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The MENA region has emerged as a key player in global digital transformation and development. A on digital adoption in the Middle East revealed that the region boasts one of the highest digital engagement rates worldwide. In this rapidly evolving landscape, individuals and businesses are confronted with the critical necessity of adapting and acquiring new skills to thrive in the market. Both employers and employees must take proactive initiatives to invest in the skills and training necessary to remain competitive and drive innovation forward.

Employees themselves are responsible for actively pursuing knowledge and cultivating versatile skill sets that empower them to excel in their respective roles. Recent research suggests a huge appetite for learning and development among younger generations. According to a , learning and development opportunities are the second highest priority for millennials and Gen Z workers when evaluating potential employers.

This means that employers in the region must recognize the importance of training and development to secure top talent and understand the significance of equipping their workforce with future-oriented skills, thus fostering an expert workforce capable of navigating the challenges presented by the modern workplace.

Employer's Role in Upskilling, Nurturing Talent and Fuelling Growth

Employers need to keep up with emerging technologies that have the potential to reshape industries and transform existing functions. According to a significant majority of employees in Kuwait (75%), Qatar (60%), Saudi Arabia (58%), and the UAE (46%) believe that their countries are facing a scarcity of individuals with specialized skills. Despite this, respondents from the region display higher confidence compared to the global average (47% compared to 40% globally) in their employers' prioritization of upskilling.

����app, the world's largest learning company, designs programs to equip businesses, employees and HR leaders with the necessary skills for the future of work. The need for upskilling is partly related to the fact that formal education may only cover some of the necessary requirements. According to carried out with 4,000 employees worldwide, individuals acknowledge that they will need to upskill to meet the demands of their careers.

Continuous Learning: Embracing the Future of Work

Professionals in the MENA region are beginning to embrace the idea of continuous learning as a means to adapt and succeed in the ever-changing job market. According to the , over 60% of Middle East survey respondents consider specialist training an essential requirement in their jobs, surpassing the global average of 48%. This indicates that workers in the region are willing to enhance and diversify their skill sets, and it is now up to businesses to invest in their development to build a thriving workplace and increase profitability.

Skills such as digital literacy, creativity, deductive reasoning, and other future-oriented skills are in high demand. In a globalized economy, English proficiency also plays a crucial role, as a bridge connecting individuals from diverse cultures and facilitating seamless information-sharing worldwide. Globally, English is the lingua franca of business, a key to unlocking better communication. According to a report by , ineffective communication can cost the average organization $62.4 million per year in lost productivity. The same report found that companies with effective communication generated a 47% higher return to shareholders over a five-year period.

Leveraging Tools for a Future-Ready Workforce

Nowadays, numerous resources are available to help businesses enhance their employees' language skills. One such tool is MondlyWorks by ����app, which utilizes advanced technology to provide a personalized learning experience. This allows employees to improve their language proficiency at their own pace, seamlessly integrating lessons into their busy work schedules. It is designed to cater to specific industries, including hospitality, retail, banking, and customer service, making it a valuable addition to employees' benefit packages.

Recruiting top talent with the necessary skills for a role can be challenging for companies. Assessing a candidate's English skills can be time-consuming and subjective. However, with ����app's Global Scale of English (GSE), a standardized measurement of English proficiency, recruitment companies can benefit from a detailed analysis of language skills and the framework to personalize learning pathways.

To this end, ����app offers Versant, a fully automated digital assessment of language skills – speaking, writing, reading, and listening – that will be needed in the workplace. Auto-scored digital assessments such as Versant ensure that candidates from different educational and cultural backgrounds can be assessed at scale using the same objective criteria, providing fast and fair results to expand a company's diverse talent pool.

Upskilling for the future

English language proficiency is crucial for businesses seeking to remain competitive and for individuals exploring limitless career opportunities. A report conducted by the highlights that English is spoken by an astounding 1.75 billion people, representing a remarkable one-quarter of the global population.

Today, most English speakers are people who have learned English as a second or additional language, many of whom use English for professional purposes. In dynamic workplaces, English proficiency serves as a catalyst for fostering essential skills such as effective communication, collaboration, and teamwork. Organizations that prioritize the development of English language proficiency can cultivate a workforce capable of driving regional ambitions and thriving in the global marketplace.

"What’s the most effective way to learn English?" It’s a question that has perplexed linguists for years. I see room for plenty of innovation in where it all starts - 'Ed'.

The evolution of edtech

In the seventies, reel to reel tape recorders were the latest technology. They enabled us school kids in the north of England to hear French sentences spoken by a first language speaker, rather than by an English teacher.

