FAQs DVD evolved from research project 'Talk on Trial'

FAQs is a DVD made by researchers at King's College, London (funded by Jobcentre Plus Leicestershire/Northamptonshire District with Deprived Area Fund (DAF) Provision) to help teachers and trainers support speakers of other languages who are facing the challenges of job interviews in the UK. The DVD evolved from a research project, Talk on Trial: Job Interviews, Language and Ethnicityby Celia Roberts and Sarah Campbell (DWP 2006) which analysed the linguistic processes of real interviews in organisations such as factories and mail companies. The research found that compared to UK born candidates, those born abroad faced a 'linguistic penalty' produced by the largely hidden demands to talk in institutionally credible ways and from a mismatch of implicit cultural expectations. The DVD addresses some of the issues in the research such as reading between the lines of the interview questions and understanding the competence framework of the modern job interview. The DVD will be useful for anyone working with people born abroad who are currently looking for work or intends to do so in the future. The DVD and accompanying notes for teachers and trainers is now available from Lorraine Bassett at: lorraine.bassett@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk