The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina 9781783095971

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The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Series Editor: John Edwards, St. Francis Xavier University, Canada Multilingual Matters series publishes books on bilingualism, bilingual education, immersion education, second language learning, language policy, multiculturalism. The editor is particularly interested in ‘macro’ level studies of language policies, language maintenance, language shift, language revival and language planning. Books in the series discuss the relationship between language in a broad sense and larger cultural issues, particularly identity related ones. Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.multilingual-matters.com, or by writing to Multilingual Matters, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS: 164

The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Edited by Louisa Buckingham

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS Bristol • Buffalo • Toronto

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Buckingham, Louisa, editor. The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina/Edited by Louisa Buckingham. Bristol; Buffalo: Multilingual Matters, [2016] | Series: Multilingual Matters: 164 | Includes bibliographical references and index. LCCN 2016011328| ISBN 9781783095964 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781783095988 (epub) | ISBN 9781783095995 (kindle) LCSH: English language–Bosnia and Herzegovina–History. | English language–Study and teaching–Foreign speakers. | Language and languages--Economic aspects–Bosnia and Herzegovina. LCC PE2792 .S73 2016 | DDC 420.949742–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc. gov/2016011328 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-13: 978-1-78309-596-4 (hbk) Multilingual Matters UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK. USA: UTP, 2250 Military Road, Tonawanda, NY 14150, USA. Canada: UTP, 5201 Dufferin Street, North York, Ontario M3H 5T8, Canada. Website: www.multilingual-matters.com Twitter: Multi_Ling_Mat Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/multilingualmatters Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com Copyright © 2016 Louisa Buckingham and the authors of individual chapters. Front cover image: The British Lodekka bus has been an attraction in central Sarajevo since 2013. The re-painted exterior displays a mixture of symbols which reference historical and contemporary characteristics of the city. Stationed outside the popular local pub ‘Cheers’, the slogan from this US sitcom appears along the top. The pub clearly also wishes to align itself with the Irish pub tradition, however. ‘Trebević’ is the second highest mountain on the outskirts of Sarajevo and was the site of some events during the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo (1984). The Olympic mascot ‘Vučko’ appears on the right. The bus bears a German registration plate (Frankfurt), which suggests it did not arrive directly from the UK. Germany was one of the most important destinations for migrant workers and refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina (and the former Yugoslavia) in the 20th century. The inscription along the front, that can be loosely translated as ‘What’s happening here?’, is the question we hope to answer in this book. Photo taken by Fatih Er. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. The policy of Multilingual Matters/Channel View Publications is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products, made from wood grown in sustainable forests. In the manufacturing process of our books, and to further support our policy, preference is given to printers that have FSC and PEFC Chain of Custody certification. The FSC and/or PEFC logos will appear on those books where full certification has been granted to the printer concerned. Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited. Printed and bound in Great Britain by the CPI Books Group

Contents

Contributors

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English and commerce in northern Bosnia Introduction Louisa Buckingham

xiii 1

Part 1: English Language Teaching: Policy and Practice 1

The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Past and Present Adisa Imamović and Nihada Delibegović Džanić

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2

‘English for Survival Purposes’ and the Predicament of SelfTaught Language Teachers Kamiah Arnaut-Karović

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A Journey into the Mind: Exploring Metaphors of EFL Pre-Service Teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Višnja Pavičić Takač and Draženka Molnar

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4

Military English Matters Claire Whittaker

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Part 2: English Language Publishing 5

Think Globally, Write Locally: ELT Materials Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina Asmir Mešić

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Achieving Visibility in the International Scientific Community: Experiences of Bosnian Scholars Presenting and Publishing Research in English Alma Jahić Keeping Economics Local in the Academic Mainstream: Competitive Journal Management Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina Louisa Buckingham and Tanja Pavlović

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Part 3: English in the Media and Politics 8

English, ‘Polyglot’ Politicians and Polyglot Businessmen: Language Ideologies in Contemporary Bosnian Press Adnan Ajšić

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The Impact of English on Language Use in the Bosnian Press Vildana Dubravac

10 The High Representative’s Discourse on Minority Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its Representation in the National Print Media Snežana Bilbija and Merima Osmankadić

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Part 4: The Translation and Interpreting Profession 11 Translating Legislation From and Into English: An Overview of Legal Translation Development in Post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina Melisa Okičić 12 Fictionalised Accounts of Translation and Interpreting for Peacebuilding Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo: The Memoir–Novels of Veselin Gatalo and Tanja Janković Catherine Baker 13 Translating Justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Louisa Buckingham Index

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285 307

Contributors

Adisa Imamović started her career as an English teacher at two high schools in Tuzla in the 1980s. In the 1990s, she was a translator/interpreter for local companies, government institutions and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and also helped organise English classes at several high schools in Tuzla. In 2000, she was appointed to the newly opened English language and literature department at the University of Tuzla. As a founding member, she was heavily involved in curriculum development, management and administrative work and she established close cooperation with numerous local and international institutions with English language support programmes. She still lectures at the University of Tuzla. Nihada Delibegović Džanić belongs to the generation that started learning English in the former Yugoslavia. She spent the war years in her besieged home town and during her primary schooling experienced studying English in a ‘cellar school’ (as described in her chapter). Following the war, her secondary school teachers included qualified civil engineers turned English language teachers. These experiences motivated her to choose English teaching as her profession. Nihada is an associate professor of English language and linguistics at the Department of English Language and Literature, University of Tuzla. Kamiah Arnaut Karović runs her own business providing translation services and English language training courses. During the war and postwar period, she trained unqualified English teachers at primary and secondary schools in the Zenica region and translators and other employees of international organisations located in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The level of motivation, commitment and energy shown by her students during these years has been an inspiration to her career. She also teaches English for specific purposes at the University ‘Vitez’ and holds the position of assistant professor at the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Zenica.

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Višnja Pavičić Takač has been involved in pre-service and in-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher training for over 20 years. She has taught graduate and post-graduate courses related to second language acquisition, foreign language learning and teaching at universities in Croatia (Osijek and Zagreb) and in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tuzla and Zenica). Her work as a ‘visiting professor’ over many years helped establish English language degree programmes at universities in central Bosnia. Her co-authored chapter reflects this experience of working in diverse contexts of teacher education during a period of social and political change. She currently lectures at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek. Draženka Molnar has been an EFL teacher trainer for over 15 years. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses related to foreign language learning and teaching at the University of Osijek, Croatia. As a guest lecturer, she led interactive in-service workshops on EFL methodology in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Brčko). Her involvement in participants’ teaching practice and professional development over the years of turmoil sparked her interest in how such sociopolitical changes might impact on novice teachers’ conceptualisation of teacher–student roles in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She currently lectures at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek. Claire Whittaker has worked and advised on military English projects in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Balkans since 2001. Between 2003 and 2007, she was the training and systems manager on the Military English Support Project in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which formed part of the British Council’s Peacekeeping English Project. In this role, she oversaw the direct teaching of English to 600 military personnel per annum, ran preand in-service training for the language instructors and helped develop the project’s ground-breaking blended learning courses. She currently works as an English language teaching (ELT) consultant with McIlwraith Education. Asmir Mešić has taught English in state and private language schools since 1993. He received specialised ELT training in the UK (2000) and Hungary (2001) and has organised and conducted numerous ELT seminars and workshops in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having taught with locally written coursebooks in the early 1990s, the introduction of the first global titles at the turn of the millennium piqued his interest in coursebook writing. He has authored the local content for two series of major global titles, aimed at students aged 9–15. Asmir currently teaches children and teenagers at a state school, and teenagers and adults at his own language school in Tuzla canton.

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Alma Jahić is an assistant professor at the English department of the University of Tuzla. She investigated second language academic writing in her MPhil and PhD research and has taught academic writing and research methodology courses at undergraduate and graduate level. Her current research interests include writing for publication, plagiarism and written feedback. She is a member of the European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing (EATAW). Currently, she contributes to the COST action IS1401 Strengthening Europeans’ Capabilities by Establishing the European Literacy Network as a management committee member representing Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tanja Pavlović has many years’ experience translating scientific work for Bosnian-speaking scholars. This, along with her role as a language editor for an international scientific journal at her home university, has provided her with rich insights into the challenges faced by nonnative speakers of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina in their efforts to participate in a globalised academic community. Despite the complexities of undertaking research and drafting a manuscript in English in an under-resourced academic environment, she remains convinced that quality research is still possible. Tanja is an assistant professor in the English department at the University of Tuzla and is also a professional translator. Vildana Dubravac began her primary school years during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During this period, she experienced the life of a refugee and the need to adapt to different school environments. She especially loved English classes, despite the frequent changes of teacher, who took positions with international organisations or emigrated. Now a lecturer at the University of Zenica, she teaches English/Bosnian translation and has witnessed the increasing impact of English on the Bosnian language, evident in different registers and domains. Working also with primary schoolchildren, she notices the growing role of English as an additional language in their lives. Adnan Ajšić is an assistant professor of English at the International Burch University in Sarajevo. Early in his career, he served as an interpreter and translator with the US army in Bosnia and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, the Netherlands. Adnan received his university-level education almost entirely in English at public and private universities in Bosnia, Austria and the United States. His research interests include language ideology, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, English as a global lingua franca and language policy in postcolonial and post-communist societies.

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Merima Osmankadić teaches English morphosyntax, discourse analysis, syntactic variation in newspaper register, sociolinguistics and contrastive analysis at the English department of Sarajevo University. Her main research interest lies within the field of critical discourse analysis, with the emphasis on critical analysis of the Office of the High Representative (OHR) discourse in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose chief channel of communication is English. In particular, Merima does research on the use of explicit and implicit negation in OHR discourse and the ways this linguistic phenomenon can be used to achieve certain pragmatic functions, like presupposing and denying presuppositions, emphasising, realising manipulative discourse strategy of positive self-presentation and negative other-presentation. Snežana Bilbija has taught English semantics, syntax and sociolinguistics for decades at the English departments of Sarajevo University and East Sarajevo University. In 2000, her research shifted to the study of English language political discourse on post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). As a key political influence in the region, the European Union (EU) has assumed the role of guide as BiH navigates the path to EU membership. During the past 16 years, Snežana has focused on the linguistic reflexes of the unique sociopolitical context of post-war BiH with the OHR and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) officially shaping the new Bosnian political reality via English language communications. Melisa Okičić worked as a project assistant/interpreter for international organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 10 years. Typical duties involved the translation of legal documents from and into English, and field interpreting in BiH and abroad. Since the commencement of the European integration process, she has attended seminars on EU legal terminology organised by the Directorate for European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is particularly interested in the methodology used in the standardisation of legal terminology, the use of plain language in legal texts and the process of legal-linguistic revision. She currently lectures in the English department at the University of Sarajevo. Her research interests include legal English and legal Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, legal translation and academic writing. Catherine Baker worked as a researcher between 2008 and 2012 for a University of Southampton/University of Reading project on languages, translation/interpreting and peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was responsible for interviewing former locally recruited translators/ interpreters who had worked for the United Nations (UN) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Contributors

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in the 1990s and 2000s, and also interviewed former peacekeepers and language trainers about their experiences of language contact during peacebuilding work. She also studies the representation of the Yugoslav wars in popular culture. She has worked as a lecturer in 20th-century history at the University of Hull since 2012. Louisa Buckingham was a project assistant on a reconstruction programme run by German Caritas in Banja Luka in the mid-1990s. Similar to experiences described in various chapters of this volume, typical duties involved translation and field interpreting between Bosnian/Croatian/ Serbian, German and English and interfacing with the international community. In the early 2000s, she lectured for three years at the University of Tuzla in the newly established Department of English and German, and simultaneously worked for the Tuzla Canton Pedagogical Institute, supporting English teachers at schools throughout the region. She currently lectures at the University of Auckland.

English and commerce in northern Bosnia

Superimposed on the traditional facade of this corner shop in Tuzla’s historical centre is a layer of 21st-century modernity. Global-brand advertising combines with the lure of oriental-style trinkets for travellers and tobacco for locals to reflect the hybridity of contemporary Bosnian culture. Photo by Adnan Ajšić.

xiii

Introduction Louisa Buckingham

Shortly before this book went to press, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)1 celebrated its 20-year anniversary as an independent country. This, by extension, marks two decades since the Dayton Peace Accords ended a nearly four-year long war of succession from the remains of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). As BiH has been a constituent of several larger state formations in past centuries, language use and foreign language preferences on the territory of BiH have adapted to the varying cultural and political contexts throughout history. Previously favoured foreign or additional languages include Turkish, Arabic, German, French and Russian. The important functions these languages exercised in commercial, political and social domains meant that, to varying degrees, they also left their mark on the Bosnian language, particularly with respect to lexical borrowings. In comparison with the aforementioned languages, English is a newcomer. The depth and breadth of its influence, however, are disproportionate to its comparatively brief period of prominence in BiH. Upon the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia (FY) in the early 1990s, competence in English was not widespread. For many, however, English came to be equated with economic survival during the ensuing war as knowledge of this language, in particular oral skills, was frequently a prerequisite for employment in many of the limited positions which offered a salary sufficient to support a family. Such positions typically involved working for the omnipresent international community, a heterogeneous collection of governmental and non-governmental organisations serving a similarly diverse array of purposes. English ability enabled social mobility in the broadest sense: it aided material survival and access to a living wage and, in many cases, mobility out of the country. Regrettably, the abrupt arrival of English as a desirable, or even requisite, criterion for employment has also occasioned downward mobility, contributing to the marginalisation of those with an inadequate command of this resource. This collection of studies sheds light on the multi-functional, multidimensional, mobility-imbued nature of the English language phenomenon in BiH. Ranging from the classroom to the military to the International Criminal Court, the social and professional contexts of these studies are diverse. In a sense, the prism of language has allowed an

