engleski

Language culture : students’ views on language culture and the need for its institutionalization at the tertiary level of education

Language culture is the foundation of all cultures, manifesting itself in the application of the norms of standard language, acquired in the course of one’s education, generally speaking, in the course of Croatian language instruction. Apart from education, language culture is influenced by other factors as well: one's family, the media as well as one's surroundings and one's social milieu. It must also be kept in mind that language is an integral part of national identity and cultural heritage. Because of that it is crucial to create such a social climate and conditions which will enable the formation of positive attitudes towards one’s mother tongue and enable each individual to add to his or her language culture permanently and systematically. In 2004, the European commission published a document that defines key competencies for lifelong learning. This document considers the ability to communicate in one's mother tongue to be of greatest significance. This paper explores and analyzes views of students at various Faculties regarding the importance of maintaining and nurturing language culture. It also presents the students’ opinions on the need for the institutionalization of Croatian languageinstruction at the tertiary level of education. The research included 637 both male and female students currently studying in a total of ten tertiary level education institutions (faculties, academies and polytechnics) in Zagreb.

communicational competence, language culture, linguistic competence, mother tongue, standard language

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