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The purpose of this research is to assess the place of language skills in the international orientation of decision‐makers of successfully internationalised SMEs. The position of language skills in this area of literature and policy is problematic and a new paradigm is proposed.

This paper considers findings from an empirical project using both quantitative and qualitative methods, first, a 1,200 company telephone survey and second, an 80 company batch of face‐to‐face interviews.

Strong international orientation seems indeed to be a determinant of success in international trade. The decision‐makers of the successful companies were notably more likely to have foreign language skills than those in the other groups and were also the only group to include self‐reported skills at the highest level. However, comparison of the countries in which the firms were dealing with the languages in which decision‐makers claimed skills shows very clearly that the decision‐makers of the “successful” international companies were often not using their foreign language skills in business. In addition, these decision‐makers also possessed better attitudes towards foreign experience and other elements of international orientation.

The paper discusses the implications of the findings for policy‐makers responsible for training and trainers themselves. The evidence supports the view that government subsidies focusing on language training might be better directed at a more varied range of activities to develop international orientation.

The article contributes to the development of qualitative research in this area in examining the foreign language use of decision‐makers in successful international SMEs and locating this within their broader international orientation. It posits that language skills make an indirect contribution to overall international business success which is more valuable than their direct contribution to improved communication with specific foreign clients and markets.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of African American children’s oral language skills with the intention of building the understanding of how these skills translate to classroom contexts. The chapter also summarizes the goals of the Common Core that are specifically related to speaking and listening and describes how African American children might meet these goals.

Given the persistent receptive skills challenges faced by language learners and the numerous merits of using technologically-enhanced learning in the form of mobile-assisted language learning in language teaching, this study decides to incorporate a context-analysis-practice-exploration lesson-planning framework with mobile learning to improve the receptive skills of learners. This step is necessary on the recommendation by scholarly research that while implementing technology, teacher training, digital literacy and expertise, incorporating good teaching practices and lesson planning frameworks may assist in yielding positive results.

This study decides to utilize a mixed-method research design through an experimental approach to elicit information from 90 EFL students concerning the effectiveness of incorporating the context-analysis-practice-exploration framework in a mobile-leaning mode instructional delivery to improve their reading and listening skills.

After collecting and analyzing data, the study found that while the participants perceived enhanced-mobile learning to make lessons enjoyable, integrating this framework and m-learning improved their reading skills. This study used notable findings to make pedagogical conclusions on the objective of this study.

This study contributes through empirical evidence on the effectiveness of incorporating mobile learning and a responsive lesson planning framework towards improving English as a foreign language learners' learning outcome. Besides, this study is the first to probe and unpack the effectiveness of a responsive lesson-planning framework in language education.

Literature is replete with studies indicating the need to develop students’ language skills; however, little research has emphasized the importance of language proficiency in enhancing learning or performance in specific content-area courses. This study investigates whether a student’s English language proficiency can be associated with her performance in specific cognitive skills (knowledge, comprehension, application, and analysis) in an introductory accounting course. Data is summarized from students’ performance on their first financial accounting examination as well as from students’ academic history records as maintained by the university. A correlation analysis of the cognitive skills score with student language proficiency is used to identify initial relationships; and multiple regression analysis is subsequently used to identify interrelations between combined multiple dependent variables and the language proficiency variables. While the results show no association between TOEFL and overall performance, the mean of the English composition courses do show a significant association with knowledge and comprehension cognitive skills scores on the first financial accounting course. No associations are attached to the application and analysis cognitive skills. The results are meaningful to faculty in balancing language proficiency with quality instruction in content-area courses.

In an ever-interconnected world dominated by discourses on the internationalization and marketization of higher education, concerns related to language and employability have been the focus of recent debates. There is, however, a dearth of research investigating how these dimensions relate to one another in recent comparative and international higher education research. By focusing on how issues related to language and employability have been presented in recent higher education research worldwide, this chapter aims to contribute to our understanding of this concern. To achieve this goal, we conducted a scoping literature review using the Web of Science, Scopus, and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) databases, considering the years 2011–2020. The findings, perhaps not surprisingly, suggested that language skills are perceived to be valued by both graduates and employers though the discussions predominantly focused on one language, English. The research focus on English for employability in Anglophone contexts is understandable. However, the fact that the trend is observed in contexts where the language is not the primary or official language seems to indicate the influence of internationalization of higher education and global labor markets primarily dominated by English. The literature also suggested that (English) language training in higher education programs needs to move from solely linguistic and qualification-related content areas to a broader sphere of English for communication purposes that cover both specialized disciplinary content and broader generic employability skills. Considering this finding, we suggest that higher education systems and institutions incorporate recent developments in English for occupational purposes in their curriculum. We also recommend that there needs to be a shift from the overwhelmingly English language-dominated discussions to more inclusive research that assesses the impact of other dominant languages on employability-related concerns.

