Trnavská univerzita V Trnave Fakulta zdravotníctva a sociálnej práce Sprachkompetenz in der Wissenschaft Language Competence in the Science

Conclusion
Slovak republic is still developing in many areas, including economy and international trade. The slovak businesses are only starting to deal with international partners. As a result, the disputes will become more common and it’s very important for the entreprenuers to learn
about the alternative form of dispute resolution and realize
that international commercial arbitration works and is very efficient.

Bibliography:
Monographies

BĚLOHLÁVEK, J. A.: Arbitration, Ordre Public and Criminal Law. 2009.

CHOVANCOVÁ, K.: International commercial arbitration/Medzinárodná obchodná arbitráž. Bratislava: Bratislavská vysoká škola práva. 2009.
CHOVANCOVÁ, K.:Medzinárodná arbitráž investičných sporov. 2009
CHOVANCOVÁ, K.: Medzinárodné rozhodcovské konanie v obchodnej praxi. Bratislava: VEDA, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied. 2005.
MOSES, M. L.:The Principles and Practices of International Commercial Arbitration. 2008.

SHAMIR,Y.: Alternative Dispute Resolution Approaches and their Application. 2003.

TWEEDDALE, A.: Arbitration of commercial disputes: international and English law and practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007.
Legislation

Ústavny zákon č. 460/1992 Zb. - Ústava Slovenskej republiky.

Zákon č. 244/2002 Z. z. - Zákon o rozhodcovskom konaní.

Zákon č. 335/2014 Z. z. - Zákon o spotrebiteľskom rozhodcovskom konaní a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov.

Zákon č. 40/1964 Zb. - Občiansky zákonník.

Zákon č. 513/1991 Zb. - Obchodný zákonník.

Zákon č.97/1963 Zb. - Zákon o medzinárodnom práve súkromnom a procesnom

Zákon č. 98/1963 Zb. - Zákon o rozhodcovskom konaní v obchodných veciach a o výkone rozhodcovských rozhodnutí.

Zákon č. 99/1963 Zb. - Občiansky súdny poriadok.

Vyhláška Ministerstva spravodlivosti Slovenskej republiky, ktorou sa vykonávajú niektoré ustanovenia zákona o spotrebiteľskom rozhodcovskom konaní a o zmene a doplnení niektorých zákonov č. 380/2014 Z. z.

Vyhláška ministra zahraničných vecí z 3. augusta 1964 o Európskom dohovore o obchodnej arbitráži.
Others

2010- UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (as revised in 2010) [online]. Dostupné z: http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/2010Arbitration_rules.html.

ICC Arbitration Rules [online]. Dostupné z: http://www.iccwbo.org/uploadedFiles/Court/Arbitration/other/2012_Arbitration%20and%20ADR%20Rules%20ENGLISH.pdf.

STRATEGY OF LIFELONGLEARNING AND CAREERDEVELOPMENT
ZUZANA POLAKOVIČOVÁ, MARTA VAVERČÁKOVÁ

Slovakia, Trnava University in Trnava

E-Mail: [e-mail]; [e-mail]


Abstract

The article refers to the need for the ongoing training to staff as an integral part of their working lives. It highlights the importance of lifelong learning, which is the basis of the concept of a learning organization. An important prerequisite for improving the potential of the knowledge society is therefore the consistent application of the principle of lifelong learning.

Key words:

Knowledge management. Human resources. Learning organization. Lifelong learning.

Knowledge management
Promoting lifelong learning is the basis of the concept of a learning society and a learning organization. Learning puts emphasis on stimulating the potential and promoting the development of personalities for their own benefit. Lifelong learning is a way of life rather than the category of education (Matulčík, 2004). The reason comes from the requirement which the present life, a globalized market and economy put on it. As Antošovádiscusses (2008, p.15): "We are no longer living in a period when a man during his economic activity makes do with what he learned during the job training. Education and formation of working abilities in today's modern society, becomes a lifelong process that must be permanent and must take into account all the actual needs induced by the reality of changes. And in this process an increasingly important role is played by the organization and its training activities".

An important milestone within the strategy of lifelong learning were the documents approved on the global and especially European level, such as: Learning: The Treasure Within (UNESCO), Lifelong learning for all (OECD), White Paper on Education and Training: Teaching and learning - towards the learning society, European Commission (Matulčík, 2004). An important milestone in the European Union was the publication of the Memorandum of lifelong learning in 2000.

Based on the Memorandum in 2004 there was adopted the Concept of lifelong learning in the Slovak Republic and in 2007 it was the Strategy for lifelong learning and lifelong counselling" (Matulčík, 2004, p. 22). With respect to career management and lifelong learning, corporate training and development can be classified according to different criteria to: the internal training provided by employees of the company vs. external training provided by external suppliers; to one-off vs systematic; training to develop professional knowledge and skills vs. training for the development of communication skills; team vs individual; training at work ("on the job") vs training outside the workplace ("off the job"), etc.

