By Dr. Sandra Watts
I’m not going to study or live abroad, so why should I learn another language? Everyone speaks English, right?
Students are increasingly interested in choosing pathways leading to immediate employment and a satisfying career in our globalized economy. Whether they’re building literacy in their home language or acquiring a new one, language abilities help pave the way!
You already know the power of learning languages for sharpening minds, broadening perspectives, and building connections. You may also know that students are focused on getting jobs after graduation. What you may not know is that language study demonstrably hones in-demand skills! In fact, current approaches to language teaching and learning include examining one’s own culture as well as others, communication, and collaboration— three top abilities on employers’ checklists.
What Is Career Readiness?
Many people assume that STEM or business are the only majors that develop career readiness skills. As our world continues to evolve at an increasingly fast pace, however, what really matters most to employers is not disciplinary knowledge so much as the capacity to continue to learn, adapt, and thrive in our increasingly thought-based economy. These abilities are often called “soft” or “durable” skills. They are never out of date; like language skills, they improve with time and practice in different settings.
How Do Language Studies Build Career Skills?
Language learning at all levels involves career-readiness skills; making this fact visible to learners can help students more clearly appreciate the relevance of your course to their future goals.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) is devoted to building pathways connecting college and career. They have identified eight core career competencies in demand by employers across all fields. Can you guess what they are? You may be surprised!
Think of a course you teach. Do students do any of these: Compare and contrast cultures? Collaborate in pairs and groups? Engage in discussions online or in person? Create multimedia presentations? Build portfolios? Engage in peer review? Self-evaluate? Apply feedback? What else?
Next, take a look at those top eight career skills. Where can you see them in the material, activities, assignments, and assessments you already use? What might you add or tweak to include more?
Critical thinking: Gather and analyze information from a diverse set of sources and individuals to fully understand a problem or situation.
Communication: Clearly and effectively exchange information, ideas, facts, and perspectives with a range of different audiences.
Equity & Inclusion: Demonstrate the awareness, attitude, knowledge, and skills required to equitably engage and include people from different local and global cultures.
Technology: Understand and leverage technologies ethically to enhance efficiencies, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.
Teamwork: Build and maintain collaborative relationships to work effectively toward common goals, while appreciating diverse viewpoints and shared responsibilities.
Leadership: Plan, initiate, manage, complete, and evaluate projects.
Professionalism: Knowing work environments differ greatly, understand and demonstrate effective work habits, and act in the interest of the larger community and workplace.
Career and Self-Development: Identify areas for continual growth while pursuing and applying feedback.
Hold those thoughts—or, better yet, write them down so you’ll be ready for our next step!
Next month we will explore ways to make the connection between language learning and career readiness skills visible to students, and how students can make them visible to employers.
Dr. Sandra Watts
Dr. Sandra Watts has loved languages since she met her French-speaking friend Françoise in Kindergarten. She’s learned Spanish, Latin, and French and isn’t done yet! Dr. Watts has taught English in Spain and the U.S. As Teaching Professor of Spanish and Interdisciplinary Studies at UNC Charlotte she enjoys teaching both heritage speakers and those who are new to the language and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world.
