Institution: Oxfordshire County Council

Context
The original ‘Business Meets Languages’ event was organised by Oxfordshire County Council in 2008, in partnership with teachers from four Oxfordshire Schools. Subsequently, this has been led by Bertram Richter from Chipping Norton School in 2009. The event was conceptualised by Torquay Boys' Grammar School which was, at the time, coordinating the CILT 14 to 19 Language Network in the South West, running ‘Making Languages Our Business’ events .The project produced a series of fun one-day events which emphasise the importance of languages in the world of business.

The programme began following a successful innovation in the South West, Business Language Champions. This programme, supported by the Department for Education, has been rolled out nationwide and aims to inspire companies to actively engage in partnerships with a focus on language learning. As part of the project, schools were linked with businesses and took part in a number of activities which raised awareness with pupils of the value of languages for work.

The Making Languages Our Business network developed the work of Business Language Champions by organising events within the South-West region, in which schools and businesses participated. The events were targeted mainly at pupils from Year 9, in order to help inform them of the benefits of language learning when choosing their options at KS4. The aim of the events is to make the case for languages as an important skill which can help prepare students for careers in a variety of different professions.  

Key objectives of Business Meets Languages

• To promote language learning by emphasising the importance of languages in the world of work.
• To increase uptake of languages in KS4 and post 16.  The event involved pupils from four schools in Years 9 and 10. 
• To foster partnership between schools, higher education and local businesses. 

How the event is organised
Students from four Oxfordshire schools participated in the event. The students arrived at the local Vodafone offices, where the conference was held, dressed in business clothes to help to create an authentic working atmosphere. A speaker from the European Commission in Brussels had been organised, and the event began with an inspirational talk on working with languages, via video-conference link. Four workshops then took place. The programme was such that all students were able to attend all of these workshops on a carousel.

Workshop 1 was run by “Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons”, Raymond Blanc’s award-winning hotel and  restaurant, where the students had the opportunity to participate in a simulated business meeting task.

Workshop 2 was organised by PGCE students from the University of Oxford and was conducted in French, German and Spanish.  In this workshop, the students had the opportunity to learn how to promote themselves in a job interview situation using their language skills.

In workshop 3, run by Geoff Roberts, former languages adviser for Oxfordshire, now working as languages adviser in Buckinghamshire, students participated in a lively taster session of Mandarin Chinese and learnt about the importance of China in the world of business.

In workshop 4, which was run by British Airways, students learnt about the role of air cabin crew, and dressed in British Airways uniform, made in-flight announcements and conducted safety briefings using their language skills in French, German and Spanish. 

In addition, during the lunch break, a representative from Reed Employment staffed an information stand and gave advice to the students on applying for jobs.

Results
The aim of this initiative was that students should leave the conference being able to see themselves in a business context using language skills. Positive feedback received from participants indicated that the aim was met for some students and that the day was enjoyed by many.

Some quotes from students who participated in the day:

"A really enjoyable day! I learned a lot!”

“A useful and interesting day”

“Awesome day! Thanks!”

“Very useful on just how good languages are”

“We should do this more often!”

There has been a great surge in motivation, and enthusiasm for languages in general, in the participating schools and it is hoped that this will be reflected in A level uptake next year. Until September 2009, there will not be any hard data on any effects from last year’s conference. There is clear evidence, from the student evaluations, that the aim of increasing awareness for language was met, in general, as many students said that they were not aware of the wide range of opportunities for people with language skills.

“We are extremely proud of our students for rising to the challenge and impressing our business partners and everyone else with their professional attitude and enthusiasm throughout the day” Bertram Richter, Chipping Norton School.

Future developments
Languages staff in the four schools represented will be contacting their Business Studies Departments to liaise with them for next year’s event, as they had been very interested when they learned about this year’s event. It is hoped to place more emphasis on role-plays and useful business phrases in the respective target languages and, possibly, offer a wider range of taster sessions in different languages, as requested by the students.

It is also hoped to offer a workshop where local students can work with students, or business partners, from abroad, via video link.

Author: Bertram Richter, Chipping Norton School

Signposting

For information on how to replicate Making Languages our Business in your own area download the replication toolkit (doc, 77KB) plus the appendix (doc, 300KB) for the toolkit.