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Introduction

exploration of the evolving character of Bosnian society during the war and post-war periods. Part 1 of this volume considers the position of English from policy, teacher training and assessment perspectives. It commences with two overview studies on the evolving place of English in BiH. The first is from the perspective of foreign language teaching policy from the SFRY period to the present authored by one of the founding faculty members of the English department at the second largest university in BiH, and co-authored with one of the first graduates from this department. Chapter 2 examines the phenomenon widespread during the war and post-war periods of selftaught English language teachers in state schools. The ubiquity of activities undertaken by the international community, reliant to various degrees on local employees proficient in English, had elevated to a privileged status the very limited number of individuals possessing English language tertiary degrees. With the exodus of qualified English teachers from lowly paid but reliable state school positions, these vacancies became contested sites for desirable employment by people whose limited English skills were insufficient to secure a position with the international community. These people demonstrated a remarkable capacity to teach themselves the language of survival in a context largely without internet or cable TV, with little access to books and where the provision of basic utilities, water, electricity and heating, was often erratic. Research in second language acquisition has yet to explicate how such, often, notable levels of linguistic expertise could be attained by language learners whose only beneficial learning circumstance was the will to survive. Curriculum design experts have little to say about why antiquated textbooks from the 1960s based on approaches such as the direct method or grammar translation, now dimly viewed by language teaching theorists, could lead to commendable learning outcomes for a generation of adult learners at the dawn of the 21st century. The educational context and approaches to teaching have changed greatly since BiH formed part of the FY. This trajectory is explored in Chapter 3. As an EU candidate state, BiH has to align its education sector, in terms of policies, degree structures, content and teaching methods, with EU guidelines and regulations. As the authors reveal, however, conceptualisations of the teaching process may be firmly rooted, irrespective of policy changes, and may be representative of broader cultural practices. English is also the first foreign language learnt in contexts other than the formal education system. Driven by the imperative of transnational collaboration, the military has adopted the criterion of English language competence as a factor which determines career progression opportunities within the organisation. Chapter 4 documents the process by which this has occurred. As Whittaker explains, the importance of English has increased concomitant with BiH’s progress towards admittance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Introduction

3

(NATO), owing to the expectations of international engagement that such memberships entails. Part 2 examines factors involved in the English language publishing industry in BiH from the perspectives of English language training (ELT) material development, academics and journal editors. Chapter 5 explores issues surrounding the transition of textbook writing from being a wholly domestic enterprise in the FY to being outsourced or internationalised in the early post-war period. International textbooks were widely adopted, perhaps in the belief that these would support endeavours to raise the general standard of school-level English competence to a level comparable to Central European countries. Mešić also discusses a more recent compromise which envisages locally produced textbooks and local writers as co-authors of international textbooks. Today, English language programmes are present at every university in the country. The opening of the education sector to foreign investment has led to the establishment of foreign universities with English as the medium of instruction. Both domestic and foreign students may now complete a range of academic degrees entirely in English. Beyond university teaching, English is increasingly the preferred language of scholarly publishing among academics in BiH, particularly in fields such as science, technology and economics. This tendency follows a global trend towards the preferential use of English for research intended for an international audience. Chapters 6 and 7 inquire into how the perceived or imposed need to publish in English is experienced by authors and journal editors in BiH, and how academics in BiH successfully participate in competitive international publishing practices despite their modest resources. The following three chapters comprising Part 3 are data-driven studies relating to the impact of English in the Bosnian press using corpus analysis methods. In Chapter 7 Ajšić employs an innovative approach to key word analysis in his mixed-methods study design to investigate values attributed to English language competence in the Bosnian press. Subsequently, Dubravac identifies the characteristic forms of English linguistic influence on Bosnian in a newspaper corpus and enquires into the relative acceptance of such stylistic features in contemporary Bosnian among two generations of Bosnians. Finally, Bilbija and Osmankadić trace how the discourse on minority rights, as pronounced in English by the leading office of the international community, the Office of the High Representative, is filtered into the local press. Part 4 is dedicated to the domain of translation and interpreting as a profession. As BIH is progressively integrated into international structures, the foremost of these being the EU, the requirement to translate documents from international institutions for local dissemination has increased. As described by Okičić, the challenges inherent in this task often relate to

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Introduction

issues involving the nomenclature and ontology of the official languages of BIH, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian when translating from English into the local language(s). As the EU legislation to be integrated into Bosnia’s legal framework necessarily requires nation-wide legitimacy, in a politically fractured country such as BiH, such issues are complex and are often more of a political than linguistic nature. The intensely personal nature of lived and witnessed experiences through the war and post-war periods can only with difficulty be related through traditionally scholarly epistemologies. The penultimate chapter reviews fictionalised accounts of the lived experience of interpreters employed with the international military. The international military force, known by a succession of acronyms, had a prominent presence in postwar BiH and was an important source of employment. The locally engaged interpreters, like the English teachers in Chapter 2, were often largely selftaught beyond any basic competence acquired during their school years. Their relative youth (typically younger people were employed in such positions) and the physical challenges (and often dangers) of the job left them potentially quite vulnerable. As Baker explains, narrative accounts of tumultuous events (in this case peacekeeping operations through the eyes of civilian language intermediaries) can shed light on how such experiences are conceptualised, rationalised and remembered. Their importance should not be underestimated as such texts, despite their fictional nature, may be treated as a repository of knowledge and contribute to collective memory formation. The final chapter explores the topic of translators and interpreters, or ‘language experts’ who left BiH (and the wider FY) to work in the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. As the author of this study, I acknowledge that my interest in this topic reaches back to the early 2000s when I observed young people in my midst depart with at times conflicting sentiments for The Hague. This study enquires into how ‘language experts’ adjusted to the linguistic and professional challenges of this unique work environment. All studies in this book are embedded in the context of the war and post-war periods and most authors frame their work through reference to specific events or practices characteristic of these periods. This is particularly true of chapters intended as an overview of the period through the lens of national policies on foreign language teaching (Imamović and Delibegović Džanić), informal language learning (Arnaut-Karović), English as a foreign language (EFL) textbook production (Mešić), and the development of the legal translation sector (Okičić). The distinct focus of each overview study enables insights on the same historical period from diverse perspectives. It is perhaps of note that few studies in this volume problematise the widespread adoption (or for some, the imposition) of English as a de-facto second or additional language in BiH, a factor that may surprise readers

Introduction

5

accustomed to a more critical stance on geopolitical issues related to the positioning of the English language. In two exceptions to this, ArnautKarović reveals the social inequity resulting from unequal access to English as a coveted socio-economic resource, and Ajšić sheds light on how judgements regarding English language ability impact on more general evaluations of individual and collective societal competence. The high level of international intervention in BiH over the last two decades has contributed to a sense of normalisation of the presence of English in the political, educational and media spheres. BiH has not been a fully autonomous state since its independence. Although its degree of sovereignty has increased in recent years with a reduction in the level of intervention of the Office of the High Representative and a downscaling of the international military presence, the more recently initiated EU integration process has imposed further encroachments on state sovereignty and, as Okičić ascertains, reinforced the presence of English through the imperative of accessing and translating official EU documents, harmonising Bosnian legislation with that of the EU, and introducing EU nomenclature. Further, BiH, like most independent states, endeavours to integrate into transnational security architecture, the foremost of these in this geopolitical context being NATO. Foreign policy interests thus contribute to shaping decisions regarding domestic foreign language policies, and such interests are multidimensional and fluctuating in nature. On an individual level, socio-economic drivers frequently underlie foreign language preferences. The current dominant position of English in BiH is thus far more complex than simple linguistic imposition. On a more anecdotal note, the position of English is not unchallenged. In some parts of BiH, in particular Republika Srpska2, German, with its historically deeper ties to the region, is experiencing a renaissance in the education sector, a trend largely driven by foreign direct investment from German-speaking countries, the hope (and reality) of employment prospects with foreign companies or in German-speaking countries and opportunities for tertiary study there. The growing perception of German as the foreign language of social (and geographic) mobility is also observable in neighbouring countries in south-eastern Europe. Future research might usefully shed greater light on this. Relatedly, in all studies comprising Part 3 (English language publishing) and Part 4 (translating and interpreting) of this volume, the strategic value of advanced bi- or multilingual competence is underscored. While languages with a global footprint and socio-economic clout, such as (but not solely) English, may appear hegemonic in a sociolinguistic sense, globalising forces of the 21st century have also contributed to the strengthening of local linguistic and cultural practices. In many domains, the value of being able to access multiple networks of knowledge by complementing proficiency in English with expertise in other languages is becoming increasingly apparent. In academic, commercial and media contexts, for instance, the

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Introduction

ability to confidently shift between a world language and a language of lesser diffusion, and thus position oneself ‘glocally’, can have tangible professional benefits and bestow on the linguistically adept a competitive edge over monolingual colleagues. The authors of these studies either originate from BiH or have spent prolonged, formative periods of their working lives in the country. While the opportunity to collaborate in this project was extended to academics at each of the main universities in BiH during the preparatory stages of the book, this collection of studies represents the selection that advanced through the review process to final acceptance. It does not attempt to speak for all citizens of BiH and nor does it presume to provide a conclusive account of individuals’ experiences of the fraught years of the war and postwar periods. The views expressed remain those of the individual authors. As authors, we are confident, however, that this collection documents events and experiences that will be familiar to many. We recognised the need to record these experiences for the current and future generations of BiH, and it is in this spirit that we collaborated on this work. On a personal note, I wish to acknowledge that this book came to fruition while I was an assistant professor on the MA TEFL programme at Bilkent University in Ankara (Turkey). I am grateful for the environment conducive to research that this university provided, the resources furnished by the ever helpful librarians, the period of leave that enabled me to return to BiH for research purposes, and the interested and informed conversations I had with my Turkish colleagues and students at Bilkent about BiH.

Notes (1)

(2)

The form ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina’ appears throughout the book. I acknowledge, however, that the hyphenated form ‘Bosnia-Herzegovina’ is also used in the British press (e.g. by the BBC and The Guardian) and academic publications. The Bosnian abbreviation BiH has been used in favour of BH in reflection of its widespread use in formal English texts across a range of domains. This is a rare instance of a loan word (or abbreviation) from Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (B/C/S) in English and is an interesting exception to the reverse trend discussed in the studies in Part 3 of this book. As the adjectival form ‘Bosnian and Herzegovinian’ is somewhat unwieldy (and is not conventionally used in English), authors primarily use ‘Bosnian’ or even BiH in this book. Similarly, in B/C/S the adjective ‘bosanski’ is more commonly employed than ‘bosanskohercegovački’. Where authors refer to the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a constituent of the Former Yugoslavia, the abbreviation SR BiH is used. The original name for the Serb entity within BiH, Republika Srpska, has been retained in this volume. While there is as yet no clear convention in English regarding the nomenclature for this entity, this term is commonly used in respected English language media.

Part 1 English Language Teaching: Policy and Practice

1 The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Past and Present Adisa Imamovic´ and Nihada Delibegovic´ Džanic´

Introduction English is the first foreign language of all children today in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and those who graduate from the country’s grammar schools attain a high level of fluency as users of English. This achievement is remarkable when one considers that several decades ago, English was only sporadically taught in schools and few people, mainly urbanites, could speak it. The transformation of the status of English as a foreign language in BiH is intricately linked to the country’s recent history. Little has been written about the rapid expansion of English from a marginally taught foreign language reserved usually for a few urban schools to the first foreign language taught in all schools and universities, and used as a medium of instruction in some. This introductory chapter explores the changing role of English in BiH society and perspectives on teaching and learning of the language from the Yugoslav era, through the recent war of succession, to the present day. Consideration will be given to how the political circumstances of each period influenced the relative position of English vis-à-vis other foreign languages in schools, classrooms and people’s homes, as well as the demand for English language competence (relative to other languages) on the job market. Concomitant with political changes over this period came changes in teaching syllabi and methods, and teacher qualifications. This chapter discusses accounts of foreign language learning in BiH, as reported in the literature and information from official English teaching curricula. As these are mostly not available in English, this chapter will enable this information to reach a wider audience than has previously been the case. To complement these previously published reports, we conducted a small survey on foreign language learning in primary and secondary

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Part 1: English Language Teaching: Policy and Practice

schools in BiH to identify which languages people had learned in schools at different periods of the country’s recent history, and which languages they had wanted to learn at that time. The results from this survey are presented at different points in this chapter according to the relevant historical period. The survey included 118 participants randomly chosen from all walks of life and with different qualification levels from both urban and rural areas. They come from different regions of BiH, mainly the regions of Tuzla, Sarajevo, Zenica, Jajce, Travnik, Zvornik and Mostar. The participants were contacted directly and asked to fill in the questionnaire. Distinct periods in the development and growth of English are described in each of the four sections of this chapter. The first section presents the period of BiH in the former Yugoslavia, from the end of World War II to the beginning of the war of succession in 1992. The second section investigates the very special status of English in BiH during the 1992–1995 war, when its role in survival was the greatest spur for its expansion. The third section covers the first post-war years, which saw the most significant institutional growth in English language teaching (ELT), and the final section addresses the present status of English as a foreign language in BiH. The overview presented here broadly contextualises the following chapters in this book, each of which focuses on a specific aspect related to the role of English in contemporary BiH, many of which we touch upon in this chapter.

Political Background The Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the six federal units which constituted the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Bordering with Serbia and Croatia, it was a geographically central unit in which Serb, Croat and Bosniak traditions were intertwined. BiH was recognised as an independent country on 6 April 1992. From 1992 to 1995, a bitter war was fought among Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks. The Dayton Agreement in 1995 ended the war and divided the country into two administrative units – the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was predominantly Bosniak and Croat (occupying about 51% of the territory) and Republika Srpska predominantly Serb (occupying about 49% of the territory). The Federation of BiH is divided into 10 cantons: five Bosniak-majority cantons, three Croat-majority cantons and two ‘mixed’ cantons. The Brčko district in north-eastern Bosnia is a selfgoverning administrative unit which is not part of either the Federation or Republika Srpska. Consequently, the education system is fragmented. There are 12 ministries of education in BiH: 10 cantonal ministries in the Federation, the Federal Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Education of Republika Srpska and the Department for Education in the Brčko District (OECD, 2003).

