British Council launches 'English for the Workplace' initiative for the Middle East

The 'English for the Workplace' Symposium will be held on 12th to 13th December 2007 in Manama, Bahrain, and will address some of the needs of the Gulf countries' nationalisation agendas, as English is one of the key components.

The UAE delegation to the symposium comprises prominent, senior representatives from some of the leading UAE education institutions and private sector organisations, including Education Zones and universities.

Looking ahead to the symposium, UAE participant, Dr Thani Al-Mehairi, Professional Development Manager at Abu Dhabi Education Council, said:
'The 'English for the Workplace' symposium comes at a very important time, since many of the GCC countries are moving into a vast era of economic and technological revolution, in many aspects. The expansion of specialized economic cities and the increased number of e-government initiatives in all GCC countries demands improving English in the workplace. Today, we cannot improve the quality of production without improving the quality of English in the workplace, since the two are required for keeping up our economic development at higher levels of performance. English for the workplace is a must and a path that we need to improve if we want to lead and manage our economic and technological initiatives.'

The symposium will bring together private and government sector senior policy makers and decision takers from across the region to discuss key issues with a range of international experts from countries such as the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UK.

Keynote speaker at the symposium, David Graddol - applied linguist, writer, broadcaster and researcher/author of the ground-breaking 'English Next' report commissioned by the British Council - will lead two sessions on 'how global English is changing the world of work', and the 'critical factors involved in creating a bilingual workforce'.

David Graddol commented: 'The first years of the 21st century have witnessed a dramatic shift in the place of English in both the educational world and the global economy. English is now treated as a basic skill rather than a foreign language, as something which is no longer taught as an end itself, but as a means of acquiring future knowledge and skills.

'We are entering a phase of global English which will shape future identities, economies and cultures. The way this stage is managed could determine the future of several generations.'

An important outcome of the symposium will be for employers to address the English language needs of their employees, and to work more closely with the education sector in delivering training.

Anne Wiseman, British Council Regional English Manager said: 'The importance of English as a basic skill for the international workplace cannot be underestimated. It drives economic development in today's global business community, but is sadly often a much neglected area.

'The English for the Workplace symposium aims to identify areas of common concern and work out collective solutions. By bringing together these influential individuals from education and industry we have taken the first step in a journey to create a new network of key people in the Middle East who can work together to address the English language needs for the workplace in the future. The issues the symposium addresses go right to the heart of the education reform and nationalisation agendas of Governments in countries across the Middle East.'

Expected outcomes of the 'English for the Workplace' symposium are an agreement between the employers and educators regarding the English language needs of employees and a draft set of policies and action plans to reflect these; Regional partnerships and networks to take forward 'English for the Workplace' recommendations; A symposium publication which will include summaries of papers presented by 'English for the Workplace' specialists; Follow-on seminars, which will focus on the outcome of collaboration and research carried out as a result of this symposium.