Design thinking project: group work as a way of developing business skills of english philology students

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the outcomes of a study conducted in Business English classes of English Philology third-year students at Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska. The students were asked to do a project following the design thinking method, popular in business environments as a way of developing the best concept of a product or service. The objective of the classes was to introduce the students to real-life business-related situations and to facilitate the development of practical skills, useful in effective work performance, team work including. Afterwards, the students were surveyed on the issues related to the idea of the design thinking project and its usefulness for the students’ future careers and personal development. The reason behind the research is the fact that, apart from a fluent command of the language, foreign language university students ought to develop practical and interpersonal skills, including those related to business environments. The soft skills are of great significance in today’s world as they frequently seem to be more important in everyday business communication and team work than the knowledge of economic or business issues. One way of teaching such skills to university students could be the implementation of a design thinking project which might, at least to some extent, imitate the immersion in the business environment.