Languages mean Business

Brief description: A bilingual resource for use by and with school/college language students aged between 16-19 years, showing the practical applications of foreign languages skills in the workplace. The product might also be useful for adult learners. Copies have been provided to Careers Wales Information Officers, and presentations made to outline the career benefits that can accrue to those who possess the necessary language skills.

The DVD features:

• Profiles of selected multinational companies operating in Wales, showing the types of posts within the organisation requiring foreign language skills;
• Profiles of key employees within these organisations, including interviews and other video footage showing how employees' languages skills are used in the business environment both at home and abroad;
• Careers information and links to regularly updated websites;
• Information on inward-investors in Wales who have a need for MFL skills amongst their workforce.

How could the DVD be used, and by whom?
The resource is suitable for individual use on a pc, or for groups of young learners to use on networked computers. Alternatively, the DVD could be used in conjunction with a dataprojector by a teacher or careers officer to make a presentation to a group of students.

Time could be made either within the MFL curriculum or as part of learners' careers guidance to explore the material. However given that European citizenship and mobility of labour are such important issues for all EU countries, we feel that the material could also be used within Business Studies, or to enhance the European and global dimension of the post-16 curriculum. The Welsh Baccalaureate, which includes Wales and the World within its compulsory core, would also allow students to make use of the resource.

The project has received generous funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, with further sponsorship from

· BP
· Cardiff International Airport
· Wales Tourist Board
· Calsonic Kansei
· Robert Bosch UK