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The Socialist Period Domestic politics and foreign policy influence factors concerning language learning and language choice. Decisions regarding a nation’s official language and which foreign languages should be taught in schools are taken at a political level. In the SFRY, the choice of ‘favoured’ foreign language(s) depended on the government’s foreign policy at any given moment. In the first years following World War II, like other countries of the Eastern bloc, Yugoslavia had a communist government. The Yugoslav government was allied with the Soviet Union on many levels (military, political, cultural and scientific) and the influence of the Soviet Union was very strong in all spheres of life including education. Consequently, Russian was strongly encouraged by the government and it was the prevalent foreign language in schools, although it was not imposed (Grčević, 2011). Because of its associations with the ‘enemy’, German was initially banned from schools, while English and French were merely ‘tolerated’ (Ignjačević, 2004; Petrović, 2004). In these circumstances, students recognised the importance of Russian for their education and future career. Government grants for education and professional improvement in Russian universities and technical schools were widely available. Education in the Soviet Union was partly a necessity due to the lack of universities in the poor and predominantly rural Yugoslavia, but it was also politically motivated. Students received technical knowledge and had first-hand experience of socialism in the country which was the role model of communism and an inspiration for Yugoslav youth. They received a third benefit – they learned to speak fluent Russian and they could work as translators/interpreters upon their return to Yugoslavia (Perišić, 2001). The honeymoon was short-lived and Yugoslavia’s faithful adherence to the Eastern bloc ended in 1948 with the Stalin–Tito split. Yugoslavia took its own, separate path in developing a unique model of socialism. From the mid-1950s, Yugoslavia opened up to the world. In contrast to the Eastern bloc, its citizens could travel freely to Western countries without entry visas, and could enjoy Western consumer goods – cars, food, drink and clothes. Not only did many Yugoslav citizens work abroad, but Yugoslavia’s visa-free policy for tourists from Western countries (at the time, unusual for an Eastern European country) attracted large numbers (Bancroft, 1974; Bilandžić, 1985). The society’s need for foreign languages had changed. German was reintroduced into schools in 1948 and the authorities decided to distribute the number of students equally among the four foreign languages: Russian, German, English and French (Ignjačević, 2004). German became very important and widespread in the region for practical reasons. The exchange with German-speaking countries was dense and cross-sectorial: the tourists who flocked to the Adriatic coast

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in summer primarily came from West Germany, Austria and Switzerland; most Yugoslav foreign workers (‘Gastarbeiter’) were employed in Germanspeaking countries; and economic relations with companies from Germanspeaking countries were intense. As a result, many people had immediate experience with German and a compelling need to learn it. English gained immense popularity among the Western-oriented urban youth of the 1950s and 1960s. It was the era of modernisation, consumerism, urbanisation and pop culture. Shops were now full of consumer goods. Young people organised dance parties where they listened to jazz, swing and rock ’n’ roll. They were eager to learn English to understand the music and emulate their rock stars. The popularity of Hollywood movies far surpassed that of films from the Eastern bloc (Pušnik, 2010; Tomc, 2010). Despite an economic crisis and the growth of national debt, personal consumption in the former Yugoslavia continued to grow. The 1970s and 1980s were marked by a rapid rise in living standards. Yugoslav citizens could afford to travel more than before and the utility of English was valued in such international encounters. English became even more widespread. It was needed for real-life communication in many fields of life, particularly in business, science and technology. As our survey will show, people became aware of its importance as an international language. Some parents sent their teenagers to language schools in England since they believed that English could only be learned properly by spending time in the UK or the US and being immersed in the target language and culture. Student exchange programmes were available in many schools and universities, and young girls had an opportunity to go to England and work as au pairs. However, pop culture continued to be the major motivating factor for young learners of English. It was the time of disco music, hard rock, hippies, anti-war movements and sitcoms, and they all came from the US. In primary schools, students learned one foreign language, English, German, Russian or French, starting from Grade 5, although the degree to which they were able to choose a particular language remains unclear. While some sources claim that students could select a language and that most chose English (Bancroft, 1974: 104), others maintain that the decision regarding the availability of foreign languages in schools rested with the authorities, and ensuring that an equal number of children learned Russian, German, English or French was prioritised over personal choice (Ignjačević, 2004). According to Petrović (2004), although it was legally possible to learn all four languages, most students were unable to choose the language they wanted to learn because of lack of teachers of languages other than Russian (Petrović, 2004; Vilke, 2007), and the school management made this choice for them. In order to shed light on the issue of foreign language learning in schools in different periods, we conducted a small survey with 57 participants from

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different regions in BiH who attended school in the period between 1948 and 1992. The aim of the survey was to examine whether the students could choose the foreign language they learned in school, which languages were the most widespread in schools and which were the most popular. They were asked which language they learned in primary and secondary school, which language they wanted to learn and why. They were also asked which languages were offered in their primary and secondary school and how many classes learned each language. As can be seen in Table 1.1, the majority learned Russian despite actually preferring a different language. Only 10% of those who learned Russian wanted to learn it, 27% did not care what language they learned, while a large majority (63%) were unhappy with it; 50% wanted English and 13% German. Most of the participants who learned German (54%) liked it, 16% were indifferent and 30% wanted another language (23% English and 7% French). All the participants who learned English would have chosen it themselves and did not want to learn another language. When asked about the offer and distribution of the four languages in their schools, 35% stated that English was not offered at all in their school. Evidence for the stronger position of Russian emerged as 20% of participants stated that Russian was the only language taught in their primary school, 4% stated that their school offered only German, while 12% said their schools offered German and Russian. Only 4% of participants stated that their school offered only English and these attended school in the late 1980s, when the gradual replacement of Russian with English was in progress. Just over half (54%) of all participants wanted to learn English when they went to school, but only 35% had the opportunity to do so. Most wanted to learn it because they recognised it as an international language needed for communication all over the world. Some liked it because of film, music, scientific research and some needed it for professional use in IT. Contrary to Bancroft’s (1974: 104) claim, our survey shows that students could not choose a foreign language. Although most of them wanted to learn English, a majority of them had to learn Russian because, as Petrović (2004) says, most schools did not have English teachers. Table 1.1 Distribution of the four foreign languages during the period 1948–1992

Learned Russian Learned English Learned German Learned French Total

Total

Pref. E*

Pref. G

Pref. R

Pref. F

No Pref.

30 (53%) 11 (22%) 13 (20%) 3 (5%) 57 (100%)

15 11 3 2 31

4 0 7 0 11

3 0 0 0 3

0 0 1 1 2

8 0 2 0 10

*Pref. E refers to the respondents’ preference for learning English during their school years. The following ‘preferences’ relate to the three other languages offered.

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According to our survey data, most students continued to learn the same language in secondary school. There are very few exceptions when students learned Russian or German, and then changed to English in secondary school. For example, those who went to the Madrassa (Islamic school) in Sarajevo all learned English and Arabic, regardless of the language they learned in primary school. The gradual transition from Russian to English started in the late 1980s, with the decrease of Russian influence in all fields. This process started in urban schools first. Retiring Russian teachers were not replaced and other Russian teachers were shifted to administrative positions; in both cases, English teachers were hired to fill the vancancies. How was English taught in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Everything concerning education was under the strict control of the central government. All curricula and syllabi were prescribed by a government body – the Institute for Education. One publisher was selected to produce a textbook. The author did not have any autonomy because the content was prescribed. One book was published for each course and this was the only one which could be used (Kovač & Kovač Sebart, 2002). The topics of the texts in Grade 5 were mainly the student’s immediate environment, such as school, home, family, body, clothes, months, seasons and so on. From Grade 6, the topics included a lot of cultural elements from both the source and the target culture, such as capitals, famous sightseeing spots, monuments, writers, scientists and artists. Obligatory topics included the socialist revolution, the reconstruction and the industrialisation of BiH, socialist youth organisations and topics related to the Yugoslav selfmanagement system. English was taught in three 45-minute sessions a week from Grade 5 (age 10). In the 1950s and 1960s, the grammar-translation method was used. ELT syllabi were organised in two sections: speaking and writing, although in reality the focus was on grammar practice. Although the overall goal of ELT in primary schools was to teach students to speak about common everyday topics using around 1300 words, speaking activities were primarily focused on practicing pronunciation and intonation. There was a lot of repetition (often in chorus), imitating the teacher or tape recorder to practise pronunciation, memorising and reciting poems and brief texts. Many activities were based on short texts from the textbooks, such as retelling and answering questions about the text. Speaking also included reading, but again with the focus on pronunciation and intonation (‘expressive reading’). Practicing writing skills consisted of frequent dictations, rewriting texts from textbooks to practise spelling and writing short compositions. The use of the first language (L1) was not allowed in presenting the content. From Grade 6, students practised translating short texts from their second language (L2) to their L1 and vice versa (Nastavni plan i program za osnovne škole, 1959, 1962, 1964).

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Typical units included text reading, comprehension questions and a set of grammar and vocabulary exercises. Most exercises were substitution drills, or exercises in which pupils were asked to fill in the blanks using correct grammatical forms. Figures 1.1 and 1.2 are examples of a typical text with exercises for Grade 8 of primary school.

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Figure 1.1 A typical text in a primary school textbook (Bubić, 1989)

In addition to regular school classes of English, the Pioneers’ Centre in Sarajevo had English courses for children from the 1970s. The textbooks were based on the audio-visual global and structural method developed by Croatian linguist Petar Guberina, which was widely recognised as state of the art in foreign language teaching (FLT). The author himself called this a

The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Past and Present

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Figure 1.2 A typical example of a pre-war primary school textbook (Bubić, 1989: 70–72)

verbo-tonal method, also known as SUVAG (System Universal Verbotonal d’Audition Guberina). It was originally designed for speech therapy, but found its application in FLT. As of 1980, there was a noticeable move towards the communicative method (Nastavni plan i program za osnovno obrazovanje i vaspitanje, 1980). The four skills were introduced and students began to practise

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communicative functions such as greeting, making requests and offers, refusing and accepting offers, expressing opinions and giving information. Nevertheless, many activities remained from the old method, such as practicing pronunciation and intonation by repetition, reciting memorised texts, ‘expressive reading’, rewriting texts and translation. To qualify as a primary school English teacher, two or three years of post-secondary education were required, while four years of university training was required for teachers in secondary schools. Teachers were trained at the English language and literature department. There was only one such department in the country, founded in 1951, at the Philosophy Faculty in Sarajevo. Due to the absence of specialised ELT programmes, all graduates were trained to work both as teachers and as translators/ interpreters. For almost five decades, the Department of English Language and Literature in Sarajevo was the only higher education institution in BiH where English teachers and translators could be trained. Dozens of English teachers and translators graduated from this department every year (e.g. in 1976: 72 students, and in 2004: 43 students). The department also runs Master’s and doctoral programmes in the field of English language and literature studies. It hosted a number of lecturers, literary critics and writers from the UK and the US, such as David Daiches, Graham Hugh, Chinu Achebe, Mark Strand, William Kennedy and James Hawes (Spomenica 60). As few could learn English in school, some people attended English courses in the afternoon organised by the Radnički Univerzitet, the Workers’ Universities. These were state institutions which offered tuition in various subjects in addition to cultural activities. The first private language schools did not open until the late 1980s. They, too, had to have qualified teachers and were required to use syllabi and books approved by the government.

The War (1992–1995) In the spring of 1992, the school year was unexpectedly and violently interrupted by the war. Cities came under siege and were exposed to heavy shelling. Schools were converted into housing for the thousands of people forced to leave their homes. Cities and villages under siege were like concentration camps, with no food, electricity or water. Many were killed trying to provide food and water for their families. The first United Nations PROtection FORces (UNPROFOR) units arrived in 1992. In the years to come, dozens of military forces, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and other international organisations arrived in BiH to bring humanitarian aid and establish peace. They remained for the next 20 years. English was used as a lingua franca among all international organisations, regardless of where they came from.

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To communicate with the local population, institutions and authorities, they hired local interpreters and other English-speaking locals as drivers, cleaners, engineers and administration staff. The positions and salaries of these locals largely depended on their English-speaking skills. Interpreters were a new occupational group that emerged with the outbreak of the war in BiH (Baker, 2010, 2012). The term interpreter is used in this context in a very loose sense. They were locally recruited young people with no linguistic qualifications. They possessed some knowledge of English from school. Most of them worked as field interpreters, but they had no clear job description and also served as personal assistants to the international staff who hired them. They worked in extremely dangerous conditions. They worked on short-term contracts, and never knew if their contracts would be extended. Chapter 12 of this volume explores the experiences of interpreters in greater detail. On the other hand, since all economic activity in the country had ceased as a consequence of war, international organisations became the most desirable employers. While local monthly salaries ranged from 5 to 10 euros, paid in the local currency, those who worked for international organisations were paid between 500 and 1000 euros a month in hard currency (usually Deutschmarks). These young people, usually in their twenties and some even in their teens provided for their parents and relatives. Moreover, they had privileged mobility. While most people were stuck in the besieged cities, they could travel within the country and, in some cases, even go abroad. They had access to desired basic supplies, usually food – flour, sugar and fruit. Hence, in these times, knowledge of English was not only useful, but it meant a job that enabled the entire family to survive. In the perils of war, when dozens of people were killed every day and thousands of bombs hit cities, people did their utmost to create the illusion of normal life. They went to their offices every day even if they had nothing to do. An important part of this imitation of normalcy in extreme conditions was the ‘war schools’. The ‘normal’ school routine and the discipline that it imposed were crucial for the psychological survival of children. These were schools which continued to function ‘normally’, holding classes and fulfilling curriculum requirements, scheduling teacher meetings and parent–teacher meetings and exercising all the usual functions of a school despite being located in besieged conditions. In such circumstances, electricity was an unpredictable luxury, heating during winter was improvised by placing a wood stove in classrooms, books and other materials were scarce and furniture rudimentary at best, and teachers were paid little and haphazardly. Schools sometimes existed as administrative entities, but they often had no buildings or permanent location (Berman, 2004). Going to and from school exposed them to immediate danger from snipers and mortar shells. For this reason, at the beginning of the school

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year 1992/1993, radio schools were set up for primary schoolchildren. This idea proved ineffective, as it was not possible to monitor their progress in any way. Therefore, every school had to organise a ‘cellar school’ in residential buildings. classroom instruction were organised in cellars and stairways (called punkt ‘checkpoint’). In this way, each student attended classes in his or her own apartment block. For example, the primary school in Dobrinja, a suburb of Sarajevo, was organised in 28 different locations (Berman, 2004: 97). The stairway/cellar school units were administered by the nearest school in that local community. The documents of school attendance and academic progress were maintained assiduously, especially in secondary schools, because without these documents students could not enrol in university studies. This situation put additional strain on the instructors because sometimes they had to teach in three or four different places in one day. Needless to say, the conditions in the cellar schools were far from normal: the cellars were dark, dirty and cold. The Ministry of Education reduced the school year from 36 to 18 weeks. Sometimes, the situation was so perilous that no classes took place for weeks. The Ministry of Education ordered that regardless of circumstances, every school had to continue to work and to adapt its operation to the circumstances of war. The reality, however, was that schools were left without buildings and teachers. Most schools became collective centres, housing thousands of displaced persons. Others were on the very front line or were totally destroyed in the bombing. Many teachers fled the country to escape the dangers of war. Some found jobs with international organisations which enabled them to provide for their families. English teachers were among the first to leave teaching positions. In this situation, citizens from all walks of life started to work as ‘instructors’ to the missing teachers. Moreover, schools had to take care of their students’ safety. As far as foreign language learning is concerned, the process of replacing Russian with English and German continued at a much faster rate. At the outbreak of war, Russian was abruptly abolished in many schools. In some schools, students who had started learning Russian in Grade 5 changed to English or German in later grades. Knowledge of Russian was considered useless. The Russian presence in humanitarian organisations was much lower than that of Western European countries, and there was no possibility for Russian to be the lingua franca in zones where the Russians were stationed. Also, although many German-speaking organisations were present, they used English in their dealings with the international community. Our survey of foreign language distribution in schools and students’ preference included 46 participants who went to school during the war. Almost half of them learned German in primary school. Of these,

The Status of English in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Past and Present

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a large majority had wanted either German or English, some wanted both. The most common reasons for preferring English included its role as an international language and its popularity in the media. Less than a third of our participants learned English in primary school. Most of them had wanted to learn English, and only a few had wanted German because of the possibility of enrolling in higher education in Austria. There are participants who started learning Russian in Grade 5 and changed to German in Grades 6 and 7. Many schools offered only one language: German (37%), English (17%) or Russian (13%) (Table 1.2). All students who began English in primary school continued to learn it in secondary school. The situation was different for those who had other languages. While 64% of students who learned German in primary school continued to learn it in secondary school, the remaining 36% changed to English. Half of those who learned Russian in primary school continued to learn it in secondary school, while the other half changed to English. Some learned even two new foreign languages: English and German in secondary school. In most grammar schools, all students learned both English and German. In some technical schools, English for specific purposes (ESP) was taught in addition to another language if it was considered necessary for that profession (IT, tourism, engineering). In Madrassas, all students learned English, Arabic and Turkish. How was English taught in these difficult and dangerous times? The instructors did their best with what they had. Neither teachers nor students had textbooks. They used the old textbooks from the pre-war period and any other materials in English they could find. Teachers wrote texts on the blackboard and students copied them. If they were extremely lucky, they had access to a photocopier at school or a friend’s office to make a sufficient number of copies for students. The first textbooks arrived in November 1994 (Berman, 2004) as humanitarian aid. After two years of improvised English instruction in war schools with no textbooks, students found the newly received English books far too difficult. For Table 1.2 Distribution of the four foreign languages during the period 1992–1995 Total Learned German Learned English Learned Russian Started Russian but switched to English/German Learned French Total

Pref. G. 9 1 0 0

Pref. E&G 2 1 0 3

Pref. R 0 0 0 0

Pref. F 0 0 0 0

No Pref.