"Career planning within the organization is one of the starting points of the strategic objectives of the organization. It uses all the information on the requirements of the organization, evaluation of work performance and potential and succession plans in managerial positions, subsequently transformed into an individual career development programs and general systems management development, consulting about career and mentoring"(Armstrong 2008, p. 339).

Methods for making and sharing mainly tacit knowledge and therefore methods of personal development of the staff when managing their careers are discussed by various authors (eg. Koubek, 2008; Hroník, 2007) in the the following way:

Mentoring - which is based on the fact that an experienced, respected, usually older employer is taking his "student" and is trying to provide him with the expertise and support in managing their own career step by step. Hroník (2007) speaks of the following preconditions for successful mentoring: the principle of "seniority" - described above, the principle of "exteriotality" - mentor is not from the same organizational unit and the principle of "voluntariness" - mentor and mentored join in this relation due to their own decision and choice.

Hroník (2007, p. 105) states that: "In mentoring there is a triangle that can inspire ideas of a love triangle. But we must bear in mind that in the trio creating a coalition of two against one is becoming natural dynamics. Creating a coalition at mentoring is a mentor’s job who is trying to gain understanding for different things. "Koubek (2007, p. 37) states that" personnel department looks for allies in the organization that can be beneficialto employers. Within the organizationit is important to create an interest group of people who may be responsible for providing information, ideas, advice and more. "

In coaching unlike in mentoring, the coach usually does not delegate directly their knowledge and skills, but through suitably asked questions leads the coachee to come to their own solutions. The coach, therefore, does not necessarily come from the organization, even not from the same department as the coachee.

Authors SuchyandNáhlovský (2007, p. 15) define coaching as follows: "Coaching is a relationship between two equal partners - coach and coachee - based on mutual trust, honesty and openness. It is a specific, long-term care for a man, for his success and growth in professional and personal life. The basic method of the coach is asking questions with the intention to lead the coachee to answer them for himself, so that he knew better himself and his surroundings, set up his vision of the future, derived his goals from it and then began to implement them step by step. "

The framework created by the coachee consists of questions aimed at the objective, of the reinforcing feedback from a concentrated listening and useful summaries. In the Czech Republic coaching is now one of the increasingly frequent ways of developing mainly top managers (Plamínek, 2008).

Shading is described by Hroník (2007) as an activity in which the employee participates during a certain period in all work activities of the manager, who is usually at least two levels higher than the employee. With this development activity is important not only to be present, to "shadow", but subsequently reflect, discuss and evaluate this with the shaded employee.

Assisting is the traditional and frequently used method in which a less experienced employee is assigned to a more experienced one and learns from them until being able to work out their tasks and responsibilities alone.

Rotating at work means that over time the employee changes several positions and thus gains experience and look into the activities of business organizations in the broader context.

Čepelová and Czikk (2006, [online]) report: "Well planning and mastery leads to enlargement of the skills of a trained person and also to understanding the broader context of their own work. This can lead to a greater responsibility for the quality of work and the use of new approaches to solving old problems. "

Working on projects - as well as in rotating, the employee meets people outside his own department and gets a better look into the processes outside their primary role; doing the work on the project as well as when rotating they learn to perceive the organization in a wider context.

Job fellowships mean sending staff outside their home organization to another branch, to the subsidiary and the like. Work enrichmentmeans that employees havenew tasks added, new goals and challenges through which they gradually learnnew skills, knowledge and capabilities, including the ability to accept new responsibilities.

Learning organization

In a learning organization the education/training is not regarded a separate function, but the whole organization becomes a system in which individuals learn from the activities of the organization and the organization as a whole, in turn learns from the active collaboration of individuals. Learning thus becomes one of the main activities and its speed may be the only source of competitive advantage. The result is the increase of the quality of human resources through the advancement of knowledge and skills. Simply put we can talk about increasing the value of the intellectual capital of the organization (Senge 1990 In Pokorná, Ivanova, 2012). Senge in the book The Fifth Discipline describes organizations as dynamic systems that are and must be in a state of a continuous adaptation and in a state of preparedness for a continual improvement. It argues that more important than training people in specific knowledge, skills and capabilities is to support them in their ability to learn (Senge, 1990, 2005).

Creation and management of the knowledge communities

Currently much attention in organizations, especially in corporations is paid to specialized, expert communities. Their effectiveness was noticed by the companies such as IBM, Eli Lilly, Shell, US Navy, British Petroleum, World Bank, NASA (Lesser, Prusak, 1999; Wenger, McDermott, Snyder, 2002), which work intensively with communities.

