Bridging the gap: How to equip English learners with workplace-ready language skills

Samantha Ball
Students in uniform sat at tables in a classroom with a teacher at the front talking to them all.
Reading time: 5 minutes

Educators worldwide are faced with a vital challenge: closing the language education gap between traditional schooling and the practical language requirements of the modern workplace. With English established as the language of international business and in light of our ground-breaking new research, the need for education to address this disparity has never been more critical.

In this blog post, we'll explore why teaching English through a lens of real-world application is necessary, what our research shows about the current gap in language education, and some ideas for how English teachers can integrate employability-focused lessons into their own English teaching curriculum.

Empower your learners with the English skills they need | app Impact of English
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The global language landscape

Almost 20% of the world's population as a first, second, or additional language, and many use it in their jobs. For many, English proficiency means more than communication alone; it is also tied to career advancement, job opportunities, salary scales and job satisfaction.

Our research shows that a staggering 80% of professionals believe that fluency in English correlates with earning potential, and employees who are confident in their English language skills and abilities often report greater satisfaction with their jobs and income.

A significant barrier to bridging the gap between educational English and workplace-ready skills lies in learners' confidence levels. Many students, despite years of studying the language, feel unprepared and anxious about using English in a professional setting. This lack of confidence can lead to missed opportunities and a reluctance to pursue certain career paths where English proficiency is paramount.

app's research highlights a worrying reality—many feel self-esteem issues due to limited language skills, with 19% saying they felt stupid because of their English.

Belgin Elmas,Head of the English Language Teaching Department, TED University, Turkey

A paradigm shift is crucial for teacher training

"Teacher education must rethink the way it prepares future teachers. Unless teacher training focuses more on the skills needed for real-world communication, the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application is likely to persist, leaving today's learners and tomorrow's workers frustrated with knowing the rules but being unable to use them when they need to communicate."

The education-employment divide

In our report, 54% of English learners said that they did not feel that their formal education had equipped them with adequate English proficiency. The data revealed significant differences between individual countries. For instance, only 17% of learners in Japan felt that their formal education had provided them with a good level of English proficiency, whereas in the US, this figure rose to 64%.

Despite the clear benefits of English proficiency, a considerable divide remains between what students learn in school and the skills needed in the corporate arena.

Only a quarter of learners feel fully equipped to utilize the four key language skills – listening, reading, speaking and writing – in their jobs. Out of all four skills, learners had the least confidence in speaking and writing.

What's more, the anticipated impact of AI on white-collar jobs over the next decade underscores the need for not only English proficiency but also "human skills" such as teamwork, leadership and collaboration—capabilities where proficient English is a key component.

Professional development

These issues are not limited to preparing students for work. It was found that teacher confidence in speaking and writing, along with class size, can also limit the amount of time spent on developing these productive skills. Adequate support for educators and professional development also needs to be a focus in order for students to find success.

Bridging the divide through curriculum innovation

The question, then, is how educators can bridge this gap, ensuring that students are not just learning English but are becoming proficient in its application within a professional context.

Greater focus is needed on speaking practice

Survey participants were asked about their perceived lack of relevant skills in English. The reasons they pointed out were related to the practical use of the language and can be narrowed down to three main factors:

  • Too much focus on grammar and vocabulary
  • Insufficient opportunities to practice English outside the classroom
  • Lack of English conversation practice in the classroom

Employers face a skills gap in speaking and writing. Unfortunately, education systems don't focus enough resources on developing these skills.

Educational strategies for teachers

Here are a few suggestions for incorporating more skills-based learning to better meet today's language learners' needs.

Focus on functional language

Highlight English that students can use in real-life scenarios, particularly in professional contexts; Role-play exercises (e.g., job interviews, email writing) can make learning more relevant and engaging. For example, check out our Global Scale of English (GSE) learning objectives, which integrate these kinds of scenarios.

Integrate technology and gamification

Leverage the appeal of online resources and games to motivate students and provide opportunities for practice beyond the classroom, mirroring the preferences of your learners. Many language learners now incorporate some form of social media into their study routines. This trend underscores the growing importance of digital platforms in facilitating not only language learning but also cultural immersion.

Foster communication skills

Place a stronger emphasis on speaking and listening exercises to build confidence in these areas. Encourage debates, presentations and group discussions. Our language learning app Mondly by app puts 560 minutes of speaking practice in your learners' pockets, supplementing your teaching with even more opportunities to use English inside and outside of the classroom.

Incorporate industry-specific vocabulary

Customize lesson plans and courses to include terminology related to various fields, from IT to marketing, so students develop a specialized lexicon that will benefit them in the workplace. The can help you find topic-related vocabulary and give you helpful tips on when to teach it.

Brush up on your own English language skills

Keeping your own English skills fresh and well-practiced is important to ensure you're teaching your learners to a good standard. Look into courses and professional development, such as our to improve your teaching with the Global Scale of English.

Partnerships with companies

Partnerships between educational institutions and businesses can provide students with valuable insights into the workplace and the specific language skills required.

Such collaborations can take the form of guest lectures, classes, internships (for older and adult students), or mentorship programs, offering students first-hand experience of the professional environment.

Engagement with authentic materials and resources

Encourage the use of authentic materials in the classroom, such as business English journals, podcasts, news articles and blog posts. This not only enriches vocabulary but also acquaints learners with the language's contextual nuances, preparing them for real-world communication challenges.

Offer access to testing and certification

Provide your students with information and access to language testing platforms and resources, such as theapp English International Certificatefor valuable certification in the job market while continuing with an effective, connected learning program.

Encourage continuous learning

Recommend flexible options for continued language development, like the app English Journey or , which cater to different learning styles and schedules. Also remember to use the GSE as a helpful tool for your lessons.

