Even thirty years after the revolution, graduates are still groping in language skills. They communicate in English, with only little interest in other languages. Although there has been some natural progress in developing language proficiency over the last thirty years, Czechs seem to be still lagging behind. According to the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), about half of the population in the Czech Republic can communicate in English, however, only a quarter of the population has better than basic knowledge. Almost a third of the population speaks no foreign language at all, and the situation is not much better at universities either.
According to the international Eurostudent VII survey from 2019, which deals with socio-economic dimensions of students’ lives in Europe, more than one fifth of Czech students could only speak their mother tongue last year. For students over the age of thirty and those in combined programs, the numbers are about forty percent. “Students have been improving their language skills, but more slowly than would be appropriate. And unfortunately, language proficiency of the graduates has not increased much, despite the fact that most academic programs at universities provide at least two semesters of a foreign language education,“ says Simona Škurková, director of the Lingua Centrum language school. According to Škurková, it is the practical usage of the language that is a big problem. Students will learn for an exam or credit, but in real life environment they fail to apply the newly acquired knowledge.
Compared to the 2016 Eurostudent VI survey, the knowledge of at least one foreign language has increased only in units of percent, and it mostly concerns English. People often learn this language for work-related reasons, and some companies financially support their employees’ development in this respect. In addition, ZKL’s chief human resources officer Lada Serreli notes that graduates often overestimate their command of languages: „We often find out that the knowledge stated in the CV must be taken with a grain of salt as it does not correspond with reality and the factual proficiency must be verified. Most candidates tend to overstate their language skills.“ Nevertheless, she adds that university graduates have indeed slightly improved their language skills.
Libor Štěpánek, director of the Centre for Language Education at Masaryk University, also notices a positive development. ”Language skills of both students and graduates are for the most part better than, for example, ten years ago. Students have easier access to languages in the form of games, movies, videos, music and online communication. They travel more, primary and secondary schools offer higher number of language lessons, the society is more diverse in general,” explains Štěpánek. And in his view, equally diversified are the levels the students reach in languages.
Simona Škurková is here in consent. “There is an improvement in listening and comprehension, seen especially in younger generations, which can be put down to watching movies and series in their original and videos on Youtube. However, the ability to express themselves and to speak fluently has on the whole improved very little among Czech students if at all,” she evaluates.
Different level requires different approach
Existing differences among students also raise the question of how to deal with such a situation in classes. For example, at Masaryk University, the language education does not usually comprise general language, but concentrates on academic and professional language skills and on the so-called soft skills. ”I believe that the responsibility to offer language education lies with the university, but it is upon the student to take the improvement himself,” explains Štěpánek from the Centre for Language Education. He adds that students with an advanced command of the language can also attend subjects within their field of study, taught in the foreign language.
While educating students with different knowledge of a language in one group is common at Masaryk University, the director of the Lingua Centrum language school is rather reluctant to recommend such a practice, especially when it comes to in-company language courses. „In one group you can find someone who knows vocabulary but is scared of talking, someone who has not seen English for ten years, and then other three colleagues who use the language in e-mail communication on a daily basis. This discrepancy in expectations and knowledge of the students is sure to deprive all participants of their motivation to even show up in the course,“ warns Škurková.
HR professionals place emphasis on language skills
Despite the fact that universities mostly offer academic courses, many believe that the pressure coming from schools or students for practical usage is still to a certain extent greater. “We all have the opportunity to travel and students can also study abroad thanks to the Erasmus program, which helps them immensely with the practical application of their knowledge. In the past, languages were taught rather passively, by testing vocabulary and sentences learnt by heart. Not so much attention was paid to the ability to use the language in real life, but in my opinion it has changed and improved,“ adds Lada Serreli. According to the Eurostudent survey, students often count on going abroad. The number of trips has been slightly declining since 2014/2015, though.
But language skills may change lives in other ways than just by extending one’s knowledge of foreign cultures. School-leaving exams and language certificates are frequent motivation for students to acquire a better command of the language, but in general, the language proficiency is advantageous for academic as well as work reasons. “For instance, ignorance of English in any field today actually disqualifies a person from opportunities to study successfully and to grow professionally,“ says Štěpánek from the Centre for Language Education at Masaryk University, adding that being able to get engaged in a professional debate is crucial for students and graduates. And the situation on the labour market is alike.
As mentioned by ZKL’s chief human resources officer Lada Serreli, language literacy is of great importance for many companies. “Given the fact that our company exports its products worldwide, the ability to communicate in a foreign language for example in the business area is absolutely crucial for selecting a job candidate. And insufficient language skills are quite often the reason for rejecting candidates for such positions,“ explains Serreli. On top of that, according to the Lingua Centrum language school, many companies nowadays have been suspending their language courses due to economic reasons, which makes the language skills of their employees all the more valuable.
This article was provided by the PR company Lesensky.cz
