Welcome to GenS – the future of Professional Englis

The focus of Professional English teaching has changed over the decades since its inception in the 1980s. Initially, ESP (essentially, the teaching of specialised job-specific terminology) was thought to be its domain. This stretched in the late 80s into Professional Skills, with the integration of presentation and negotiation skills, for example, into the canon.

In the early 90s, we saw the rise of Intercultural Competence (the examination of country culture comparisons), with professional English trainers adding a third pillar – national culture awareness – to their efforts to support clients to be better international communicators.

Today, a new domain is emerging – Soft Skills. In fact, soft skills is increasingly penetrating General English courses too with the recognition that English language content alone is insufficient to attract customers to the door.

York Associates, a pioneer in the field of language and skills training, has produced its own bespoke curriculum of soft skills for professionals, which we call Core24 - 24 essential international people skills. Our new course, Global Collaboration Skills explores intrapersonal skills for self-management, interpersonal skills for relationship management, skills such as influencing and change management to shape and direct collaboration, and an introduction to international leadership. I spoke about the imperative for our industry to engage this core set of international competences at the QE event in Barcelona. The message landed well.

Check out www.york-associates.co.uk for a video introduction to Core24. As a school owner, trainer of teacher, think seriously about how you will integrate these skills into your offering. The world of language-only training is over. Welcome to the future - GenSocial.

Bob Dignen
Bob is a Director English in York, York Associates and International Leadership Performance. He now focuses on international skills and leadership training.

Learn more by vitising https://york-associates.co.uk/course/global-collaboration-skills/