At IÉSEG, language teaching is about engagement, interaction and integration
04/11/2022
IÉSEG’s DNA is intercultural: most of its programs are taught in English, more than 80% of its permanent academic staff comes from abroad, and thousands of international students come to study on its campuses each year. With its concept of “internationalization at home“, the School offers a truly intercultural learning environment on its campuses. This is why learning foreign languages and intercultural relations is so important. Interview with Bohdan PAWLYSZYN, Head of the “Languages” Department at IÉSEG.
Bohdan, can you introduce us to the Department of Languages?
The objective of the Department of Languages is to teach foreign languages (and French as a Foreign Language to international students during their studies at IÉSEG) as well as intercultural skills to students. The 137 language professors in this department teach 9 different languages: English, German and Spanish of course, but also Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Russian. Our objective is to allow the integration of all students not only at the School but also in the country where they are or will be staying, and to prepare them for the multicultural environments they will encounter during their professional life.
©IÉSEG/Barbara Grossmann
At IÉSEG, language learning is mainly done through interaction and simulation…
At IÉSEG, our objective is for students to master the foreign languages they learn so that they can be at ease in all situations: professional, of course, but also and above all in everyday life. In the conception of our learning method, we place our students at the heart of the process: we offer them a daily support, in close proximity, to get them involved and make them active in their progress and their success. To do this, nothing beats a real-life situation. The basis of the language is of course vocabulary and grammar. We therefore ask students to learn or revise them before the classes, thanks to very dynamic e-learning tools, which allows them to be immediately involved in the discussion during the classes. Students work in groups through role-playing. Interaction and exchange are at the heart of our teaching method. This also facilitates the integration of students into the life of the School.
But teaching is not only done in the classrooms, many things are also put in place to practice languages on a daily basis and to make sure that all the students take advantage of the life on campus…
For almost 10 years now, the Resource Center has offered a “Language” session on Thursday afternoons: students can come whenever they want, not necessarily because they have a work to do, but because they want to discuss, for example, with their Arabic teacher about a subject they want to develop, or with the French as a Foreign Language teacher to discuss their search for an internship or to prepare for an interview.
Before the pandemic, we also created the ” Language Café “: we had 9 tables in a room, one for each language, and students could come and have a coffee and chat informally, not only with the teacher, but also with each other and meet other French and international students who were learning or speaking Spanish, Chinese, Arabic… It was as much an opportunity to practice as to meet new people and to promote integration on campus.
©IÉSEG/Barbara Grossmann
In parallel, a Cultural Diversity Passport has been launched at the School.
The Cultural Diversity Passport was launched by the Center of Excellence for Intercultural Engagement (ICIE) to introduce all our students to cultural diversity, so that they can better recognize and respect their own and other cultures. This passport is mandatory for students in the Bachelor cycle of the Grande École program. To obtain it, they must validate a course and a learning activity that includes a series of guided interactions with a student from another culture. Students are also encouraged to participate in multicultural projects offered by the School. Each year, approximately 1,000 students participate in about 50 multicultural projects supervised by more than 30 professors, mainly from our Department. These projects include activities such as gastronomy, acting, fashion and tandem learning. They bring together French and international students so that each can learn from the other and develop their knowledge and cultural skills.
In addition, students in the Master cycle of the Grande École program can also obtain the “Cultural Diversity Certificate”. They learn about cultural differences, ways of communicating, working, organizing themselves and managing relationships with others. To obtain this certificate, students take a module on cultural diversity management and four electives on the themes of interculturality or diversity.
What is the ultimate goal of this international and intercultural opening?
In the end, we have two objectives: the first is to accompany each student in his or her future academic exchange, as well as to accompany the international students who come to our campuses in Lille and Paris-La Défense each year. We give them all the keys to help them master the language and culture of the country they will be visiting, and thus to integrate into society as best as possible.
The second objective is to prepare each student for the multicultural environments they will encounter during their professional life. In fact, in a company, we are regularly required to work with colleagues, suppliers, and clients from a wide variety of countries. It is therefore essential to have learned these cultural codes, to have developed notions of German, Anglo-Saxon and Spanish culture….
At IÉSEG, we also teach our students how to interact with people from different cultures, we teach them to understand how to work in other cultures, what the expectations are and the ways of doing things. We teach them how to conduct a meeting in German or Spanish, not only through language instruction, but also through body language, behavioral language and cultural codes to master. For example, we organized a conference-debate with KPMG Germany (in German of course), during which professionals explained to students how to find an internship or a job in Germany, what the differences are between working at KPMG France and KPMG Germany, how to integrate into a German company…
The commitment of our 137 language professors on a daily basis, the interaction in the learning method, the integration of the students in the life of the School and in their future professional life, this is what the IÉSEG Language Department brings to its students, French and international!
