Abstract
Abstract In accordance with the Bologna Declaration, modern languages and communication skills have a growing importance in all professions. With the prospect of Croatian membership of the EU and taking into consideration the conditions of the growing internationalization of law in general, knowledge of foreign languages represents an indispensable prerequisite for international com- munication within the legal profession. Thus, teaching foreign languages in the field of law, especially English and German, is necessary not only for the pro- fessional education of Croatian law students, but also for their mobility within the network of European universities. This paper presents a case-study of the current situation in teaching Legal English and Legal German in Croatian Law Schools. First, the status of foreign languages for specific purposes (FLSP) in the Higher Education System of the Republic of Croatia in general is analyzed. The main part of the paper is dedicated to teaching Legal English and / or Legal German as compulsory courses within the curricula of Croatian law faculties (status, syllabus design, teaching methods). Then some projects on teaching foreign languages to practicing lawyers will be presented. With the prospect of Croatian membership of the EU, specific education programmes for lawyer- linguists have been introduced by the Law Faculties of Zagreb and Osijek. These programmes, developed within the lifelong education project for lawyers, offer an opportunity for Croatian law students and young lawyers not only to im- prove their knowledge of Legal English and Legal German, but also to learn other languages of the EU, like French or Italian. These new programmes are the response of Croatian foreign language teachers to the current requirements of the European labour market and the challenges of the internationalization of the modern world.
Highlights
In the Appendix to the Recommendation of the Council of Europe concerning the learning and teaching of modern languages, education institutions are encouraged to ensure resources and provide opportunities for senior secondary students and students of higher and further education to continue learning language appropriate to their programmes of ISBN 978–83–7431–390–2 ISSN 0860-150X
The aim of this paper is to inform the wider academic society about the current situation concerning the status of foreign languages for specific purposes (FLSP) in the Higher Education System of the Republic of Croatia in general, with specific reference to teaching Legal English and Legal German in Croatian Law Schools
At the tertiary level of education, the following claim reflects the current situation in Croatia: The higher the education level, the scarcer are the provisions for foreign language teaching (Cigan, 2013)
Summary
In the Appendix to the Recommendation of the Council of Europe concerning the learning and teaching of modern languages, education institutions are encouraged to ensure resources and provide opportunities for senior secondary students and students of higher and further education to continue learning language appropriate to their programmes of ISBN 978–83–7431–390–2 ISSN 0860-150X. Only 30% of the departments require FL in the second and third year, whereas only 7% have an FL course incorporated into their curriculum continuously during 6 semesters (Poljaković & Martinović, 2009) These data reflect the current situation of FLT in Croatian Higher Schools, indicating that there are a great many discrepancies concerning the status of foreign languages for specific purposes, the intensity of FL courses, as well as the respective ECTS credit allocation and assessment. To illustrate these discrepancies, this paper will present the situation at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek for the academic year 2010/2011. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th ECTS/ sem sem sem sem sem sem sem sem sem sem semester
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