Language Research Directions and Possibilities: How Can It Help?
Part I of II
Based on a presentation by Drs. Gail Forey and Jane Lockwood
Presented at Talking Across the World
February 24, 2006

The purpose of this study is to develop an agenda for language research and development in the IT-Enabled Services Industry and discover areas of possible research. The present study, a work in progress, will be discussed, along with the generic structure of language and communication in the industry. In addition, problems and the causes of communication breakdowns will be tackled, with suggestions on how to prevent these breakdowns from occurring.

What Do We Know?

It’s common knowledge that high levels of English proficiency are required by the ITES industry. Current language audits indicate that requirements vary across different kinds of accounts; financial accounts that deal with educated customers and complex information and processes require higher levels than the routine query-style accounts.

Hard facts also need to be accepted: the Philippines is a non-English-speaking country. Despite claims of 93 percent literacy, National Achievement Test results this year showed only 6.59 percent have English levels good enough for college entrance.

This, in turn, translates into a lack of graduates qualified to take on ITES jobs. The industry is already being affected, as the current hiring rate among call centers has dipped below 1 percent of all applicants.

What Do We Need?

Language benchmarks for the industry are first. Standards need to be set for the following: inbound-outbound differentiation, email support, and middle and senior management work. These standards have to cover oral and written communication, with varying requirements depending on the complexity of the jobs the industry offers.

Valid and reliable language assessments are also required. They should be relevant to the purpose, and this is achieved through the selection of criteria and assessment tasks. As mentioned above, different jobs have different requirements, and the assessment tools need to measure the right language competencies. These tools should also be replicable for easy application throughout the industry.

Training programs should be based on research, analyzing the language used and needed in different transactions. This way, the programs can be flexible enough to adapt to industry requirements.

Lastly, qualified English language workplace trainers are the cornerstone on which everything mentioned above rests. Language training for the ITES industry involves training adults, and trainers should be familiar with the way adults learn and how language is learned.

Myths about Language

Please read the following statements:

- Language competency is the sum of discrete points of grammar, and in the case of English, speaking with a Western accent.
- Knowledge of language is the same as the ability to use language in a meaningful way.
- Gains in language competency can be seen as the result of short programs lasting 20 hours or less.
- Valid and reliable speaking and writing testing can be achieved without people to assess these skills.

The above statements are all myths about language and learning it. A language framework for the ITES industry needs the following aspects:

- Interactive ability. This means the ability to build customer relationships through functional language use.
- Discourse capability. This is the ability to explain processes or product information clearly and coherently.
- Language accuracy and range. This is the ability to use language at an acceptable level of accuracy and to choose from a range of grammar and vocabulary.
- Pronunciation. Rather than having a Western accent, this means being able to make understanding clear through the articulation of vowels and consonants, and to make meaning clear through word stress and intonation.
- Intercultural awareness. This is the ability to understand the expectations and motivation of the customer and goes above and beyond knowledge of cultural facts.

What Does Training Need?

The ITES industry has an urgent need to develop tailor-made training curricula based on the following:

Authentic data—spoken or written texts from the industry itself; improved knowledge of competency requirements in the workplace; and research-based analysis of authentic data. These three requirements gather information from the industry, and provide a clear picture of what the industry needs by way of training programs.

Development of training curricula and the development of material based on research ensure training programs that will address industry needs. Constant research and applying this new information to the curricula keep them up-do-date.

Appropriately-trained English language specialists are key; their awareness of industry requirements and the adult language-learning process will make sure that the training curricula are taught in a way that maximizes learning efficiently and thoroughly.

How Can Applied Linguistics Help?

Applied linguistics offers several avenues to investigate when it comes to developing training curricula for the ITES industry. Linguists can study intercultural and cross-cultural knowledge, and by comparing the differences in cultures, language training can compensate for these differences and easily-understood training programs can be administered.

Teaching through discourse analysis teaches trainees to examine complete texts rather than discrete grammatical and lexical features, for example. Focusing on certain aspects, on the other hand, trains people in learning how crucial word and grammar choices are in creating meaning.

Studying the breakdown of communication, its causes and showing how they can be prevented or remedied, is also a worthy avenue to explore.

Corpus linguistics is equally valuable; it studies grammatical and word-choice patterns specific to the ITES industry, as well as the jargon employed by the people in it.

The development of English Language Training curricula and their accompanying evaluation processes observes where these programs succeed and where they fail, as well as the conventions that go into their development.

Teacher education for language communication in the ITES industry is no less important; studying how the trainers and teachers are taught how to pass their expertise on will yield valuable information that can improve the way they will be trained in the future.

Lastly, quality assurance measures and assessment methods need closer examination, to see if they measure the skills appropriate to their specific sub-sectors within the ITES industry. The development of benchmarks and assessment tools is crucial to the growth of the industry’s training programs, and also require some studying.