Questionnaire for University Graduates The purpose of this questionnaire is to survey the opinions and experiences of European university graduates regarding the kinds of language and communication related skills that are needed in today’s internationalised workplaces and for career development. Your answers are extremely valuable for directing and updating language programmes offered at the university level to both language graduates and to students specialising in other fields. This is your unique chance to have an impact on how workplace communication skills could and should be developed in higher education in order to provide a good basis for developing actual workplace-specific communication skills and a competitive edge in employability. A similar survey will also be conducted among European employers.

A. Background factors

1.I Age in years: 21-24 25-28 29-34 35-45 >46

2.I Sex: Female Male

3.I Mother tongue:

4.I Place of residence (town/region and country):

5.I Place of work (town/region and country):

6.I Year in which you graduated:

7.I Title of your university degree(s) (in the national language): 7.1 Title of your first degree: 7.2 Title of your second degree:

8.I Major subject(s) / subject area in which you graduated: 8.1 Major subject(s) / subject area of your first degree: 8.2 Major subjects(s) / subject area of your second degree:

9.I Did your degree include any foreign language study? 9.1I No foreign language studies were included in my degree 9.2I Yes: a. First foreign language studied (Lang 1): b. Second foreign language studied (Lang 2): c. Third foreign language studied (Lang 3): 9.3I If yes, what kind of language study was include in your degree? Please select one type of study for each foreign language. Type of study Foreign Language Lang 1 Lang 2 Lang 3 a. Language as a subject b. General language study (eg. survival skills, basic- intermediate-advanced level studies, grammar, etc.) c. Subject-specific language study (eg. German for Engineers, Business English, etc.) d. Academic language study (eg. seminar skills, scientific writing, presentation skills, etc.) e. Subject(s) taught through a foreign language f. Other (please specify)

10.I Did you study abroad? 10.1I Yes if yes, which country? 10.2I No

11.I Have you learnt another language after graduation from university? 11.1I Yes if yes, which language(s)? 11.2I No

B. Work situation

12. Are you or have you been employed since your graduation?: Yes No

13.I Your present employment situation (please select one option): 1. Working in a position related to your degree Job title/position: 2. Working in a position not related to your degree Job title/position: 3. Pursuing further study 4. Looking for your first job 5. Unemployed but have previously been employed Job title/position: 6. Neither employed nor looking for employment 7. Other (please specify) N.B. If you have never been at work yet, please go directly to question 22 (need for foreign language study for career development).

14.I If you are/have been employed, what are/were your main job duties related to? (Please tick the appropriate sector(s) from the list below) 1. Marketing, business services and public relations 2. Tourism, hotels and restaurants 3. Banking and finance 4. Wholesale and retail trade 5. Manufacturing, construction and transport 6. Technical planning, production and maintenance 7. Information and communications technologies 8. Education and training 9. Public administration 10. Health care and social work 11. Management and supervision 12. Research and development 13. Customer service 14. Acting as language expert (e.g. translating, interpreting, technical documentation, etc.) 15. Other (please specify)

15.I How often do you use a foreign language/foreign languages studied at university in your job?   daily weekly monthly rarely never 15.1 Lang 1: 15.2 Lang 2: 15.3 Lang 3:

16.I How often do you use other foreign languages you have learned in your job?   daily weekly monthly rarely never 16.1 Lang 1: 16.2 Lang 2: 16.3 Lang 3:

17.I How good are your language and communication skills in your opinion?  in my opinion, my skills are… survival level intermediate advanced excellent 17.1 Lang 1: 17.2 Lang 2: 17.3 Lang 3:

18.I Did your foreign language skills help you to get your present job? 18.1I Yes if yes, what proof did you have to provide? official documents test result; please specify what kind of a test: job interview in the foreign language(s) other, please specify: No proof was asked 18.2I No

19.I Have you worked abroad? 19.1I Yes if yes, which country? 19.2I No

20.I Do you feel that the language and communication training you received at university has been adequate in terms of your job? not adequate at all not very adequate quite adequate very adequate 20.1I 20.2I I had no language training at university level

