Defining language competences for business graduatesthe TALC project

Resumen

In a globalized business world, it is increasingly important for the different stakeholders to build a common language as far as language competences are concerned. The Common European Framework has gone some way towards fulfilling that role (Council of Europe, 2001), but the basic framework which it provides needs to be developed further for it to be fully operational in specific contexts. Against this background, the TALC project (Transparency in the Acquired Language Competences in the Leonardo da Vinci Scheme, 2005-8) undertook to paint a broad yet accurate and detailed picture of language use in the academic and professional areas of business and management at CEFR C1 level. Interviews were carried out in professional and academic contexts in three European countries (Spain, Slovakia and Germany), and the outcomes were processed in detailed compilations of descriptors reflecting the linguistic subskills involved. Once this picture of language skills had been sketched out, a questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 2700 respondents in order to rank the competences that had been identified. The results of these two stages of research were translated into a C1 language profile for students/graduates, with the corresponding tables of descriptors. This paper provides an overview of the research methodology and results, and points to some areas in which further research is still needed.