Innovation in Language Learning

Teaching languages for specific purposes (LSP) is becoming more popular and in demand in the teaching of adult learners. The aims and objectives of teaching and learning languages for specific and general purposes differ from each other. Should therefore the evaluation of specific language skills be different from general purposes language assessment?

I will try to answer this question on the basis of a language needs analysis of Polish police officers. In order to check whether police officers do actually have the need to be able to use a foreign language in their work-related tasks, statistical data and other research results were reviewed. Then a needs analysis among a group of Polish police officers was carried out.

As a result of the research a set of specific language skills and abilities necessary to perform work-related tasks by police officers was singled out. The selected skills and abilities differ from those assessed by general language tests which allows us to arrive at the conclusion that police officers’ language skills should be measured by a tool other than a general language test. As a consequence of the observation that an LSP exam for police officers is very much warranted, a proposal of the format of a language test for the police was outlined.

The findings of the research, as well as the proposed format of an LSP exam for police officers, will be presented in this paper.