21.I Would it be important for your career development now to learn a new foreign language? 21.1I Yes if yes, which new language? 21.2I No

C. Rating of work-related language and communication skills and competences

22.I Please rate how important in your profession/field it is to cope well with the following situations of foreign language use. Please also rate to what level the skills needed in these situations were developed during your university study. Answer on the basis of your first foreign language. If you have studies in more than one foreign language at the university level, question 24 is reserved for your second foreign language. first foreign language (please specify): 22.1I Please specify Importance and level of language skills: use the following scale and circle the most appropriate answer: Importance 1 = not important 2 = not very important 3 = quite important 4 = very important   Level to which developed during university study 1 = not developed at university 2 = not developed very well at university 3 = developed quite well at university 4 = developed very well at university WORK-RELATED FOREIGN LANGUAGE USE SITUATIONS Importance Level 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1. Understanding and interacting in (informal) social situations at work 2. Understanding and interacting in job-related communication situations (e.g. hosting a visitor, telephoning, travel, talking about your job, etc.) 3. Following discussions and presentations in professional contexts 4. Giving a structured presentation on a topic within your field of work. 5. Responding to follow-up questions from an expert or non-expert audience 6. Team-working e.g. in problem-solving and project contexts in the workplace 7. Participating in, and leading, meetings/negotiations 8. Networking and collaborating in virtual environments 9. Reading and writing e-mails and short factual texts (e.g. memos, short reports, www-pages, etc.) related to your field or work 10. Reading specialised articles and reports related to your field of work and summarising or reporting on them 11. Communicating to manage international relations and customer contacts 12. Writing project proposals or technical documentation 13. Writing a report which synthesises and evaluates information and arguments from a number of sources 14. Understanding and interacting in important multicultural contexts (i.e. with an awareness of intercultural differences in communication) 15. Writing for and presenting to a scientific/professional audience in your field. 16. Other situations (please specify): 22.2I Please rank below what you think are the five most important skills and competences on the above list. Please write the number of the item in the box. Put the most important in the first box, the second most important in the second box and so on: 1. Item number: 2. Item number: 3. Item number: 4. Item number: 5. Item number:

23.I Please rate how important in your profession/field it is to cope well with the following situations of foreign language use. Please also rate to what level the skills needed in these situations were developed during your university study. Answer on the basis of your second foreign language. second foreign language (please specify): 23.1I Please specify the importance and level of language skills using the following scale and circle the most appropriate answer: Importance 1 = not important 2 = not very important 3 = quite important 4 = very important   Level to which developed during university study 1 = not developed at university 2 = not developed very well at university 3 = developed quite well at university 4 = developed very well at university WORK-RELATED FOREIGN LANGUAGE USE SITUATIONS Importance Level 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1. Understanding and interacting in (informal) social situations at work 2. Understanding and interacting in job-related communication situations (e.g. hosting a visitor, telephoning, travel, talking about your job, etc.) 3. Following discussions and presentations in professional contexts 4. Giving a structured presentation on a topic within your field of work. 5. Responding to follow-up questions from an expert or non-expert audience 6. Team-working e.g. in problem-solving and project contexts in the workplace 7. Participating in, and leading, meetings/negotiations 8. Networking and collaborating in virtual environments 9. Reading and writing e-mails and short factual texts (e.g. memos, short reports, www-pages, etc.) related to your field or work 10. Reading specialised articles and reports related to your field of work and summarising or reporting on them 11. Communicating to manage international relations and customer contacts 12. Writing project proposals or technical documentation 13. Writing a report which synthesises and evaluates information and arguments from a number of sources 14. Understanding and interacting in important multicultural contexts (i.e. with an awareness of intercultural differences in communication) 15. Writing for and presenting to a scientific/professional audience in your field. 16. Other situations (please specify): 23.2I Please rank below what you think are the five most important skills and competences on the above list. Please write the number of the item in the box. Put the most important in the first box, the second most important in the second box and so on: 1. Item number: 2. Item number: 3. Item number: 4. Item number: 5. Item number:

Many thanks for your co-operation!