THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IN THE SECRETARIAL PROFESSIONAL’S CONTEXT IN SÃO PAULO STATE

Abstract

This exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research aims to analyze the perception of secretarial professionals about the importance of proficiency in foreign languages, especially the French, in their professional practice in the state of São Paulo (SP), Brazil. For this, a data collection through a questionnaire with closed and open questions was conducted in order to obtain information about responders’ profile, education, work and opinions on the importance of foreign languages. In addition, we carried out a survey on three recruitment websites to identify São Paulo labor market requirements on secretarial language skills. As a result, the study found that almost the total sample considers language skills important for the profession, despite the fact that more than half recognize not master a second language. The study also showed that perceptions about the relevance of each language for those professionals are related to language skills labor market requirements and foreign language abilities, since all these criteria English language appears in first place, the Spanish in second and the French in third. In conclusion, this work reveals that the proficiency in French language is a differential for those who works or intend to work in francophone companies or organizations that has a relationship with people or companies from countries where French is the official language.