Community can be defined as a group of people who share a common interest in any area of human activity – a domain and they are willing and able to share knowledge and learn from each other. This common interest creates a very strong bond between community members and facilitate sharing explicit and tacit knowledge within the framework of activities associated with the domain (Mládková, 2005). Community can unite, unite employees and create ideal conditions for knowledge sharing and community members learning. Community helps to create synergies and offers a highly efficient way to organize labour relations in the modern organization. The community differs from other groups by three basic features, which are: domain, specific interpersonal relationships and sharing and creation of knowledge.

Domain is the main purpose of the existence of the community and represents a reason for which people grouped in the community consider important to cooperate and meet. It is a major issue that deals with the community. Interpersonal relationships in the community based on solidarity, on the sense of proximity, which are generated by the common interest - domain. Sharing knowledge is the assumption of the existence of the community - where there is no sharing of them, whether in a tacit or explicit form, we cannot talk about the community.

Communities may be established intentionally, or may occur spontaneously in a natural way. Sharing in communities takes place on the basis of friendly relations, emotions are very important for the community.

Community relations are not arranged in a hierarchical way, participation in communities is voluntary, a person cannot be obliged to be a member of the community. In most cases, communities themselves organize, manage and control themselves. A strong community holds together even if major problems occur. The importance and benefits of communities for the organization are broad and complex.

Communities in an organization:

•Ensure the transfer of know-how, accelerate the creation and sharing of knowledge - both explicit and tacit

•Ensure the transfer of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, document and catalogue
knowledge

•Ensure that knowledge is not lost with the departure of staff

•Create an opportunity for change and development of employees, help to gain experience, increase professionalism without their formal learning and training

•Allow employees to get the feeling theybelong somewhere and thus increase their loyalty and identification with the organization, reducing staff turnover and departures to

competitors

•Create a creative environment for the emergence of new ideas and innovation in the

enterprise

•Connect professionals and experts in the organization who work on the same or similar project, eliminating duplication and streamline the activities of the organization

•Help to increase the cooperation in the organization, ensure synergies, increase profitability and efficiency throughout the organization

•Create some knowledge of stability, as opposed to teams that are dissolved after the projects, the community is relatively stable; communities represent a long-term memory of an

organization (Wenger, McDermott, Snyder, 2002; Lesser, Storck, 2001).

Within the organization it is possible to create targeted communities, subject to certain rules and principles which must as far as possible to simulate the formation of communities naturally. Equally important is the way how to manage their activities. Management of communities is governed by the principles whose exact description goes beyond our work, however, we briefly list the most basic ones. In the deliberate creation of community it is essential that the organization clearly specifies the purpose for which the knowledge community is being generated. This means that there must be a clearly formulated intention for which there is a community goal that will be met. Community action should be consistent with those of the organization - its domain should be in line with the problems addressed by the organization to which we seek an answer in the professional community; community action should be consistent with the strategic objectives of the organization.

1. Status and credibility. Organization should provide a formal status within the organization, i.e. to promote its creation, formulate its role within the company, communicate its intention and show its connection and contribution to business performance and organizational objectives. The organization should ensure that the work results of the community are linked to the work of individual departments in an organization, and to get everyone in the organization be aware of it.

2. The organization should be aware of the fact in which organizational environment the community is arising. This means to identify and anticipate problemswhich might occur with its incorporation and strive to create the environment that would prevent create problems to arise, for example: eliminate the effect of a hierarchical organizational structure over the community, reduce mistrust of the community to the organization, to eliminate the lack of resources for the activities of the community, etc.

3. Identity of the community. The identity of the community answers the question "who we are". In natural communities, identity problem is not present. When defining the identity of artificially generated communities it is necessary to give its members some freedom and keep their self-defining to the community itself. The identity of the members of the community must not in any case be in contrast with the membership in the organization.

4. Selection of members. In artificial communities the question is how to choose key members willing to share and create knowledge. In case that in establishing the community fails to select the correct key members, the community does not originate, or is rapidly falling apart. Key founding members of the community, therefore, must be people proficient not only professionally but also in communication. Ideally, within the members of the community a natural leader who is followed by others appears. If not, it is necessary to appoint a community leader. It must be a man who is accepted and trusted by the community members.

5. Closeness versus openness of the community. The biggest problems are seen in too closed or too open communities, which leads to the question of who should be a member of an artificially generated communities. Where a members of the community put barriers to new members (and artificially close membership in the community), it is as counterproductive as the case when anyone becomes a community member. Each new member of the community should be willing and able to share their knowledge and expertise, but which they must have. In the artificially generated communities, it makes sense to allow the membership to as many candidates as possible and let their fate left to their activity and contribution to the community which itself decides on their fate.

6. Creating conditions for community meetings. For the community, it is essential to give its members the opportunity to meet, interact and share their knowledge. In natural communities they create natural opportunities, such as: kitchen, shared lunch, corridors and rest rooms, etc. In guided communitiesthe organization should create more appropriate opportunities for community meetings.

7. Networking. Members of the community need a large number of contacts for their activities and do not always have the status and the possibility of follow-up. Here, managers play a key role as facilitators and intermediaries beneficial for the community.

