Australian Dept. of Employment, Education and Australian Advisory Council on Languages and ...

145 Pages·2012·2.67 MB·English

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 355 758
FL 020 658
AUTHOR
Stanley, John; And Others
TITLE
The Relationship between International Trade &
Linguistic Competence (Report to the Australian
Advisory Council on Languages and Multicultural
Education).
INSTITUTION
Australian Dept. of Employment, Education and
Training, Canberra.
SPONS AGENCY
Australian Advisory Council on Languages and
Multicultural Education, Canberra.
PUB DATE
90
NOTE
145p.
PUB TYPE
Reports
Research/Technical (143) Viewpoints
(Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.)
(120)
EDRS PRICE
MFO1 /PCO6 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Business Administration; Educational Needs; Foreign
Countries; Global Approach; Industry; *International
Trade; *Language Proficiency; *Language Role;
*Language Skills; *Public Policy; Second Languages;
Surveys
IDENTIFIERS
*Australia
ABSTRACT
A study of the importance of foreign language skills
to the success of Australia's business and industry in exporting to
non-English-speaking countries is reported. The study has three
parts. The first describes a telephone survey of 50 Australian
companies requesting information on crucial factors in export
marketing and employee language needs, and a mail survey of 451
companies exploring in greater detail employers' perceptions of the
relationship between foreign language skills and export success. The
second part of the report, which is divided into five chapters,
discusses issues related to the surveys and analysis of results,
focusing on the findings' implications for directions in the
Australian economy, management of new markets, estimation of language
needs, and problems in relating the curriculum to industry's needs. A
review of literature is also included in this section. The third part
is a summary, with recommendations. Data collected from individual
companies in the telephone survey and results of a survey of
newspaper advertisements for positions with a non-English language
requirement are appended. (MSE)
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Department of Employment, Education and Training
The Relationship between
International Trade and
Linguistic Competence
(Report to the Australian Advisory Council
and Multicultural Education)
on Languages
John Stanley
David Ingram
Gary Chittick
Australian Government Publishing Service
Canberra
© Commonwealth of Australia 1990
ISBN 0 644 12747 3
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968,
no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the Director,
Publishing and Marketing, AGPS. Inquiries should be directed to the Manager, AGPS
Press, Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601.
John Stanley, David Ingram, Gary Chittick, Institute of Applied Linguistics,
Brisbane CAE.
Printed in Australia by R. D. RUBLE, Commonwealth Government Prier, Canberra
FOREWORD
Advisory Council
This Report was commissioned by the Australian
Education (AACLAME) to encourage
on Languages and Multicultural
planning
discussion of the role of linguistic and cross-cultural
in improving Australia's economic performance.
Policy on Languages, a
One of the key principles of the National
AACLAME, has been
policy being implemented under the auspices of
cross-cultural studies.
the practical aspect of languages and
incorporation of language
Ft.ids have been made available for the
and at lower
and cross-cultural emphases into MBA courses,
languages of
levels of education the study of a number of
Following
economic importance to Australia has been encouraged.
retention of
from these steps to promote the learning or
utilisation in the
languages, the present study examines their
Such an approach is not intended to downplay
economic sphere.
for language
the cultural, intellectual and social reasons
them.
teaching in Australia, but rather to supplement
growing concern
This Report was undertaken in the context of
In a situation
about Australia's international competitiveness.
trading partners are
in which two-thirds of P,ustralia's main
is being
non-English speaking and dependence on commodity trade
language-intensive service
overtaken as a source of growth by
increasingly
industries, linguistic planning must assume an
So far, Australian
important role in company strategies.
There has been a good deal of
responses have been slow.
discussion about Australian companies' lack of an export
done to help
culture, but concrete analysis of what can be
foster this culture has been in short supply.
commmission a
Awareness of these needs prompted AACLAME to
trade and
review of the relationship between international
The review was undertaken by
language competence in May 1989.
John
Brisbane College of Advanced Education's David Ingram,
The consultants were asked to set
Stanley, and Gary Chittick.
language
Australia's macro-economic directions and their
and
implications in the comparative context of the trade
of major trading
language pol_cies and approaches of a number
languages by
nations,, to examine the current utilisation of
and type of
Australian companies, and to indicate what level
language skills should be developed in future.
have produced is its
One of the strengths of the work they
issues
Its survey of linguistic and economic
comprehensiveness.
Properly, it examines the Asia-Pacific
is global in scope.
and South America
region, but the Middle East, Europe, and North
This mapping of pathways for Australian
are also included.
significance with the
export growth will be of even greater
in 1992 and the
unification of the European Economic Community
the Eastern European
entry on to the world economic stage of
countries.
iii
AACLAME welcomes this addition to the debate on the role of
languages in Australia's economic future and hopes to see it
stimulate further progress in language learning and utilisation.
The National Policy on Languages is built around four
justifications for language learning: cultural and intellectual
enrichment, economic advantage for the individual and the
nation, equality of access and opportunity for those
disadvantaged by language, and the facilitation of Australia's
external relations.
The Report provides cogent documentation
for the arguments stated in the National Policy, and
demonstrates the need to continue resource allocation and policy
development in this vital area.
