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Ма при обучении иностранному языку в высшей школе материалы научно-практической конференции (6 октября 2005г.) Хабаровск Издательство хгту 2005

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It is clear that learning languages is a growing industry all over the world. The formation of trading blocs such as the European Union and the North American free trade zone as well the growing integration of the global marketplace is increasing demand for learning languages, especially from businesspersons who would participate in these new economies. Governments are also realizing that they need to buttress the foreign language component of the school curricula.


Another reason for learning a foreign language is globalization of economy. Globalization at one level requires economic standardization and this increases the demand for a single lingua franca - most likely English.

But the status of English as the dominant international language seems to have created a false sense of security among businesses in Anglophone countries that they can take advantage of global commercial opportunities without learning other languages. This attitude may have developed because of the increasing adoption of English as the premier international language of business by multinationals headquartered even in countries where English is not the dominant mother tongue.

Paradoxically, just as the global status of English is becoming more entrenched there has been a growing recognition in Britain of the economic advantage of knowing foreign languages. According to the results of the research, carried out in Britain, in the 1970’s there was only modest acknowledgement of the connection between successful foreign marketing and knowledge of foreign languages by exporting teams. Commercial counselors in British embassies lamented that vital chances were being missed through a lack of foreign language expertise and unavailability of promotional material in languages other than English. A 1978 survey of 200 companies confirmed the low standing of languages in their recruitment policies and executives' qualifications. Conversely, it also showed a positive correlation between the firms that had won export awards and their employment of people with language skills. A 1980 study of domestic employment opportunities in GB found that apart from jobs in translation and interpretation there was also a rising demand for foreign-language knowledge in secretarial, technical/scientific, managerial/sales, media, community, and research/library positions. This situation, prompted by the increasing integration of Britain into the European market appears to have spurred private sector initiatives to facilitate the learning and use of foreign languages. An extensive survey of 1150 companies carried out between 1985 and 1995, which compared results to earlier data, found that there was a significant increase in foreign language use.

Of all firms, 75 percent of the surveyed stated that they had used one or more foreign languages in recent years, but, most telling of all, an average of 44 percent of companies across Britain admitted that they could have significantly improved their trade performance had they had access to appropriate foreign language competencies and facilities. This is a remarkable turnaround in perception, especially when we note that the majority of those companies reporting deficiencies in foreign language capacity either produced largely for the U.K. domestic market or exported principally to English-speaking markets.

According to the latest language research, carried out in USA there appeared to be a link between the use of foreign languages and success in exporting. Results of the research say, that:

  • about 60% of questioned companies thought foreign language ability ‘a considerable advantage’ for their salesmen;
  • around 62% of export directors and 57% of sales managers had “some linguistic ability”;
  • 42% of export salesmen and 30% of other export personnel had “some linguistic ability”;
  • three-quarters of the companies produced sales literature in foreign languages
  • 22% of exporters report an increased need for language skills
  • 60% of these companies did business with customers whose first language>
  • managers had most need of languages, secretaries least need
  • verbal capability was sought more often than written one
  • 23% of these companies had encountered a barrier to trade caused by their lack of a particular language
  • 90% of all companies rarely correspond in a foreign language.

There was a general feeling amongst these companies that English was the most important international language, and that technical or professional competence outweighed any linguistic ability. English, German and French were identified as the “high usage” languages across Europe. German is now second to English in predominance, and is more widespread than English in areas, which border with German-speaking lands.

One more reason for learning a foreign language is the rising understanding of the world national governments that despite the growing influence of the English language on the world’s economy business has to be done in their native tongue. For example despite their interest in learning English, the Chinese insist that knowledge of Mandarin is essential when doing business in their country. Meetings in government ministries in various South-East Asian countries that award contracts to foreign companies are routinely conducted in local languages, making an understanding of these languages necessary for those who wish to do business with them.

In France, government policy discourages the public use of any language other than French. Le Forum francophone des affaires (FFA) works with La Francophonie to create "l'espace économique francophone." Its aims are: "to draw new economic boundaries based on solidarity, common culture and business partnership in resistance to the linguistic and cultural standardization to which the markets globalization is leading us." FFA seeks to engender cooperation and alliances between businesspersons in the member states of La Francophonie. A major initiative of FFA is the development of La Banque d'information des gens d'affaires (BIGA), which is a private computer network disseminating information to the business sector in French-speaking countries.

As we can see from the information stated above, the ability to use foreign languages is a very important factor in solving the problems of the development of the international economic relations by different specialists. The ability to use a foreign language helps the specialists to establish business connections with their foreign colleagues. The knowledge of culture and linguistic peculiarities, together with basic knowledge of a foreign language, plays an important role in establishing close business connections with foreign partners. Now, in the period of rapid development of business ties with foreign companies, everyone understands the necessity of learning a foreign language, especially oriented on its practical use in the sphere of business communication.


Bibliography


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Y.M. Markina