FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCE AS A PART OF THE COMMUNICATION CAPITAL OF MANAGERIAL STAFF
Abstract
Education and training have become the cornerstone for the development of today's knowledge society and economy. The goal of the European Union (EU) is a challenging one—to become the most competitive, active, and dynamic knowledge-based economy worldwide, featuring sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs. The purpose of this article was to identify genres and foreign language competencies used by managerial staff in everyday work situations at C1 level. The article addresses the communication capital, made up of language competence, communication competence, and intercultural competence necessary for managers working at any level of the organizations. A linguistic language methodology was employed to determine language competence of managerial staff. Following the primary need analysis, an interview containing open-ended questions with managerial staff was performed. Having analyzed the responses, a questionnaire for the managerial staff was developed. To make the survey respondent-friendly, a genre approach (genre as a text type) was selected and respondents described their competence while referring to individual genres. After investigating the responses, a list of language competencies required for managerial staff was developed. It was found that managers are faced with fifteen genres in their everyday work situations, which require fifty five foreign language competencies (“can do” statements) at C1 level. The competencies required for managerial staff can serve as guidelines for language teachers and course designers. On one hand, they can be used to underpin the fundamental lexical, structural, and functional syllabus of the course. On the other hand, the competencies required help to determine the teaching methodology applied in the course delivery. Thus, students in business and management will be able to acquire the skills that are transferable in nature and can be employed in a wide range of managerial situations.References
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