Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres

Seraphina Zurbriggen; Isaac Pante; Pascal Singy

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres

Seraphina Zurbriggen, Isaac Pante, Pascal Singy

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 5, Issue 6)

Received: 13 August 2017 Accepted: 4 September 2017 Published: 28 September 2017

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Abstract

Since the creation of regional employment centres in Switzerland, personal advisers and consultants have been playing an important role in the assessment of the unemployed and the jobseekers’ language skills and their promotion. In this study, 646 of these personal advisers from the three main speaking areas of Switzerland (French, German and Italian) were interviewed via an online questionnaire on how they practically assess the language skills of the jobseekers they deal with; on the reasons they do or not recommand and provide language courses; and on how these courses should be financed. There were also more general questions about the link between language skills and the labour market. Statistically significant differences were observed, for instance regarding the quality of the language-competence evaluation tools; the evaluated importance of language skills for labour market integration; and the relevance of language courses for jobseekers. A correlation was observed between these significant differences and two factors: the linguistic area and the unemployment rate in a given area. Some problematic issues of political interest linked to language skills and job recovery were also highlighted and discussed in this paper.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
Page(s)	161-171
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Multilingualism, Switzerland, Labour Market, Advisers of Employment Centres, Representations

References

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APA Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen, Isaac Pante, Pascal Singy. (2017). Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 5(6), 161-171. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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ACS Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen; Isaac Pante; Pascal Singy. Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2017, 5(6), 161-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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AMA Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen, Isaac Pante, Pascal Singy. Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. Int J Lang Linguist. 2017;5(6):161-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11,
  author = {Seraphina Zurbriggen and Isaac Pante and Pascal Singy},
  title = {Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {161-171},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20170506.11},
  abstract = {Since the creation of regional employment centres in Switzerland, personal advisers and consultants have been playing an important role in the assessment of the unemployed and the jobseekers’ language skills and their promotion. In this study, 646 of these personal advisers from the three main speaking areas of Switzerland (French, German and Italian) were interviewed via an online questionnaire on how they practically assess the language skills of the jobseekers they deal with; on the reasons they do or not recommand and provide language courses; and on how these courses should be financed. There were also more general questions about the link between language skills and the labour market. Statistically significant differences were observed, for instance regarding the quality of the language-competence evaluation tools; the evaluated importance of language skills for labour market integration; and the relevance of language courses for jobseekers. A correlation was observed between these significant differences and two factors: the linguistic area and the unemployment rate in a given area. Some problematic issues of political interest linked to language skills and job recovery were also highlighted and discussed in this paper.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres
AU  - Seraphina Zurbriggen
AU  - Isaac Pante
AU  - Pascal Singy
Y1  - 2017/09/28
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 161
EP  - 171
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
AB  - Since the creation of regional employment centres in Switzerland, personal advisers and consultants have been playing an important role in the assessment of the unemployed and the jobseekers’ language skills and their promotion. In this study, 646 of these personal advisers from the three main speaking areas of Switzerland (French, German and Italian) were interviewed via an online questionnaire on how they practically assess the language skills of the jobseekers they deal with; on the reasons they do or not recommand and provide language courses; and on how these courses should be financed. There were also more general questions about the link between language skills and the labour market. Statistically significant differences were observed, for instance regarding the quality of the language-competence evaluation tools; the evaluated importance of language skills for labour market integration; and the relevance of language courses for jobseekers. A correlation was observed between these significant differences and two factors: the linguistic area and the unemployment rate in a given area. Some problematic issues of political interest linked to language skills and job recovery were also highlighted and discussed in this paper.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

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Author Information

Seraphina Zurbriggen

Faculty of Arts: Section Des Sciences Du Langage et de L’Information, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland
Isaac Pante

Faculty of Arts: Section Des Sciences Du Langage et de L’Information, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland
Pascal Singy

Faculty of Arts: Section Des Sciences Du Langage et de L’Information, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland; Faculty of Biology and Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University, Lausanne, Switzerland

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APA Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen, Isaac Pante, Pascal Singy. (2017). Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 5(6), 161-171. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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ACS Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen; Isaac Pante; Pascal Singy. Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2017, 5(6), 161-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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AMA Style

Seraphina Zurbriggen, Isaac Pante, Pascal Singy. Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres. Int J Lang Linguist. 2017;5(6):161-171. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11,
  author = {Seraphina Zurbriggen and Isaac Pante and Pascal Singy},
  title = {Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {5},
  number = {6},
  pages = {161-171},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20170506.11},
  abstract = {Since the creation of regional employment centres in Switzerland, personal advisers and consultants have been playing an important role in the assessment of the unemployed and the jobseekers’ language skills and their promotion. In this study, 646 of these personal advisers from the three main speaking areas of Switzerland (French, German and Italian) were interviewed via an online questionnaire on how they practically assess the language skills of the jobseekers they deal with; on the reasons they do or not recommand and provide language courses; and on how these courses should be financed. There were also more general questions about the link between language skills and the labour market. Statistically significant differences were observed, for instance regarding the quality of the language-competence evaluation tools; the evaluated importance of language skills for labour market integration; and the relevance of language courses for jobseekers. A correlation was observed between these significant differences and two factors: the linguistic area and the unemployment rate in a given area. Some problematic issues of political interest linked to language skills and job recovery were also highlighted and discussed in this paper.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Multilingual Competences and Labour Market Access: The Point of View of Swiss Personal Advisers in the Regional Employment Centres
AU  - Seraphina Zurbriggen
AU  - Isaac Pante
AU  - Pascal Singy
Y1  - 2017/09/28
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 161
EP  - 171
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20170506.11
AB  - Since the creation of regional employment centres in Switzerland, personal advisers and consultants have been playing an important role in the assessment of the unemployed and the jobseekers’ language skills and their promotion. In this study, 646 of these personal advisers from the three main speaking areas of Switzerland (French, German and Italian) were interviewed via an online questionnaire on how they practically assess the language skills of the jobseekers they deal with; on the reasons they do or not recommand and provide language courses; and on how these courses should be financed. There were also more general questions about the link between language skills and the labour market. Statistically significant differences were observed, for instance regarding the quality of the language-competence evaluation tools; the evaluated importance of language skills for labour market integration; and the relevance of language courses for jobseekers. A correlation was observed between these significant differences and two factors: the linguistic area and the unemployment rate in a given area. Some problematic issues of political interest linked to language skills and job recovery were also highlighted and discussed in this paper.
VL  - 5
IS  - 6
ER  -

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