Sprecher
Beschreibung
The increasing internationalisation of customer service operations has created a growing demand for employees who are able to use foreign languages not only communicatively, but also effectively within highly specialised professional contexts. German-speaking call centers in Poland represent a particularly relevant example, as their employees are required to combine advanced general language proficiency with specialised vocabulary, standardised communication patterns, procedural knowledge, and the ability to respond appropriately to situation-specific customer needs.
This presentation outlines the development of a training and implementation concept for specialist German language skills designed specifically for a German-speaking call center operating in Poland. The concept constitutes the practical outcome of an interdisciplinary research project combining applied linguistics, specialist language research, language pedagogy, and the requirements of professional customer-service environments.
The proposed concept goes beyond conventional foreign-language training by integrating language competence with professional action competence. Its implementation includes needs analysis, corpus-informed selection of training content, scenario-based learning, simulation of authentic customer interactions, systematic feedback, and evaluation of learning outcomes. The concept is designed as a flexible framework that can be adapted to specific customer-service processes, target groups, and organisational requirements.
The presentation discusses both the research foundations and practical implementation potential of the concept. It also addresses the challenges involved in transferring linguistic research findings into an organisational training environment, including the balance between standardisation and authentic communication, the changing nature of specialist vocabulary, and the need to align educational objectives with measurable workplace competencies.