8. Facilitation. Not always the community manages to successfully develop dialogue. In this case it is useful to provide a facilitator, capable of interaction in the community to effectively manage and coordinate activities of the community (Wenger, McDermott, Snyder, 2002; Mládková, 2005, Collison, 2006).

Bibliography:
ANTOŠOVÁ, M., 2008: Manažment ľudských zdrojov v praxi. Human resources management in theory and practice. Košice: ES FBERG TU v Košiciach. ISBN 978-80-553-017-7.
ARMSTRONG, M., 2007: Řízení lidských zdrojů. Praha: Grada Publishing. ISBN 8024714078.
HRONÍK, F., 2007: Rozvoj a vzdělávání pracovníků. Praha: Grada Publishing. ISBN 978-80-247-1457-8.
KOUBEK, J., 2012: Řízení lidských zdrojů – Základy moderní personalistiky. Praha: Management Press. ISBN 9788072611683.
KOUBEK, J., 2007: Řízení lidských zdrojů: základy moderní personalistiky. Praha: Management Press. ISBN 8072611683.

MATULČÍK, J., 2004: Teorie výchovy a vzdelávania dospelých v zahraničí. Bratislava: Gerlach Print. ISBN: 80-89142-02-8.

MLADKOVÁ, L., 2012: Sharing Tacit Knowledge within Organizations: Evidence from the Czech Republic Global Journal of Business Research, 6(2), 105-115.
MLÁDKOVÁ, L., 2011: Knowledge Management for Knowledge Workers Proceedings of the 3rd European Conference on Intellectual Capital.
PLAMÍNEK, J., 2008: Vedení lidí, týmů a firem: Praktický atlas managementu. Praha: Grada Publishing. ISBN 8024724485.
SENGE, P. M., 2007: Pátá disciplína: teorie a praxe učící se organizace. Praha: Management Press. ISBN 978-80-7261-162-1.
SUCHÝ, J., NÁHLOVSKÝ, P., 2007: Koučování v manažerské praxi. Klíč k pozitivním změnám a osobnímu růstu. Praha: Grada Publishing. ISBN 978-80-247-1692-3.
TRUNEČEK, J., 2003: Znalostní podnik ve znalostní společnosti. Praha: Professional Publishing. ISBN 80-86419-35-5

THE IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION EDUCATIONAL POLICY ON THE ASSESSMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS IN SLOVAKIA
EDITA POÓROVÁ

Slovakia, UCM Trnava

E-Mail: [e-mail]


Abstract

The article analyses assessment of higher education students in Slovakia with respect to its alignment with the European educational policy. Based on a qualitative research methodology combining document review with semi-structured interviews the analysis brings results which can contribute to the research in pedagogy or become a subject of a public debate as well. The article concentrates on university teachers of English for specific purposes in Slovakia. It focuses on the issues discussed in specialized literature and the assessment policy declared and recommended in the EU documents. The article deals with specific language skills which are important for the achievement of a complex language competence of university students and focuses on a life-long learning aspect of teaching English for specific purposes.

Key words:

Assessment. University. Students. European Union. Educational policy. ESP.

Higher education represents the third, commonly the last stage of the institutional education. It should provide not only qualification but also the basis for further education. Therefore it is important to consider philosophy of the present knowledge based economy which is based on life-long education and to adapt the educational process to this reality. The Slovak universities have reacted to this challenge as they are open to changes and impulses mainly because they belong to the European Higher Education Area and the impact of European Union initiatives in the sphere of education is undoubtful.

Massification of higher education has brought many changes, among them also diversification of the universities. Universities in Slovakia have had to react to the changing educational paradigm and to restructure their study programs not only organizationally but also contentually. It was necessary to design new study programs which would comply with the needs of a contemporary society. To design a study program means to create a new graduate profile. Creating a graduate profile needs to set out the aims in order to achieve adequate competences. It is difficult to describe a profile in brief and therefore it must be taken only as a frame which expresses the core of the qualification of a graduate. Nowadays, in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG 1.3), the education at universities should be concentrated on learning outcomes which are explicitly described in the aims of individual subjects and then as a complex of abilities and skills transferred into a profile of a graduate. However, a graduate profile should be designed in the way that the competences achieved at the university are to be developed after graduation and the graduates should be fostered to study and train themselves, either in their field of study or in another field, for the whole life.

Foreign languages have belonged to a complex competence of a university graduate for a long time. The need of language skills is stressed in theory and practice as well. Most of the important documents of the European Union proclaim the languages to be crucial for higher education. However, neither the theory nor the EU education policy is binding and therefore foreign language teaching at Slovak universities is entirely in the competence of each institution. A lack of a system in teaching foreign languages at all stages of the institutional education in Slovakia brings problems which are evident mainly in an inadequate level of language competences of the university students and teachers as well.

