The Importance of Foreign Language Skills in the Labour Markets of Central and Eastern Europe: An assessment based on data from online job portals. CEPS Special Report No. 129/January 2016

In a globalised world, knowledge of foreign languages is an important skill. Especially in Europe, with its 24 official languages and its countless regional and minority languages, foreign language skills are a key asset in the labour market. Earlier research shows that over half of the EU27 population is able to speak at least one foreign language, but there is substantial national variation. This study is devoted to a group of countries known as the Visegrad Four, which comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Although the supply of foreign language skills in these countries appears to be well-documented, less is known about the demand side. In this study, we therefore examine the demand for foreign language skills on the Visegrad labour markets, using information extracted from online job portals. We find that English is the most requested foreign language in the region, and the demand for English language skills appears to go up as occupations become increasingly complex. Despite the cultural, historical and economic ties with their German-speaking neighbours, German is the second-most-in-demand foreign language in the region. Interestingly, in this case there is no clear link with the complexity of an occupation. Other languages, such as French, Spanish and Russian, are hardly requested. These findings have important policy implications with regards to the education and training offered in schools, universities and job centres.

Vocational opportunities for foreign language students ...

"This bulletin is a revision of the one prepared in 1941 by Wm. L. Schwartz, Lawrence A. Wilkins and Arthur G. Bovée."--Pref.

Guide to spoken-word recordings : foreign-language instruction and literature.

Includes indexes.

Guide to spoken-word recordings : foreign language literature and instruction.

Mode of access: Internet.

University of Illinois modern foreign language newsletter.

Description based on: Vol. 18, no. 1 (Oct. 1964); title from caption.

References for teachers of English as a foreign language: a bibliography /

Mode of access: Internet.

Foreign language courses : produced by the federal government.

Includes index.

Chicago foreign language press survey [microform] : Norwegian.

The survey was published in 1942 by the Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project of the Works Projects Administration of Illinois. The purpose of the project was to translate and classify selected news articles that appeared in the foreign language press from 1855 to 1938. The project consists of 120,000 typewritten pages translated from newspapers of 22 different foreign language communities in Chicago.

Articulation diagrams of English vowels and English consonants (especially for teachers of English as a foreign language)

Mode of access: Internet.

Foreign language publications in the United States; newspaper lists compiled January 1956.

Caption title.

Foreign language competence in the Foreign Service.

Mode of access: Internet.

Language learning strategies

Fil: Jalo, Marcela Lilian. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

On componential analysis as a valid pedagogic tool for vocabulary instruction in foreign language teaching

Fil: Porto, Melina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación; Argentina.

A sociocultural analysis of language learning: New forms of literacy practices in a language and culture awareness programme

This paper reports on a sociocultural study conducted in a Catholic primary school in the Australian outback and provides insights into how policy related to Languages Other Than English (LOTE) programmes is implemented in a specific location and interwoven within the literacy practices of children, parents and teachers. A case study that tracked a Year Four student's learning and development during a Language and Culture Awareness Programme is discussed within a discourse of cultural and linguistic practices. Significant aspects of the student's learning related to a phenomenon called multi-tiered scaffolding temporarily disrupted the established literacy practices in the school community. Implications of the research for second-language teaching and learning in Australian primary schools are elaborated.