22 (48%) 12 (26%) 8 (17%) 3 (7%)

Pref. E 8 11 7 0

1 (2%) 46 (100%)

0 26

0 10

0 6

0 0

0 0

1 5

3 0 1 0

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Part 1: English Language Teaching: Policy and Practice

example, Headway Advanced proved an insurmountable obstacle for the students in the final year of grammar school who had missed two years of English. What qualifications were required for the English instructors? Practically none. Anybody who said they knew English could teach. Most of them were engineers who had lost their jobs because of the war and who worked in schools as English language teachers. Some of them could speak English, but did not have any knowledge of ELT methodology. They went back to the grammar-translation method, as it was easier for these instructors to present rules that had to be learned by heart, provide L2 examples to illustrate the rule and finally offer equivalents in L1. In that way, they felt safe to control the class and predict possible questions that students might ask. The Department of English Language and Literature of the Philosophy Faculty in Sarajevo continued to work, even though most lecturers had left for positions in international organisations or to emigrate. Since the philosophy faculty was on the very front line, it moved to the cellar of the Law School. From the 12 lecturers and eight teaching assistants in the academic year 1991/1992, three lecturers and two teaching assistants stayed to keep the department working. Two new English language and literature departments were opened in 1994, in West Mostar (predominantly Croat) and Banja Luka, in Republika Srpska. Since they did not have academic staff, the new departments worked with visiting lecturers from Croatia and Serbia, respectively. They were both established within the newly established state universities, in order to mitigate the lack of English teachers.

The Period of Reconstruction (1995–2000) The war ended on 21 November 1995 with the Dayton Peace Agreement. The consequences were vast and incalculable. The country was left in a state of devastation, with most of its inhabitants displaced, locally or abroad, throughout Europe, the US and Australia. The NATOled multinational force IFOR (Implementation Force) arrived in BiH on 20 December 1995 with the primary mission to implement the military aspects of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Their mandate was only for one year and in 1996 they were replaced by SFOR (Stabilisation Force), whose role was to contribute to a safe environment for the consolidation of peace. They provided support for some civilian tasks, especially in reconstruction and the return of displaced persons. The civilian aspect of the Dayton Agreement was monitored by the Office of High Representative (OHR), established in January 1996. A number of NGOs and other international organisations participated in a major international intervention to reconstruct the country and to facilitate the return process. These

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organisations employed many local staff and again, English was the main prerequisite for well-paid jobs. When peace was established, school buildings were repaired and the students could return to their classrooms. However, staffing was still a major problem. Most English teachers were still working for international organisations or living abroad. The instructors hired during the war to stand in for the missing English teachers continued to work. The situation with English instructors was chaotic because there were no requirements they had to meet or tests to pass – the employers (schools) relied on their word that they could speak English. Many school students could speak much better English than their instructors, having learned it from their parents or, in most cases, from cable TV. Generations of schoolchildren had been formally taught English from Grade 4, but had never learned to speak it. The textbooks used in schools were mainly internationally used textbooks from British publishers. They were much more expensive than local books, and were delivered as humanitarian aid for several years. The students borrowed them from the school library and then returned them for the next generation to use. Our survey of the availability of foreign languages in schools and students’ preferences involved 15 participants who went to school in the period 1995–2000 (see Table 1.3). Of these, two-thirds learned German in primary school, although few of these had actually chosen to learn it. Some had wanted to learn English, while others had wanted to learn both German and English. Reasons for preferring English included its international role and its presence in popular culture. All students who learned English in primary school continued to learn it in secondary school. Around a third of the students in this group who learned German in primary school continued to learn it in secondary school, a few learned both German and English and over half changed to English exclusively. The students who changed to English went to Madrassa or the Secondary School of Electrical Engineering, where English was considered significant for the future profession. Arabic and Turkish were taught in Madrassas in addition to English. Table 1.3 Distribution of the four foreign languages during the period 1995–2000 Total

Pref. E

Pref. G

Pref. E&G

Pref. R

Pref. F

No Pref.

Learned German

10 (67%)

4

3

2

0

0

1

Learned English

5 (33%)

4

0

0

0

0

1

Learned Russian

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Learned French

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

8

3

2

0

0

2

Total

15 (100%)

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As the local schools struggled to find qualified English teachers, and unqualified people from all walks of life worked as English instructors, a new trend started in 1996: a number of international education chains opened primary and secondary schools and preschool institutions in Sarajevo. The first were the Sema International School and the Quality Schools International (QSI), and many others followed. They were first opened in Sarajevo, and then in Bihać, Tuzla, Zenica and Mostar. These private international schools offered English-medium instruction. Some offered the Bosnian curriculum, others British or American, or a combination. At first, they were intended for the children of the many expatriate workers in Sarajevo, but they also attracted members of the Bosnian ‘élite’ who could afford them. These schools had many advantages: better equipment, international or mixed local–international staff, quality buildings and recreational facilities. Unlike local schools where classes were organised in two shifts because of a lack of classrooms, resulting in a long day for children in the second shift, private international schools worked from 8am to 5pm and offered after-school supervision in the case of families with two working parents. In order to meet the growing requirements of the Bosnian market for English courses, a number of private language schools opened up all over the country. Because of the lack of qualified local teachers, many of them hired native English speakers. Minimum qualifications were required but teachers usually had to have a tertiary degree and a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate. Private language schools had their own curricula and used the textbooks from renowned UK publishers. Some of them were internationally accredited, and most of them organised international exams such as Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Cambridge Certificates. Various NGOs offered English courses free of charge or for very small amounts of money. The higher education sector had to resolve the acute shortage of English teachers in schools and meet the growing requirement for English courses. The insufficient capacity of the existing teacher training institutions led to the opening of new English language and literature departments all over BiH. The Department of English Language and Literature in Sarajevo returned to its building at the Faculty of Philosophy, but they were understaffed. According to the information from the department’s curricula and syllabi for 2008/2009 (Nastavni plan i program akademska 2008/2009), in the second half of the 1990s, the department had three lecturers and two teaching assistants. The shortage of lecturers was solved by hiring nine visiting lecturers from Croatia, the US, the UK, France and Spain. The department enrolled 10 students per academic year. At that pace, BiH would not have sufficient English teachers for decades. Hence, following the example of Banja Luka and West Mostar, a number

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of regional centres opened English language and literature departments: Pale in 1996, Tuzla and Bihać in 1998, East Mostar in 1999 and Zenica in 2001. While many believed that the new departments were doomed to failure, others thought it was better to have English teachers with some qualifications than English instructors who had none and who still worked in many schools. Since the new departments had no lecturers at all, the work was organised by local teaching assistants with the help of visiting lecturers mainly from Croatia and Serbia. The US Embassy in Sarajevo and the Open Society Institute offered their help by sending English language fellows and specialists. The curricula and syllabi were very similar among these departments, having been based on the old ex-Yugoslav system. They all offered a four-year programme, except for East Mostar, which began with a three-year programme, later extending it to four years. All programmes had very similar basic components: practical language skills to improve the students’ level of English, linguistic disciplines (phonology, morphology, morphosyntax, syntax, semantics), general linguistics, British and American literature and cultural studies, as well as applied linguistic disciplines, such as ELT methodology and translation studies. Those who graduated could work either as translators or teachers. In the first post-war years, all found jobs, mainly in schools. Secure job positions in state schools increased the demand for English studies. In order to meet the requirements of the local communities, some of these departments enrolled a hundred or more students per academic year. Starting a new department was quite a difficult task at that time because of the fundamental problem throughout the country – the dearth of academically qualified staff. The new departments had no faculty members with doctoral or master’s degrees, and even those with a bachelor degree in English were scarce. Groups of enthusiasts organised the work with visiting lecturers and teaching assistants. The system was far from perfect. Although visiting lecturers taught once or twice a month instead of on a weekly basis, new English departments offered some advantages. The students (and later novice teaching assistants) had a chance to learn from experienced lecturers from prestigious universities in the region, such as Zagreb, Belgrade, Sarajevo and Osijek, and from English language specialists from the US and other English-speaking countries. The promising young departments developed regional university networks and important liaisons with international organisations.

English in Bosnia and Herzegovina Today After 2000, most international organisations dealing with reconstruction closed their offices in BiH. SFOR remained, but they started to reduce their troop levels in 2002 and ended their mission in December 2004. They were replaced by the European Union Force (EUFOR) Althea.

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EUFOR had a significantly smaller number of troops and did not hire nearly as many locals as SFOR did. However, another opportunity arose for the English-speaking locals who worked for US troops in the SFOR mission in Tuzla – they could continue working with the US army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands of Bosnians eagerly applied for employment there because the salaries were unimaginably high for local circumstances. Iraq and Afghanistan became the promised lands for English-speaking Bosnians of all job classes: office workers, IT specialists, cooks, drivers and handymen. Some of them remained there for over a decade. The situation in primary and secondary schools has changed drastically. The importance of foreign language learning was not only recognised by local educational authorities, but was also stressed in the World Bank (2003) report as a priority in school reform, needed to support the creation of a more competitive workforce. Nowadays, all children in BiH learn English, starting from Grade 3 (age 8) in the nine-year primary school curriculum, and they continue to learn it for another four years in secondary schools. English is the first foreign language in all primary and secondary schools in BiH. While the second foreign language (taught from Grade 6, age 11) in Republika Srpska is either German or Russian, in the Federation of BiH, students have an option to choose their first foreign language: English, German, French or Arabic (Okvirni nastavni plan i program za devetogodišnju osnovnu školu u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine, 2010; Nastavni plan i program za osnovno obrazovanje i vaspitanje, 2014). In addition to changes in foreign language choice and availability, language teaching methodology, particularly in respect of English, has changed. Global trends in ELT are evident in Bosnian schools as well. We live in a post-methods era, and approaches to language teaching have become very eclectic. Teachers in BiH use a combination of different methods to prepare students to become competent users of their L2 outside the classroom. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) is not present in BiH schools to the extent that it is in neighbouring countries, but it is evident that this trend will soon change as most students are exposed to ICT outside the classroom, so they expect their teachers to incorporate ICT into classroom instruction. All schools now have qualified teachers, as students who graduated from new English departments gradually replaced unqualified English instructors. English teachers in BiH today show a significant commitment to professional improvement: many of them continue their education to complete Master’s degrees in linguistics, literature and ELT methodology. Conferences, seminars and workshops for English teachers are often organised by pedagogical institutes, universities and English language teachers associations in cooperation with international organisations, embassies and international publishing houses.

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A national English teachers’ association does not exist due, primarily, to the considerable autonomy in educational matters of the two entities of BiH (the Federation and Republika Srpska), as foreseen in the constitution of BiH. However, some professional organisations are very active in providing English teachers with opportunities for continuous professional development. One such organisation, Tuzla English Teachers’ Association (TETA), is the biggest and the most active in the country. In 2011, English teachers from Tuzla realised that they needed a strong association if they wanted to pursue their continuous professional development and seek opportunities for international exchanges. With the help of US Embassy ELT specialists, TETA was officially registered in 2012. Their annual conferences have attracted considerable attention in the region, as they always bring renowned ELT specialists and famous authors. The organisation enables members to participate in ELT conferences worldwide. Some interesting teacher training seminars and conferences were organised by BURCH, a private Turkish-funded English-medium university in Sarajevo. These events keep English language teachers in BiH abreast of current trends in ELT and enable an exchange of views and experiences, all of which contributes positively to teachers’ sense of job satisfaction and the quality of English teaching in schools. Students have many opportunities to develop their language skills beyond the requirements of the school curriculum. They prepare with their teachers for competitions in English organised for various levels and activities. They can participate in regional competitions organised by pedagogical institutes, a spelling bee organised by the US Embassy and international competitions sponsored by international publishers such as HIPPO. The English language and literature departments which opened immediately after the war and were, according to many, ‘doomed to failure’, developed and grew. There are now English departments in seven state universities: Sarajevo, East Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka, West Mostar, East Mostar and Bihać. In their early years, they hired their best students as teaching assistants. Now, 15 years on, these teaching assistants have received academic degrees from various universities in the region, and have become lecturers. Universities have also hired a number of recent graduates with PhDs from the US and the UK who returned to the country. After many years of struggling for survival, these departments now have their own academic staff and are constantly growing. In addition to undergraduate English language and literature programmes, they offer Masters’ programmes in various disciplines: English linguistics, English and American literature, ELT methodology and translation, and doctoral programmes. They are developing specialised English programmes (e.g. English for a Specific Purpose [ESP]) to meet the needs of students of other departments and faculties. Most universities have obligatory or

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optional English courses for specialised fields. English is very important in higher education these days not only because of the growing number of student exchange programmes but also because it is a requirement (or at least an advantage) for employment in a range of sectors. In addition to state universities, some private universities opened English language and literature departments. Some of them, such as Slobomir P (opened in 2003) or Sinergija (2013), have English language and literature departments, but other departments do not use English as the language of instruction. In others, such as the International University of Sarajevo (opened in 2004), BURCH (opened in 2008), Sarajevo College of Science and Technology (2004) and the American University in BiH (2007), English is the language of instruction across all departments. These English-medium universities attract a number of international students.