Although the previously used term ‘language skills’ (Benes et al., 1970) has changed to the term ‘language competences’ it has not changed its meaning nor lost its importance. It is stressed by many authors of specialized pedagogic literature (Hammerly in: Chodera, 1985, Chodera, 2013,) and it belongs to the topic aims of many documents of the European educational policy documents to which also one of the most influential European documents in teaching languages is ranked - the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching and Assessment (2002). Although the literature distinguishes many different language competences, there exists an agreement about the most important ones, e.g. language, communicative, social, pragmatic, cultural or professional competences.

The most common way of achieving language competences, either basic or specific ones, is to study a foreign language at school. Any language study requires a systematic procedural acquirement of language skills to achieve the aims adequate to each stage of the educational system. The English language in Slovakia starts to be taught at the pre-school level and continued until the final examination at secondary school external part of which is standardized and obligatory. Students who enter universities have got a certificate at B1 or B2 level which is in compliance with the definitions of the Common European Framework. This document which was issued in 2002 by the Council of Europe represents one of the most influential projects of the European educational policy. It was created as a set of instructions and guidelines for teaching, learning and assessment of foreign languages and it has an undeniable impact on teaching foreign languages and assessment as well. The acceptance of these international reference descriptors at the secondary level of the Slovak educational system can be considered one of the most significant impacts of the EU educational policy on our education. However, this certification is not very reliable as the certificates are given also to students who have achieved only 30 per cent in the external test, which is a minimum accepted, and that is not enough to proclaim that such students have the knowledge and skills up to the level.

Teaching a foreign language at university non-philological study programs is an exclusive matter of individual universities as it is not determined by law. The aims and objectives of language teaching are set out usually by teachers themselves. They are in compliance with graduate profiles and are concentrated on specific language competences which are defined as part of a complex competence of a graduate of a study program.

If a curriculum of a university study program comprises English language a teacher usually proceeds according to the specification of the study program. There are no standards for teaching English at universities in Slovakia if we do not consider the standards of the Common European Framework according to which university students should achieve the level C1 (Proficient User - Effective Operational Efficiency) that means that a student “……. can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices. “(2002). However, this document is only recommending and thus not binding for the Slovak higher education and, in fact, the level of the majority of university students in Slovakia is not as high as proclaimed by their certificates.

Teachers of English language in different university study programs, except for the philological ones, usually work on the basis of theoretical issues in the area of ESP (English for specific purposes). This methodology has been well developed for the use of teaching English in specific communication and therefore it is considered to be an adequate approach to teaching English in higher education. Penny Urr (2012) says that „...ESP is a typical approach to teaching English language in individual study programs because this type of teaching is based on tasks and situations which are typical for the target occupation and provides useful vocabulary and phrases. The emphasis is less on the production of accurate, formal English and more on effective communication in situations that the students are likely to encounter in their professional practice. “(p. 270)

ESP represents a skills-centered approach and together with the orientation on students (Student-centered teaching) it is considered to be very effective in teaching English at universities at present. It is founded on two fundamental principles:

a) the theoretical hypothesis according to which underlying any language behaviour are certain skills and strategies which the learner uses in order to produce or comprehend discourse, and

b) the pragmatic basis which underlines the purpose of ESP, i.e. help learners to develop skills and strategies which will continue to develop after the ESP course itself. Its aim is not to provide a specified corpus of linguistic knowledge but to make the learners into better processors of information. (Hutchinson, 2008, pp. 69-70) However, teachers should be careful in following this trend in teaching and learning English which may narrow the language study only to some language competences for practical use without any knowledge of a language. It is still deep knowledge of any discipline related to the study field of university students that remains the main aim of higher education.

The variety of situations and curricula only stresses one of the positives of ESP – the programs are adapted according to context and needs of the individual groups o students. Before preparing a curriculum for teaching English in a study program at university it is necessary to do a needs analysis, that is according to Celce – Murcia (2001) one of typical features which distinguishes ESP from other methodological approaches, and to take into account real conditions. The most common method used within ESP teaching is CLIL (Content and language integrated learning) – language study through the content. Teachers can use this method when they want to achieve the objectives which are defined in the profiles of different study programs.

The cognitive demands of university study programs are often very high and therefore CLIL is introduced as a catalyst of the professional development within faculties of higher education institutions. It is improbable that the language level of students will be the same as their cognitive level. If the language level is too demanding effective teaching is impossible. On the other hand, if the language level is not taken into account and the cognitive level is too low teaching is limited as well. Cognitively undemanding work does not foster language learning. By active participation of the students in an intellectually demanding work the teacher creates appropriate need for students to achieve adequate language. If the language communication is identified as a key skill for life-long education the success of effective communication is not only in the achievement of almost absolute mastery of language but in the development of different skills according to need. (Coyle, 2010).

