The Future of Education

As an academy dedicated to training professionals who require some level of knowledge in a foreign language for their respective roles, the language teaching model at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences (EASS) employs diverse foreign language instruction approaches such as English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI), Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), and Integrated Content and Language in Higher Education (ICLHE).

In our presentation we will share the best practices from our extensive experience and demonstrate how the system works. We provide examples from our integrated content and language lessons e.g. cases concerning breach of the peace, traffic stops, customs control, calls to emergency response centre.

Feedback from internship experience shows that students perceive CLIL classes as highly beneficial and see their efficiency and potential in actual work situation. As students cannot be easily assessed by instructors during single CLIL classes, their progress becoming rather intrinsically evident during their internship period is the most valuable feedback for such courses. In reality, it is the whole LSP agenda, and not only the CLIL lessons that support students’ ability to be involved in professional discourse in a professional way (Lasagabaster 2023). 

The language learning model at EASS is enhanced by these diverse language instruction methods, and also from content instructors and language professionals working in close collaboration.  Such collaboration may initially pose challenges either because of differences in knowledge areas (Kletzebauer et al 2022), or poor communication. Feeback and experience from working with the different colleges (Police and Border Guard College, Rescue College, and Financial College) reveals that, as students, professionals, in general, support ICLHE ideas and principles. There are misunderstandings and doubts, as have been expressed elsewhere were CLIL systems have been used (Arno-Maciá, Elisabet and Guzman Mancho-Barés 2015) but overcoming them eventually improves the whole language learning system.