English for employability: What will jobs be like in the future

Nicola Pope
People sat in chairs doing various things like working on a laptop; sat in one of those seats is a cartoon robot

What do driverless car engineers, telemedicine physicians and podcast producers have in common? About 10 years ago . They are representative of a new technology-driven marketplace, which is evolving faster than employers, governments and education institutions can keep up.

As new jobs appear, others fall by the wayside. Today, it¡¯s estimated that up to with currently available technology. Routine jobs like data entry specialists, proofreaders, and even market research analysts are especially at risk of becoming redundant within the next 5 to 10 years. Globally, that means between 400 and 800 million workers could be displaced by automation technology by 2030, according to McKinsey.

Moreover, will need to work in areas that do not exist in the current market. The question is, what can we do to prepare learners for a future when we have no idea what jobs they¡¯ll be doing? Mike Mayor and Tim Goodier discuss this uncertain future and explain why English for employability is such a hot topic right now.

A rising level of English and employer expectations

Mike Mayor, Director of the Global Scale of English at ÃÛÌÒapp, explains that while he believes employability has always been a factor in English language education, it has become more important and more of a focus for students looking to enter the workforce.

¡°Expectations of employers have risen as proficiency in English language, in general, has risen around the world,¡± he says. ¡°They¡¯re now looking for more precise skills.¡±

Tim Goodier, Head of Academic Development at Eurocentres, agrees. He explains that English language education is primarily about improving communication and soft skills ¨C which is key for the jobs of 2030 and beyond.

¡°There¡¯s a convergence of skills training for the workplace and language skills training,¡± Tim says. ¡°The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) has recognized and, in many ways, given a roadmap for looking into how to develop soft skills and skills for employability by fleshing out its existing scheme ¨C especially to look at things like mediation skills.¡±

How the Global Scale of English and CEFR have surfaced employability skills

The?Global Scale of English (GSE) is recognizing this increasing prominence of English for employability. Mike explains that it¡¯s doing this ¡°by taking the common European framework and extending it out into language descriptors which are specific for the workplace.¡±

In developing a set of learning objectives for professional learners, Mike and his team have given teachers more can-do statements. ¡°They are able to create curricula and lessons around specific business skills,¡± he says.

Tim comments that one of the most interesting things about the GSE is that it links can-do statements to key professions, which he explains ¡°is another extension of what these can-do statements can be used for ¨C and viewing competencies as unlocking opportunity.¡±

Showing how these skills and competencies relate to the real world of work can be a strong motivating factor for learners.

He says that teachers need to visualize what success will look like in communication ¡°and then from there develop activities in the classroom that are authentic.¡± At the same time, he says that activities should be personalized by ¡°using the learners¡¯ own interests and adapting the course as much as possible to their future goals.¡±

Preparing students for the future workplace

Speaking on the role of publishing in English for employability, Mike says:

¡°I would say as course book creators we actually incorporate a lot of these skills into our materials, but¡­ I think we could do to push it a little further.¡±

In Mike¡¯s view, educators need to do more than teach the skills, they need to raise awareness of their context. In other words why these skills are important and how they will help them in authentic situations both in and out of the work environment.

Beyond teaching the language itself, he says publishers should be helping teachers ask:

  • Are the students participating fairly in group discussions?
  • Are the students actively listening?
  • Are they interrupting politely?

These skills ¡°don¡¯t come naturally, and so just to begin raising awareness would be an added value,¡± he says.

Future skills: careers in 2030

In the same way we didn¡¯t know that driverless cars would become a reality 10 years ago, we cannot say with absolute certainty which professions will arise and which will disappear. However, using tools like the GSE teacher toolkit, we can help our students develop the language and soft skills they need to navigate an ever-shifting job market. The future is an exciting place, let¡¯s help our learners prepare themselves!

Watch the full interview with Mike and Tim below:?

English language skills development for employability
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    How English conversation works

    By Richard Cleeve

    English language teachers everywhere spend time and energy helping students practice their conversation skills. Some may ask whether conversation in English can actually be taught. And ¨C if it can ¨C what the rules might be.

    To explore these questions, we spoke to world-renowned . He is an Honorary Professor of Linguistics at the University of Bangor and has written more than 120 books on the subject.

    What makes a good conversation?

    ¡°It¡¯s very important that we put this everyday use of language under the microscope,¡± he says. He highlights three critical facets of conservation that we should bring into focus:

    • Fluency
    • Intelligibility
    • Appropriateness

    But all in all, he says that people should walk away from a conversation feeling like they¡¯ve had a good chat.

    ¡°For the most part, people want that kind of mutual respect, mutual opportunity, and have some sort of shared topic about which they feel comfortable ¨C and these are the basics I think.¡±

    The rules of conversation

    There are plenty of ways you can teach learners to engage in a successful conversation ¨C including how to speak informally, use intonation, and provide feedback. So let¡¯s take a look at some of the key areas to focus on:

    1) Appropriateness

    Fluency and intelligibility are commonly covered in English language classes. But appropriateness can be more complicated to teach. When preparing to teach conversational appropriateness, we can look at it through two different lenses: subject matter and style:

    2) Subject matter

    ¡°What subject matter is appropriate to use to get a conversation off the ground? There are cultural differences here,¡± he says. The weather is often a good icebreaker, since everyone is affected by it. The key is to find a common topic that all participants can understand and engage with.

    3) Style

    Teachers can also teach students about conversational style, focusing on how to make conversations more relaxed in English.

    There are ¡°several areas of vocabulary and grammar ¨C and pronunciation too, intonation for example ¨C as well as body language, in which the informality of a conversation is expressed through quite traditional means,¡± says David. One example he offers is teaching students how to use contracted verb forms.

    4) Simultaneous feedback

    This is what makes a conversation tick. When we talk with someone, we let them know we¡¯re listening by giving them feedback. We say things like ¡°really¡± or ¡°huh¡± and use body language like facial expressions and gestures.

    Of course, these feedback noises and expressions can be taught. But they won¡¯t necessarily be new to students. English learners do the same when speaking their own language, anyway.

    Keep in mind though, that when it comes to speaking online on video conferencing platforms, it¡¯s not easy to give this type of simultaneous feedback. People¡¯s microphones might be on mute or there might be a delay, which makes reacting in conversations awkward. So, says David, this means online conversations become much more like monologues.

    5) Uptalk and accents

    Uptalk is when a person declares something in a sentence, but raises their intonation at the end. For English learners, it might sound like someone is asking a question.

    Here¡¯s an example:

    • ¡°I live in Holyhead¡± said in a flat tone ¨C this is a statement.
    • ¡°I live in Holyhead¡± said using uptalk ¨C you are stating you live here, but recognize that someone else might not know where it is.

    Now, should teachers teach uptalk? David says yes. For one, it¡¯s fashionable to speak this way ¨C and it can be confusing for English learners if they don¡¯t understand why it¡¯s being used in a conversation.

    ¡°The other thing is that we are dealing here with a genuine change in the language. One of the biggest problems for all language teachers is to keep up to date with language changes. And language change can be very fast and is at the moment,¡± he says.

    When it comes to accents, David is a fan. ¡°It¡¯s like being in a garden of flowers. Enjoy all the linguistic flowers,¡± he says, ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of language, its diversity¡±.