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Citizens of a Multilingual World: Key Issues

11. Economic Regeneration

Several representatives from business participated in our consultative meetings. They provided a variety of arguments from their own experience favouring the importance of languages for business. At the same time however we became more generally aware that many businesses in Scotland appear to make little or no use of languages skills. We consider that much remains to be done in order to explain the potential benefits that languages can bring to Scottish businesses and our text highlights an example of good practice in which a major firm developed positive links with local authorities, schools and the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

We were pleased to acknowledge the work undertaken by the Nuffield Inquiry on languages and their particular insight into the contribution that languages make to the development of the UK economy. At the same time we thought it was important to consider the link between student qualifications acquired in European languages and the development of the economy of Scotland. To what extent does Scotland require more employees in business and industry with skills in European languages to advance the economy? How can the business community be persuaded of the value in having employees with a range of language skills?

Views expressed by business representatives

Expressions of need

A wide range of contributors at our consultative meetings raised these issues. In many instances, they pointed to the local evidence which clearly supported the need for education and business to work closer together to develop a languages-business strategy. In some cases, in order to meet demand, employees with languages skills were being brought to companies in Scotland from other European countries, as these skills were not available locally.

A number of business representatives claimed that they could readily 'buy in' support in languages as required. Others agreed that more than that was required and that a vital ingredient for business to link successfully with European-based partners was at least a nucleus of permanent staff within a company who had a capability in written and spoken European languages. Possessing languages skills enhanced the mobility of staff and the capacity of the company to deal directly with prospective clients.

Representatives from tourism and leisure and service industries also mentioned that staff employed in their industries held a grasp of European languages in order to offer a basic courtesy to their clients from abroad. For others in their employ, well-developed language skills were considered to be very important in order to go beyond courtesies and to engage in important interactions that were either directly related to their business or that fulfilled an important social role.

We also noted that business representatives considered modern languages skills to be important not only in their own right but even more so within an overall package of associated skills that included enterprise, literacy, social communication, presentation of information, awareness of context and sensitivity to other cultures, and we were encouraged to see this perception confirmed by the findings of the Marshall report referred to in our Rationale (Section 4) which demonstrates the high employability of graduates with languages skills.

Some concerns

At the same time, despite the goodwill and positive examples offered at our consultative meetings, we became aware that at present many businesses do not attach high importance to languages, do not regularly audit the languages skills already in their employ and do not make much use of these skills. The overall picture with which we were presented indicated that foreign language skills frequently do not attract a premium in business, a point reinforced by the Scottish Council for Research in Education review of research published in this area (see Appendix B). Linguistically skilled employees do not think that their languages are rewarded or appreciated by employers. Frequently, employers meet short-term needs by employing translators/interpreters.

The Action Group also had regard to the extent to which Education Business Partnerships were developing initiatives linking languages and education and business partners. Regrettably, only a few examples of what would be rated as good practice were found across Scotland. Not a lot of activity appears to be taking place in these areas.

A case study of good practice

However, we did explore one initiative which merits a more detailed review than is possible in this report. The points raised regarding transition to the world of work and languages were well exemplified by IBM based in Inverclyde in the West of Scotland.

The growth in e-business and web-based technology has had a significant impact on the way in which IBM's European call centres are operating. Once engaged in a call centre, staff qualified in languages become aware of other opportunities potentially available to them. The company presented an interesting case study to the Action Group.

The model is simple but effective and illustrates ably how business can work constructively to promote languages in education within a community. It is recommended that the detail of this splendid initiative be more widely circulated.

A message to Scottish businesses

Other businesses have made similar comments to those made by IBM. The Action Group believes that business and industry should pay immediate attention to how they can better relay strong, clear and positive messages to students in Scottish schools that there are considerable opportunities open to those who hold qualifications and skills in languages. The potential requires to be made clear. The messages from business and industry are less frequent than the Action Group would wish to see. Where messages are relayed they can be somewhat obscure in their content. If business relays these messages clearly, there is little doubt that more students will develop their potential in languages and contribute to the growing economy in Scotland. Opportunities have to be made clear to students in schools and in Further and Higher Education establishments. We believe it is important to collect views from Scottish businesses concerning whether or not they think they need languages, but it is also important to collect views from their actual or potential clients in other countries. In this respect, we are encouraged to note that one of the SCOTLANG research projects¹⁵ will be collecting business views from the continent of Europe on how certain sectors of business in one part of Scotland are using language(s) in order to present themselves to potential clients abroad.