The future of English teaching

By reorienting our educational strategies to close the language gap, we empower students not just to succeed academically but to thrive professionally. It's a commitment to lifelong learning that begins in the classroom and extends into every facet of their working lives.

Employers and educational institutions must collaborate to ensure that language proficiency is aligned with industry and student needs. By doing this, you as English teachers and educators both enhance the employability of graduates and contribute to a more interconnected and understanding global community.

Letizia Cinganotto, Professor at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, Italy, says:

"In our interconnected world teachers and educators need to consider innovative teaching trajectories that actively shape the evolving role of English, in order to guide learners to face the challenges of the knowledge society and to travel the global world in a lifelong fascinating journey."

For teachers looking to make a tangible difference in their students' futures, the task is clear: teach English not just as a subject, but as a versatile tool for global opportunity.

Take the next step

Curious to learn more about how to implement these changes in your classroom or educational institution? Read the full report here.

Discover in-depth insights and further information that can help bridge the educational-employment language gap.

Don't miss out on this valuable resource – click through to start transforming the way the English language is taught and applied in the modern workplace.

Harness the power of the Global Scale of English today

The world is constantly evolving, as are the global workplace demands. Arm your students with the English proficiency they need to excel in their careers by integrating the GSE into your curriculum. With a detailed framework and a wealth of resources at your disposal, the GSE offers an unparalleled tool for assessing and improving English language skills in a targeted, efficient manner.

Don't miss the opportunity to make a real difference in your students' professional futures. Explore the Global Scale of English now and start the journey towards bridging the educational-employment language gap. Together, we can prepare learners not just for the exams, but for the world.

Explore the global impact of English

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    Grammar: how to tame the unruly beast

    By Simon Buckland

    “Grammar, which knows how to control even kings”- ѴDZè

    When you think of grammar, “rule” is probably the first word that pops into your mind. Certainly the traditional view of grammar is that it’s about the “rules of language”. Indeed, not so long ago, teaching a language meant just teaching grammatical rules, plus perhaps a few vocabulary lists. However, I’m going to suggest that there’s actually no such thing as a grammatical rule.

    To show you what I mean, let’s take the comparative of adjectives: “bigger”, “smaller”, “more useful”, “more interesting”, etc. We might start with a simple rule: for adjectives with one syllable, add -er, and for adjectives with two or more syllables, use more + adjective.

    But this doesn’t quite work: yes, we say “more useful”, but we also say “cleverer”, and “prettier”. OK then, suppose we modify the rule. Let’s also say that for two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er you add -er.

    Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite work either: we do say “cleverer”, but we also say “more sober” and “more proper”. And there are problems with some of the one-syllable adjectives too: we say “more real” and “more whole” rather than “realer” or “wholer”. If we modify the rule to fit these exceptions, it will be half a page long, and anyway, if we keep looking we’ll find yet more exceptions. This happens repeatedly in English grammar. Very often, rules seem so full of exceptions that they’re just not all that helpful.

    And there’s another big problem with the “rule approach”: it doesn’t tell you what the structure is actually used for, even with something as obvious as the comparative of adjectives. You might assume that it’s used for comparing things: “My house is smaller than Mary’s”; “John is more attractive than Stephen”. But look at this: “The harder you work, the more money you make.” Or this: “London is getting more and more crowded.” Both sentences use comparative adjectives, but they’re not directly comparing two things.

    What we’re actually looking at here is not a rule but several overlapping patterns, or paradigms to use the correct technical term:

    1. adjective + -er + than
    2. more + adjective + than
    3. parallel comparative adjectives: the + comparative adjective 1 … the + comparative adjective 2
    4. repeated comparative adjective: adjective + -er + and + adjective + -er/more and more + adjective

    This picture is more accurate, but it looks abstract and technical. It’s a long way from what we actually teach these days and the way we teach it, which tends to be organized around learning objectives and measurable outcomes, such as: “By the end of this lesson (or module) my students should be able to compare their own possessions with someone else’s possessions”. So we’re not teaching our students to memorize a rule or even to manipulate a pattern; we’re teaching them to actually do something in the real world. And, of course, we’re teaching it at a level appropriate for the student’s level.

    So, to come back to grammar, once we’ve established our overall lesson or module objective, here are some of the things we’re going to need to know.

    • What grammatical forms (patterns) can be used to express this objective?
    • Which ones are appropriate for the level of my students? Are there some that they should already know, or should I teach them in this lesson?
    • What do the forms look like in practice? What would be some good examples?

    Existing grammar textbooks generally don’t provide all this information; in particular, they’re very vague about level. Often they don’t even put grammar structures into specific CEFR levels but into a range, e.g. A1/A2 or A2/B1, and none fully integrates grammar with overall learning objectives.

    At app, we’ve set ourselves the goal of addressing these issues by developing a new type of grammar resource for English teachers and learners that:

    • Is based on the Global Scale of English with its precise gradation of developing learner proficiency
    • Is built on the Council of Europe language syllabuses, linking grammar to CEFR level and to language functions
    • Uses international teams of language experts to review the structures and assess their levels

    We include grammar in the GSE Teacher Toolkit, and you can use it to:

    • Search for grammar structures either by GSE or CEFR level
    • Search for grammar structures by keyword or grammatical category/part of speech
    • Find out at which level a given grammar structure should be taught
    • Find out which grammar structures support a given learning objective
    • Find out which learning objectives are related to a given grammar structure
    • Get examples for any given grammar structure
    • Get free teaching materials for many of the grammar structures

    Think of it as an open-access resource for anyone teaching English and designing a curriculum.