BACKGROUND
Having successfully provided business Spanish language training to Abbey/Santander employees throughout 2007 and 2008 in the following year, 2009, we collaborated closely with the Santander Talent Management Team to meet the learning needs of its senior executive population.
OUR CLIENT'S NEEDS
In this instance our client identified a target group of 60 senior executives based at different locations within the UK who had been identified as needing to reach a level of competence in the Spanish language for business purposes.
OUR LEARNING SOLUTION
Following close consultation with our client we established that the most effective learning solution would be to design a tailor-made course for each level of learner which met their specific language needs. In this case the language focus was clearly business Spanish with particular emphasis on the ability to communicate by phone and in meetings and to understand and produce written texts, e.g. e-mails, reports, etc.
We agreed to deliver weekly 90-minute face to face learning sessions to groups of 4 learners. These were combined with learners spending about a further 90 minutes using MP3 players to listen to selected podcasts each week as well as visiting a variety of interactive websites and completing reading or writing exercises. The learners' additional study of 90 minutes meant that the face-to-face sessions could be focused on practising the skills learned using a variety of situational activities.
MEASURES AND EVALUATION
Our tutors concentrated on using the tailor-made course notes to ensure learners covered the main grammatical and lexical goals whilst also encouraging them to use their skills in the work place immediately with their Spanish-speaking colleagues. Learners took part in regular progress tests to assess their improving linguistic ability and provided SLS and the Santander Talent Management Team feedback on course content and structure through formal and informal channels.
OUTCOMES AND FEEDBACK
All of the learners who attended the minimum required number of sessions successfully achieved an 80% or higher score in the end of year written and oral evaluations. Learners commented that they had particularly enjoyed the tailor-made nature of their course and the tutor's ability to vary the pace and content to suit their specific needs.