Multilingualism as a core instrument for economic prosperity. Lithuanian employers and employees perspective on the need for new study programmes in applied philology

Stream D "Improving life quality and enhancing employment possibilities"

The paper presents the findings of the research performed by the Foreign Languages Department at Mykolas Romeris University to determine the need for language specialists on the Lithuanian labour market. There is an apparent European tendency that English, though it plays a central role in European and global communication and integration process and has become a lingua franca in both public and private sector, does not satisfy all the needs in business communication. Multilingualism emerges as a core instrument for economic prosperity of the European countries, because languages are the main tools which ensure smooth development of intercultural dialogue in all its dimensions. In the first phase of the research, potential employers were asked to enumerate the foreign languages that are mostly needed and the work assignments required to be carried out in foreign languages. On the basis of the received answers, a questionnaire was developed and nearly 60 employers and employees were interviewed aiming to find out the employment possibilities of language specialists with the indicated multilingual skills. In the article, the authors summarise the research data, analyse the research results, discuss the relevant EU documents and present new study programmes at Mykolas Romeris University which were developed on the basis of the research findings – BA programmes “English and the Second Foreign Language for Specific Purposes”, “Translation and Editing” and “English and the Second Foreign Language Teaching” and MA programme “English and Russian Philology and Business Communication”.