The modern workplace relies on good English language skills. English has become an essential skill used in international business, commerce and manufacturing, as well as politics, education, science and many other areas.
The big challenge for many employers is how they ensure their workforce have the correct English skills at the right level. Achieving this will help develop a workforce who can communicate confidently not just with colleagues, but also with customers, suppliers and other important clients.
It’s all about communication
Employers want teams who can communicate in a whole range of business scenarios such as:
- welcoming visitors to the head office
- discussing customers’ orders over the phone
- negotiating with suppliers by email
- checking the details of contracts with the legal team
- delivering presentations to the Board
- speaking to customers and clients face to face
These are very different tasks, but all have one thing in common – they are about real-life communication skills. In fact the ability to interact with people in real-life situations involves a combination of different skills. That’s why Linguaskill covers the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing. And it’s why we offer Linguaskill Business, which focusses on the kind of language used in business communication.
Mix and match
Of course, different jobs need different skills, and this is true when it comes to English language ability. For example, a call handler needs to understand and speak English fluently, but might need only very basic writing skills. Whereas an analyst needs to be able to read and understand complex technical documents, but might not need a high level of conversational skills.
Linguaskill gives employers and test takers the choice. It’s a modular test that allows you to test all four skills, or choose any combination of the three modules:
- Reading and Listening
- Speaking
- Writing
This means that you can set the same combination of tests for all of your teams or mix and match the skills.
Never standing still
English is an important part of professional development programmes all over the world, both for employers and individuals. Good English language skills help to improve a company’s competitivity and helping staff to improve their skills can be a great motivator. For this reason when developing English language training programmes, it’s important for companies to set clear goals, and objectives, and to make sure that the training is actually relevant to your company and the trainees.
Again this is where Linguaskill can be a huge advantage as it covers all the levels of the CEFR which helps to show clear progression. It helps focus attention on the way language is used in business and the skills colleagues really need for work.
It’s also great for boosting colleagues’ confidence. We asked test takers from all over the world about their experience of taking Linguaskill and 84% said that it made them feel confident about using English at work. Other research which we have carried out in Japan confirms that preparing for Linguaskill has a positive impact on overall language skills.
Linguaskill can help!
Linguaskill is a quick and convenient online test to help organisations check the English levels of individuals and groups of candidates, powered by Artificial Intelligence technology. It tests all four language skills - speaking, writing, reading and listening - in modules.
One million Linguaskill English tests have been taken around the world since À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ launched the test in 2018.
Find out more about using Linguaskill in your organisation.