Abstract
Teaching has always been an ethical profession (Fisher, 2013;Campbell, 2000), and given the globalised world we are living in and the highly globalised labour market, instructors ' mission is no longer to prepare students for local jobs only, but for international jobs as well. Therefore, the subjects taught in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) should not only prepare students for using specialised knowledge (hard skills) in specific professional contexts, but they should also instil values and virtues - those soft skills that are also essential on the (international) labour market. Consequently, ethical communication (which heavily relies on values and virtues) has become a pillar (Monteiro, et al., 2018) in higher education studies, as it plays an outstanding role in the teaching process and in making sure that students - as future young graduates - have a strong work ethic. As such, our article focuses on how ESP courses taught at the Faculty of European Studies within Babes-Bolyai University (Romania) can help students acquire not only the specialised vocabulary in English necessary for their field of study, but also the values and virtues required for an appropriate work ethic and the ability to put themselves in other people 's shoes when faced with an ethical dilemma to make sure that their solution maximizes the benefits of everyone involved.
Highlights
Education plays an outstanding role in both the personal and professional development of individuals, that is why different types of investments should be made in this field
Financial investments are obviously highly important in higher education institutions (HEI); money is not the only element that is essential in making sure that the educational process is carried out smoothly and successfully: values and virtues should be transmitted/taught to students to make sure that they acquire the hard skills and specialised knowledge necessary for their specific field of study, and the soft skills that are essential on the labour market
The purpose of this article is to show that values and virtues can be acquired in early adulthood as well, that ethical communication relies on having/acquiring such values and virtues, and that they are extremely important to prepare graduates for the labour market, to help them build an appropriate work ethic, to support them in making appropriate decisions when faced with ethical dilemmas, all through an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course taught at the Faculty of European Studies within Babeș-Bolyai University
Summary
Education plays an outstanding role in both the personal and professional development of individuals, that is why different types of investments should be made in this field. Financial investments are obviously highly important in higher education institutions (HEI); money is not the only element that is essential in making sure that the educational process is carried out smoothly and successfully: values and virtues (and, ethical communication) should be transmitted/taught to students to make sure that they acquire the hard skills and specialised knowledge necessary for their specific field of study, and the soft skills that are essential on the (highly international) labour market This pandemic and the last year and a half have shown us how fragile human connections can be and how important interpersonal relations and soft skills are for keeping in touch with colleagues, co-workers, or business collaborators. It is highly important that attention be given to interpersonal relations and those soft skills that can recreate the lost networks and (re)shape the workplace – whether physical or virtual –, among which adaptability, empathy, (work) ethic, cooperativeness, and responsibility
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