Start-up guide: Language training for your business

Samantha Ball
A business woman stood in front of a board of sticky notes, with others looking at the sticky notes.
Reading time: 4 minutes

As HR professionals, you understand the importance of equipping your workforce with the skills they need to thrive. One such critical skill is proficiency in business English. Implementing a corporate language training program can seem daunting, but with the right resources and a clear plan, you can set your organization on a path to success. Here’s a methodical guide to help you get started with resources to help you along the way.

Start-up guide: Language training for your business
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Step 1: Assess your needs

Before diving into language training, it’s essential to understand your organization’s specific needs. Consider the following:

  • Identify roles and skills: Determine which roles require strong English proficiency. Use tools like the GSE Job Profiles to map English skills to over 1300 roles.
  • Evaluate current proficiency: Use automated English language tests like Versant by ɫèAV to assess the current proficiency levels of your employees. This will help you identify gaps and tailor your training programs accordingly.

Step 2: Choose the right training solutions

Selecting the appropriate training solutions is crucial for the success of your language program. ɫèAV offers a variety of options to suit different needs:

  • Digital Language Tutor: For scalable, remote learning, consider Mondly by ɫèAV and its Digital Language Tutor. This platform uses AI-powered Conversation Partners to simulate corporate scenarios, enhancing listening and speaking skills in relevant business contexts.
  • Instructor-led courses: For more personalized learning, explore courses like Business Partner and Step Up. These programs focus on developing business English and soft skills through authentic business situations and teamwork exercises.

Step 3: Develop a comprehensive plan

A well-structured plan ensures that your language training program is effective and sustainable. Here’s how to get started:

  • Set clear objectives: Define what you aim to achieve with your language training program. Whether it’s improving customer service, enhancing internal communication, or supporting international business expansion, having clear goals will guide your efforts.
  • Create a curriculum: Use tools like the to create job-specific language profiles and design a curriculum that aligns with your objectives.
  • Integrate assessments: Regularly assess your employees’ progress using tools like Versant by ɫèAV. This will help you measure the effectiveness of your training and make necessary adjustments.

Step 4: Secure stakeholder buy-in

Gaining support from key stakeholders is critical for the success of your language training program. Here’s how to build a compelling case:

  • Highlight the Benefits: Use data to demonstrate the tangible benefits of language training, such as improved customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and enhanced employee engagement. Refer to resources like the Global English Proficiency Report for insights.
  • Calculate ROI: Use our business case template to calculate the potential return on investment (ROI) of your language training program. This will help you present a well-rounded argument to decision-makers.

Step 5: Implement and monitor

Once you have your plan and stakeholder support, it’s time to implement your language training program:

  • Launch the program: Roll out the training program across your organization. Ensure that employees understand the objectives and benefits of the training.
  • Monitor progress: Regularly track the progress of your employees using assessments and feedback. Use this data to make necessary adjustments and ensure continuous improvement.

Explore further

For additional insights, watch the webinar series 'The Power of Language Training and Assessment for Businesses.' This series is designed for HR innovators, talent acquisition and development professionals, people managers, and business leaders. It covers how integrating English language training and assessments into your talent strategy can power business success. The webinars feature exclusive product demos, real case studies, and the latest data and research, making them a must-watch to set your workforce up for success.

For more resources, explore our comprehensive collection of articles, reports and tools:

By following these steps and leveraging ɫèAV’s innovative solutions, you can empower your workforce with the language skills they need to excel in today’s global business environment. Start your corporate language training journey today and unlock the full potential of your organization.

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    Myth #2: It replaces learning in the classroom

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    Myth #3: It can’t be incorporated into classroom learning

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    Myth #4:You can't learn in the workplace

    Online language learning is ideally suited to the workplace and we must create the need to use the language and opportunities to practise it. A job offers one of the most effective learning environments: where communication is key and you’re frequently exposed to specialized vocabulary. Online language learning tools can flexibly support your busy schedule.

    Myth #5: Online language learning is impersonal and isolating

    A common misconception is that online language learning is a solitary journey, lacking the personal connection and support found in traditional classrooms. In reality, today’s digital platforms are designed to foster community and real interaction. With features like live virtual classrooms, discussion forums and instant feedback, learners can connect with peers and educators around the world, building skills together.

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    Is game-based learning technology a waste of time?

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    We feel that game-based learning (GBL) is a waste of time… if not properly understood. Even then, one could argue that "wasting time" is a vital part of learning and perhaps we need to stop insisting that every second counts.

    Game-based learning vs. Gamification: Understanding the difference

    Let’s begin by first addressing the term "game-based learning" and how it compares to its doppelgänger, gamification. Gamification is the application of game mechanics and dynamics to non-game contexts to solve problems, engage users and promote desired behaviours. For example, rewarding acheivements with points, awards or badges for achievement, levelling up, using avatars, quests and collaboration are all gamification features, which elevate games above the mundane activities of normal life.

