Nowadays, it is common sense to say that knowledge of one or more foreign languages is essential for active participation in our societies. In fact, in terms of labour market returns and social cohesion, the mastery of one or more foreign languages is important at both an individual and societal level. The point is to understand why this knowledge is important and how policy makers can work to increase it.

Knowledge of foreign languages is widely requested and rewarded in the EU labour market (Araújo et alii 2015) and it's considered by the Council of the European Union as one of the key competences for lifelong learning on the same level as numerical and scientific skills. In a recent paper, Marconi and Vergolini (2022) used a large dataset of online job vacancies at a European level to show that the knowledge of at least English, as a lingua franca, confers unique advantages for the access to high-skilled occupations. More generally, foreign language proficiency can be considered first and foremost as a form of human capital that is directly valued in the labour market as it’s a way of reducing transaction costs (Isphording 2015).

Foreign language skills remain an important facilitator to both trade and human mobility. Although human translators and AI applications can help overcome linguistic barriers, they cannot do much for oral communication. At the same time, knowledge of one or more foreign languages can be used by employers as a signal of non-cognitive skills such as adaptability, willingness to communicate and openness which are not easy to assess during the recruiting process (Hahm and Gazzola 2022). There is some empirical evidence suggesting that those who learn a foreign language tend to be more creative and better at solving complex problems (OECD 2021).

Knowledge of foreign languages can also be seen as a channel to better understand other cultures, leading to the development of intercultural skills which are crucial for learning about other worldviews and being able to take an active part in a globalised world (OECD 2021). Mastering at least one foreign language is also a way to broaden one’s cultural horizons that can lead to the acceptance of diversity within one’s own country as well as to a mutual understanding and cooperation with neighbouring countries. In this sense, investment in foreign language learning can have positive externalities becoming a possible channel for maintaining or increasing social cohesion.

How to improve language skills

After having highlighted the importance of learning foreign languages, the next step is to understand if and how language skills can be improved through specific interventions. By drawing on scientific literature, the aim is to offer practical suggestions to policy makers and practitioners. Probably the most effective option would be to act directly during compulsory schooling. This could be done through programmes that have already been shown to be effective, such as study abroad programmes (De Poli et al. 2018) or recourse to specific teaching practices including the Content and Language Integrated Learning – also known as CLIL – (Nikula 2016).

As far as study abroad programmes are concerned, the logic is straightforward. Studying in a foreign country, even if only for a limited period, is a way of improving language skills favouring the direct application of what has been taught in the classroom. Furthermore, it is an experience that has the potential to alter personality traits by improving non-cognitive skills. Research on this topic has not identified any particular drawbacks, apart from the potential for social inequalities as participation in these programmes is not free and students have to rely on their family's resources to attend.

CLIL refers to the use of a foreign language to teach a non-language school subject while requiring a shift from a more traditional teacher-centred approach to a more innovative student-centred approach in order to be effective. The main drawback of this teaching practice is that the use of a foreign language to teach other subjects could be detrimental, as students may not progress in those subjects due to language barriers. Moreover, CLIL can also be flawed by social inequalities, as it seems to work better for students from higher socio-economic backgrounds, who are those usually more motivated and proficient in foreign languages (Virdia 2022).

The rationale for starting language learning as early as possible is based on the idea that people are best suited to learning when they are young, and on the fact that the stock of English skills appears to be strongly influenced by what is learned at school, while investment in foreign language skills after graduation appears to play a minor role (Hahm and Gazzola 2022). Of course, this does not mean that specific training for adults is a useless activity or a waste of money, but simply that it would be more efficient to intervene at an early age. A range of programmes delivered during compulsory education can also be effective in reducing social inequalities if they are targeted at students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

The issue of adult language learning has become central in the context of lifelong learning due to its strong links with labour market success. Improving the language skills of adults is undoubtedly a challenge for policy makers and educators, whether through the design of ad hoc curricula or through innovative tools using ICT technology and the potential of Web 2.0. Vocational training programmes, for example, are characterised by a certain heterogeneity, both in terms of age and previous competences, and this learning context may pose difficulties for (older) adults. It has been observed that adult students face cognitive limitations (e.g., decrease in memory and tendency to fossilisation) and affective limitations (e.g., more anxiety and less enjoyment and self-concept) (Bernal Castañeda 2017). This requires the reformulation of traditional curricula or the redesign of training courses.

Training courses and their curricula could be innovated, for example, by using peer instruction as a tool to increase student engagement and collaboration. Developed by Eric Mazur, Professor of Physics at Harvard University, peer instruction is a student-centred approach that encourages collaborative work between students that can be done before or during class time. The activities performed are then the subject of discussion with other students and the teacher. Peer instruction may be successfully combined with ICT technologies and Web 2.0 applications. More specifically, the former includes the use of multimedia production in the form of text, audio or video, while the latter comprises online forums, blogs, and social networks. These tools can facilitate communication, information sharing, reflection and feedback from both peers and teachers (Mondahl and Razmerita 2014), elements that are at the core of peer instruction. For example, pre-class collaborative work can be done using wikis or multimedia products and then shared with other peers and teachers through ad hoc online forums or platforms.

References

Bernal Castañeda, S. (2017). Lifelong learning and limiting factors in second language acquisition for adult students in post-obligatory education. Cogent Psychology, 4(1), 1404699.

De Poli, S., Vergolini, L., & Zanini, N. (2018). The impact of a study abroad programme on learning abilities and personality traits: evidence from a randomization. Applied Economics Letters, 25(8), 562-566.

De Sousa Lobo Borges De Araujo L, Dinis Mota Da Costa P, Flisi S, & Soto Calvo E. (2015) Languages and Employability. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Marconi, G., & Vergolini, L. (2022). The demand for language skills in the European labour market: Evidence from online job ads. FBK-IRVAPP Working Paper No. 2022-08.

Nikula, T. (2016). CLIL: A European Approach to Bilingual Education. In Second and Foreign Language Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education edited by Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl & Stephen May. Berlin: Springer.

OECD (2021). PISA 2025 Foreign Language Assessment Framework, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris.

Hahm, S., & Gazzola, M. (2022). The Value of Foreign Language Skills in the German Labor Market. Labour Economics, 76, 102150.

Isphording, I. (2015). Language and Labor Market Success. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences edited by James D. Wright, 260-265. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Mondahl, M., & Razmerita, L. (2014). Social media, collaboration and social learning a casestudy of foreign language learning. Electronic Journal of E-learning, 12(4), pp339-352.

Virdia, S. (2022). The (heterogeneous) effect of CLIL on content-subject and cognitive acquisition in primary education: evidence from a counterfactual analysis in Italy. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 25(5), 1877-1893.

About the author

Loris Vergolini is Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna and Affiliated Researcher at FBK-IRVAPP. His research interests include counterfactual impact evaluation, with a focus on policies aimed at reducing inequalities in educational opportunities, the study of the skills demanded by the labour market and social stratification.

Photos in this post

Opening photo by Jelleke Vanooteghem on Unsplash

Photo within the post by Gonard Fluit on Unsplash