BULATS taps local potential - People

BULATS taps local potential
January 7, 2004
By Yayu Wu & Jean Chen
Photos by Yao Fan

To date, TOEFL, CET and GRE are taken as standards in recruitment. However, these types of tests do not reflect the English requirements according to different occupation types. Mr. Ewan Davies clarified that HR managers have not had guidelines to follow so far.

In the recruitment ads we put the requirement for English as fluent English. But what is fluent?

"I need a tool to assess the real language ability of the employees so that I can plan my training accurately. I do not want to waste even one penny of my budget."

As a professional human resource officer, have you ever encountered such problems?

Concerning the current situation which most HR managers might be stuck in, Common Talk reporters spoke with Mr. Ewan Davies at the Crowne Plaza Harborview Xiamen.

BULATS to benchmark workplace English

Q: Why have you chosen Xiamen to develop BULATS? How many provinces have you chosen in China to develop this program?

A: It is obvious that Xiamen is the economic center of Fujian. As the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou is responsible for the south of China, we will focus on three cities, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Xiamen, to begin this program within South China.

Q: Following this afternoon’s presentation, have you got an idea about Xiamen’s HR managers and the testing market in Xiamen?

A: I am deeply impressed by the audience, especially the HR managers. The average high quality is the greatest feature of HR Managers in Xiamen. There are about thirty-five companies, each sending out two representatives to attend this afternoon’s presentation. They are so open and willing to express their feelings. They are very active and positive. And the other important feature is that they could understand the issue so quickly and clearly even though the issue is complicated and difficult. It is beyond my expectations that they could understand it so easily so soon after the first few steps. They seem to be very professional. Only professional people care about what they do and try to find out more about it.

Q: On this small island, there are more than 5000 foreign invested companies, among which about 2000 come from English speaking countries. Chinese traditional companies will also need English in the future for more and more international trade. Since the BULATS is quite a new kind of testing service in China， how long has it been in Europe?

A: About 10 years in Europe. There are four languages for BULATS. We focus on transnational corporations. I have great expectations for it. I hope that, as the first preference, transnational corporations could use the BULATS. The second group we focus on is governmental organizations. Now we have started communicating with government agents to let them know about such a testing system.

Studying in the UK

Q: The recent statistics show that the number of Chinese students choosing to study abroad in the UK has grown up rapidly. What do you think of this tendency?

A: I am very pleased with the fact that more Chinese students are choosing the UK for further study. Everyone knows that they have a lot of choices, such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia. However one important factor is that the quality of British education is very high. There are adequate choices ranging from MBA to media degrees, which are very broad subjects for applicants to choose from as they like. Definitely Chinese students have realized that the UK is providing more specialisations. The UK can provide a diversity of choice. The third and most important reason to choose the UK for study is value for money. If we compare the total cost between the UK and the USA, a degree only takes three years in the UK while it takes six years in the USA including four years for undergraduate study and two years for graduate study. Students can save time which they can use to come back and find a job. Another positive fact is communication between Chinese students and their parents. Europe and European people get to know the real Chinese people. We can meet their requirements since more and more cultural exchange enhances understanding among them. More and more Chinese football players, such as Fan Zhiyi, Sun Jihai and Li Tie were once playing with famous English football clubs. That is a very good example showing that British people are now more accepting than they were 5 years ago.

Q: As an expert in this field, could you make any comment on the potential of the UK and Chinese education?

A: With China’s entry into WTO, China has lifted some sensitive policies in banking and other fields. China has also made great development at a quicker speed. Transnational corporations will need more and more English talents from within China. China is a complicated country. There are so many different peoples within one country, with nearly the same size as Europe. But Europe is separated by different religions. As we turn to China, it is surprising that there are different languages in China, different local dialects in different areas. Regional differences in food are very similar with that of Europe. Going abroad is a great help for others to understand and experience another culture.

Last December, the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou launched the Business Language Testing Service (BULATS) in Xiamen where an emerging workplace English market is burgeoning.

Mr. Ewan Davies, Vice Consul from the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou, is confident of the BULATS program’s future in Xiamen. Through a face-to-face talk with the Human Resource managers of Xiamen foreign-invested companies and foreign-related organizations, Mr. Davies demystified BULATS for potential test candidates in Xiamen.

近年来，职场英语测试已经成为许多人事部门经理关注的焦点，同时也是多数跨国公司和外企职员谈论的重点。然而，职场英语测试在中国还处在萌芽阶段。为此，英国总领事馆文化教育处于去年年底在厦门特别举办了一场名为 “职场英语的有效管理”的讲座，引起了在厦数十家外企的强烈关注。

主讲人Ewan Davies先生是英国总领事馆副领事（文化教育）及考试业务主管，也是精通中西方教育制度的专家。在精彩的讲座后，他接受了Common Talk记者的专访。

Caption: Mr. Ewan Davies, Vice Consul from the Cultural and Education Section of the British Consulate-General in Guangzhou

Caption: Mr. Ewan Davies introduces BULATS to local representatives.