engleski

Development of Students' Basic Language Skills Case Study: ESP in the Field of International Relations and Diplomacy

One of the most important roles of a diplomat is to bridge cultural, social, and geopolitical differences in the arena of international relations. For this reason, an essential prerequisite for the diplomatic profession ought to be competence and fluency in foreign languages, where English is nowadays unanimously recognized as lingua franca. Consequently, competent use of a foreign language in diplomacy not only serves as an instrument of communication, but often underpins the very foundation of the diplomatic vocation. That is why the education of future professionals attaches great importance to foreign language courses, as the mainstay of the core curriculum. Since international relations and diplomacy are still relatively new as an autonomous field of academic studies in Croatia, it goes without saying that there is a general lack of materials designed specifically for this particular ESP area. This paper focuses on the selection and preparation of materials for the purpose of developing students' essential language skills - reading, writing, listening, and speaking - in the ESP course at College of International Relations and Diplomacy Dag Hammarskjöld in Zagreb. Assuming the students have already mastered general language structures (level B1/B2), the approach used in the course programme places emphasis mainly on vocabulary acquisition and reinforcement in accordance with the specific purposes of the profession. Such exercises serve as the basis for developing students' language skills.

ESP ; international relations and diplomacy ; language skills ; selection and preparation of material.

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