Masaryk university brno faculty of education

PhDr. Alena Kašpárková Karla Šoltésová

I would like to express my thanks to PhDr. Alena Kašpárková, who kindly assisted my effort as the supervisor of this bachelor thesis.

Sincere thanks go to all the respondents who devoted necessary time to express their opinions concerning their personal learning experience that served as a valuable study material for this work.


Prohlášení:
Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s  Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.
Souhlasím, aby práce byla uložena na Masarykově univerzitě v Brně v knihovně Pedagogické fakulty a zpřístupněna ke studijním účelům.


Declaration:
I declare that I have compiled this bachelor thesis by myself and I have used only the sources listed in the enclosed bibliography.
I agree with the placing of this thesis in the Masaryk University Brno in the library of the Department of English Language and Literature and with the access for studying purposes.

V Čáslavi dne 16.4. 2010 Karla Šoltésová

This bachelor thesis “The English Language Training in the Czech Armed Forces” deals with teaching English to professionals of the Army of the Czech Republic. It gives details about the system of training designed to provide military personnel with practice of the English language, acquiring necessary skills, knowledge of technical terminology and defines the criteria and language proficiency levels according to the NATO standardization document.

1. 
   Introduction............................................................................................................8
   

2. Concepts Definition.............................................................................................10

2.2.1 Language Teaching in the NATO context..................................................11

2.2.2 The origins of NATO STANAG 6001 scale...............................................12

2.2.3 The Language Requirement........................................................................12

3. Basic concept of the English language training in the Czech Armed

1. 
   The English Language Training Development................................................14
   
2. 
   Courses Organization.........................................................................................18
   
3. 
   Institutions and training Courses.....................................................................19
   

4. 
   The study.................................................................................................................25
   

1. 
   The motivational incentives and practical experiences of the students ........25
   

1. 
   Attitudes towards learning English...........................................................34
   
2. 
   Initial knowledge and problems of the students at the beginning.............35
   
3. 
   Teaching materials....................................................................................35
   
4. 
   Organization of the teaching.....................................................................36
   
5. 
   Views regarding the importance of the individual language skills in regard to millitary professions .............................................................................37
   
6. 
   Preference of the language topics..............................................................37
   
7. 
   The concepts of the students regarding the practical usage of the language ...................................................................................................................38
   
8. 
   Attitudes of the students towards the demandingness and suitability of the test STANAG 6001 itself in regard to the content of the language course........................................................................................................38
   
9. 
   Attitudes of DLI representatives in Vyškov............................................40
   
10. 
    The utilization of the English Language...................................................41
    

5. 
   Conclusion................................................................................................................43
   

8. 
   List of Appendices..................................................................................................48
   

8. 
   List of Abbreviations............................................................................................69
   

There are several reasons for choosing The English Language Training in the Czech Armed Forces as the topic of my bachelor´s thesis. In 1998 as a lecturer of English I became a part of the educational programme focused on the process of perfection of English of the military personell of the Czech Army. It was the year of preparations before the entry of our country to NATO which took place the following year and where the knowledge of English became an essential part of every professional soldier of the Czech Army. I can say that I nearly took a part at the birth of the educational system which was accepted and implemented to our army. It was agreed upon the introduction of the developing concept of teaching in the framework of the whole NATO by means of the DLIELC (Defense Language Institute English Language Center) Lackland Air Force Base, Texas where this concept was invented, developed and is being improved till today. The seemingly simple task of implementation of this system of teaching proved to be difficult due to the fact that the given concept had to be accommodated to the conditions and needs of the Czech Army as there was a complete lack of experience with this form of the language preparation. This situation was made more difficult because of the unaccomplished transformation of the Czech Army which was suddenly facing an uneasy task of solving the necessity of the professionals to be equipped with the knowledge of English. Despite the first unpreparedness and ignorance which was apparent in the vaguely defined concept of language teaching and the unsufficiently qualified lecturers, this concept was being improved and even today is fulfilling its tasks despite minor deficiencies.

The following chapter is dedicated to the specification of terms which are necessary for the introduction to the army milieu and the definition of which is vital for the understanding of this study. I wanted to make clear in what manner was the language education in the Czech Army influenced by the entry to NATO and what requirements had to be met by the member states including the Czech Republic. The next chapter is focused on the development of the language education from 1990´s till now. I put the special emphasis on the complicated implementation of the language concept of NATO to the Czech conditions since the beginnings till the present state of the language preaparation. The important part of this chapter is the attention paid to the present system of teaching in the schooling centers, institutions, types of language courses, classroom equipment and the whole process of education in regard to the development of the whole educational system. The study itself consists of reports, partial statistic data and is analyzing the motivational process of their attitude towards teaching and the usage of English in their professional career. The conclusion is dedicated to the overall view and evaluation of the English language training in the Czech Armed Forces.