Language Centres at a Crossroads

The Czech Republic’s ascension to NATO a little over twenty years ago has ushered a new era of language preparation and evaluation designed to facilitate participation in a multi-national military coalition. The Language Center (LC) of the University of Defence is tasked with providing instruction and assessment to military and defense-related civilian personnel in accordance with NATO standards and the language proficiency aspirations of the Czech Armed Forces and Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic for its personnel. Separate departments have been established and reconstituted within the LC for teaching and testing the level of foreign language proficiency of our students. The students enrolled in our courses are working adults in various job positions holding different military ranks and having completed different levels of education. They typically range in age from 25 to 55 years old.

A unique proficiency scale, known as NATO Standardized Agreement (STANAG) 6001, guides instruction and assessment at the Centre. As in other language proficiency scales, STANAG 6001 divides language proficiency into five distinct levels, each stipulated in terms of can-do, as well as cannot-do statements. Of the five levels described in STANAG 6001, only levels 1-3 are taught and assessed in the Czech Republic. This paper concerns itself with the transition of students from level 2 (defined as a functional level) to level 3 (defined as the professional level), and roughly corresponding to CEFR level B1 and Level B2/C1, respectively. Our poster will illustrate the outcomes-oriented nature of our unique methodology, which relates to the philosophy of task-based language teaching (TBLT), a concept that is potentially applicable to teaching and testing at many language centers.

Finally, we review the success rate of students enrolled in courses intended to culminate in professional-level ability as determined by examinations in accordance with STANAG 6001. Empirical data on the students’ entrance test and final exam results, gathered in the years 2015 and 2019, are examined for any correlations. The data obtained were statistically processed and interpreted, and conclusions are drawn. The positive trends in this cohort of students’ examination results suggest that a majority of military students seeking a professional level of proficiency in English are achieving their goals, suggesting that the Ministry of Defence’s aspirations for the language ability of their personnel are being brought to fruition. 

Poster je zaměřen na hodnocení míry úspěšnosti posluchačů u závěrečné zkoušky z anglického jazyka na úrovni C1 podle SERR pro jazyky po absolvování intenzivních a zdokonalovacích kurzů, jež jsou pro vojenské profesionály organizovány na Universitě obrany v Brně. Na základě statisticky zpracovaných dat získaných v období 2015-2019 je srovnána závislost vstupní úrovně znalosti anglického jazyka studentů před zahájením daných kurzů s výsledky závěrečné zkoušky. V této souvislosti je pozornost také věnována otázce zdokonalování řečových dovedností studentů z úrovně B1 na úroveň C1 podle SERR pro jazyky. 

PaedDr. Stanislava Jonáková, Ph.D. was born in 1956 and qualified as a history teacher and teacher of Russian at the Pedagogical Faculty of Charles University in Prague, and as a teacher of English at the Pedagogical faculty of Masaryk University in Brno. At present, she works as a senior lecturer of English at the Language Centre of the University of Defence in Brno. In the field of research, she is interested in issues concerning language curriculum development.

PhDr. Nataša Mocková, born in 1959, graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. In 1982, she joined the Military Academy in Brno as a teacher of English and Arabic. Between 2003 and 2010, she worked at the Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, where she taught general and professional English courses, focusing primarily on environmental protection, biotechnology of waste, and food technology. In 2010, she started working as an English teacher at the University of Defence in Brno. Working at MUAF and UoD, she was involved in the implementation of multimedia in language teaching. She presented her experience and results of projects at local and foreign conferences.

Francesco Daniel Muto, M.Ed. was born in Philadelphia in 1978 and earned a Master’s degree in Multicultural Education from Eastern University in 2006. He taught Spanish, Italian and History for the Philadelphia School District from 2001-2012. Since 2013, he has worked at the University of Defence in Brno as an examiner and teacher of English. His research interests include language learner anxiety, helping students develop L2 writing skills, and task-based pedagogy.