Conclusion This overview is intended to provide an insight into how far we have progressed in teaching English in BiH. It shows the different roles that English has had in BiH, from the ‘fun’ language of pop culture in the 1960s, to the language of science and technology in the 1980s, to the tool for survival in the early 1990s, to the indispensable omnipresent international language taught in all schools in BiH today. As the role of English as a communication tool changed, so has its presence in school programmes. The number of years of formal tuition of English in schools has increased from eight (or six for those who went to technical schools) to 11 years. This increase was followed by the rapidly growing number of English teacher training academic departments. It is expected that this demand for English teaching and learning will continue to grow because of the likelihood that within some years BiH will be part of the EU. Translators will have to work on the translation of European legislation. Bosnian universities are also encouraged to offer English-medium courses and degree programmes and thereby attract international students. Currently, most student studyabroad mobility is unidirectional – from Bosnia to EU partners. The language barrier, i.e. courses taught only in Bosnian, is one reason for this unfavourable situation and the current educational policy wishes to see this change in order to better integrate BiH educational institutions into the European university network.

References Baker, C. (2010) The care and feeding of linguists: The working environment of interpreters, translators and linguists during peacekeeping in Bosnia and Herzegovina. War and Society 29 (2), 154–175. Baker, C. (2012) Prosperity without security: The precarity of interpreters in postsocialist, postconflict Bosnia and Herzegovina. Slavic Review 71 (4), 849–872.

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Bancroft, J. (1974) Foreign language teaching in Yugoslavia. The Modern Language Journal 8 (3), 103–108. Berman, D.M. (2004) Heroji Treće gimnazije. Ratna škola u Sarajevu 1992–1995 [The Heroes of Treća gimnazija. A War School in Sarajevo 1992–1995]. Sarajevo: Institut za istoriju. Bilandžić, D. (1985) Historija Socijalističke Federativne Republike Jugoslavije [The History of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia]. Zagreb: Školska knjiga. Bubić, Lj. (1989) Engleski jezik. Udžbenik za VIII razred osnovne škole [English Language. A Textbook for the 8th Grade of Primary School]. Sarajevo: Veselin Masleša. Grčević, M. (2011) Suvremena jezična situacija u slavenskim zemljama [The contemporary language situation in Slavic countries]. Slavenskijezici u usporedbi s hrvatskim 2, 143–159. Ignjačević, A. (2004) Strani jezici u Srbiji – pogled u prošlost i perspektive. IV međunarodni interdisciplinarni simpozijum [Foreign Languages in Serbia – A View of the Past and Future Perspectives]. Novi Sad: Univerzitet u Novom Sadu. Kovač, M. and Kovač Sebart, M (2002) Textbooks at war: A few notes on textbook publishing in former Yugoslavia and other communist countries. Paradigm 2 (6), 30–34. OECD (2003) Reviews of National Policies for Education – South Eastern Europe. Vol. 1. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo. Paris: OECD. Perišić, M. (2001) Jugoslovenski studenti stipendisti na evropskim univerzitetima 1945–1948. godine. Sovjetsko i francusko iskustvo. Dijalog povjesničara-istoričara 3, Zagreb: Zaklada Friedrich-Naumann, 221–236. [Yugoslav students with scholarships in European universities 1945–1948. Experiences from the USSR and France.] Petrović, E. (2004) Kratka povijest ranog učenja stranih jezika, osiječka iskustva [A short history of foreign language learning, experiences from Osijek]. Život i škola 12 (2), 24–32. Pušnik, M. (2010) Flirting with television in socialism: Proletarian morality and the lust for abundance. In B. Luthar and M. Pušnik (eds) Remembering Utopia: The Culture of Everyday Life in Socialist Yugoslavia (pp. 227–258). Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing. Spomenica 60. godišnjice Filozofskog fakulteta u Sarajevu (1950–2010), Filozofski fakultet, Sarajevo 2010, 15–16 [Memorial Book (1950–2010), Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo]. Tomc, G. (2010) A tale of two subcultures: A comparative analysis of hippie and punk subcultures in Slovenia. In B. Luthar and M. Pušnik (eds) Remembering Utopia: The Culture of Everyday Life in Socialist Yugoslavia (pp. 165–197). Washington, DC: New Academia Publishing. Vilke, M. (2007) Engleski jezik u Hrvatskoj: Pogled u prošlost, sadašnjost i budućnost [The English language in Croatia: Past, present and future]. Metodika 8, 8–16. World Bank (2003) Bosnia and Herzegovina Poverty Assessment. Volume I: Main Report. Report No. 25343-BiH. See http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2003/11/2808499/ bosnia-herzegovina-poverty-assessment-vol-1-2-main-report (accessed February 2014).

Official curricula from the Ministry of Education, Bosnia and Herzegovina: Nastavni plan i program za osnovne škole (1959) Narodna Republika Bosna i Hercegovina – Savjet za prosvjetu. Sarajevo: Svjetlost. Nastavni plan i program za osnovne škole (1962) Narodna Republika Bosna i Hercegovina – Savjet za prosvjetu. Sarajevo: Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika.

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Nastavni plan i program za osnovne škole (1964) Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina – Republički zavod za unapređivanje školstva. Sarajevo: Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika. Nastavni plan i program za osnovno obrazovanje i vaspitanje (1980) Socijalistička Republika Bosna i Hercegovina. Sarajevo: Republički prosvjetno-pedagoški zavod. Nastavni plan i program akademska (2008/2009) Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Filozofski fakultet u Sarajevu, Odsjek za anglistiku http://www.ff.unsa.ba/files/trajno/npp/ anglistika/Akademska_2008_09.pdf (accessed 18 March 2015). Okvirni nastavni plan i program za devetogodišnju osnovnu školu u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine (2010) Federalno ministarstvo obrazovanja i nauke. Nastavni plan i program za osnovno obrazovanje i vaspitanje (2014) Republika Srpska. Ministarstvo prosvjete i kulture. Republički pedagoški zavod. Istočno Sarajevo: Zavod za udžbenike i nastavna sredstva.

2 ‘English for Survival Purposes’ and the Predicament of SelfTaught Language Teachers Kamiah Arnaut-Karovic´

Introduction Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) at the turn of the millennium was associated with ethnic conflict, mass graves, political turmoil and economic collapse. While accounts from political, economic and social perspectives are plentiful, little has been said to date about the marginalised educational sector during this period, especially with reference to primary and secondary school education. Despite the total devastation of the country in the days of extreme violence, the schooling of a generation of youngsters continued. The few studies that deal with schooling attainment in this period are of great importance since they shed light on the historical setting and circumstances under which the community provided continuity in the educational process in a context of social and economic destitution. Swee (2008) and Berman (2007) describe the ‘war schools’ and note the remarkable coordination between school administration, teachers and parents to create a ‘sense of normalcy’ (Swee, 2008: 21); that is, the continuation of teaching and the completion of the school curriculum when schools lacked teachers, materials and even buildings, and the city was under bombardment and/or siege. Concomitant with this coordination was a balance between local and centralised control over school curricula. As the authors explain, the ‘Basic Work Programs’, provided to schools by the Ministry of Education and the Cantonal Pedagogical Institute, contained abridged curricula with guidelines for their adaptation to local conditions, which might vary greatly in accordance with the relative proximity of a particular locality to the war zones. During the war of succession (1992–1995) and the post-war period, almost all qualified English teachers, forced by social and economic circumstances, abandoned their school teaching positions and began working for the international community1 that offered salaries around five times higher than current teachers’ salaries. Schools throughout

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BiH suddenly lacked sufficient English teachers to meet curriculum requirements. It was in this context that individuals without a teaching degree began to occupy the vacant English teaching positions. Most had not learned English at school at all or had learned it for a few years to a basic level. During the war period, they had neither any access to modern textbooks to learn (and simultaneously teach) English or classroom materials and nor was this group likely to have exposure to the language through native speaker contact or the media. Despite the odds, these individuals managed to achieve a reasonable, and often even quite a solid level of English. They continued working as teachers until they were gradually replaced from around 2003 onwards by young graduates of the newly established English language programmes at local universities. I was one of the few qualified teachers of English who continued working in English language education in the central Bosnian city of Zenica during the war and early post-war years. When BiH formed part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, I had been an official translator of the steel plant in Zenica and the head of the translation department in the export-import section of the company. In 1991, at the very beginning of the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, I left this position to start my own translation and English teaching business in Zenica. Over a period of 24 years, we provided English language training to around 3300 individuals. Despite the enduring socio-economic devastation, individuals were prepared to spend the little money they had saved before the war on learning English rather than reserve it for their daily needs. This sudden and overwhelming emergence of interest in English was not arbitrary. English was recognised as a necessity in war circumstances. People’s motivation for the fast-track acquisition of English language communication skills reflected the following existential concerns. Due to demographic changes in the city, those who suddenly became members of an ethnic minority and who were unable to trust anyone under the politically changed circumstances, sought contact with representatives of UN troops and other international organisations to help them leave the city. Others sought the opportunity to work for international organisations that provided relatively decent regular salaries paid in foreign currency. Teaching English at schools was the least attractive solution for many English language learners. However, individuals who could not find any better engagement saw this as a means of survival. In 1998, shortly after the war, the Cantonal Ministry of Education gave my school the authority to train unqualified teachers who had been working for years in local schools. Around 120 unqualified teachers attended the training course which covered not only English language skills but also teaching methods and classroom management. Although the certification provided to participants on completion of the course was not equated with a degree in English, it did give participants the authority to sign certain

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official school documents as ‘de facto teachers’, as had been previously agreed with the canton authorities. These training courses continued until 2003 when the first graduates in English language and literature from the newly established local universities were available for employment. This chapter documents the challenges in the development of the educational sector in BiH in the war and post-war period on the basis of the predicaments of untrained, unqualified English teachers who had only a rudimentary command of English from their school years or who were self-taught. My objective is to describe the teachers’ experience of becoming ad hoc English teachers as a survival strategy in a context with little or no tradition of English language teaching. Their personal story of the arduous task of acquiring the skills to teach a language they (often) had only very limited understanding of, and their contribution to keeping schools operating during the war and immediate post-war period merits recognition. I wish to document the long and difficult path of the untrained teachers who filled classrooms during the war and post-war years and who took on the responsibility to teach English when there was literally no one else to perform this duty. Data for this study come from semi-structured, in-depth interviews conducted over a four-month period in 2014/2015 with 10 such teachers who began their school teaching careers in the Zenica-Doboj canton during the war years. This information is complemented by interviews with two representatives of the Cantonal Ministry of Education who had held administrative positions in the Ministry during the war and post-war period (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Zenica-Doboj canton2

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The War and Post-War Context in the Zenica Region Before independence, the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SR BiH) had been organised into municipalities and regions, and these remained unchanged throughout the period 1992–1995. At the end of the war, Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement defined the internal structure of the country, according to which the country was divided into two entities: Republika Srpska and the Federation. The Federation was further divided into 10 cantons which were bestowed with a degree of administrative autonomy. Education was made the responsibility of individual cantons. The city of Zenica, located in central BiH, used to be one of the most important industrial centres of the former Yugoslavia. The country’s largest metallurgical corporation was located in Zenica and it employed approximately 20,000 people, with branches dispersed throughout the nation. The high level of industrial activity contributed to Zenica being considered an open city, home to many technical and scientific experts who had migrated to the city from the four corners of the former Yugoslavia. As industrial production constituted an important component of the country’s international trade balance, the city was regularly visited by representatives of foreign companies. The combination of the ethnic mix, the relatively high educational standards and the international presence gave Zenica an urbane, cosmopolitan air before the outbreak of the war in the spring of 1992. Zenica was completely unprepared to adapt civilian life to the exigencies of war, even though it was not at that stage on the front line. While the war ravaged other cities and villages across BiH, Zenica initially continued a relatively peaceful existence, exuding a make-believe impression of ‘normality’. This was short-lived. Within a period of some four to five months, the city’s demography altered radically. During the first months of the war, some channels of communication were still open and a number of locals, including qualified English teachers, deserted the city in search of refuge, many of them secretly. They fled either abroad or to other republics of former Yugoslavia in which their ethnic group constituted a majority. Meanwhile, a great number of refugees and internally displaced persons3 whose home towns and villages were affected by war-related violence started flowing into the city, possessing nothing but their will to survive. At the same time, all the industrial facilities were shut down and the employees who had stayed in the city were subject to the ‘compulsory work order’,4 which obliged them to report to work every day. The only work they had to do was to preserve the industrial machinery from deterioration. In those days, the governing laws were the ones that had been in force on the date when the war started. These laws and regulations of the SR BiH were applied across all sectors including education. The official

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currency was the Yugoslav dinar which was completely worthless; the German mark tacitly became the only currency of value at that time. At the beginning of the war, monthly salaries were paid in dinars and the value of the monthly salary corresponded to around 10–20 German marks (about 5–10 euros) until monetary payments ceased. People who were subject to the compulsory work order were compensated by humanitarian aid, mostly comprising a little food and medicines. From spring 1993 to August 1994, total war on all sides resulted in the complete isolation of the city and the impossibility of moving beyond the city checkpoint of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 5 In the face of famine, even the coveted German mark was utterly worthless. At the end of the war in December 1995, the country was administratively organised into two entities, i.e. the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The Federation was divided into 10 cantons. ZenicaDoboj canton, the administrative centre of which is the city of Zenica, was established. Under the oversight of the Office of the High Representative, BiH introduced its own currency tied to the euro, the ‘convertible mark’ or ‘KM’, and between 1995 and 2000 the country embarked on an intense period of consolidation, with the international community playing a proactive role across economic, political and social sectors.

The Effect of the War on the Educational Sector in Zenica6 During the first year of the war, Zenica was considered a ‘safer area’ since it was a rare ‘free territory’ and not an open front line. The perception of Zenica as a refuge led to a flood of displaced people and refugees into the city. From September 1992, when the first academic year during the war commenced, the city was overwhelmed with refugees and displaced persons. The local administration had to provide accommodation not only for the incoming people but also for the military. School buildings were requisitioned for this purpose. In consequence, many schools were vacated and improvised premises had to be found elsewhere. One solution was co-location and the new academic year started with two or even three schools under the same roof. Sometimes, primary and secondary schools shared the same space. The local administration, following the instructions from the central authority in Sarajevo, reduced the number and duration of lessons prescribed for each subject during the academic year. This measure enabled the organisation of classes into three daily shifts. As the city was bombed periodically throughout the war (particularly in 1993), lessons were sometimes cancelled. Thus, the duration of the entire academic year was reduced even more and one semester stretched to cover the entire academic year.

