KERMA Mokhtar
Université d’Oran 2
Abstract
This paper examines the challenges and barriers that impede foreign languages students, as a workforce, to access the labour market in the Algerian context. It highlights the sociolinguistic and economic factors underlying the choice of language as a means of communication, which constitute the linguistic repertory of the speakers in a specific field of work. It deals with the relationship between acquired foreign languages and the labour market. The latter will be studied in more detail, between what is assumed and what is on the real ground.
Key words. Language, higher education, workforce, competitiveness, employability, sustainability.
Abstrait
Cet article examine les défis et les obstacles qui entravent les étudiants en langues étrangères, en tant que main-d’œuvre, à accéder au marché du travail dans le contexte algérien. Il souligne les facteurs sociolinguistiques et économiques qui sous-tendent le choix du langage comme moyen de communication, qui constituent le répertoire linguistique des locuteurs dans un domaine de travail spécifique. Il traite de la relation entre les langues étrangères acquises et le marché du travail. Ce dernier sera étudié plus en détail, entre ce qui est supposé et ce qui est sur le terrain réel.
Mots clés Langue, enseignement supérieur, main-d’œuvre, compétitivité, employabilité, durabilité.
Education is the most difficult and complex challenge facing countries all over the world. The burdensome and the exciting impact of quality education incited the stakeholders to undertake some systematic reforms to align with the new economic and social requirements. Education is an essential tool for maintaining social and economic stability. It determines the future of next generations, the evolution and harmonious balance of the Algerian society and conditions the economic, scientific and technological development of our country.
According to the ministry of higher education, by 2016, enrolment in higher education climbed to 1.613,000 with nearly 60,000 teachers. These huge numbers urge us to manage the human potentials and rationalize scientific talents to take advantage of the experience gained for the development of any society. So, is higher education actually equipping students, namely foreign languages students for the job market? (Williams, Cranmer and Guile, 2003) highlighted the efficiency of universities to yield qualified student with the necessary skills required by the national economy. Thus, high-performance workforce may give a boost to the competitiveness in today’s marketplace to produce wealth.
Public discussions were launched in recent years, and voices claimed that universities should adopt pragmatic policies with reference to the international labour market needs. The main purpose is to incorporate practical formulas within the designed programs and curricula. The research focusing on the relationship between higher education and employability may be seen as a tool providing a number of pertinent points which inform the decision makers and may be useful to those responsible for designing and underpinning curricula as they grapple with curricular challenges.
This article highlights the employment market impacts of foreign languages-related human capital. No one can deny the importance of empirical evidence on incomes and job effects of literacy as the ability to productively use written information. Besides, the globalization trends lead to an increased demand for foreign language proficiency to reduce search and information costs and overcome cultural barriers in the trade of services and goods and tourism. For international companies, destination language skills display both a requirement for and outcome of successful integration. Investments in destination language skills are highly rewarded by wage returns and higher employment probabilities and act as the medium of translation to lessen the problems of intelligibility.
Labour demands are shifting from “savoir-faire” to “savoir-être”, with a growing focus on “soft skills” or non-cognitive skills. Surveys indicate that companies around the world want to select employees with four key qualities: communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. It is therefore of particular relevance for teachers to be tuned in order to explore and accentuate the potential of their programs to develop students’ capabilities and equip them with smart strategies devised to add value and smartness to their experience. These graduates skilled workforce will assist economic competitiveness and bring a value added to the Algerian society.
Higher education is an essential tool for maintaining social and economic stability. Educational issues raised public awareness about education and training as key factors moving society toward sustainability. In response to excessive demand, we have to update and reissue the higher education philosophy to align with the international standards. The elaborated curriculum must be flexible and encompasses both academic and practical smartness. Such a trend necessitates new skills of lecturers and requiring different methods of assessment to cope with the students‘ needs and broadening their horizons.
Nowadays, the Algerian universities are called to identify opportunities to access ongoing support and resources and to develop statements of qualifications for teachers in the near future in order to bridge the educated human capital with the economic circles. Hence, decision makers should put forward sustainable development goals. Accordingly, the higher educational programs and curricula need to rethink pedagogic and assessment practices and to develop standards for teacher competence in student assessment and seek to reach out to develop innovative approaches and develop new assessment tools.
In order to ensure learning quality teachers should match assessment and grading criteria to relevant objectives and intended outcomes. The aim is to enable individuals to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to share with the others their how-know within a competitive climate. Students are supposed to acquire professional skills through a variety of developmentally appropriate strategies and practices. The core features employability skills that focused on the potential educational benefits based on students’ assessments and outcomes. The latter will be of sound interest to teachers new to the field as well as those who are already engaged in developing skills and competencies and who wish to strengthen the students‘ experiences. Teachers should be smart enough in choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions in order to engage students in effective learning experiences.
Higher education practices have significant implications for societies. It is vital to acquaint students with employability skills and specific training necessary for labour markets. Most issues concerning today’s workforce and higher education are generally linked to the lack of employability skills and low competitiveness.
The field of language and employability is well documented (Harvey, L, 2001; Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., & Marshall, S, 2008; Evans, N, 2001; Knight, P. T., & Yorke, M, 2003). No one can deny the importance of foreign languages in facilitating worldwide communication and transactions. The advent of modern technology and its worldwide diffusion, competitiveness and marketing skills quickened the integration of foreign languages within labour markets. Besides, it is difficult to manage any global organisation from a monolingual base effectively. Hence it is imperative for universities to rethink about new modes of teaching foreign languages and to elaborate innovative programmes to support students and maximise their achievements which may help them to get jobs in line and their abilities and acquired skills.
In fact, increasing employability implies improving the quality of learning, teaching and assessment (Knight, P, 2004). There is a comment trend that higher education promotes learner autonomy and foster self-management: “Employability skills are those basic skills necessary for getting, keeping, and doing well on a job” (Needleman, E, 1995). The initial step is to develop awareness within the higher education community and to arouse public opinion that educational reform is a necessity to achieve learning quality. If government officials and decision-makers are unaware of the critical linkage between higher education quality, reliable development and employability, all efforts are in vain and no target will be achieved.
People should realize that education plays a pivotal role in the implementation of national policies, social stability and economic sustainability. Such awareness forms the basic factors in reshaping the teaching-learning process to a new education era based on pragmatic premises, with reference to the labour market needs. The Algerian universities should follow the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework which is a reference instrument devised to support and promote the continuous improvement of the educational and training systems. Such a framework should contribute to the quality improvement of the learning environments and its impact on job market.
Languages are a vital component of the overall skills package – valued alongside the ability to communicate with colleagues and clients, team working and leadership skills. Employers tend to open up job opportunities for advanced foreign language skills that can be applied in a business context. Accordingly, learning and mastering a foreign language comes with advantages and benefits that enables graduate students to interact freely and acquire an insightful understanding of different customs and cultures.
Foreign languages graduates were supposed to acquire intercultural awareness. This ‘added value’ skill give graduates with languages the ability to work in a diverse team and understand other cultures. Graduates language skills are evaluated by employers because of the need to adapt to new surroundings which are generally associated with valuable international experience.
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