The world revolves around sound. Children who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) lack access to sound, thus need careful monitoring and planning to ensure they have access to adequate language models and supports to develop a strong language foundation. It is this foundation that is needed to ensure D/HH children are able to achieve developmental and academic milestones. Research is emerging to suggest specific intervention strategies that can be used to support D/HH children from birth throughout their educational career. In this chapter, we highlight several strategies that can be used to support communication, language, academic, and social/emotional growth. We freely admit that this is in no way a comprehensive and exhaustive list, but rather only scratches the surface. The field of deaf education and related research and technology is constantly changing. To ensure adequate educational access, it is highly recommended that a professional specialized in hearing loss be a part of the educational team any time a child is identified as having any degree or type of hearing loss.

Illustrates the rising significance of foreign‐language training with respect to employment opportunities in commerce and industry. Draws on a wide‐ranging and diverse base of literature in order to indicate the value of learning a foreign language, the manner in which such training can be utilized and several other fundamental considerations relating to language and employment. Issues analysed include: the linkage of linguistic with other skills, which students are likely to benefit the most from language training, the impact of various levels of proficiency, language for business as opposed to general language training and the cultural element in terms of career prospects. Makes objective and subjective evaluations as to the significance of these various issues with the aim of assisting students, employees and educational institutions in assessing the benefits and costs, advantages and shortcomings of different types and levels of language education.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship between skills in the Estonian, Russian and English language, and labour market outcomes in Estonia, a linguistically divided country.

The authors use the Estonian Labour Force Surveys 1992–2012. The authors rely on multivariate linear regression models to document the relationship between language skills and labour market outcomes.

Estonian language knowledge (for ethnic Russians) are important determinants of unemployment. Wage, in contrary, is closely related to English skills. Ethnic Russian men do not earn any premium from speaking Estonian, while women, fluent in Estonian earn approximately 10 per cent more. For ethnic Estonians, Russian fluency is associated with a similar income gain.

Due to the observational nature of the data, the effects reported in this study are not causal effects. As a second limitation, the self-reported language skills data may be imprecise and hence the effects the authors report may be too small.

The results stress the role of workplace segregation, both along gender and ethnic lines, in determining the individual labour market experience.

The authors provide a comprehensive overview of the effects of language skills in a rapidly developing labour market in a linguistically divided economy. The authors analyse several languages with different legal status and document long-term trends in the effects.

Research advocates for the use of good teaching practices and approaches while integrating technology in digitally enhanced learning. This is on the premise that previous studies on mobile learning have neglected this aspect of technology integration resulting in numerous challenges. Moreover, there is evidence in the literature showing a scarcity of studies on the use of mobile learning in teaching productive skills. On the other hand, linguists recommend the use of responsive lesson design frameworks in language teaching, claiming effectiveness in teaching all language skills. However, responsive lesson design frameworks are yet to be implemented in a classroom setting. To bridge these gaps in scientific literature, our study decides to utilize the CAPE framework as a good teaching method for improving the productive skills of students in mobile-based instruction.

This study utilizes a mixed-methods research design with an experimental approach. Post-tests and interviews were employed to elicit information from the student-participants on the objective of the study.

Following the analysis of the collected data, notable findings were obtained. While there was evidence to show that the students perceived m-learning as boring and ineffective when incorporated with a traditional lesson framework, our study unveiled that students showed a different perception when incorporated with the CAPE framework.

Our study unveils that integrating responsive lesson frameworks with m-learning improves the speaking and writing skills of students.

This study provides empirical evidence to show the role of good teaching practices like integrating responsive LDFs and mobile learning in improving the productive skills of students. This study is the first to investigate the integration of CAPE and mobile learning in enhancing expressive skills.

This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of Language Enhancement Program (LEP) activities in enhancing the oral communication skills of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students at King Khalid University.

A mixed-method study design was used. Simple random sampling techniques were adopted to recruit the study participants. For the survey, a total of 58 male students were recruited and for interviews, 20 male students were selected. The 58 participants were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The traditional method was adopted to teach the control group, while LEP activities were conducted to teach the experimental group.

A post-test was conducted to examine the oral communication skills of the participants of the experimental group. The scores of both groups were analyzed using a t-test value at a significant level of 0.05. The content analysis method was adopted to assess the enhancement of the oral communication of the students enrolled in the LEP. The questionnaires and interview results showed that the LEP program has a central focus on improving students' oral communication skills.

It is limited to the EFL students at King Khalid University.

LEP is a good program and can be implemented in Saudi Universities.

Students can interact with one another through the LEP activities that promote their English proficiency as well as their personality characteristics.

The paper spells out the role of LEP activities in improving students' oral communication in English and students' opinions about LEP activities in enhancing their English language in different types of communicative contexts. Further, it suggests some pedagogical implications for overcoming the difficulties faced by EFL students in various communicative contexts.