This case study includes a toolkit (doc 57KB) so you can replicate the approach.

Institution: schools in Sheffield

Context
International Business Communications (IBC) now in its fifth year, was developed to address the falling number of learners taking a language at Key Stage 4. Linking languages to business and ICT, and teaching business skills through the medium of a foreign language was considered to be a productive way to begin to address this issue.

In Sheffield schools NVQ language units are delivered in Business Communication, teaching French, Italian, German or Spanish. There is also a course in English for students for whom this is not their mother tongue. The language component enables the students to undertake vocational language units mainly in KS4 – but the qualification can be delivered at all levels thus ensuring progression routes from KS3 to university level. There are currently four A1 training cohorts in Sheffield, Huddersfield, Manchester and Birmingham with over 60 trainees and schools taking part. 

The project has a dedicated website and samples of course materials for NVQ Level 1 and 2 in French German and Spanish. Please visit the IBC website for more information.

What does the vocational part mean for students?
National vocational qualifications are the qualifications of the workplace – employees further their careers via this route. This route has many advantages. 

It begins the preparation of students for the world of work, and for the possibility of international work. It familiarises school-aged students with portfolio building, with the portfolios themselves providing a useful tool for them to access when they leave school. It gives them the opportunity to see at first hand that languages are used in the workplace through the business visit programme, and demonstrates and emphasises the need for language skills in the workplace.

Since the qualification is portfolio based, it is not subject to the exam timetable prescribed by GCSE and it therefore enables students to work at their own pace, fitting with a more personalised learning agenda. It is an entirely business-focused qualification designed to equip students with language and work place skills. It is cross-curricular, linking in with business and ICT, and encouraging the important skills of independent learning and student accountability.

How the programme is organised
At Level 1 the scheme of work includes greetings, introductions, arranging meetings, sending faxes and emails, answering the phone and dealing with visitors to a company. Through out the course there is an emphasis on the cultural aspects of doing business with France, Spain, Italy or Germany and how to respect business cultures. Many students are surprised for example that French business people spend half an hour a day shaking hands!

Level 1 assessments are based around these skills and include reading emails, arranging meetings with business colleagues and listening to information relating to orders.

The minimum requirement for Level 1 is 30 hours though many schools will deliver this in two hours a week throughout Year 10 thus exceeding the requirement. Laying solid foundations for Level 2 is important and some schools begin Level 2 after Easter in Year 10 allowing more time for students to gain their Level 2. The minimum requirement for this is again 30 hours though it is important to note that many students will achieve this by studying throughout KS4.

At Level 2 the course has been developed around work experience in the country of study and is designed specifically to equip students with the skills to undertake this. They write a CV and letter of application, go for an interview, look for accommodation, visit the company and design a product.

Level 2 assessments are varied and wide-ranging – one of the speaking tasks at Level 2 is to deliver a powerpoint presentation to their new workforce describing a product of their design in the target language. This clearly involves skills for the workplace as well as providing the opportunity to use ICT skills and creative skills through the medium of the foreign language.

Schools may wish to allow an extra member of staff for one hour a fortnight to be timetabled against one of the NVQ lessons in order to carry out the speaking assessments. These need to be recorded for each candidate and this can be an issue for the classroom teacher particularly in groups with large numbers.

The flexibility of the qualification allows students to progress from Level 1 at their own pace and not to be confined by an exam time table. Students doing the Level 1 units work at the level of grade E at GCSE; those doing Level 2 units work at the level of a A/B at GCSE. It is also worth noting that two units at Level 2 are equivalent to half a GCSE.

The qualification
The qualification tests all four language skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing). Students doing the Level 1 units work at the level of grade E at GCSE; those doing Level 2 units work at the level of a A/B at GCSE. It is also worth noting that two units at Level 2 are equivalent to half a GCSE.

Table of performance points for NVQ Language units.

The business visit
To reinforce the language learning that takes place in the classroom, all students on the Sheffield programme are taken on a business visit. There are 20 businesses in the region involved in this programme and a designated worker accompanies the students. They are given a tour of the company and a chance to practise in the workplace the language they have learned in the classroom. They introduce themselves, ask questions about the company and have the opportunity to carry out language tasks such as ordering materials and sending faxes. This is beneficial to the student for a number of reasons. It allows exposure to a work situation where languages are vital to the company, and in a climate in which the student’s knowledge of the language is valued and encouraged. It gives an opportunity to practise the language outside the classroom, to hear about the career paths of employees, work experience placements, and apprenticeships in the company.

The business visit programme has provided substantial interest and motivation for language students and has been recently featured on the BBC Politics Show (3 February 2008). While it is unrealistic to expect schools to involve large numbers of businesses a good starting point would be to involve one local business and this could be done through personal contacts or through parents of students (canavssing for this can be done at parents evenings).

Feedback from the students on this experience has been unequivocally favourable:

'The trips I was taken on helped me to see how I could use this course in my future career'

'I also enjoyed French visits to the factories – it gave me an idea of working in a French environment'. 

Motivation for work in the classroom increases after these visits as students clearly relate what they are learning to possible job opportunities.

Results/effects
In Sheffield, where the project originated, the NVQ language entries now represent over a quarter of all the entries for languages. There has been a marked improvement in results, with, on average, an improvement of two grades since the course was introduced.

The course has proved motivating for students, especially boys who historically have challenged the need for languages. They do not challenge the need for business language:

'In our school, sir, languages are cool!'

'The helpful thing is knowing that what we are learning will be useful to us in business later.'

More importantly the qualification sets students up to achieve. It has support built into it in the form of practice assessments. Students can have access to model texts and vocabulary lists as they would in the workplace. It is not a test of memory but rather a test of analytical skills and a degree of thinking on one’s feet to meet the challenge of a task. It encourages students to find information for themselves through reference materials and develops skills of logic rather than rote learning, as students must adapt what they know to fulfil the assessment tasks they are given. The focus for improvement is through feedback and target setting, methods that have a proven track record of success.

Resources
As part of the project, there are four manuals available with teaching resources and assignments in French, German/Spanish at Levels 1 and 2 as well as CDs containing vocabulary games, powerpoint presentations linked to the resources and native speakers delivering the listening assessments. There are three teacher training videos available. These can be ordered from Jill Horsman at Sheffield LEA. Further resource suggestions.

Future developments
As winners of the Mary Glasgow 14 to 19 prize, we are delighted to be able to move forward with development for NVQ Level 3 materials as a result of the generous prize money given by the Mary Glasgow Trust (see below).

Schemes of work for delivering NVQ Level 2 language units (can also be used within the Additional/Specialist component of the diplomas)

The replication toolkit (doc, 59KB) - how to replicate the NVQ model in your own area. In addition to the above replication toolkit, is also a new guide, called Set up your International Business Communications NVQ course – 4 Easy Steps (doc, 44KB)

Download the replication toolkit (doc 57KB).