Choosing for Success:
Selecting a second language training provider

by Geoffrey Eden

KNOWING A SECOND LANGUAGE IS INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR PUBLIC MANAGERS, AS WE REACH OUT TO DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS AND CONNECT ACROSS BORDERS. AND OFFICIAL BILINGUALISM REMAINS A NECESSITY FOR THOSE WANTING TO BECOME EXECUTIVES IN THE FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE.

Learning a second language, as an adult, is a major commitment of time, effort and money. So it is worthwhile to invest some effort in choosing the right trainer. Having decided to embark upon language training, you now face the daunting challenge of finding the right learning solution.

Who offers it? At what cost? Part-time/fulltime? How long? Will you emerge proficient enough to function professionally or just well enough to pass the test – or worse, have to redo it all?

Most people’s selection process begins by talking with colleagues and official languages counsellors. But don’t limit yourself – many language training providers have websites. Based on your research, select a few and set up evaluations. You will meet an assessor, get a feeling for the environment of the school, and they will estimate what you need. The post-evaluation feedback meeting gives you the results and is your turn to interview the school.

Come prepared to this meeting: an open but critical mind is essential. Be aware that their assessment of your skills may not match your own self-assessment. It is far from rare to be assessed lower than one expected. Consider what program/approach the school suggests and request an explanation. Look for ways the language training provider and you hold each other accountable for your progress through the proposed training.

Here’s an example we’ve seen more than once: You are an Anglophone professional in the federal government, and have achieved level BBB on your second language examination. You think that you function well in French because your francophone colleagues understand you and you even make an effort to conduct and participate in bilingual meetings. You listen to the drive-home show every afternoon on Radio-Canada. You now need to attain your CCC level. You do your research on your training possibilities and go for an evaluation. The evaluation process should answer some key questions.

ARE YOU ASSESSED AT THE RIGHT LEVEL?
Instead of the three weeks that you thought it would take to brush up on the rules and prepare for the exam, you are assessed as needing 27 weeks of full-time private training. What happened?

IS YOUR LEVEL LOWER THAN YOU BELIEVE?
It is quite possible that your colleagues do understand you because they know the subject area and are accustomed to your structural and pronunciation faults, but this is not the benchmark for the Level C in the Oral Interaction Examination. Or maybe you were having a ‘bad-bilingual’ day at the time of your evaluation. Maybe you are nervous speaking French with people you don’t know. In the former case, you may want to ask for a re-evaluation; in the latter, you may need to accept that your training will take more time than you expected because of the psychological rather than the linguistic aspect of second language training.

DOES THE ASSESSMENT PROPOSE A REASONABLE DURATION FOR YOUR TRAINING?
Some candidates do not achieve level C in the Oral Interaction Examination on the first attempt. Indeed, it can take four or more attempts to succeed. The assessment may take into consideration that you may need multiple attempts before you can expect to achieve the level C. Unfortunately, it is possible that the second language training provider has given you an unreasonably long duration because their method is not geared to achieve results in the most time-effective way. Beware ‘contract-lengtheners’ who build in movies every Friday afternoon, daily doses of television, pointless field trips, etc. These activities have little or no justifiable purpose and merely extend the number of hours for which the provider can bill your organization.

To get the answers to these questions, you need to seek clarification. It is important to note that even if the evaluation matches your expectation, you should still have a post-evaluation meeting to assess the method and approach of the language training provider. This meeting presents you with the opportunity to find your best learning solution, and you should come away with a clear understanding of your proposed program.

At the post-evaluation meeting, the training services manager or pedagogical advisor will give you a form that notes your weaknesses and strengths. Look at the level of detail and examples from your evaluation on the form: you should recognize yourself in the feedback. If you are given a form with only numbers or letters representing a score, ask a lot of questions. And you may have reservations about the attention that was put into your evaluation.

It is up to you to hold the training provider accountable for their judgement of your performance and learning abilities. Don’t hesitate to challenge the evaluation – you need to understand this document and agree with its conclusions because it forms the basis for your proposed training plan.

At this meeting, you will be given your proposed training program. Is it for a group, semi-private or private training? What options does the evaluation suggest and why? Of course, if you have previously expressed an interest in one type of training, that is probably the option that appears, but you may want to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. During this meeting, you will want to ask as many questions as you need to understand your proposed training program. Ask to see a sample learning plan for someone with a profile similar to yours. Look for examples of ‘contract-lengtheners’ or any suspect blank areas. Ask yourself: “Does this make sense?” It should include a variety of activities, clear organization and structure. One key to your success is accountability.

You want it to be very clear that you as the learner are accountable to do some individual work and meet certain goals. As important, your instructor team is accountable to provide you with the feedback necessary so that you know where you are in your program and how well you are progressing in all aspects. Don’t hesitate to seek clarification of any aspect of the sample plan that you don’t understand.

Also, ask the manager to explain the structure of the organization. You don’t want a lot of details; what you really need to know is who is responsible for the instructors and how that person coordinates the instructor team for each learner, whether this person checks each learning plan, how adjustments are made, and how conflicts between what a learner wants and what an instructor recommends are handled.

If you agree with the proposed training program and you think that the training provider has a sound method and approach, your next step is to check the company’s references. Clearly, the people who have agreed to act as references for the training provider are happy with the services they received, but you can ask them to compare their other training experiences with that of the provider in question. You should also ask them about their satisfaction with their instructor team and its management. Find out how accessible the manager is and what support systems are in place for both learners and instructors.

Armed with all of this information, you are now ready to select your second language training provider wisely. You know that you will be making a well-informed decision regarding your language training – the results of which will affect your effectiveness and promotability throughout your career. That’s an important commitment.



Geoffrey Eden is president of Knowledge Circle Learning Services, based in Ottawa (geoffrey.eden@KnowledgeCircle.ca).