[EDLING:1484] Language Skills at Fore of Battle

[Francis M. Hult]

FEnews

20 April 2006

http://www.fenews.co.uk/newsview.asp?n=1380

Language Skills at Fore of Battle

SSDA, CILT, GoSkills All Allies in the Language Battle


The United Kingdom is a multicultural country, writes Maria Vitale, Language 
Learning Correspondent for FE News, with an enormous amount of international 
businesses: more and more companies work on a global level. And, in order to 
simplify and streamline business operations, one should know ones partner or 
even fellow - competitor well.

A good start-point is to speak their mother tongue. Languages play a central 
role in this area and the demand for this type of skills is increasing day by 
day. As Peter Huntington, Chief Executive of GoSkills asserted: “Employers 
have already woken up to the need for better language skills and have 
expressed concern about the decline in the number of young people taking 
languages.”

A New Strategy

The battle for languages is a long and exhaustive one but everyday new 
initiatives and solutions are developed to change the situation of the 
undervaluing of languages in the UK. Recently, it was announced that the 
Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA) the National Centre for Languages (or 
CILT) and GoSkills, the Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Passenger Transport 
were joining forces and creating a new body: The Languages Skills Alliance.

This is a new strategy that seeks to understand the new needs of the 
employers, and the requirements for languages skills and abilities for their 
staff and new employees. Also, this association intends to restructure the 
education and training programmes for adults and young people all over the 
country. Consequently, languages could start to be an integral part of their 
skills and qualifications in many sectors of the economy.

Furthermore, language skills may then become integral in the areas of 
management and leadership. Languages will start to be considered and 
recognised across all the employment sectors and in decision-making forums on 
skills and employability, especially trough the Skills for Business Network.

A Small Step for a Big Future

The Language Skills Alliance is one of many revolutionary strategies to 
promote the acknowledgement that languages are a key skill and are essential, 
especially in the UK. In a global scenario of international and also 
individual competitiveness, the more employable and adaptable one’s workforce 
is, the easier our businesses will find their competitive ethos.

Isabella Moore, Director of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, 
concluded: “This is a major step forward for developing the UK workforce’s 
competence in languages. It provides the basis for language skills needs to be 
properly identified and fulfilled, so both private and public sector employers 
will reap the benefits of language skills, our young people will be better 
trained and more confident on the international stage, and the UK will be more 
competitive in the global economy.”

Joana Lage, International Languages Correspondent