Abstract:

Language competences become more important on a global scale from the point of view of organizations and individual. Organizations need personnel who will fulfill their strategic aims. By being able to know and use foreign languages, the individual raises his/her own position on the labor market. The Army of the Czech Republic, as an employer, raises the language requirements on its own personnel, as well as others do. The reason of it is the cooperation with international partners and the request for interoperability of armies of alliance, which could not be achieved without any mutual communication language, which has become English.

The current state of language preparedness corresponds with constantly increasing requirements for language knowledge of professional soldiers. Even though, the emphasis on language preparedness is also increasing, it has not been among the priority educational objectives in the army so far. Language requirements are one of the requirements set for systemized places to which the soldiers are placed. However, they have played a small role in the system of career management and there have not been any corresponding sanctions for non-fulfillment of those requirements since 2015 when the amendment of the Act on professional Soldiers took place in the Czech Republic.

The previously mentioned amendment of the Act on Professional Soldiers was a turning point in language preparedness which follows from the need of the obligation to have language competence personnel on a required level. Considering the amendment, the non-fulfillment of language requirements for soldiers won’t be accepted in the future. Considering a high percentage of professional soldiers who are not able to fulfill these requirements currently, the field of language education is becoming a great challenge for the defense department. It is important to ensure the testing capacities so the soldiers will be able to prove their language knowledge and will be able to prepare for language exams. It will be important to use all necessary available means of formal and informal education in an efficient way. The means of positive and negative motivation of the Army of the Czech Republic will also play a big role.

This article contains an analysis of the current state of language preparedness. The actual state will be then compared to the desired state due to the model created in the system VENSIM. Data gained from the simulation will become the basis for defining the needs of language education in the Army of the Czech Republic and its possibilities.

Keywords:

Language competence, need of language education, the Army of the Czech Republic, VENSIM simulation.