Companies Don't Need More English Classes. They Need Better Conversations.

For decades, companies have invested in English training with a fairly straightforward goal: to improve their employees’ language skills.

Employees are assessed, assigned a level, given a set number of training hours, and tested again. When someone moves from B1 to B2, the program is considered successful.

But I’ve been wondering for some time whether that is really the best measure of success.

I’ve met people with excellent English who hesitate to share their opinions in meetings. I’ve also met people whose English is more limited but who can explain an idea clearly or question a decision with confidence.

Which of them is performing better at work?

Lately, more corporate language-training providers have begun talking about workplace performance rather than language acquisition. The focus is shifting towards what employees can accomplish in meetings and other professional situations.

I welcome that shift, but there is a risk of making only a superficial change.

Replacing grammar exercises with presentation exercises is not, by itself, a new approach to learning.

English lessons can offer something more valuable. They can give employees a place to examine business decisions, question familiar assumptions, and encounter ideas that may not usually arise in their day-to-day roles.

In that kind of classroom, English is no longer the final objective. It is the language through which the learning happens.

Imagine employees spending two hours each week discussing a genuine business problem and learning how to express their views in English.

Their English would improve, of course. But they might also become more willing to speak up and more curious about the world beyond their immediate responsibilities.

That changes the return a company receives from its investment.

At Go English Live, we’ve spent years developing this approach. Our students discuss subjects ranging from entrepreneurship and financial literacy to happiness and leadership.

We don’t choose these topics because they appear in everyone’s job description. We choose them because they affect how people understand their work and lives.

Business does not exist separately from life.

Perhaps companies should stop asking only, “How much English will our employees learn?”

A better question might be, “What will they be able to do or understand that they could not before?”

That is the conversation I believe we should be having.

What do you think companies should measure: language proficiency, communication performance, or a combination of both?