The role of languages for law enforcement purposes in higher education: the introduction of the new foreign language strategy at the UPS, Hungary

Abstract

As a result of Hungary’s accession to the European Union in 2004, globalisation and the emergence of information society, the knowledge of foreign languages for law enforcement bears utmost importance in the work of professionals working in this field. This was one of the reasons why the teachers at the Department of Foreign Languages for Specific Purposes at the University of Public Service, Budapest, Hungary started to research the professional communication of the branches of the various law enforcement services in several languages. As we face students of different generations from time to time, presently the “digital natives”, who are able to carry out several tasks simultaneously, it is necessary to apply innovative teaching methods with which the students’ attention can be captured more effectively. Our teachers are open to innovative solutions, and besides the classical methodology, they also use different computer-based platforms and mobile applications. Speaking a language is a skill, therefore our main goal is to develop competences. This approach is also reflected by the assessment of student performance, whose aim is not to punish mistakes but to support the students’ communication and enhance their motivation. The learning habits of ‘Generation Z’ in higher education have changed. Apart from utilizing the rapidly developing information technology tools, our goal is to improve the students’ communication in the target language, for which a research plan has been developed as part of the new language strategy [1].

Keywords

• languages for law enforcement
• information society
• experiential learning
• mobile devices
• competencies