Who we are
Mission
“Rerum cognoscere causas et valorem…”
To understand the causes and to provide universal education,
to combine vocational knowledge with general knowledge of a methodological and theoretical nature.
The Language Centre is an interfaculty unit of the University of Economics whose main task is to educate students in foreign languages in business contexts. We offer courses in English, Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Polish, Russian, and Italian, while within the English curriculum we conduct specialist courses tailored to the field of study. Today, our goal should be a closer integration of vocational knowledge with general knowledge. Therefore, the mission of the Language Centre should be to create practical opportunities for quickly responding to the new needs of society and the labour market by adapting our offer to the changing role of language teaching in economics-focused universities.
The future of language teaching in such institutions should involve a shift from teaching general foreign language to teaching specialist language, in close cooperation with subject–area instructors.
Furthermore, at every level of language proficiency, our teaching programmes should include social competences (soft skills), which are so important nowadays, with particular emphasis on delivering presentations, conducting business meetings, and negotiating (business skills). Our foreign language curricula should also incorporate the so-called 21st-century skills (key competences): creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving, the use of ICT tools, group collaboration, information retrieval and management, and social and multicultural skills, etc. Only then, as an interfaculty unit, will we be able to fulfil our university’s mission.
The most important perspective to adopt in implementing the mission is the student’s perspective—our main stakeholder—which entails respecting their rights, supporting their intellectual development, and promoting an open attitude, tolerance, and a sense of personal responsibility for the learning process.
The functioning of the system is based on conscious and purposeful quality-oriented actions undertaken by all academic and administrative staff of the Language Centre, with the aim of co-creating a culture of high educational quality in all areas of the Centre’s operation.
The Management of the Language Centre is responsible for the proper functioning of the quality assurance system, while every employee and student of the Centre contributes to the development of a quality culture.
The areas of activity of academic and administrative staff are defined by their respective job descriptions. Specific quality-oriented tasks are carried out by the Quality Team. The Team’s work focuses on unifying principles for completing course description forms, monitoring and updating syllabi, and developing programme learning outcomes for the languages taught, as well as ensuring consistency of requirements and standardisation of assessment within the National Qualifications Framework. Quality-oriented actions are cyclical, subject to regular review (e.g., curricula are reviewed annually at the end of the academic year) and may consequently be further modified.
Vision for the Future of the Language Centre
The vision for the future captures the desired state and sets the direction of development for the Language Centre in line with the strategy outlined below. The vision is based on five main perspectives:
Educational processes: teaching and academic tasks
- teaching competences relevant to the labour market
- creating courses tailored to the needs of students of each faculty
- promoting and supporting instructors engaged not only in teaching but also in research
- extensive use of modern technologies in language teaching (introduction of e-learning, especially blended learning combining traditional classes with Moodle platform activities)
- further development of teaching resources
Staff policy and methodological support
- increasing the authority of team leaders
- supporting teams responsible for consistency and coordination of methodological activities within the Centre
- promoting a proactive organisational culture oriented towards change
Administrative activity and management of the Centre
- simplifying and virtualising existing procedures
- supporting and adequately rewarding the development of administrative staff competences
- fostering a “student-oriented” approach
Promotional activity
- strengthening the Centre’s position within the university thanks to an effective information policy and coordination of language programme development with faculty representatives
- promoting the Centre’s activities both within the university and in the broader academic environment