Cultural diversity as a key factor in planning foreign language teaching policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cultural diversity as a key factor in planning foreign language teaching policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Softić, Mejra

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a multiethnic and multicultural community which has traditionally displayed deep sensitivity to the need for appreciation, promotion, learning, connecting, and preservation of the different cultures. The aim of the paper is to indicate the multilayered nature of the cultural identity of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the fact that cultural, traditional, and religious diversity, as well as the civilisation imbuement with the elements of the European and Oriental-Islamic culture have strongly affected the planning of foreign language teaching policy in this country for centuries. Having been subjected to strong political and cultural influences both from the East and the West, Bosnia and Herzegovina opens up possibilities for combining European and Oriental languages by applying modern curricula at primary schools. The primary goal is for the students to encounter cultures of entirely different regions and to be taught tolerance, understanding, and appreciation for what is foreign and different by establishing a correlation among those cultures themselves and a correlation between those and their native culture. The paper also addresses a close relationship between a foreign language and culture of the people using that language and indicates the necessity to teach a foreign language by teaching elements of foreign culture. Such a method introduces a student to the process of intercultural learning of a foreign language and produces a positive effect on the development of the student's cultural communication competences. BiH has shown strong tendencies towards harmonising the foreign language curricula with modern European concepts of foreign language teaching and learning.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2011-05

549