Interviews & Articles

2011

Quality Criteria for Language Trainers and In-house Training Providers: Interview with Sonja Malter
The internationalisation of business is increasingly putting the foreign language skills of employees to the test. Sonja Malter about the reference framework used by ERFA Wirtschaft Sprache, training measures for employees in the workplace as well as the practical application of language training.

Language Skills Crucial for Growth and Jobs: Interview with Kristina Cunningham
Kristina Cunningham, Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission. talked with LANGUAGES & BUSINESS about language strategies, language skills for SMEs and how the European Commission goes about promoting and supporting languages in business.

Business negotiations in the Middle East: Little knowledge of the other culture hinders communication: Interview with Ridha Mejri
Ridha Mejri, lecturer in Business English & Intercultural Management, is very familiar with Middle Eastern markets and is aware of the challenges which German and Arab business partners must overcome. LANGUAGES & BUSINESS talked to him about intercultural cooperation in the Arab world.

Communicating Internationally: Interview with Ian McMaster
Effective communication is not just about being able to speak or write a language; it also means being able to adapt to specific situations and countries. Ian McMaster, editor-in-chief of Business Spotlight magazine, and Steve Flinders of York Associates, present "Communicating Internationally in English" at this year's LANGUAGES & BUSINESS.

Language Learning with Training Videos: Interview with Russell Stannard
British academic Russell Stannard, an expert on ICT and language teaching, is renowned for the production of an extensive range of online videos that demonstrate how to apply technology in teaching. In an interview with Languages & Business he talks about the barriers to new technologies and tells us about his favourite language tool.

English as lingua franca? Promoting multilingualism and the value of languages
Although recent studies show that companies benefit from multilingualism and the intercultural skills of their collaborators, English is still often the lingua franca in business and working relations. Kathryn Board, Chief Executive at CILT, her colleagues are particularly keen to develop strategies which look at the full range of languages spoken by communities and to explore ways of building on the rich multilingualism which already exists.

2010