    The principles of gamification have been applied to the retail and services sectors for years: think of airlines' frequent flyers programs, pubs and bars running "happy hours" promotions, WeightWatchers' points-counting, Foursquare's badges for visiting new places. There are hundreds of examples of where game dynamics have been introduced into non-game contexts to influence behaviour and bring about a desired result.

    Game-based learning in action: More than just play

    Gamification does not refer to the straightforward use of games (whether digital or otherwise) as part of a teaching or learning interaction. A teacher using the board game Monopoly in the classroom to demonstrate the idea of rent is not gamifying the learning environment; they are involving learners in game-based learning. GBL refers to the use of games as tools: as devices for opening discussion, presenting concepts or promoting learner engagement within clearly defined learning objectives, in other words, learning through playing games. Gamification is the appropriation of those principles, mechanics and dynamics that make games work in order to promote engagement or engender a desired outcome.

    Teachers have long introduced games into the learning environment – such as Kim’s Game, Pelmanism and Guess Who? – and the uptake of GBL with digital games is particularly well demonstrated by the work being done by the Institute of Play, and the growing popularity of the likes of Minecraft and SimCity in schools. In terms of our immediate ELT context, pretty much any video game can be repurposed for language learning, in the same way a text, song or website can be. Take, for example, the indie game . Although there is no actual spoken language in the game, the platform puzzle format lends itself perfectly to practising language around predictions or conditionals ("If I pull that lever, the door will open"), recounting events ("I was chased by a giant spider!"), strategising and so on. In this post, we will be referring to existing digital games that have been appropriated into a learning context, as opposed to games that have been designed with a specific educational use in mind.

    Sharma and Barrett’s definition of blended learning provides a useful context for approaching the use of digital games in such modalities, notably the combination of “a face-to-face classroom component with an appropriate use of technology”. We’re making no assumptions about whether the games are being accessed in the classroom, on mobile or online at home. The blend isn’t defined by where a learner is, but by how their use of technology supports and enhances their contact with the teacher.

    The notion of appropriateness in Sharma and Barrett’s definition is critical as, in the case of a GBL project, it assumes a teacher has a familiarity with both the tech and content accessibility of a selected game. Acquiring that level of familiarity with a game requires a certain amount of time engaging with it to determine its fit for the needs of the learners, an activity which might easily be considered off task when compared to the other demands being made on an educator’s schedule.

    How GBL fuels engagement and deeper learning

    The benefits of GBL with digital games are potentially quite profound, however. First, studies indicate that playing video games in general can stimulate the generation of neurons and enhance connectivity between the regions of the brain responsible for memory formation, spatial orientation and strategic thinking. The right pairing of game and learning objectives could be argued to promote situated cognition, a theory that knowledge is constructed through – and inseparable from – social interactions and the context in which they take place. A learner immersed in SimCity stands a much greater chance of understanding the principles of taxation and the provision of public services through playing the role of a mayor, for example, than a learner being walked through the annual budget. As Lim et al. state: “games are effective because learning takes place within a meaningful context where what must be learned is directly related to the environment in which learning and demonstration take place”.

    Early-stage research on mirror neurons is adding a new aspect to the discussion around the immediacy of playing games. In short, mirror neurons suggest that when we observe someone performing an action, there is a brief moment in which our brain cells fire as if we are carrying out that action ourselves. The boundary between observer (player) and observed (in-game character) becomes blurred for a split second. A lot can happen in that split second.

    In addition to the benefits of an immersive, neuron-stroking experience, games demonstrably promote learner engagement by introducing the F-bomb into the mix (fun). They also have the capacity to provide an unrivalled social experience, as in the case of MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing games). As an example, consider how a leading MMORPG game, World of Warcraft, is applied in learning environments.

    Addressing concerns and embracing change

    However, there are often deep-seated cultural aversions to the use of games in an educational context that GBL initiatives are required to overcome. Critics have said that digital games are anti-social, that they rot your attention span, that they are not legitimate, validated learning resources. Although there is not yet a body of research that can empirically confirm or debunk the effectiveness of games used for learning, surely watching a learner plan, execute and evaluate a project in Minecraft with classmates suggests that those objections are based on dated assumptions. The language learning space in particular is still very much attached to a coursebook paradigm that is predicated on levels and a clearly defined syllabus. Perhaps GBL is too much at odds with an established business model that is the bedrock of too many large education organisations.

    So is GBL a waste of time? We’d argue that it is when its potential is not properly recognised and it is treated as light relief. Games are dynamic, engaging resources capable of delivering experiences and drawing connections that can really ignite a student’s learning experience. Furthermore, they bring a playful and unpredictable aspect to the learning process.