Needs Analysis Results

To ensure that our project “Prolant-Cap” is in line with the current needs of our target group, over the last few months a needs analysis was carried out by all project partners. Every participating organization carried out research that targeted 3 groups – foreign language (FL) teachers & trainers, language schools and companies (Tourism and Automotive sectors) – to find out the current
situation in language training in every partner country.

The acquired results gave a comprehensive overview of the professional teaching experience, qualifications and areas of expertise of foreign language teachers & trainers. In total from all the countries nearly 300 responses were received with Slovakian teachers being the most responsive. 50 % of all teachers who replied have been working in the industry for more than 10 years, except in Italy, where this long teaching experience was only 33 %. Because the project not only aims to enhance the professional development of FL teachers & trainers but also to develop 2 industry
specific language training programmes (one in Tourism and one in Automotive), we were keen to learn how many of our respondents teach specialized language programmes, such as English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

The Pie chart demonstrates that 45% of all relevant respondents have experience in teaching ESP in specific areas such business, accounting and finance, tourism, trade, nursing and the automotive industry etc. The chart below also shows the individual results per country.

Research results also showed that companies from both Tourism and Automotive industries consider sector-specific foreign language knowledge within the organization of high importance,
also in relation to employee positions. When asked directly which language is the most valued and needed foreign language in the sector, nearly all stakeholders in both sectors agreed upon English, though just as important in the automotive industries were German,  French and Russian, while in Tourism, languages such as Spanish and Italian were named. However, not many companies offer specific language courses for their employees which just one more time proves that this project is on the right path! If you are interested in reading the full overview of the research results in all countries, visit our project website https://www.prolantcap.eu/ Overviews are available in all project languages.