finland’s growing participation in international co-operation

Ritva Aho, Ph. D., Army Academy, Finland

Operational English Proficiency of

Commissioned Officers

A New Weapons System for the Finnish Defence

Forces

Ritva AhoMilitary Academy

Lappeenranta, Finland

EALTA Conference in Krakow, May 19 - 21, 2006


Finland’s growing participation in international co-operation

2

Peacekeeping since 1956 47.509 Finnish peacekeepers 35 operations by 2006

United Nations (UN) Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) European Union (EU) NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme.


Research Approach: A survey based on questionnaire data

Questionnaire:

104 fixed-choice language use situations

Example: Taking the floor in meetings and

negotiations.

7 open-ended questions

3


The dimensions of the language use studied

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Frequency of the English language use situationson a scale: 1 (never) – 5 (daily)

Level of the required English language proficiencyon a CEF scale: 1 (A1) – 6 (C2)

Importance of the English language use situationson a scale: 1 (unimportant) – 4 (very important)


Reliability and validity

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Language proficiency scale: α: 0.87 – 0.93

Importance scale: α: 0.81 – 0.89


Military Ranks of the Respondents

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Service Rank Frequency Percent

Lieutenant 5 2,1

Senior Lieutenant 14 5,9

Captain 53 22,2

Major 72 30,1

Lieutenant Colonel 21 8,8

Colonel 13 5,4

Other 1 ,4

Arm

y &

Air

Forc

e


Military Ranks of the Respondents

7

Service Rank Frequency Percent

Lieutenant Junior Grade 3 1,3

Lieutenant 7 2,9

Lieutenant Senior Grade

8 3,3

Lieutenant Commander 12 5,0

Commander 8 3,3

Captain 1 ,4

Other 1 ,4

Missing 20 8,4

Total 239 100,0

Nav

y


Age Distribution of the Respondents

8


Level of English Proficiency on scale 1- 6

Self-assessed level External National Exam

9

654331

Estimated Level

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Perc

ent

65432

External examination

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Perc

ent


Frequency on total scale1=never - 5=daily (39 situations) (n=239)

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Comparisons between the averages for estimated skill-specific frequency scales:

1=never - 5=daily (n=239)

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Required proficiency level on total scale1- 6 (39 situations) (n=177)

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Comparisons between the averages for required skill-specific level scales 1- 6

(n=177)

13


Importance of communication situations on total scale 1=unimportant – 4 =very

important (n = 174)

14

4321

Total score

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Fre

quency

Mean = 2,8411Std. Dev. = 0,53908N = 174


Comparisons between the averages for estimated skill-specific importance scales1=unimportant – 4=very important (n=174)

15


Important situations in which you have needed English most often

In meetings, negotiations, discussions, seminars etc.

the language proficiency must be adequate to give

self-confidence so that we are not steamrolled by the opposition

International visits, organisation/job presentations for

various delegations

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Situations in which you have experienced your proficiency most deficient

Hectic negotiations where the other party is represented by a vexed non-native, who speaks bad English with the local (e.g. Albanian) accent

Nato slang, packed with abbreviation-monsters, which are unfamiliar even to many members of the Nato countries

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Situations in which you have experienced your proficiency most adequate

Social occasions and informal chatting cause no problems.

Daily routine on duty, and presentations for which one can be well prepared.

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Situations for which one must be most prepared

Understanding varieties of accents such as Indian, Australian, New Zealandish, African, Irish on topics ranging from meetings to small talk

New abbreviations are created as someone invents a new name for the old thing: NEC = Network Enabled Capacity, NCW = Network Centric Warfare, MIL = man in the loop, LOL = Laughing out Loud)

Practising negotiations respecting cultural differences (Muslim / Jewish)

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Examples / experiences of good language teaching from military viewpoint

• Military observer courses• Nato School courses• Immersion courses in general• International assignments / exercises • Practical experience in operations

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Examples / experiences of less good language teaching from military viewpoint

Language learning should be a continuous development process. Merely sitting the national exam is not the best stuff

There should have been considerably many more contact lessons & more interactive practice

The most important thing would have been writing briefings, orders & instructions

Practising meetings & negotiations

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Suggestions on developing language teaching military career-wise

Language teaching should be focused on need and the task

Emphasis should be on getting down to practicalities and attaining ability to communicate in a creative interactive manner

We should master the civilities well in international environments, and avoid giving the impression of being simpletons.

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Needs AnalysisOperational Language

Proficiency of Commissioned

Officers

Implement-ation of new curricula in teaching &

assessment

Revision of curricula

Test Specific-

ations

Path of Research Further measures

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Previous studies(Motive)

Externalauditing

finland’s growing participation in international co-operation

Documents