Joseph lo Bianco
Chairman
AACLAME
iv
Contents
Page
vii
to Report
Introduction
Part
The Survey
1
27
Part II
Directions of the Australian Economy
Chapter 1
41
Managing New Markets
Chapter 2
53
Estimating Language Needs
Chapter 3
65
Meeting Future Language Needs
Chapter 4
91
Literature Review
Chapter 5
97
Part III
Summary and Recommendations
icppendix 1
Data Collected from Telephone Survey
107
of 50 Companies
Appendix II Survey of Newspaper Advertisements for Positions
127
with a LOTE Requirement
r.4
I
INTRODUCTION TO REPORT
la ,guage skills in
This report is directed to examining the importance of foreign
exporting to non-
determining the success of Australia's business and industry sectors in
English speaking countries. It is divided into three parts.
The Survey, methodology and findings of the Survey.
PART I
Discussion of issues related to the Survey and analysis of survey results.
PART II
original
Part II is divided into chapters according to the brief stated in the
submission to review the nexus between language and trade. Thus:
Chapter 1
Directions of the Australian economy.
Managing new markets. This sets out the range of
Chapter 2
situations in which language competence affects trade
performance and illustrates how lack of language
competence can damage or hinder trade.
Estimating language needs in terms of the sectors of the
Chapter 3
and level
economy that have language needs and the type
of skills needed.
The academic-industrial divide and the problem of relating
Chapter 4
the curriculum to the needs of industry. How future
language needs will be met by developing new business
and language education models.
Literature review.
Chapter 5
positions
Summary and Recommendations. Tables of results of LOTE
PART III
advertised in press. Results of telephone survey.
LOTE = Language(s) other than English.
Note:
vii
PART I
The Survey
INTRODUCTION
There are basically three different techniques for investigating the foreign language needs
of industry and commerce.
PARTICIPATING OBSERVATION
Here the research worker observes one person or a group going through their working
routine and records the language activities and the contexts in which they occur. The main
disadvantage of this approach is expense and the difficulty of carrying it out extensively
enough to allow statistically based generalization.
DETAILED INTERVIEW
In this case the research worker conducts an interview of approximately 20 minutes to
construct a profile of the interviewee's LOTE needs, using fairly open-ended questions.
This procedure was used initially in the present survey. Thirty companies were
approached directly, the names of which had been extracted from the Kompass Directory.
Even though those companies had indicated in the Directory entry that they were
exporters, in many cases they were not. Another 50 companies selected from Austrade's
list of exporting companies were telephoned. Summary details for each of the 50
companies approached by phone are given in Appendix 1.
It might be assumed that quite informative data would be gained through the personal
interview either by phone or face to faze. This was not necessarily the case and there are
many reasons why:
The kind of questions of interest to this report are usually only accessible through a
number of different company departments. For example the policy on employing people
with linguistic skills is most likely to be explained effectively by the personnel
department. Data about the percentage of exports to non-English speaking countries will
be the province of the export department. Data on the need for LOTE by technical staff
will be most likely available, if known at all, by staff in the technical department. There is
then an immediate problem in accessing a company member who will have all this kind of
information available, or who is able and willing to obtain it.
A second problem is the sheer lack of experience in exporting that most Aimialian
companies have had. For most of them it is a peripheral minority interest. Their export
here that we did not seek out the
successes do not loom large. We should point out
of
Australian Export Award Winners for information. Their successes and high degree
dependence on knowledge of LOTES is already well documented, but they are not typical
of
companies. The 'normal' company does not have easily available data on the names
companies
countries to which it exports, and whether or not they speak English. Many
product destinations. No company
operate through agents and might not even know their
interviewed was able to put any but the most approximate figure on its export percentages
the company.
or even the number of people employed in
of the importance of
A third difficulty is that in asking for a businessman's perception
quantifiable or 'hard
LOTES, one is attempting to measure 'soft attributes' as opposed to
of the differences
attributes'. Another way of looking at this distinction is in terms
Part I, The Survey
1
between 'bounded' and 'unbounded' problems. The essential differences
are listed
below.
Characteristics of
Characteristics of
bounded problems
Unbounded problems
know what would be a solution
no 'solutions'
priorities clear
priorities called into question
limited timescale
longer, uncertain timescale
limited applications
uncertain, but greater implications; worrying
limited number of people involved
more people involved
know what the problem is
not sure what the problem is
know what needs to be known
don't know what needs to be known
can be treated as a separate matter
can't be disentangled from its context1
By their nature bounded problems are clearly focussed points of interest to
management.
For the company's general manager, unbounded problems, such
as the language training
needs of his busy exporting manager are postponable and probably insoluble. l3ecause
they are often not seen as distinctive problems they are easily confused with other equally
unbounded problems, for example how to get access to up to date
overseas market
intelligence. Part of that problem may be a language problem. This can be seen in the
Price Waterhouse survey to estimate employers perceptions of the role of language
as a
barrier to export marketing. (Table 1).
Table 12
Barriers to Entry
Export Marketing
Issue
Percentage of Respondents Identifying as a Problem
Group A
4
2
5
1
3
(N=123)
(N=94)
(N=36)
(N=26)
(N=151)
Ability to access international
54
54
39
69
56
market data
Ability to access personnel/
34
41
36
32
50
consultants in Australia
withappropriate marketing skills
Ability to access overseas
49
54
58 65
58
representatives/have your own
overseas person to market your
products
Ability to negotiate with
42
48
49 46
50
regulatory agencies and gain
entry for your goods/ services
into the overseas market
2
Part I, The Survey
10