I consider myself less of a research and more of practice person. Finding myself in this talk looked like a bad idea at the time. Why would I want to know about some research teachers at the English department at IBS conducted? I usually stay clear from these talks because they very rarely seem to have anything to do with the reality of the classroom.
International Business School (IBS) has been a trend-setting institution ever since its foundation in the late 1990’s. It has become a well-respected international hub for business students who are in search of practical skills and knowledge for the workplace rather than the far-fetched irrelevance of mainstream “academia”. One of the unique features of IBS is in its practicality; this is why the research they have conducted is so important and relevant.
The idiosyncratic way IBS organises student placement for their work experience with leading international businesses based in Hungary, offers them a great opportunity to build toward and respond to the specific needs of students and the businesses.
Having conducted this questionnaire-based study about the usefulness and preparation as well as personal and professional aptitude of their students, the teacher-researchers have identified ways in which the content and methodology of their English courses should or could be re-designed to make them more relevant for the employers and the students, and keep their competitive advantage, and go on offering courses that make their students a suitable fit for real businesses.
The language-, communication-, and interpersonal (soft) skills of the interns were studied with 53 questions, 100 companies were contacted and 32 returned the completed questionnaires.
Some of the key conclusions from the survey:
- key employment skills sought after by employers: oral and written skills and additional foreign languages (apart from English)
- excellent communications skills have to be coupled with high-level content knowledge
- tailor curriculum to the needs of the companies
- close cooperation between subject matter departments and the language department
- It was also reported that students’ Hungarian language written and presentation skills are somewhat weaker than in English which puts them at a disadvantage,
I will be very interested to find out about the consequences of this survey and the changes in the IBS curriculum and their impact of the students’ success on their internships.
I believe that research of this kind is essential and it’s good to see that an institution like IBS makes so much effort to improve the quality and content of their courses to remain relevant for their students and their prospective employers.
What do you think of the role of action research in everyday educational work? Have you ever taken part in any and how has it influenced your (or your institution’s) educational or organisational activities?
By Tamás Lőrincz
IATEFL-Hungary blog 