Mind your language training

Abstract

PurposeGlobalisation has made English today's international business language. This article aims to explore what this means for suppliers of English language training – and how corporate buyers of this training can get value for money from them.Design/methodology/approachThe article outlines research by goFLUENT – a leading provider of Business English training.FindingsCompanies are looking for employees who can perform well in today's multi‐cultural, multi‐lingual business environment. For those speaking another language there will be more job opportunities, higher pay and faster careers. Increasingly, companies require or give higher priority to employees who speak a second or even a third language – and that is making language learning essential to one's professional growth.Practical implicationsBecause of the variety of products and services available, it is helpful for suppliers to respond to companies' RFP requirements in free form and through their own company brochures and materials. However, in order for respondents to understand these companies' scoring systems ‐ and for suppliers to be able to make equivalent comparisons across criteria – suppliers should ask them to answer specific questions.Social implicationsOnly 400 million or so of the world's seven billion people speak English as their native tongue but, currently, it is the Chinese who are learning English. Despite the rise of India and China as global economic powers, over two billion people speak English in these countries alone ‐ and the demand for English speakers continues to grow. With emerging markets, there is an appreciable influx of speakers of Mandarin, Hindi, Spanish and Portuguese but, for these people to work on an international scale, proficiency in English is the inevitable standard.Originality/valueThis article focuses on a theme for which there is currently little information of any real substance.