Teaching at universities is different from teaching at previous education stages. That is why the teachers in general, and the teachers of English language as well, have to look for specific methods how to achieve the aims of language teaching and to provide their students with appropriate competences in accordance with a contemporary philosophy of higher education which is concentrated on student-centered teaching and life-long learning. Therefore the university teachers of English should focus on developing such language skills which can be useful for students during university study as well as in their professional life.

Among such skills belong speaking, reading and writing. In language teaching methodology speaking is ranked on the second place, after listening. It comes from the logic of learning a native language when a child first listens and although it understands it starts to speak later while it repeats the first words after other people, i.e. it imitates them and does not create them consciously. In this phase speaking is completely connected with listening. The next phase comes later when a child speaks consciously, it uses words which it has learnt through listening and repeating, however, as the child does not know how the language system works as a whole it makes different mistakes and must be corrected and thus directed to learn a language properly.

Learning a foreign language looks very similar and therefore the methodology of teaching foreign languages is based on psychology of learning a native language. Nevertheless, teaching speaking on the basis of listening belongs to the initial phases of learning a foreign language, to the elementary level which is usually realized on lower stages of the educational system. Teaching foreign languages on the tertiary level presupposes the minimum level of pre- intermediate or intermediate students which is in compliance with the description of the levels B1 and B2 in the Common European Framework for Languages.

The development of speaking skills at higher education is realized by means of teaching and learning methods which are typical for the university students, e.g. discussions, presentations. Speaking is specifically focused on a study program which is reflected in the selections of topics and related vocabulary. In this process the role of a teacher is very important. His task is to help students distinguish relevant vocabulary and use it properly. The achievement of language competences for an adequate oral performance requires an active cooperation of students. A qualified oral performance is based on a sufficient vocabulary corpus while it is also necessary to stress the importance of correct pronunciation. Grammar is also very important for a cultivated speaking. Forms of oral performance of university students presuppose a certain language level as it was mentioned above. Teaching speaking skills at university is mostly based on a text. It means that language competences do not develop separately; together with speaking also different exercises with texts are realized, like the reading and comprehension, skimming, scanning, critical reading, work with different dictionaries, etc. A university student can speak on the basis of a text and therefore it is necessary to develop skills which are focused on the techniques of work with text aimed at its reproduction, comments or presentation.

A presentation belongs at present among typical and frequently used methods for introducing a topic, problem, proposal, product, strategy or a technological procedure. Its attractive design represents a very effective way of interpretation of any issue. That is why presentation techniques and a presentation itself are included between skills and outputs of the university students in different subjects. A presentation in a foreign language includes also a language aspect. To achieve an appropriate presentation in a foreign language it is necessary to provide students with suitable instruction for preparing and realization of a presentation which may be supported by reference to a suitable literature for this purpose. Students should be informed in advance about criteria of assessment, provided with examples of good and bad presentations, teachers should analyse these examples and train students in presentation techniques providing them a proper feed-back. Presentations should cover the themes given in the syllabus. Students choose the topics which can be given by a teacher or formulated by students themselves. The teacher approves students’ proposals and prepares a time schedule for the semester so that the topics of presentations are in a logical sequence to comply with the syllabus plan. Students can present also in pairs. Students are usually highly motivated for this kind of activity as they are aware of the importance of a presentation for professional communication. In the assessment of a presentation the following criteria are taken into account: the selection and elaboration of a topic, processing of material, the presentation design, the presentation itself, communication with the audience, and a language aspect as well; pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar accuracy, coherence, fluency. The assessment is not easy because a language level of a student often negatively influence the grade although the presentation is on a very good professional level. The teacher assesses the presentation and each student is given a mark. This mark is included in the final assessment for a semester work that consists of the assessment of the whole work during semester, usually tests, tasks, homework, and oral examination at the end of the semester which is realized by means of an open book examination. It is a dialogue based on the texts related to the topics of a syllabus. When there is a group of advanced students, who are on a similar level, the oral part of the exam can be realized by means of a colloquium. The assessment is formative and continuous and a holistic approach is preferred. Students have the right for an adequate feedback. They can retake the exams according to internal regulations of the faculties. Teachers examine and assess the students in accordance with the faculty and department rules published in the documents, usually on the Internet, and they can also individualize their approach to students if necessary. The university teacher is the main factor which determines the methods and realization of the examination and assessment of the students that is why he or she must feel the responsibility for the quality assurance of teaching process.

