Developing transferable skills and enhancing employability through liaison interpreting F. Chouc French Teaching Fellow

 Liaison interpreting for business student : the activity placed in context  The class, its pedagogical use and the development of key transferable skills  From feed-back to self-assessment : a good basis for forward development

What is liaison interpreting ?  The activity itself: « an exercise in communication » (H. Keith), « a means of developing the learner’s communicative competence » (R. Towell). Setting : a dialogue staged between 2 teachers, communication managed by the students.

The activity in context  Liaison interpreting as part of the IML course - a course combining management modules and language modules - 3rd year abroad, in a partner institution (business school) - languages activities specifically designed for the IML course: case studies in 4th year

The activity in context Example of case-study : the wine industry -fictive company created, with a basic scenario : the wine producers from Auvergne want to improve their brand image and expand sales. -Series of Spoken and written activities organised around the theme (marketing project, summary of related documents, etc …)

The activity in context -simulation of business meeting between a representative of a British wine retailer and a representative of the Auvergne wine producers – students act as interpreters at this meeting. Liaison interpreting often at the end of the case- study.

The activity in context  Aims and objectives of the course : Address an audience in an appropriate manner. Manage face-to-face interaction. Develop the principal skills and practices associated with business situations requiring an advanced level of linguistic competence Divide attention (multi-tasking). Develop a critical understanding of intercultural and interlingual issues. Demonstrate some originality and creativity in dealing with professional level issues. (

The expectations of the market  Key skills valued by employers (CIHE survey 2008, AGR survey 2008): Communication Team Working Integrity Intellect Confidence Personality Planning & Organising

The expectations of the market  The skills gap (CIHE survey 2008, AGR survey 2008): 49% of employers are disappointed with graduates’ foreign language skills 86% of employers value good communication skills but are « disatisfied that graduates can express themselves effectively » There is also a gap between the skills of graduates and expectations of employers for commercial awareness and analytical skills

Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills  Why make management students do liaison interpreting ? A communication exercice Adjusting the focus : business-related skills at the core of the activity

Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills  Communication challenges Obvious one : language BUT also : - how to bridge cultural gaps - learning to ask questions and seek explanations / clarifications - communication manners / gate-keeping techniques : empowering the communicator and building up confidence

Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills - voice-management - problem solving skills / creative solutions (the « nose- rubbing » technique) Integrated learning : interconnected activities around one theme - pulling resources together from different sources (other activities, other types of materials on the theme) - glossary building and anticipation : targetted research for the activity

Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills  Team-work and ICT skills - brief discussion in class: brainstorming on the liaison scenario beforehand - ICT tools for practice : self-study lab, manipulation of free-ware for recordings - the VLE : a platform for further team-work with the use of online wikis

Using liaison interpreting to foster these skills  Awareness of current issues on a global scale: The themes : business sectors and business- related activities The content : updated and in keeping with current issues

Skills development : beyond the classroom  The feed-back : a tool for a constructive critical reflexion - general feed-back in class / how students work - discussing the issues : the focus on communication - how to improve ? Discussing solutions and following up on practice

Skills development : beyond the classroom  Towards autonomous learning, for forward development planning - self- assessment tools : assessment sheet, scripts and audio recordings = tools to redo the task and analyse it - filming a session : unpopular but constructive exercise - the autonomous liaison assignment

Critical analysis based on graduate survey  The survey -sample of graduates ( ) -Current field of work of the graduates: Management role/business-related job: 50% Language-related careers : 20% Teaching : 30% NB: considered IML students and students from other courses who did liaison interpreting

Critical analysis based on graduate survey  Top 3 key skills ranked (CIHE/AGR list )

Critical analysis based on graduate survey Relevance of liaison interpreting related to skills

Critical analysis based on graduate survey Key skills identified by graduates surveyed : -Communication -Planning and organising -Personality = Quite consistent with what employers have identified. Relevance of liaison exercise in developing these skills = fairly to very relevant for the top 4 skills identified

Conclusion

Conclusion -Liaison interpreting can develop many key skills valued by employers. -It is a relevant exercise for business students too, as this activity is very versatile and develops more than just language skills.