Qualifications

It is the firm belief of the members of the Action Group that qualifications which combine skills in languages with skills in technology will considerably enhance the employability of the individual students and, of course, assist in the economic development of Scotland. The clear message we wish to relay is that the profile and benefits of languages education require to be raised significantly in this area. This is a challenge that we lay at the door of Scottish Enterprise and business and industry in Scotland. They can be confident that if they provide information on employment prospects, students in schools and other education establishments will respond positively in their selection of curricular pathways.

Importance of joint initiatives

There is no doubt that those involved in taking forward Enterprise Education and activity regarding preparation for the world of work in schools should develop a more positive and forward-looking approach to links between business and European languages in schools. The few examples of good practice which the Action Group has identified should be written up and widely disseminated by Education Business Partnerships and the National Centre for Enterprise. More joint initiatives should be established. In this respect, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department should declare their commitment to these developments and launch an initiative to encourage progress. We believe this will pay off for Scotland in the longer term.

Meeting identified needs and perceiving new opportunities

The Action Group believes there is a difference between responding to identified need and perceiving potentially beneficial opportunities. Both are important. We believe that young people going from education into employment and possessing a capacity in languages and intercultural communication allied to other subject disciplines are in an excellent position to help their employing firms. This may take the form of responding to needs already identified but also of exploiting new opportunities that their languages have helped them to perceive. The Internet for example contains vast amounts of information in French, German, Spanish, Italian and other languages that is potentially relevant to business in Scotland. In the 'knowledge economy' small to medium-sized businesses, which employ the majority of Scotland's working population, will be more ready to perceive and therefore exploit potentially beneficial opportunities if they have staff whose comprehension skills enable them to access this information. While it is likely that some business needs can best be met by employing native speakers, we believe that much of the potential demand does not require native speaker proficiency. We consider it is reasonable to expect education at school to put students on the way to meeting this potential demand.

Languages, economic regeneration and Scotland's National Cultural Strategy

The National Cultural Strategy highlights the importance of Scots and Scottish Gaelic in Scotland's living heritage. It also states that a wide range of languages other than English, Scots and Gaelic are spoken in Scotland, representing the culturally diverse nature of the population and recent patterns of settlement. The Action Group believes that Scotland's linguistic and cultural capability can further be enriched through the widespread learning and use of languages such as French, German, Spanish and Italian, thereby forging stronger links between the cultures of Scotland and the cultures of the wider Europe. It also believes that this multilingual cultural resource can be exploited in innovative ways for economic benefit. The Gaelic community has given a lead that others might well follow in showing how languages and other aspects of culture, e.g. in music, song, drama, art, arts and crafts and television may be integrated in order to support quality of life in Scotland and the needs of the local and the Scottish economy. Modern European languages can have a significant role to play in making foreign visitors to Scotland feel thoroughly welcome and helping them to gain a deeper understanding of Scottish culture, in marketing Scotland's culture abroad and in contributing to Scottish cultural events.

Implications for action

We conclude that:

• key personnel in business and industry should have greater regard to the language needs of companies and take every opportunity to indicate the employment opportunities open to those who hold qualifications in languages. These messages should be relayed clearly and frequently;

• representatives of business and industry working in partnership with education authorities should develop strategies to promote the need for language students in employment;

• Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and the National Centre for Work and Enterprise should lead the development of a partnership strategy between business and education to increase employability for languages students in Scotland;

• Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise should support detailed research to develop the needs of Scottish business and industry and outline employment opportunities;

• within education authorities, the development of innovative education / business / language initiatives in schools should be given a much higher priority. Education Business Partnerships should be invited to play a more proactive role in this regard.

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