FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS: A CHALLENGE FOR THE ECONOMY Ana Maria Costa, Ana Maria Oliveira, Fátima Susana Amante, Isabel Oliveira, José Luís Abrantes, Maria Lúcia de Jesus Pato, Odete Amaral, Susana Fidalgo, Véronique Delplancq Polytechnic Institute of Viseu (PORTUGAL) Abstract Awareness of the fact that multilingualism opens doors to new markets and new business opportunities is not an original phenomenon, but the various works produced with a view to its being acknowledged are still little publicized and granted little practical use also. Showing mastery of communicative skills in several foreign languages is always valuable for the market economy, not only in terms of sales and marketing, but also in order to reach new target groups and establish lasting strategic relationships. The purpose of this article is to provide a general overview of the studies carried out in this context, focusing in particular on aspects such as the increasingly obvious relationship between in force language practices of a diversified nature and the proper functioning of businesses. Equally important is the mastery of language skills, seen as an important driving force of cross-border cooperation, as well as the development of an emotional culture within the business world, propitious to the implementation of efficient language management strategies, which are clearly beneficial inasmuch as the market economy is concerned. Keywords: internationalization, multilingualism, communicative competence, market economy, businesses, competitiveness, potential customers/partners. 1 INTRODUCTION In 2003, the Commission's Green Paper on Entrepreneurship in Europe warned of the demand that gaps be filled, which prevent the labour market from being sufficiently flexible, namely due to the lack of incentive likely to ensure formal or informal training of its employees. One of the barriers preventing the exploration of opportunities at international level, as well as the possibility of responding more effectively to the challenges from competitors, is precisely the linguistic issue. Within the scope of the Strategic Framework for Multilingualism (2005), the Commission of the European Communities in its Address to Parliament and the Council underlined the need for companies to have communication skills in the languages of the European Union (EU) but also in the languages of partners around the world. A workforce with practice-oriented linguistic and intercultural skills will enable European businesses to compete effectively on the world market (...). Learning just one lingua franca is not enough. The objective of the Commission is an effectively multilingual European society: a society in which the degree of multilingualism increases at a regular pace until each citizen has practical language skills in at least two languages other than the mother tongue. (p.2) A conclusion from the ELAN report (Hagen, Foreman-Peck, Davila-Philippon, & Nordgren, 2006) points out that the failure to sign business agreements by European companies is owed to the lack of mastery of the languages of their potential/intended customers. English is recognized as the most widely spoken language in the business world; however, businesses/enterprises are aware of the need to use other foreign languages in dialogues with partners/clients, with a positive impact in terms of competitiveness. In addition to the aforementioned reports, many other studies and reports have been leading up to the same findings: language and intercultural skills make for the difference in a constantly changing era of globalisation, as they place new partners within reach, and allow for a consolidation of the enterprises’ image, making them more competitive. This connection between mastery of communicative skills in various languages and its influence on the market economy is a well-defined but not yet widely publicised scientific field. In this sense with this article one intends precisely to provide a general perspective of the studies that have been carried Proceedings of EDULEARN17 Conference 3rd-5th July 2017, Barcelona, Spain ISBN: 978-84-697-3777-4 5146