Modern Languages Degrees: Key Skills

Why are modern languages graduates so sought-after by employers around the world? Professor Magdalena Tarnawska, director of UCLA’s Department of Germanic Languages, argues that being able to communicate across borders is just one of the many skills you should gain from a modern language degree.

Multiple benefits

“In addition to gaining the linguistic skills to communicate with people speaking a different language, one discovers different ways of thinking, seeing and relating to the world that are embedded in another culture and language," Professor Tarnawska says.

"Learning languages helps us appreciate diversity, enhances people’s sense of social responsibility, and in the long run, it helps create more peaceful communities.”

As well as learning a new language, she continues, students of modern languages become better at their own. “One is automatically more aware of their own usage of language, and, generally, students become better writers, speakers, and conversationalists.”

And there are more benefits that don’t pertain directly to language too: “Scientific studies demonstrate that studying another language has a positive impact on brain development and functioning. It enhances creativity, memory, problem solving skills, and ambiguity tolerance. It has been even demonstrated that the onset of Alzheimer's disease is delayed in bilingual people as compared to monolinguals.”

Is a language degree for you?

So, the benefits are clear. But what sort of the person would be well suited to undertaking such a degree, as the challenges posed by learning a language – as anyone who has ever tried will attest – are manifold?

“A person who would like to pursue a degree in modern languages should enjoy learning languages, be disciplined enough to study regularly, and be willing to spend at least several months in the country where the language is spoken,” answers Professor Tarnawska.

“In addition, such qualities as curiosity, desire to think outside the box, yearning for intellectual stimulation, and appreciation of human and cultural diversity are necessary prerequisites.”

We wondered just how important it was that students learnt the language in a place where it was spoken.

“It is ideal to learn a language in a country in which it is spoken. However, in order to gain the other benefits I mentioned before, such as critical thinking skills, knowledge of history and literature among others, learning of the language skills has to be combined with a study of the context in which the language is spoken, the media through which it is filtered, the culture of the people that is inseparably intertwined with the language, and the artefacts and texts created by that culture.”

Well-rounded graduates

So obviously we have a very challenging and multifaceted subject on our hands, one which Professor Tarnawska describes as a combination of a humanities, a social science and a technical subject, which also requires more general critical thinking. But if you’re up to the challenge, you will reap the benefits.

“Students who obtain a degree in a language gain cross-cultural awareness and are able to recognize the dynamic relationship between language, culture, and meaning on a very sophisticated level.

"They also gain superior information and media competence in the target language and culture. Finally, they develop a very high level of critical thinking and interpretive skills as well as awareness of diverse ways of creating and interpreting meaning.”

It is clear, given the well-rounded qualities which today’s modern language graduate enjoys, that we’ve come a long way since the era of conjugated verbs written on a blackboard, and learned by rote.

Key trends inlanguage teaching

In Professor Tarnawska’s opinion, there have been three changes which have really changed the way in which languages are taught, and resultantly, the outcomes.

"The first one was an evolution from an audio-lingual method and drilling exercises to a communicative and competence based approach in the 1970s and 1980s based on scientific findings in psychology, language acquisition research and learning theory.

"The second crucial change was initiated in the 1990s and it is an emphasis on gaining cultural knowledge and critical thinking skills in addition to the language skills. The third change is connected to the relatively recent explosion of technology and social media that takes language study in the area of digital humanities."

“As a result of these three changes students are learning more, faster, and in more interactive and engaging ways. I anticipate very optimistically that the connections between other academic disciplines, language learning, and technology will become stronger and that language learning and reaching to other cultures and communities will become a way of life.”