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In this respect, the predicament of the educational sector in Zenica was similar to other cities in BiH. As described in Swee (2008) and Berman (2004), schools were frequently converted into refugee centres or hospitals and ‘war schools’ were improvised in homes, garages and basement shelters. For students and teachers, reaching the ‘school’ often involved the risk of becoming a victim of artillery shelling. The situation was no better with respect to the availability of qualified teaching staff in Zenica. Since many teachers had already abandoned their homes, jobs and the city, not only English but also many other subjects could not be covered by qualified teachers, such as mathematics, physics and the like. At the end of the academic year, school achievement certificates could only be issued provided that they were certified by qualified teachers. Initiative was required of the local administration to face this unprecedented situation, and this led to collaboration between the local Ministry of Education and local industries, particularly the steel plant, which still technically employed the now idle workers. Some of these had received pedagogical training during their university studies, but had favoured the enhanced career prospects of employment in industries in the former Yugoslavia. Now, in the face of paralysis in the industrial sector, it was time for these people to staff the schools. During the former Yugoslavia, at Grade 5 of elementary school, pupils could elect one of four foreign languages (Russian, German, French or English), provided that the number of pupils per class was balanced and a qualified teacher was available. Some schools, particularly in the smaller towns of the Zenica region did not offer English but only Russian and French. The language elected by students at primary school level usually could not be changed at secondary school level, meaning that the elected foreign language used to be learned for the period of eight years. This fact explains why the number of English teachers working in schools was very limited in the spring of 1992. The majority of qualified English teachers had been employed as translators and interpreters in the industrial sector, where their services were sought and salaries were higher than those of schoolteachers. This changed with the war. Due to the presence of UN troops and a number of international humanitarian organisations, English suddenly became the preferred choice in families and the demand for other languages dwindled or, in the case of Russian, vanished. However, the few qualified English teachers in schools at the beginning of the war abandoned their teaching jobs and started working for the international community that offered incomparably higher salaries paid in foreign currency (this is described further in Chapter 12 of this volume). Schools in the Zenica region did not have the necessary qualified staff to enable local schools to issue school achievement certificates at the end of the academic year. The local education authorities had to find a way out of this impasse. Thus, teachers of music, school counsellors

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(or ‘pedagogues’) or teachers of Russian were assigned to teach English. Since they had either little or no knowledge of English, their main responsibility during the war was to conduct the class by reading from a textbook dating from the former Yugoslavia, maintain discipline and keep children safe from bombings and other war-related dangers. Since the demand for English teachers literally exploded, individuals without a teaching degree, but with some knowledge of the language, began filling the vacant English teaching positions. This situation remained unchanged until the period 2003–2006 when the first generation of qualified teachers with a university degree in English graduated from the newly opened local universities that had English departments.7 This was the beginning of the replacement of those individuals who had undertaken the pioneering work of establishing English as the prime foreign language in schools and universities during the early years of BiH’s independence.

Post-War and Present Circumstances in the Educational Sector When the war ended in 1995, responsibility for education was transferred to the canton level of the newly founded Federation of BiH, while in Republika Srpska it remained under the central authority of Banja Luka. Educational reforms were gradually introduced, some of which were required when BiH became a candidate for EU membership. The introduction of the new currency led to teachers finally being paid for their work as opposed to receiving food and medicines. English teaching now starts from Grade 3 of elementary school. In Grade 6, pupils elect their second foreign language but continue learning English throughout secondary school. Nowadays, the most frequently elected second foreign language is German while French is marginal. The elimination of Russian as the second foreign language led to Russian teachers being assigned administrative or library duties if they were unable to qualify to teach another subject. The establishment of new universities and English departments, and the priority given to the ‘production’ of qualified English teachers has resulted in an excessive number of university-trained English teachers who now struggle to find employment in urban schools. In village schools, the demand for qualified English teachers still exists.

Methodology The data for this qualitative study were compiled from questionnaires and unstructured in-depth interviews. These were conducted with 10

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individuals, six women and four men, who used to work as unqualified English teachers in BiH, mostly in Zenica-Doboj canton (see Table 2.1). Five have since qualified as English teachers and four continue to work as schoolteachers. Interviews, each lasting from one to two hours on average, were held at the locations most convenient to the participants: in Kakanj, a town in proximity to Zenica, on the premises of the author ’s school as well as in the offices of the participants. Prior to consenting to the interview, participants were informed verbally and in writing about the purpose and scope of the interview. Only two informants did not consent to the interview being recorded, and I took detailed notes during these interviews which I later checked with these participants. The first names of the informants have been used with their consent. Although researching language teachers is potentially challenging as ‘...most teachers.... more often than not do not wish to have their teaching scrutinized by outsiders’ (Hobbs & Kubanyiova, 2008: 500), I had no trouble in obtaining teachers’ permission to interview them due to my long-standing work with self-taught teachers in the canton. Between 1998 and 1999, all participants had attended a course in English language teaching methodology run by my school. For almost all of them, this was the only teacher training they received at that point in their English teaching careers. This study was realised in two stages over a four-month period in 2014 and 2015. The first stage involved compiling data from a detailed questionnaire (see the Appendix for a condensed version) comprising three parts: the educational background of the informants, their socio-economic status at the time that they entered teaching and their motivation to become English teachers. The second part of the data collection involved interviews. These focused on their experience of their early career as English teachers and their later training. Some points of the exchange had the features of life history interviews and touched upon experiences during the war years. Teachers preferred not to dwell on their personal experiences and interview questions concentrated on their professional role during this period. The narrative form of these individuals’ life stories has been retained, and these personal accounts are intended to be understood in relation to the sociopolitical context described in the earlier sections of this chapter.

Results and Discussion The participants’ background Nearly all participants were domiciled residents of the Zenica region upon the outbreak of the war, and they remained there throughout the war years until today. Two exceptions were Velid, who only returned to

Nermina Velid Sanela A. Goran Mubera Dževdet Sanela O. Sena Smaragda Adnan

Name

32 50–55 36–40 46–50 48 41–45 41–45 47 46–50 39

Approx. current age

Table 2.1 Informants

German Russian English French Russian French Russian German English English

Foreign language learned at school MA Economics MA English Language and Literature BA English Language and Literature No university degree BA Civil Engineering BA English Language and Literature MA Mechanical Engineering Mechanical technician MA Law; BA English Language and Literature BA English Language and Literature

University degree No Yes (2009) Yes (2004) No No Yes (2004) No No Yes (2002) Yes (2004)

Completed degree in English

2001–2006 1999–to present 1996–to present 1999–2007 1999–2008 2000–to present 1998–2001 2001–2001 1995–2006 1998–to present

Period spent as an English teacher

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his home town Zenica in 1997 after spending the war years in Macedonia, and Sanela A., who arrived in the region shortly before the end of the war. In her youth, she had lived with her mother in a different region, where they had found themselves to be ethnic minorities upon the outbreak of hostilities. Towards the end of the war they were forcibly evicted from their home town, and for a short period she and her mother lived in an abandoned village previously inhabited by another ethnic group. Due to the proximity of the war, they then fled to a town on the outskirts of Zenica, where they lived in improvised accommodation provided by the municipality. Sanela O., who had also come to this region from the same territory as Sanela A., spent the entire war period in Zenica. Velid, who had been an officer of the Yugoslav Army before the war, was stationed in Macedonia when the war broke out and was unable to return to his home town, Zenica. He remained there until 1997, married, and returned in the post-war period with his new family. Regarding their background in English, only three informants had learned English as a foreign language at school. Nevertheless, their English knowledge was rather basic because they completed secondary school during the war years, the circumstances of which have been previously described. Others had learned French, German and Russian and had no English knowledge at all when they decided to start learning it. They all accepted work as English teachers after having acquired, at the most, an intermediate to upper-intermediate level, and having received minimal introductory training to classroom teaching. Beyond their occasional brief contact with foreign representatives from international organisations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), these people sought the opportunity to attend private English language courses. In addition to two local private schools, free English language courses were also offered by various non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These courses were not usually run by trained teachers, but rather foreigners stationed in the city with a high level of English language competence. They thus offered primarily exposure to the language rather than a course based on language learning and teaching principles. As opportunities for paid work were very limited, these participants, like other inhabitants of Zenica, invested their time and energy in learning English on a daily basis, combining coursework with self-study. Starting with a very basic understanding of the language in the 1990s, five informants attained a university degree in English language and literature between 2002 and 2009. Their success is partly the result of the enormous effort they invested in self-study during the war and early post-war period, but even more important was the daily classroom practice in English they experienced as schoolteachers in the Zenica-Doboj canton.

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Socio-economic circumstances When they decided to begin working as English teachers, these participants were all unemployed. Six of them were married, four had small children, all lived in rented accommodation and some needed to support parents. The household income was insufficient for a family to cover the basic living costs. All faced material hardship and occasionally depended on humanitarian aid. Nermina, a high school leaver at the time and the eldest of four children, had to support the family as her father had died and her mother was unemployed. Sanela A. was a displaced person and, without any income, relied wholly on humanitarian aid. When they began working as schoolteachers, shortly after the end of the war, their salary was around 200–400 Bosnian marks (approximately 100–200 euros). Despite being insufficient, it was at least regularly paid and provided a steady household income.8

Learning strategies Acquiring sufficient English to be employed as a language teacher involved tremendous effort and dedication by all participants, regardless of whether they had some background in English from their own school years. During the war years, electricity was available only twice a week for three to four hours during the night, and was mostly used for taking a hot bath or baking bread. Therefore, self-study took place during the daylight hours as time permitted. Learning materials consisted of old schoolbooks printed in the former Yugoslavia. These were usually bought on the street as, during the war and immediate post-war period, it was common to find people positioned on the street all day selling their meagre possessions in order to buy basic foodstuffs with the few coins they managed to earn. Recalling the methods they had experienced themselves in their youth, these teachers mostly read or copied texts from these books. Since there was no television or other media, there was little opportunity to test this passive knowledge through exposure to the spoken language or authentic texts. Shortly after the end of the war (in 1996–1997), they attended the aforementioned English language courses where they could put into use what they had learned and, finally, speak English during lessons. By 1998, they managed to achieve a respectable intermediate to upper-intermediate level. Only two of the informants had the opportunity to work for an international organisation and use English on a daily basis during the period of their employment (a few months in one case and 2.5 years in the second case).

Teaching strategies Since the majority of the informants were rather young and inexperienced in working with children, and had no training in dealing with traumatised

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children, part of the interviews was dedicated to the strategies employed by these teachers upon assuming their teacher role in the classroom. The interview questions inquired into the methods they used to present the material and involve the pupils in interactive work, interest them in the subject and evaluate their knowledge through tests and exams. The first and most important comment almost all the informants made was that English lessons were never only about English. They were inevitably also about other problems which children faced and which were not directly related to the subject taught. In fact, English was frequently of secondary importance in the classroom. Shortly after the war, classes not only comprised local children from stable families, but they also included orphans, refugees and displaced individuals (often with only one parent), traumatised and abused children and children with psychological problems or behavioural disorders. These children were sent to regular schools and the teachers had to ensure that their daily lessons were in some way inclusive of such children. On account of the sudden demographic changes in the city, classes were also very imbalanced with respect to the educational level of the children. While some children had a relatively good educational background, others were almost illiterate in their mother tongue. Although the problems of children who were traumatised and abused during the war have, to some extent, been documented (e.g. Papageorgiou et al., 2000), excerpts from the interview with one teacher in particular warrant mention. Smaragda observed that she had a number of children with different problems that hindered the teaching process during her lessons. Apart from coping with the needs of abandoned children, orphans and children with psychological or behavioural disorders, or disabilities such as speech impediments, Smaragda’s classroom management skills were particularly tested by two boys of 10 and 11 and a girl of 10. The boy of 11, a refugee, who had, most probably, been sexually abused, had an uncontrolled fear of male teachers. He did not allow anyone to stand behind him. Smaragda managed to establish communication with this boy but she had to be extremely careful always to approach him face to face. The other previously mentioned boy of 10 was an orphan whose parents had been killed. He used to have a permanent stone smile on his face. A girl of 10 with serious behavioural disorder could not control her rage and used to beat the other children in the class if the teacher failed to focus all her attention on her, or she spent the entire 45-minute lesson repeatedly slamming the door. Interestingly, children with speech difficulties who stuttered in their native language did not experience the same problem when reciting English texts learned by heart. Smaragda’s lessons not only revolved around English but included considerable psychological input to engage the troubled children in painting and drawing or group work to ensure that these children could get through the school day and would return the following day.9

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Smaragda’s story echoes the experiences of teachers from other troubled countries and are evidence that ‘the life of a teacher, of English as of any other subject, goes beyond subject boundaries to encompass all aspects of life in a particular context’ (Hayes, 2010: 80). Teachers had to cope with many more pressing issues apart from the English language curriculum. They had to be psychologists, pedagogues, parents and only later, English teachers. Teachers had to find a subtle individual approach to each child and attempt to prevent the few disturbed individuals from sabotaging the lesson, always with the hope of leading their charges through the English language curriculum and be seen to be performing their job. Until 1998, when the first textbooks and teacher’s books arrived in the schools of BiH, teachers based their lessons on the texts from the books they had at their disposal during their years of self-study or during the training courses they had previously attended. The school premises were in very bad condition after the war and they were totally unequipped. Teachers had to use their own imagination and creativity and invest a lot of time and energy in the preparation of lessons. It was not a great problem at the lower levels of elementary schools where they used to paint, sing, repeat in chorus and do simple exercises in groups. Such activities were sufficient to occupy children’s attention for 45 minutes. However, in the upper grades of elementary school and in secondary schools, behavioural problems were magnified as children reached adolescence in a fractured and impoverished society. Swee (2008: 19) also attributes the noticeable low level of schooling attainment of many secondary school pupils in BiH at this time to the dysfunctional social context and widespread poverty. Some teachers used their initiative in working around their material constraints. Sanela A., a secondary schoolteacher, asked a British employee at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to record the reading texts she used in the classroom. This recording was used to practise pronunciation and listening comprehension in class. Grammar teaching at that time was, perhaps, the most difficult task. Some teachers used the traditional grammar-translation method from time to time when they noticed that other methods were not effective. The four informants who still work in schools also use this method from time to time and say that it is very efficient to teach and practise grammatical structures. After 1998, when the first textbooks and teacher’s books from abroad arrived in BiH, teachers’ lives were made easier by the clear instructions for each exercise in the teacher’s book and the provision of supplementary materials. Such books also presented teachers with learning opportunities. They discovered that grammar was no longer taught in the expository style as a separate unit but was somehow acquired indirectly through the texts and exercises. By 2000, they also had tape recorders, tapes and videos to

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vary activities and interaction in the classroom. However, when discussing the use of such novelties in the classes of children with greatly varying educational backgrounds, teachers claimed that they often experienced additional classroom management and discipline problems. In contrast, pupils were more focused and disciplined in a traditional teacher-centred lesson. For this reason, these teachers usually combined the methods offered in the teacher’s book with the methods they were accustomed to using. Nevertheless, changes were gradually implemented. Teachers began using more English in teaching instead of relying almost exclusively on the first language, and they varied the grammar-translation approach by introducing a variety of activities and using group work. With respect to designing tests and exams, these teachers either used the old materials from the former Yugoslavia that they found in schools or they used the same sentences copied from texts used in class, changing selected words. Reflecting on her old tests, Sanela A. commented that some of the sentences appear ambiguous or questionable to her now. However, after 1998, teachers could use the materials from the teacher’s books which had the completed tests with the key. This not only made their job easier, but it also boosted their confidence in their ability to assess their pupils’ knowledge.

