DESIGNING SYLLABI IAW STANAG 6001 Croatian Defense Academy “Dr. Franjo Tuđman”/CDA FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER ‟Katarina Zrinska” DESIGNING SYLLABI IAW STANAG 6001 Courses to Fit the Needs Presented by Irena Prpić Đurić

CONTENT: FLC “Katarina Zrinska” – organizational structure and background Development of courses Impact of STANAG 6001 requirements Questions

CAF GENERAL STAFF ARMY NAVY ER CENTER CROATIAN DEFENSE ACADEMY AIR FORCE AND AIR DEFENSE SUPPORT COMMAND MILITARY REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE ER CENTER SPECIAL OPERATIONS BATTALION HONOR GUARD BATTALION CAF GENERAL STAFF SUPPORT UNIT Here, I just want to show you the position of the Croatian Defense Academy within the system. The Foreign Language Center is one of the schools within the Academy.

TESTING AND TRANSLATION DEPARTMENT FLC Organizational structure DIRECTOR ZAGREB DEPARTMENT SPLIT DEPARTMENT OSIJEK DEPARTMENT TESTING AND TRANSLATION DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR’S OFFICE The Center consists of 4 departments – Zagreb, Split, and Osijek Teaching Departments, and Testing and Translation Department. The staff in all the departments together with the director are civilians. The Director’s Office is a support department, staffed by military personnel, a major (as a head) and three NCOs (for logistics, administration and personnel matters).

1995 – department in Zagreb, 1997 – departments in Split and Osijek The Foreign Language Center “Katarina Zrinska” (FLC), was established within the Croatian Defense Academy “Petar Zrinski” in 1995, and was tasked with organizing and realizing intensive courses for the needs of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) members. Threelanguages, English, German, and French have been taught in the FLC since its establishment.   Although the Center and its Headquarters were founded in Zagreb, it became obvious very soon that this could not satisfy the needs of the CAF. So, in the spring of 1996, the Center started intensive courses in Split, and in the following year in Osijek. Today, the FLC functions as a joint all-service language center for the CAF and MOD members.

Here you can see the locations of the Center.

MISSION: organize and execute foreign language training for officers, NCOs, and civilian personnel of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF) and Croatian Ministry of Defense (MOD) as well as the members of the wider security and defense community (Ministry of Interior, Military Intelligence, Security and Intelligence Service, foreign students, etc.)

AIM: to prepare its students to successfully perform their duties in a modern security environment as well as to prepare them for their education and training abroad

COURSES AND STANAG 6001: Pre-STANAG era: English, German, French, Italian; Intensive Courses (3 – 4 months) + face-to-face language instructions – standard language courses + military terminology Year 2000 – PfP Development of Intensive Courses IAW STANAG 6001 – 2003/2004 – why? and how?, 2008 (introducing achievement tests for all levels), 2009 (introducing structure/vocabulary part of the test), 2011 (introducing L1+), 2012 & 2018 – new curriculum

ENGLISH COURSES: Intensive courses – 11 wks, 330 hrs, 6 hrs per day: Elementary (STANAG L1) Pre-intermediate (STANAG L1+) Intermediate (STANAG L2) Upper-intermediate (STANAG L 2+) Advanced (STANAG L3, January 2019) German, French and Italian – Levels 1, 1+, 2 Russian – A1 – B1 (200 hrs each level)

Old syllabus (ELTC objectives 1. doc) Current syllabus (L1 NPP Dec2017 Old syllabus (ELTC objectives 1.doc) Current syllabus (L1 NPP Dec2017.doc)

PAST: 2001 – 2009: Military Police, Radio-communication, Logisticians in PSO, CRO 2 (international ESSO), English Language Course for Ranking Officers, OMLT (PLTCE) Methodology Course for English Language Instructors – 2002, 2004/2005, 2009 - ?

PRESENT: Methodology Course for English Language Instructors – 4 wks, 120 hrs Referesher English Course – 3 wks, 84 hrs English Skills or Aircraft Mechanics – 11 wks, 330 hrs

Teachers: Better understanding of STANAG 6001 descriptors Being more conscious of the importance of skill-based and student-oriented teaching and skill-based testing Readiness to design new courses Designing and developing better progress and achievement tests How did STANAG 6001 affect teaching and testing in our Center? I’d dare to say – the effect was positive. (just show the two slides with benefits)

Students: Feeling more confident about what they know and what they have mastered during a course Being better prepared for official STANAG testing Being taught and instructed on how to further their language knowledge when leaving the Center

Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014) ‟“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Thank you for your attention!!! QUESTIONS.... 