English for Police Purposes at University Level in Serbia – Current Situation and Challenges

Abstract

Since its origins, police education and training in Serbia have gone through many reforms. This paper offers an overview of police education in Serbia in general, specifically the learning of foreign languages and more recently English for Police Purposes at the only institution of higher police education in the country. Foreign language learning within police education has never been the focus of any reform. On the contrary, it has been cast aside, resulting in a reduced number of classes and English-only policy. This situation reflects other state universities in Serbia, the paradox being that all this has been happening since the adoption of the Bologna Declaration. The challenges teachers face in teaching English for Police Purposes include work in large multi-level classes, difficulties related to obtaining authentic materials and a reduced number of classes.