skills
See Also
Cross Cultural Awareness for 21st Century Business
Language for 21st Century Business
Back to Business Language for a Global Economy
Other Content for International Education Week 2010
