“As you sow so shall you reap” – but what to sow? The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) applied to a Flemish business context
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Marjan Marchand is researchers and lecturers in French and English and French and Spanish respectively at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. Their research interests lie in the field of language learning and testing for professional purposes, and the application of the CEFR to that field.
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Christophe Vercruysse is researchers and lecturers in French and English and French and Spanish respectively at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. Their research interests lie in the field of language learning and testing for professional purposes, and the application of the CEFR to that field.Lodewijk De Wilde is senior lecturer and head of the languages department at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. He lectures on Belgian Culture Studies, Business German, and Communication and Research Competences.
Abstract
This research project explores the relationship between the French skills taught during the Dutch-speaking professional Bachelor's of Applied Business, the perceived French language requirements for these Bachelor's graduates in the workplace, and the actual French language needs on the work floor. We review the current situation and consider how business views and academic output can be geared to actual job requirements. This project focuses on the development of French skills in Dutch-speaking higher education because of the intrinsically bilingual (or even trilingual) Belgian identity. Research conducted so far has allowed us to compare the views in both educational and business settings with the actual job requirements for beginning professionals in Logistics Management and Accounting-Taxation. At a further stage of the project, a CEFR-based learning and assessment tool will be developed in order to create clarity and consensus for all parties concerned. This tool will guarantee a more efficient selection method for companies, clarify training aims for educators, and improve self-awareness among students.
About the authors
Marjan Marchand is researchers and lecturers in French and English and French and Spanish respectively at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. Their research interests lie in the field of language learning and testing for professional purposes, and the application of the CEFR to that field.
Christophe Vercruysse is researchers and lecturers in French and English and French and Spanish respectively at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. Their research interests lie in the field of language learning and testing for professional purposes, and the application of the CEFR to that field.
Lodewijk De Wilde is senior lecturer and head of the languages department at the Faculty of Business and Information Management, University College Ghent. He lectures on Belgian Culture Studies, Business German, and Communication and Research Competences.
©[2013] by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead
- Anwendungsorientierte Forschung in und für Fremdsprachenzentren: Eine neue (?) Herausforderung
- Analyzing student teachers' academic literacy needs: A qualitative analysis of Flemish first-year teacher trainees' needs
- “As you sow so shall you reap” – but what to sow? The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) applied to a Flemish business context
- Designing tailor-made academic paths for university language students
- Developing communicative competence in university language programmes
- Advanced learners of German as a foreign language in an academic context: Some didactic implications of their needs and motivations
- Learning in a language centre: A new kind of “do-it-yourself”?
- The impact of language policy issues on program development and management at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich Language Center
- Plurilingualism, multilingualism and internationalisation in the European Higher Education Area: Challenges and perspectives at a Swiss University
- The linguistic landscape of international students in English-medium Master's programmes at the University of Helsinki: Student perceptions on the use of English and plurilingualism
- Engaging L2 undergraduates in relevant project work and interaction: A role for video conferencing
- Language education at the University of Aveiro before and after Bologna: Practices and discourses
- Sprachenpolitik und ihre Umsetzung am Beispiel des Mobilitätsprogramms Erasmus Mundus
- Preserving plurilingualism: A case study of emerging language policy in a small polytechnic institute in Portugal