Motivation to enter and later leave the English teaching profession Clearly, the initial reason to start teaching English shortly after the war finished was simply survival. However, for many of them the motivation to abandon the teaching job, once they had begun working in the classroom, was not the low salary but the fact that they were engaged as unqualified teachers on a temporary basis without the possibility of job security. According to the law, at the end of each school year the position for a qualified English teacher had to be publicly advertised. Their contracts were terminated until they were (usually) renewed in September at the beginning of the following school year. These teachers had no income during the summer holidays and each summer they lived with the uncertainty of whether they would be rehired for the next school year. In the meantime, international organisations and UN troops that had been present in the country since the onset of the war started withdrawing from BiH, with a reduction in personnel felt after 2000 in particular. The qualified teachers who had for years worked for the UN or other international organisations lost their well-paid jobs. A return to their previous position in the industrial sector was impossible as these companies were either bankrupt or no longer possessed a dynamic export sector that might require the services of translators. Simultaneously, the first generation of young graduates from the newly established English departments at local

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universities entered the job market and schools were legally required to employ these qualified (but usually inexperienced) teachers in place of their, meanwhile highly experienced, unqualified teachers. The decision to abandon their teaching career was not always the result of their ‘unqualified’ status, however. Smaragda, for instance, possesses a university degree in English but still decided to leave teaching on account of it being ‘overly demanding’ and the (according to her) relatively low social status attributed to the teaching profession in contemporary BiH. The common view expressed in the interviews by participants was the need to seek better paid and less stressful job opportunities in post-war BiH. Most are now middle-aged and feel ‘burnt out’ after having exhausted their energy in educating children during the darkest years of BiH. The five informants who abandoned teaching and now work in the public sector, or for state-owned or foreign companies claim that their present salary is much higher than the current level of teachers’ salaries in BiH.

Conclusion The war and post-war contexts on the educational sector is not a common theme of literature devoted to teacher development. The experiences described here may be read alongside those found in Hayes (2010, 2008) and Canagarajah (2012) of teachers in Thailand and Sri Lanka. According to Hayes (2010: 80) ‘...individuals may often feel themselves powerless to influence events that seem beyond their control, larger than their own lives. However, [...] individuals can seek out opportunities within their particular personal and professional contexts to make a difference, to effect change at a local level’. This is illustrative of the story of unqualified or self-taught teachers during the war and post-war BiH as described here who, similar to their counterparts in Sri Lanka and Thailand, had to model ‘normality’ when surrounded by civil war and post-conflict social disintegration. The BiH educational sector is still in a transitional period and its reform and consolidation is an ongoing concern. This chapter has documented the development of English teaching from its status as a niche-market language in the school curriculum in the former Yugoslavia to the coveted but elusive language of survival for thousands of employees across war-stricken BiH, to the obligatory, mass-market language served by a well-stocked supply of highly qualified, youthful language teachers armed with an enviable array of glossy, action-packed, emotion-filled, gender-balanced and culturally sensitive instant classroom activities. If the future of BiH is in the EU, the principal foreign language that will accompany the country in its integration into EU structures is English. While English teachers may perceive themselves to be underpaid and

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undervalued in Bosnia’s independent, post-war society, it seems certain that their services and skills will nevertheless continue to be sought for decades to come.

Notes (1)

The term international community refers to a variety of governmental and nongovernmental agencies which opened offices in BiH during the war and post-war period to provide and coordinate a wide variety of activities related to humanitarian relief, security, reconstruction and economic and political restructuring. (2) See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zenica-Doboj_in_Federation_of_ Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg (accessed 16 April 2015). (3) Both the terms refugee and internally displaced person were commonly used during this period. The former referred to individuals fleeing war zones, both within BiH or, for example, Croatia. The latter term referred to individuals who were unable to continue living in their abode due to the changed ethnic composition of their town or region. Such people were often forcibly evicted from their homes or were victims of violence or death threats. The perpetrators of such acts were either private individuals living in the same city (sometimes previously known to the evicted person), or individuals claiming to represent the authorities or paramilitary groups, to all effects and purposes, groups of armed thugs. (4) Everyone who had a job when the war broke out was required to report to work every morning, regardless of whether the office or factory was actually in operation. The purpose of this ‘compulsory work order’, in force throughout the entire war period, was to maintain a record of the number and the names of the people who had secretly left the city overnight. Many fled as a result of political or social pressures or threats. As previously described, paramilitary units were known to break into people’s apartments at night and threaten to kill the occupants. Holders of the ‘compulsory work order’ could not be conscripted into the army. This changed in 1994–1995 (the last year of the war), when additional military support was needed and written orders were served to employed people (i.e. holders of the ‘compulsory work order’) to go to the front line to dig trenches. A number of engineers from Zenica’s steel plant were killed while digging trenches during this time. Some engineers also participated in the army. The ‘compulsory work order’ ended with the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995. (5) This was the official name of the army which represented the Bosniak side from 1992 to 1995 (although ethnically mixed at the onset, it soon became known as the ‘Bosniak army’ as the war progressed). During this period, the Croat army in Croat-dominated areas was called ‘the Croatian Defence Council’ and areas claimed by the Serbs were represented by ‘the Army of Republika Srpska’. The official name of BiH’s present army (now consisting of all three ethnic groups) is ‘the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina’. (6) Much of the information in this section is based on interviews with two officials who were in charge of education at the municipal level in Zenica and the Zenica region during the war years. (7) In the post-war BiH, education was transferred from the state level to the canton administrative level which resulted in the opening of new public universities in Tuzla (1998), Mostar (1999) and Zenica (2002). In Republika Srpska, the situation was very similar. In addition, many private universities with foreign capital were founded. The priority of each of these universities was opening English language departments. For more information about the number of qualified teachers in

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(8) (9)

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Zenica-Doboj Canton in 2006 see Information on Teachers and Associates in Elementary Schools (2006), http://www.zdk.ba/budzet/item/82-informacija-onastavnicima-i-stručnim-saradnicima-u-osnovnim-školama In 2015, teachers’ salaries ranged between 800 and 1000 Bosnian marks (or 400–500 euros). However, according to participants, the cost of living has more than doubled since the 1990s. The early abandonment of schooling by vulnerable children was, and remains, a problem in BiH (see OSCE, 2007).

References Berman, D.M. (2004) Heroji Treće gimnazije. Ratna škola u Sarajevu 1992–1995 [The Heroes of Treća gimnazija. A War School in Sarajevo 1992–1995]. Sarajevo: Institut za istoriju. Canagarajah, S.A. (2012) Teacher development in a global profession: An autoethnography. Tesol Quarterly 46 (2), 258–279. Hayes, D. (2008) Becoming a teacher of English in Thailand. Language Teaching Research 12 (4), 471–494. Hayes, D. (2010) Duty and service: Life and career of a Tamil teacher of English in Sri Lanka. TESOL Quarterly 44 (1), 58–83. Hobbs, V. and Kubanyiova, M. (2008) The challenges of researching language teachers: What research manuals don’t tell us. Language Teaching Research 12 (4), 495–513. OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) (2007) Slipping Through The Cracks: School Enrolment and Completion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Status Report of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Papageorgiou, V., Frangou-Garunovic, A., Iordanidou, R., Yule, W., Smith, P. and Vostanis, P. (2000) War trauma and psychopathology in Bosnian refugee children. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 9, 84–90. Swee, E.L. (2008) On war and schooling attainment: The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Households in Conflict Network Working Paper. See http://www. yale.edu/macmillan/ocvprogram/hicn_papers/FourthAnnualWorkshop_Swee.pdf (accessed 22 April 2015).

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Appendix Questionnaire The questionnaire, comprising three sections, covered the topics listed below.

Part 1: General questions • • • • • • • •

Approximate age of participant. Duration of English teaching experience and reasons for becoming an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher. Previous occupation and work experience. Salary as an EFL teacher (comparison with present salary). Possession of a degree in English language and literature. Reasons for no longer working (or continuing to work) as an EFL teacher. Need for English in current job (if currently in a different job). Contribution of classroom teaching experience to English language improvement.

Part 2: Teaching • • • • • • •

Level of English language ability when beginning to work as a teacher. How this level of knowledge had been acquired and how the respondent continued to improve his or her level. Presence/absence of qualified English language teachers (ELTs) at the school. Assistance/advice from other teachers in learning to become a teacher. Attitude of teacher colleagues towards respondents’ ‘unqualified’ status. Challenges involved in preparing lessons and tests and managing a class of students. Use of the first language in the classroom.

Part 3: Additional training for an ELT position • •

Requirement to complete training related to ELT pedagogy. Content, benefits and shortcomings of such training.

3 A Journey into the Mind: Exploring Metaphors of EFL Pre-Service Teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Višnja Pavicˇic´ Takacˇ and Draženka Molnar

Introduction This study examines how teaching and learning processes are conceptualised metaphorically by two generations of pre-service teachers in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) over the first decade of the educational reform period. It draws on our first-hand experience of university-level English as a Foreign Language (EFL) programmes and our involvement in the establishment of the English department at the University of Tuzla and the University of Zenica as ‘visiting lecturers’ between 2004 and 2014. The Bosnia and Herzegovina of 2004 was a post-war country divided roughly in half between Serb and Muslim-Croat entities (the Republika Srpska [RS] and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina [FBiH]) whose inhabitants, despite the destruction and poverty, desperately attempted to maintain a sense of normality in their lives. The education system was still recovering from the grave material and personnel deficiencies of the war period, but as a ‘potential’ EU candidate, the country needed to initiate far-reaching reforms to harmonise educational structures and programmes with the EU. In 2014, the education system had (on paper) undergone over a decade of reform, but, as noted in the 2014 EU Progress Report (EU Commission, 2014), reforms in the eduction sector remained limited. Access to external funding through BiH’s participation in the EU programmes, overall growth in higher education enrolment and the regeneration of teaching cadre through increasing numbers of university graduates had, however, contributed to alleviating the immediate material and staffing shortcomings in schools and universities.

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The aim of this chapter is to identify differences in the metaphorical constructions of teacher–learner roles produced by two generations of Bosnian EFL pre-service teachers over the period of one decade. Indirectly, it sheds light on how the larger context of sociopolitical change and educational reform in which BiH has been submerged since 1995 impact upon individuals’ conceptualisation of education.

Higher education and society in changing times: Looking back and looking forward Before the beginning of the war in 1992, BiH had four universities with 46 colleges (faculties), arts academies and advanced higher education institutions with a total of 1,600 university teachers serving approximately 30,000 students. In a policy brief of August 1994 issued by the national Ministry of Education, figures given for higher education suggested a dramatic decline in the number of institutions, students and teaching staff since the beginning of the war. According to one study, the tertiary sector in 1994 lost about 2,000 research-active staff, or 60% of its former staff, and between 1990 and 1995, enrolment in higher education declined from 35,000 to about 18,000 (Spaulding et al., 1995). Poor communication between central government and local administration, and unremitting emigration made it very difficult to obtain fully reliable data, however. Currently, the Federation of BiH (FBiH) has six state and 10 private universities, while the RS has three state and 12 private universities, colleges and high schools. Students in the Brčko District (a separate administrative district) may enrol in a private university or a technical institute. Pedagogical training is offered at eight public universities across BiH and two private higher education institutions (Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, n.d.). Higher education is expanding. Not only institutions but also student enrolment has expanded over the years since the independence of BiH. In the 2012/2013 academic year, there were 44,720 students enrolled in tertiary education in the RS1 compared to 27,421 in 2005/2006. In the FBiH, student enrolment reached 72,332 compared to 62,5462 in 2005/2006. The ratification by BiH of the Bologna Declaration in 2003 paved the way for the higher education reform adopted in BiH in 2007. The BiH educational area required a higher education framework that was consistent with the principles and values of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) as developed by the Bologna Process3 and consistent with the standards established by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Over the period of a decade (from 2004 to 2014), we witnessed many dramatic and positive changes first-hand. These included an increased number of higher education institutions and English programmes, larger numbers of enrolled EFL students, an increase in

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foreign students, better international cooperation, the modernisation of the curricula, more effective practical training for pre-service teachers, better professional development for in-service English teachers and improved teacher recruitment procedures. An important goal of the 2007 education reform was to strengthen teachers’ pedagogical competency in the contexts of social and cultural diversity. The recently introduced focus on teaching competencies placed the emphasis firmly upon the actual classroom setting and the interaction between learners and teachers. The reform process is ongoing and still requires substantial changes with regard to catering for cultural diversity (cultural and language identity, religious background, gender equality, non-discrimination) and raising the quality of higher education (the introduction of learning outcomes and teacher competences as foundations for the new curricula, student admissions and achievements, mobility, employability, institutional capacities for quality assurance, inclusive educational practices).