We looked at pictures projected onto the wall, listened to the sentences and repeated them over and over again.��Not only did the audio-lingual methodology use the latest technology – but the pedagogy was also based on the 'sound' learning science of behaviorism. In a nutshell: if you repeat something often enough, it becomes automatic.

This 'drill and kill' approach to language learning has since been discredited and replaced by the communicative approach. Nevertheless, it lasted long enough to inform all of my secondary school French education.

I was considered a linguist and a grade A student. I went on to study for a French degree. But when I finally landed in France, I was unable to participate in even the most basic conversations. How effective had my language learning been?

A focus on outcomes is needed

So what is the takeaway? Publishers, entrepreneurs and edtech companies must think carefully about their products and courses. What problems are they trying to address? What outcomes are they trying to target?

It’s not enough to be innovative or novel. The shiny new toy will only engage learners for a short time if they don’t feel like they are making progress. We need to measure the impact on actual learning.

However, it is great to see so many exciting things happening in the world of edtech. For the first time, I believe we are on the cusp of delivering truly personalized learning journeys to all students –not just those who can afford individual tuition.

Many of us are developing AI that makes the learning journey adaptive, that monitors learner progress and surfaces that progress to the learner, that offers feedback on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, speaking and writing.

We know that feedback has a significant impact on learning. We also know that it is challenging to give feedback on spontaneous language. But this is where AI is heading and soon the vision of learners interacting with virtual tutors on various topics will be a reality.

The role of teachers in the edtech landscape

Will technology replace teachers? Unlikely. Language is a social construct. We learn languages to communicate with others – and an increasing number of language apps are partnering with online tutors and creating language communities to address this need for human interaction. But technology can supplement what the teacher does – and will be able to do so more meaningfully thanks to AI.

It can extend language learning outside of the classroom, driving faster progress. It is available 24/7.It provides learners with a safe space to practice and fail – a way to build confidence. It does not replace the teacher. Instead, it enables the teacher to be replaced in the classroom, focusing on the communicative elements of language learning that are still a challenge for apps.

What do we mean by English fluency, and how can understanding competencies across the four skills provide a more realistic picture of communicative English ability?

What is fluency?

As someone who worked in dictionaries, the meaning of words has always interested me – and fluency is a particular case in point. Language learners often set themselves the goal of becoming fluent in a language. Job adverts often specify “fluent in English or Spanish” as a requirement. But what does being 'fluent' in a language actually mean? If we look in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, we see that fluent means “able to speak a language very well”. Fluent speech or writing is described as “smooth and confident, with no mistakes”. In general, fluency is most often associated with spoken language – but is that the goal of all language learners? And what does being able to speak fluently show about the other language skills?

Describing English proficiency

Before entering the world of dictionaries, I taught English as a foreign language in France. At that time, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) had not yet been published and learners were described in very general terms – beginner, intermediate, advanced – with no agreed standards on what learners at each level were expected to know. As well as establishing standards, the CEFR also shifted the focus of language assessment from knowledge of grammar and vocabulary to functional competence, i.e. what can a student actually do with the language they’re learning across the four skills:

• listening
• reading��
• speaking
• writing

Interestingly, while calling out specific objectives for each skill, almost two-thirds of the information in the CEFR describes spoken language. This seems to imply that spoken fluency is indeed the most important goal for all language learners.

Mapping out a personalized path to proficiency

As a global publisher, ����app English recognizes that all learners are different – in their backgrounds, learning environments and learning goals. This is why we have undertaken new research to extend the set of learning objectives contained in the CEFR to account for learners who need detailed information about their level in all four skills, not just in one (typically, that of speaking).

No learner will be equally proficient in all four language skills – in the same way that no native speaker is equally proficient in all skills in their first language. Some of us are better at writing than speaking, and many are illiterate in their first language. A true measure of language proficiency needs to take into account all of the skills. Equally, not every learner of English will need to be 'fluent' in spoken communication.

Many researchers need to read papers in English and attend conferences in English – but will only ever present and write in their first language. Is 'fluency' a good way to describe their goal? And if it isn’t, does that somehow diminish their language achievements? By acknowledging proficiency in individual skills – rather than catch-all terms such as 'fluent' – we gain a clearer understanding of goals and outcomes, and with this knowledge, we are in a better position to tailor learning to the individual.

Interested in learning more about the English language? Check out our post��How using jargon, idioms and colloquialism confuses English learners and our post on strange English phrases.

If you're looking to improve your own fluency (in any language) make sure to check out our language learning app Mondy.��