One of the current debates in Denmark is about the most effective way to learn the language since this is key to functioning well. There is an argument that the best place to learn a language is in the workplace and this has been used to justify political moves to get refugees into the workplace as soon as possible (and thereby save on expensive language training). It is true that this helps with spoken language, but a structured support framework is still needed for mastery of written Danish. And in fact, when employers are asked, they invariably demand a basic mastery before they will consider taking someone on. Sometimes it is sufficient if the supervisor and employee can communicate in English but even basic English is not guaranteed in all refugees.
But not all workplaces are equal!
Anne Holmen (slides in Danish) presented some research into actual communication in different work places and it turned out that different jobs made very different communication demands on their employees.
- Cleaning jobs, a very common refugee destination, are among the quietest jobs requiring almost no communication.
- Work in a butcher’s shop turned out to be very one-way, consisting mainly of receiving instructions while work in a delicatessen turned out to require much more negotiation of the instructions.
- Canteen work consisted more of natural, small talk language, while work in a free school involved being forced to communicate much more.
- The most bewildering workplace turned out to be the Danish Post Office sorting department which was very chaotic and therefore not very predictable.
- In another workplace, the refugee was locked out of the communication cycle while they attended to a crisis, but was updated on what had happened once it was all over.
- The best language experience happened with someone working in a planning group where there was a need to contribute and constantly negotiate meaning.
What this research shows is that you cannot guarantee a standard degree of exposure and use of language just by requiring that refugees be in the work place.
And work with other immigrants shows that different aspects of the language are key to success. Doctors, for example, have the greatest problems with understanding what is said to them, while reading, writing and issuing verbal instructions pose few challenges.
So you CAN learn a language on the job without concentrating on language but it depends on the job and in most cases should be supplemented by formal language learning to catch those areas not well covered by job tasks, such as written conventions.
From the conference in Odense on May 12: Global conflicts – local challenges, New citizens, training and workplace integration