Writing is a sophisticated activity, not only in a foreign but also in a native language. Writing differs from speaking not only by its form but also by the choice of vocabulary, grammar structures, syntax, style and composition. When producing a written piece of utterance a writer can help himself by different dictionaries, grammar guides and pattern texts. (Beneš, 1970) Different aims of written performance are determined by the structure of teaching, the number of lessons within a course, by the stage of education, and the content of a study program. Nevertheless, the number of students and their level does not influence the aims. Students at higher education stage should have mastered certain writing techniques and therefore writing exercises are concentrated on such written products which are typical for university study, e.g. an outline, annotation, abstract, report, composition, essay, article, etc. Students work independently and writing tasks are usually done as homework. However, it does not mean that writing is not given attention in lessons. Writing exercises can have a character of instruction how to work individually or in a group. One of a very favourite and effective exercise which results in a written product is the production of a text according to the so-called ‘Six thinking hats’. (Bono, 1985) It is a group activity which is suitable for an in-lesson activity. It can be realized in any study program because the topic of the text which is to be produced can be adapted according to the field of students’ study. Another useful procedure for exercising writing is the analysis of original written products and a sequent production of students’ own written products. Writing in university non-philological study programs is as specific as speaking. The aim of university teaching and learning is to achieve writing skills which are useful not only during the study but after finishing it. Selection of the material for teaching writing in ESP is based on specific topics related to a study program. These topics are determined by a curriculum and more precisely given in a semester syllabus. Syllabi usually define also language activities which are to be realized in the semester. The aim of these activities is to achieve adequate skills which contribute to the achievement of a complex aim of teaching within a study program which a foreign language is part of. This aim is defined in the graduate profile as language competence for a certain profession.

Writing in ESP, similarly as speaking, is based on the text. The text is a communication medium oriented on the communication of some information in speaking or writing. From the point of view of a foreign language methodology the communicative function of the language in both forms is closely connected with understanding of the information which is manifested by the text. The text helps keep communication and interaction between a teacher and a student, and between students as well, and between the author of the text and its readers. (Tandlichová, 1992) In teaching ESP at university the specific text represents an issue material not only for speaking but also for writing. Writing is intertwined with speaking and their forms are upgraded according to the increasing level of the students’ specialized knowledge in their field of study.

The first resource which the students use when they get a task today is the Internet. A teacher should help them use it properly, to orient them to the websites which provide original and suitable language resources, to direct them how to use these resources and to refer to other information resources as well, like books, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, magazines, prospects, leaflets, etc. The task of a teacher is to provide students with relevant vocabulary, adequate texts, instruction and to adapt study material with respect to the time given by the semester schedule. The choice of methods is determined also by the number of students in a group. Communication skills can be developed also through mail communication between a teacher and students, mainly if it is realized in English. This communication represents practical skills as well, like distribution of the information about teaching, sharing study material, providing feedback. Computer skills are in general highly motivating for contemporary students. Moreover, students prefer tasks which are practical and useful not only for their study but also for their professional life. The examples of such activities are generating of CV in the form of the so called Europass or the on-line European language portfolio. These two documents represent easy used electronic files which can help students and people who search for a job to create a personal modular inventory of personal skills and qualifications achieved during their life.

(http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/documents/curriculum-vitae)

The Internet is also the best way how to look through the European Union documents which may bring students a lot of useful information. The role of the ESP teacher in this work is irreplaceable as the majority of these documents are published in English. Students, reasonably directed by their teacher, can find a lot of practical information about the EU projects as well as about philosophy of the European institutions concerning interesting themes and thus to get starting points for speaking and writing activities. These activities based on CLIL methodology that combines the content and language learning contributes to the development of many, not only language competences which the students may use also after their university study. They support modern methodology of language study which strengthens the independent thought and action, social responsibility, autonomy and life-long language learning of university students.

Since 2005 considerable progress has been made in quality assurance as well as in other Bologna action lines such as qualification frameworks, recognition and the promotion of the use of learning outcomes, all these contributing to a paradigm shift towards student-centred learning and teaching. The Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area, one of the latest European Union documents, which was approved in Yerevan in May 2015, are based on the four principles: 1. Higher education institutions have primary responsibility for the quality of their provision and its assurance; 2. Quality assurance responds to the diversity of higher education systems, institutions, programs and students; 3. Quality assurance supports the development of a quality culture and 4. Quality assurance takes into account the needs and expectations of students, all other stakeholders and society. Standards and guidelines for student - centred learning, teaching and assessment are defined in the section 1.3 of this document. They stress the importance of assessment for students’ progression and their future careers. Quality assurance processes for assessment take into account the following: a) assessors are familiar with existing testing and examination methods and receive support in developing their own skills in this field, b) the criteria for and method of assessment as well as criteria for marking are published in advance, c) the assessment allows students to demonstrate the extent to which the indented learning outcomes have been achieved, d) students are given feedback, which, if necessary, is linked to advice on the learning process, e) where possible, assessment is carried out by more than one examiner, f) a formal procedure for student appeals is in place. (ESG, 2015)

