In today’s global business landscape, inadequate or insufficient foreign language skills can translate into grave repercussions for your business. These repercussions could represent lost business opportunities, unfavorable publicity or public opinion, and even legal disputes, especially in industries where clear and precise communication is of extreme importance. Does your company fall into the category of those at heightened risk? Are you equipped with an activated, well-structured, and updated multilingual communication plan to mitigate such risks?

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Crafting a Tailored Multilingual Communication Plan

Crafting a comprehensive multilingual communication plan is paramount to engaging successfully with customers and partners who aren’t native speakers of your language. Tailoring this plan to meet the unique communication needs of your business’s target audience and revenue goals is essential. To achieve an effective multilingual communication effort, besides determining the multimedia resources required, ongoing feedback from your multilingual clientele and the ability to adapt and connect with linguistically diverse audiences play a pivotal role.

Addressing Legal and Safety Imperatives

Industries dealing with safety, health, aviation, nuclear energy, and pharmaceuticals, among others, must proactively minimize the potential for legal actions. When compounded with operations in diverse and multilingual markets, investments in language training, cultural awareness initiatives, and translation or interpretation services take a center stage. Taking the time to train and improve your multilingual workforce in linguistic competencies and devising strategies to incorporate multilingual content across your social media platforms and marketing materials become necessary.

Recognizing the Need for Language Skills in All Industries

According to findings from a survey conducted for ACTFL, the demand for foreign language skills nowadays is strong in almost every industry. Therefore, employers need to recognize the important role of diverse languages in business and formulate practical strategies to sustain competitiveness in the global economy.

Impact of Language Barriers in Specific Industries

For example, in fields like healthcare, misunderstandings arising from language barriers can lead to incorrect treatments, misdiagnoses, and legal consequences. Similarly, the provision of legal services may be marred by errors in documents and contracts, resulting in legal liabilities. The same could happen with businesses dedicated to international trade and export or companies providing customer support in foreign markets. Language proficiency gaps could lead to shipping delays, contracts lost, and compromised customer experiences.

Overcoming Language Barriers for Professional Excellence

“The number of non-English-speaking US residents rises each year, contributing to a growing problem of miscommunication and understanding. While language barriers are faced practically everywhere, they are especially prevalent and can have dangerous and even fatal consequences in the healthcare sector,” (Orminski).

Numerous other industries such as hospitality and tourism, education, tech, and software development, can also suffer due to language barriers. Ultimately, creating a professional environment that actively prevents accidents, injuries, offensive statements, partnership strains, and reputational harm is of utmost importance. “Language is one of the key factors to determining how professional a company is. It sounds harsh, but professionalism will determine the quality of product they are offering,” (Leonard).

Leveraging Language Proficiency Assessments for Excellence

Contact Language Testing International® (LTI), the exclusive licensee of ACTFL language proficiency assessment with three decades of experience. LTI delivers valid and legally defensible ACTFL language tests in over 120 languages. ACTFL’s secure remote proctoring tests empower test-takers to complete assessments anywhere and anytime, helping your company assess the adequacy of your multilingual workforce. Allow the LTI team to provide the best language assessment plan to inform your multilingual communication plan, and onboard or retain the most skilled multilingual employees for your company’s growth.

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers”. https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report

Leonard, Jay. “How Businesses Can Deal with Language Barriers”. Business 2 Community. October 13, 2016. https://www.business2community.com/marketing/businesses-can-deal-language-barriers-01679524

Orminski Emily. “Language Barriers and Healthcare.” NCRC. August 9, 2021. https://www.ncrc.org/language-barriers-and-healthcare/

Madeline Martínez is a Multicultural Navigator Specialist at URBANDER, a Woman and Minority Business Enterprise (WMBE) specializing in transforming businesses to advance humanity. URBANDER’s role is to serve as an extension of Marketing, Diversity, Human Resources, Procurement, Community Relations, and Social Responsibility teams, providing innovative approaches in the areas of strategic marketing, content development, workforce development, community outreach and IDEAS (inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and sustainability). Madeline holds a both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Communications from the University of Puerto Rico and is an experienced copywriter and content developer dedicated to amplifying the voices of URBANDER’s clients. From blogs and articles to social media posts and interviews, Madeline is a skilled writer across diverse topics integrating her marketing, business and academic acumen. Though her earlier work as a Publications Officer at the Inter American University in Puerto Rico, and her most recent performance as a Spanish Interpreter, Substitute Teacher, and Instructional Assistant for English-language learning elementary school students, Madeline has impacted countless families as they have navigated migrating to the U.S. from Spanish-speaking countries. As a bilingual professional, Madeline is also proficient in translating written documents from English to Spanish, and vice versa. She has received LTI issued ACTFL Language Proficiency Certificates in Spanish as follows: Advanced Writing, Advanced Listening, Advanced Reading and Superior Speaking. During her downtime, Madeline loves spending time with her family, and enjoys dancing, movies, photography, and coffee. She considers herself a continuous learner. “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers”- Helen Keller

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