Language learning plan
Editable material for drawing up a language learning plan.
Language-learning employee and supervisor.
Preparation 10 min, discussion 10-15 min.
Improvement of language proficiency is integrated into professional development.
The employee's language learning plan material can be used to start discussions on the national language Finnish official languages and proficiency in them, as well as language-aware practices of the work community as part of onboarding and development discussions. The material comprises two parts:
1) Employee's language proficiency goals:
- To be considered by the employee before the discussion.
- Questions are used by the employee to set goals for learning Finnish/Swedish before discussing with the supervisor.
- This can be found as a Word document below. The document can be edited to meet the needs of the work community.
2) Discussing language proficiency goals:
- Themes for discussion between employees and supervisors.
1) Employee's language proficiency goals
2) Discussing language proficiency objectives
The supervisor can bring up language proficiency goals during onboarding and in development discussions using the questions below. For background information, the discussion requires information on the support provided by the organisation for language learning: for example, does the employer support participation in language courses during working hours and what other support methods the organisation has in place (see the Language Boost Employers' page for tips).
- Which work scenarios in which you use or would need to use Finnish/Swedish seem challenging? In which scenarios are you doing well?
- What kind of Finnish/Swedish skills would you like to achieve? In which kind of work scenarios would you like to use Finnish/Swedish now? What about in the future?
- How can your work community and supervisors support you in achieving your goals? How would you like the work community to respond?
- What is the next concrete step towards your goal?
Why a language learning plan?
The language learning plan helps the employee and the employer to discuss language skills needed at work. When the plan is integrated in induction and regular development discussions, improvement of language skills needed at work becomes a systematic part of professional development.
When the employer is aware of the employee's wishes and objectives, planning targeted and meaningful measures in support of language proficiency development becomes easier. Looking at the employee’s future career and the role of language proficiency should also be considered when discussing with the supervisor: for example, what kinds of tasks are possible with different language abilities, and whether given tasks require a certain level of language proficiency.
After discussing the language learning plan, the employee has a plan for improving their language skills and an idea of the kind of support the employer provides for language learning. The supervisor, on the other hand, understands what kind of support that the employee would like from their work community, for example in everyday interaction, and can convey these wishes to the team or organisation.
©2024 Tanja Asikainen-Kunnari andJohanna Komppa
Language learning plan, august 2024, produced by Tanja Asikainen-Kunnari andJohanna Komppa, is licensed under a CC-BY Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The material can be found at kielibuusti.fi. Photos: All rights reserved.
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