I am a PhD student at the Pedagogic Faculty of Charles University in Prague. The topic of my dissertation thesis is ‘The examination at university’. Our research is based on the methods of qualitative research – document review, observation, interview and non-standardized questionnaires. We have chosen 9 respondents – teachers of ESP at different study programs at different faculties of three universities. The research question is: ‘How are the university students of ESP examined and assessed?’ We have understood a university examination as a part of a complex process of student assessment taking into account preparing, realization and evaluation of the whole process. We had had certain knowledge about student assessment in higher education based on theory and practice as well and we decided to test how this process changes in different conditions. We have found a lot of methodological issues in foreign literature, e.g. (Miles & Huberman, 1994) “The choice of samples in a certain time period in different environments offers a conceptual test of “success” in different local configurations.” We have chosen a time period for our research - a semester and different environments – different study programs at different faculties of different universities and we have determined a unifying element – the subject within which we have researched the examination – English for specific purposes. Although our research pattern has been quite homogenous we consider it to be rather positive within a multiple case study as it creates a space for better comparison of cases and providing material for similar research with different samples or a research focused on some other phenomena researched in our study. We have designed a conceptual frame for our research which was based on research questions. As a basic method for the analysis of our qualitative data we have used a method of coding. We have created the following categories: institutional frame (all documents which define and regulate the process of student assessment in higher education, i.e. Higher Education Act of the Slovak Republic, internal documents of universities, faculties, departments, pedagogic documents, tests, instructions, etc.), the role of a teacher in the student assessment, curriculum, examination and assessment strategy – subject of examination and assessment, forms and methods of examination and assessment, criteria of assessment, communication between teacher and students, feedback, implementation of the results of assessment into the teaching process and the student assessment. At the beginning of our analysis new categories started to merge – personal experience of the respondents with examination and assessment during their university study, efforts to be fair at examining and assessing their students, oral examination, different attitude to male and female students, theory and methodology of teaching, assessment training, cooperation between teachers, etc. Merging of new categories made us to prepare a non-standardized questionnaire for our respondents.

We have elaborated 9 case studies; they are roofed by a common institutional frame on the highest level which is represented by the Higher Education Act of the SR and by a similar frame on lower levels – on the university, faculty and department level. A common feature is the subject within which the student examination and assessment is realized – English for specific purposes.

Our research has brought several findings. The review of the documents related to the topic of student assessment has revealed that examination and assessment is the obligation of all the teachers at university, as it is defined in the §75 of the Higher education Act of SR No 131 2002 Coll. issued by the Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic. It is the only sentence in the Act which is devoted to the process of student assessment that stresses the undeniable autonomy of university teachers. The documents on the faculty level regulate the process of examination and assessment of students more precisely; however, they mostly describe organizational aspects of this process. These documents also give teachers a decisive role in the assessment process. Teachers at the researched universities are the only examiners and assessors during a semester which is not in agreement with the latest trends in student assessment in higher education formulated in ESG. Nevertheless, most of them follow the other guidelines defined in the section 1.3 of this document that concerns the assessment of students at higher education.

Our respondents are very autonomous in their assessment strategies, they are bound to the department, faculty and university documents related the assessment process but in the phase of its realization they proceed on their own. Therefore their assessment strategies differ from each other. However, as a whole, they all try to be fair in examination and assessment of their students which can be seen in their efforts to cover the taught curriculum only, to provide students with examination and assessment criteria in advance, to provide students with adequate feedback and to offer students a certain participation in this process. Most of the respondents have a holistic approach to the assessment of students during a semester and therefore they prefer continuous and formative assessment to a sumatívne one, though this may be caused also by the character of the subject which they teach. Two male respondents even express their effort to avoid unfair assessment in relation to female students, although they solve it differently. Most of the respondents use their own experience with examination and assessment in preparing their strategies. The impact of the EU educational policy is not systematic, mostly it is based only on a personal level, and it depends on the personal experience, knowledge and attitude of individual respondents. There is no institutional training in the student assessment or systemic implementation of EU educational policies at any of the researched universities. Nevertheless, ESP teachers are close to the EU educational policy as they often participate in the international seminars, workshops or conferences and thus they have knowledge which they intuitively implement in their teaching. They also participate in language training of university students or teachers with the aim to prepare them for mobilities within the EU programs. These programs are the most evident example of the impact of the EU educational policy in Slovak universities.

Universities in Slovakia try to behave internationally and as our country belongs to Europe and is a member of the European Union as well our higher education is part of the European Higher Education Area. This participation is reflected in many ways; in promoting and implementing European Union educational policies, mainly post-Bologna reforms, like implementation of three levels of university study and the credit system, life-long learning, mobility of students and teachers, publishing and sharing the information about higher education, quality assurance, etc. Our experience has shown that most of the ideas of the European Union educational policy have been accepted and they have had a good impact on the development of our tertiary education. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to take everything which is written in the EU documents without considering the conditions in our country which may be different from other European countries. University teachers in Slovakia should be more informed about the EU educational policies and participate in more research projects in the area of higher education in order to contribute to the evaluation of the impact of the EU educational policies on our universities and thus help to foster or reject their implementation.