Der sichere Umgang mit fremden Sprachen und Kulturen stellt heute ...

ibw-Forschungsbericht 143 | Fremdsprachen für die Wirtschaft HEIDEMARIE HAIDER
As far as skills are concerned, the results confirmed expectations and considerations of what
students need to be able to do as sales assistants. Speaking and listening/understanding are
the skills students need most.
Table 2 shows the results of speaking and listening needs and deficiencies in vocational situations.
Table 2: In which vocational situations will you need to speak and
understand the target language? (Listening and speaking NEEDS)
If you need to speak and understand the target language in the following situations,
you find it easy/troublesome/difficult (Listening and speaking DEFICIENCIES)
c. = customers; Source: Haider 2004
As mentioned above, training priorities were established by combining learners’ needs and deficiencies.
They are ranked from the left to the right. Unsurprisingly, visits of foreign customers
and serving customers head the chart. In particular, students coming from tourism areas often
have to conduct sales talks in the target language. The high need for speaking and listening for
work placements abroad shows evidence of an increasing degree of mobility among apprentices.
The need for listening and speaking in telephone calls to foreign suppliers reflects the
importance of international contacts in the field of sales and trading.
The next table shows training priorities concerning reading concentrating on the types of text.
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