How can technical language courses contribute to developing the soft skills needed in the labour market?

Abstract

In addition to language skills, professional foreign language courses provide ideal grounds for the development of employment or entrepreneurial skills. These competencies, most commonly called soft skills, include decision-making, planning, organisation, collaboration, problem-solving, negotiation, presentation, intercultural and IT skills, which employers increasingly seek when recruiting new staff. The parallel development of employment and language competencies also provides language teachers and foreign language institutes with a new teaching task. The study describes the relevance of soft skills for the labour market and activities, tasks or IT programs that can help to develop and strengthen these competencies in professional foreign language classes, along with the development of general and professional language skills. Integrating these competencies into the content and methodology of professional language courses was in the focus of our research. In foreign language education, communication skills are a natural priority, and it is paramount for students that language courses help them prepare for the selection process. Although we are merely in the first years of implementing this new educational program, it can be stated that students have more confidence and courage at the start of their job search.