Transferable Skills for the 21st Century. Preparing Students for the Workplace through World Languages for Specific Purposes ed. by Carmen King Ramirez and Barbara A. Lafford

Abstract

Reviewed by: Transferable Skills for the 21st Century. Preparing Students for the Workplace through World Languages for Specific Purposes ed. by Carmen King Ramirez and Barbara A. Lafford Lourdes Sánchez-López King Ramirez, Carmen, and Barbara A. Lafford, editors. Transferable Skills for the 21st Century. Preparing Students for the Workplace through World Languages for Specific Purposes. Sabio Books, 2019. Pp. 352. ISBN 978-0-578-45809-0 Transferable Skills for the 21st Century. Preparing Students for the Workplace through World Languages for Specific Purposes is a groundbreaking edited volume in the Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) field for three reasons. First, the editors propose a new definition and name (World Languages for Specific Purposes) of LSP in the context of the United States. The broader definition incorporates a “more inclusive vision” of LSP’s identity, goals, and objectives which “distinguishes WLSP from traditional concepts of LSP” (p. 4). The editors recognize important differences and global implications between teaching English as a second or foreign language in the United States and abroad vs. teaching other world languages as a second or foreign language in the United States. By doing so, the proposed name and redefinition aim at creating a new space for a growing number of world languages studied in the United States. Second, the volume advocates for incorporating in the WLSP curricula the development of four specific transferable or soft skills (critical thinking, adaptability, intercultural competence, and collaboration) that students can bring to the 21st century workplace with them. Third, the volume stands out among other WLSP resources in that it is conceived and presented as a professional development tool or graduate course textbook with practical application. [End Page 318] Transferable Skills for the 21st Century contains four sections, each section highlighting a specific marketable workplace skill (critical thinking, adaptability, intercultural competence, and collaboration) that is developed through WLSP education. In turn, each section contains two chapters written by different WLSP scholars in a variety of domains and languages. These eight chapters are presented through case studies demonstrating how transferable skills can be developed in WLSP courses/programs, including community-based learning (CBL) experiences. Each of the four sections is led by a heavily researched introduction with an overview of the specific skill highlighted in that section, an explanation of its relevance in today’s professional world, a list of cited references, and a set of guiding tasks and questions designed to navigate and help the reader through the section’s content and its application (in a similar way as Constructivism does). In addition, the volume is bookended by comprehensively researched introductory and concluding (“Afterword”) chapters. The first section, “Critical Thinking,” contains two contributions. The first chapter by Anne Abbot and Rejane Dias (“Community-based Learning for Critical Career Exploration and Professional Skill Building”) presents a case for the important role of CBL throughout the WLSP curriculum as a critical space for the development of students’ professional skills and career exploration before graduation. The second chapter, “Speak Easy: A Case Study in Business Language Entrepreneurship” by William B. Fisher, discusses the establishment of a profit-making, student-run business in an advanced business German course where students experiment with entrepreneurship by engaging in critical-thinking and problem solving in the target language. The second section (“Adaptability”) contains chapters from Michael S. Doyle (“Extending Models for Adapting Business Language Context: Business Spanish at the United States Air Force Academy”) and Bruna Sommer Farias (“Portuguese for Business: Aligning Classroom Tasks with Workforce Expectations”). Through a case study, Doyle offers a proposal to adapt a regular Business Spanish course to “unique social contexts” such as the United States Air Force Academy focusing on developing students’ leadership skills. Based on empirical research, Farias discusses the different types of tasks performed by professionals involved in US-Brazil business relations and their role in the WLSP curriculum. In the third section, “Intercultural Competence,” Félix S. Vázquez (“Case-based Pedagogy to Develop World-Readiness Skills for Business”) discusses the use of case-based instruction as a means to facilitate the attainment of ACTFL’s World-Readiness Standards, intercultural competence, and critical and interpersonal skills. Haidan Wang (“Improving Literacy for Chinese L2 Professionals: Cultural...