Status of English as a foreign language, EFL teachers and teacher training The 35 years spanning the existence of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) left its imprint on the educational policy of BiH and Croatia. Sharing a common historical background and under the influence of a similar dynamic process of higher education reform (Delić & Šarić, 2013; Pantić, 2008; Rajković & Radunović, 2007; Zgaga, 2006), we, as visiting lecturers from Croatia, could easily relate to many of our Bosnian colleagues’ challenges and obstacles. Indeed, Croatia’s education system was engaged in a similar raft of reforms, as had been foreseen by the EU harmonisation requirements. (cf. Lučin et al., 2007; Polšek, 2004; Vilke, 2007). Rooted in an educational tradition inspired by the Soviet Union, the organisation of higher education in BiH and Croatia suffered from bureaucratic obstacles, inefficiency, slow recruitment procedures and inadequate staffing numbers in both academic and administrative spheres. Studies on existing teacher training in the BiH region (Pantić, 2008; Rajković & Radunović, 2007; Zgaga, 2006) invariably underscore the dominance of theoretical and subject-related knowledge and the lack of hands-on classroom teaching experience. This was also noted in a report by the European University Association (EUA) in 2004: Curricula are overloaded and based heavily, if not exclusively, on ex cathedra teaching and rote learning. Academic courses tend to be too specialized and rigid, with many overlaps and incoherencies, thus denying students the flexibility needed to face the future….Theoretical knowledge predominates over practical learning. Timetabling is poor,

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resulting in many hours lost for the students, without adequate library or other independent learning facilities. All these mean that there is a generalized and urgent need for a learning-oriented approach across all universities, where the student is at the centre of the process, rather than an accidental element on the periphery. (EUA, 2004: 18) In the former Yugoslavia, EFL teachers were trained in the two-year tertiary-level pedagogical institutes. As discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 of this volume, the former Yugoslavia’s orientation towards Eastern Europe meant that there was little demand for English at that time. During the war period (1992–1995), however, English replaced Russian and, to a lesser extent, German and French, practically overnight. Until that time, most EFL teachers received their degree from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Sarajevo. However, the number of enrolled EFL students at the Department of English Language and Literature in Sarajevo was limited to 10 students per academic year. Under such circumstances, it was patently obvious that the Tuzla canton would not have sufficient qualified EFL teachers for decades. This prompted a small but determined group of young visionaries and their senior colleagues to work towards establishing an English language department at the University of Tuzla. The dearth of qualified academic staff led the university to invite associate and assistant professors from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek, Croatia, to support the development of the nascent English department. Being in a similar post-war situation, and sharing the same concerns regarding the quality of the study programmes and the existence of the English department we had once established in Osijek, Croatia, we offered our full cooperation. Over the years, we travelled to Tuzla on a monthly basis to hold lectures and support the new institution through advice on syllabi and course development. Assistance also came from visiting lecturers from other universities in Croatia and Serbia. Apart from a severe shortage of qualified academic staff, outdated methods of instruction and assessment, traditional teacher-centred approaches posed challenges. In the early years of the English department at the University of Tuzla, the unfavourable student–teacher ratio (150–180 enrolled first-year students) exceeded institutional capacity. The role of the ‘visiting lecturers’ was, therefore, to teach courses that would otherwise not have been taught due to lack of academic staff, thereby enabling students to complete their degree programme. The presence of ‘visiting lecturers’ is captured in every student book, or index from that period (see Figure 3.1). The lecturer’s signature affirmed that the student had fulfilled attendance requirements and was eligible to sit the final exam. Occasionally, when the visiting lecturers were unable to arrive in Tuzla before course grade deadlines, a pile of indexes were (unofficially) sent across the border to be signed.

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Figure 3.1 Student’s book or index (University of Tuzla, academic year 2002/2003)

BiH, often perceived as the ‘miniature Balkans’, is currently undergoing major changes in the higher education system. These are perceived as being primarily influenced externally by the Bologna Process and the effects of globalisation on the education sector, and internally by the multiethnic composition of the nation (Jurin, 2003). The next sections will examine whether the changes in the higher education system are reflected among the participants of the EFL classroom setting.

Conceptualisations of learner, teachers and learning in EFL settings Much research in second language acquisition has less to say about learners than learning (Lantolf, 1996). In contrast, the present study sets out to explore potential changes in Bosnian pre-service EFL teachers’ conceptualisation of the learner, the teacher and the teaching process. The investigation rests on the belief that teachers, learners and teaching – as mutually interdependent elements – contribute equally to the classroom setting. Moreover, pre-service teachers’ beliefs and perceptions of teaching can influence their future teaching in schools. In this respect, it is important for teacher trainers to understand how pre-service teachers think about themselves and other participants in the class. The majority of previous studies on the conceptualisations of teaching through metaphor focused on teacher-produced images and adopted a qualitative approach to metaphor analysis (Block, 1992; Chen, 2003; Herron, 1982; Oxford et al., 1998; Saban et al., 2006; White & Smith, 1994). The present study also employs a qualitative analysis to examine the dimensions around which metaphors align but partially depart from this format by focusing on the student-generated metaphors about language teaching and the role distribution in the classroom setting. The present

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chapter will thus offer insight into a fairly neglected or marginalised perspective of learners whose thoughts and beliefs equally shape the kind of learning that takes place in EFL classrooms.

Theoretical Background Why metaphors in teachers’ and learners’ discourse? As Shuell (1990: 102) once stated: ‘If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a metaphor is worth 1,000 pictures. For a picture provides only a static image while a metaphor provides a conceptual framework for thinking about something’. Studies in the fields of psychology, general education and language pedagogy recognise the importance of metaphor as a research tool, and suggest that human thinking and communication are profoundly metaphorical in nature. In keeping with Grant (1992), who claimed that at the root of an individual teacher ’s practice is a knowledge base framed by a metaphorical conception of teaching, Thornbury states: To teachers in their classrooms, then, it is the image of teaching that has potency, not the theory of teaching: theories are only as persuasive as the images they evoke, and only that which is intuitively attractive (i.e. consistent with one’s image) is given much credence in the methodological market-place. (Thornbury, 1991: 196) Thus, unconsciously used metaphors can help teachers articulate and construct their professional experiences (Kramsch, 2003: 125), monitor their perceptions and resultant behaviour and ultimately improve classroom practice (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999: 155). According to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), a central objective of cognitive linguistics is to explain the conceptual system and language through the study of the brain and the mind. Metaphors are, thus, described as conceptual devices used for understanding or creating reality, rather than describing it. Metaphors are everywhere. Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 3) state that they are ‘pervasive in everyday life, not just in language, but in thought and action’. Each of us sees the process of education, our role as an educator and the student in a different manner. Lakoff and Johnson (1980) recommend searching for appropriate metaphors as a step towards self-understanding. In other words, metaphors serve the function of facilitating the understanding of abstract concepts and theories and helping us make sense of the world around us. They are susceptible to change and can adopt different forms, but are nevertheless an effective instrument of imaginative rationality (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). Lakoff and Johnson (1980: 232–233) suggest that ‘we seek out personal metaphors to highlight and make coherent our own pasts, our present activities, and our dreams, hopes and goals as well’. Eventually,

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the way we see ourselves and picture our roles influence the way in which we teach and how we interact with our students. Although able to understand an infinitely large range of metaphors, we tend to reuse a well-defined set. These are referred to as ‘conventionalised metaphors’. Examples of such metaphors, of which we will find versions operating widely in EFL, are PEOPLE ARE CONTAINERS4 and PEOPLE ARE MACHINES. As Lakoff and Turner (1989: 63) put it, ‘anything we rely on constantly, unconsciously, and automatically is so much a part of us that it cannot be easily resisted, in large part because it is barely noticed’. Following the same premise, Ellis and Barkhuizen (2005) investigated foreign language learners’ account of their own language and claimed the following: the analysis of the metaphors that L2 learners use to talk about their learning can shed light on how they conceptualize the language they are learning, the process of learning itself and, in particular, the problems and obstacles they experience on the ‘learning journey’. Metaphors provide ‘windows’ for examining the cognitions and feelings of learners. Because they are usually employed without consciousness on the part of learners they are arguably less subject to false-representation than learners’ direct comments about learning. (Ellis & Barkhuizen, 2005: 313) It has become evident that metaphors that both teachers and learners use may have a substantial effect on classroom practice. The images that teachers use metaphorically help to organise their sets of beliefs and serve as an aid to reflection-on-practice. However, equally important and suggestive are EFL learners in their contribution to conceptualisations (see Cameron, 2003; Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Villamil & de Guerrero, 2005) when it comes to raising awareness of key concepts and issues in the classroom. To explore what images of language learning and teacher–student identity lurk deep in the shadows of pre-service teachers’ automatic responses, we turned to the theorectical frame of metaphor analysis. Previously overlooked, preservice teacher inquiry and reflections are now viewed as important in the development of language teaching theory and appropriate practice. They are perceived as being able to shed light on cognition, the interpretation of knowledge, the role of reflection in teacher development and subsequent teaching behaviour.

Taxonomy of metaphors about teaching, teachers and learners Previous studies have adopted a wider theoretical perspective and offered a conceptualisation or taxonomy of metaphors on teaching and learning (Chen, 2003; Oxford et al., 1998). Most of our metaphor classifications

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about teaching and teachers rest upon Chen’s (2003: 24) taxonomy, while metaphor classifications about learners are derived from Ellis (2001: 72). Chen (2003) compiled metaphors on education from various sources and organised them into five categories, each of which highlights a different aspect of the teaching-learning process. The metaphors in these five categories describe teaching as (1) art, (2) business, (3) science, (4) power and (5) personal dynamics. The art-oriented metaphors highlight the creative and artistic side of teaching (e.g. ‘teaching is an art’, ‘teaching is a show’, ‘teaching is acting’, ‘teaching is presenting’). The focus is rather on teacher’s ability to perform or present ‘a skill’, ‘ability’ or ‘talent’. The business-oriented metaphors highlight the productive aspect of teaching (e.g. ‘give/collect/gain/share/get knowledge/ information’). According to this representation, teachers are possessors of a commodity (i.e., knowledge and skills), and the social activity of teaching is viewed as a competitively delivered service. This market-oriented view of the teaching-learning process assigns teachers and learners the roles of suppliers and consumers. Science-oriented metaphors describe teaching as following a certain set of rules and principles that can be reproduced and ‘verified empirically’ (Chen, 2003: 27). The teaching process in such a classroom setting is observed as a routinised and automatized activity with little or no room for teacher’s creativity. Power-oriented metaphors view classroom activities from the perspective of control over the teaching–learning process and an imbalance of power. Personal dynamics metaphors (e.g. TEACHING AS A JOURNEY) view teaching as ‘an activity that occurs amidst many other activities’ (Chen, 2003: 29). It gives a much broader and complex perspective on the teaching profession that goes beyond the mere classroom walls.

The Study The present study examines the value of metaphors for EFL pre-service teachers by gathering empirical evidence from their implicit evaluation of the foreign language teaching process and teacher–learner interaction in the classroom. Moreover, it seeks to gather practical evidence for the value of reflective and critical thinking development, a strategy identified as beneficial to learners, teachers, policymakers and curriculum designers in promoting learner autonomy. The aims of the study are therefore twofold: (i) to examine the personal teaching metaphors of EFL preservice teachers and (ii) to identify conceptual themes derived from these metaphorical conceptualisations. In terms of contemporary theory on language learning and teaching, the language learner identity addresses the ways in which language learners perceive their interaction in the sociocultural contexts, across time and space, and how the learners comprehend their reflections for the past

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and possibilities for the future (Norton, 2000). Built on previous relevant research findings (Lantolf & Pavlenko, 2001; Wang, 2010) which support the idea of the changeable nature of learner identity, the main questions addressed in this study are as follows: (1) What are students’ perceptions regarding metaphors in language teaching and learning? (2) What can metaphors reveal about a student’s classroom identity? (3) Are there consistencies in the metaphor types gathered from two distinct generations of Bosnian pre-service EFL teachers? (4) To what extent and in what ways have pre-service teachers’ conceptualisations of the learner, the teacher and the teaching process changed over time? (5) What are the possible reasons for metaphor (in)flexibility?

Methods An anonymous questionnaire was used to elicit information about learners’ images and metaphors depicting their conceptualisation of teaching English and teacher/learner roles. The questionnaire required students to provide answers to three incomplete sentences about the nature of teaching a foreign language by finishing these prompts: ‘Teaching English as a foreign language is …’ ‘English teachers are …’ ‘Learners are …’ (cf. Nikitina & Furuoka, 2008). Unlike Nikitina and Furuoka’s (2008) questionnaire, respondents were not explicitly instructed to use metaphorical images (implied by the statement formats), or to provide explanations or entailments for the given metaphors, but rather to provide automatic and routinised definitions close to their beliefs (by omitting the word ‘like’ from the statements). As all participants were majoring in English language and literature and possessed an approximate English level of B2, the questionnaire was in English. The questionnaire was carried out in 2004 and 2014 among two groups of participants, all of whom were students of EFL at the University of Tuzla and the University of Zenica (BiH). In 2004, 68 students participated in the study, whereas in 2014, the number increased to 154, due to the higher number of students enrolled that year. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 20. As the student-generated data were descriptive in nature, the metaphors were examined according to the analytic inductive technique and content analysis. The conceptual framework used for this purpose was based on Chen’s (2003) and Ellis’s (2001) taxonomies of metaphors about language teaching, teachers and learners. Subsequently, the responses were analysed for patterns, similarities and common themes. Metaphors which held the same characteristics were coded according to the respective typologies,

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i.e. art, business, science, power and personal dynamics. We used an introspective and recursive approach by repeated cross-examination of the data (Cameron, 2003) classified by each author. The final categorisation of the metaphors was a product of both researchers’ interpretation of each metaphorical construction. The relative frequency of recurring metaphors is provided to allow a comparison of their choice of metaphorical expressions across time. Following standard definitions of metaphor (Cameron, 1999; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), an expression may be considered metaphorical if it contains an explicit and implicit comparison involving an attempt to express some kind of anomalous relationship between a tenor and a vehicle. Our approach to metaphor identification and classification may be summarised as follows: (1) Isolate metaphorical expressions in the respondents’ definitions. (2) Reduce the metaphorical expressions to the metaphors they represent by identifying the source/vehicle (e.g. ART) and target/tenor (e.g. TEACHING) domains. (3) Sort these metaphors into coherent groups, thereby establishing the ‘dominant metaphors’ that occur more frequently. (4) Consider the possible entailment (or further elaboration) of each dominant metaphor when assigning it a category. Respondents were not limited in the amount of information they could write and, consequently, more than one metaphor might occur. These were classified into conceptual categories (five categories per each concept). These were further broken down into subcategories to assist the potential identification of relationships across metaphors. On closer inspection, the overlapping character of the metaphor categories about three different yet related concepts helped us determine the number of dominant metaphor categories. Let us illustrate the crosscategory relationships and their possible subcategories entailing different Table 3.1 Dominant metaphors about pre-service teachers Generation of preservice teachers 2004 2014

TEACHING

generated by two generations of EFL

Metaphors 1 n (%)

2 n (%)

3 n (%)

4 n (%)

5 n (%)

Total (n)

18 (13.1) 8 (5.6)

30 (21.9) 40 (28)

3 (2.2) 4 (2.8)

6 (4.4) 3 (2.1)

16 (11.7) 15 (10.5)

73 70

Key to metaphors: 1. TEACHING AS ART. 2. TEACHING AS BUSINESS. 3. TEACHING AS SCIENCE. 4. TEACHING AS POWER. 5. TEACHING AS PERSONAL DYNAMICS.

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metaphorical instantiations which, due to space limitations, are not listed in Tables 3.1 to 3.3. If we compare the first dominant category for each of the generated concepts (TEACHING, TEACHERS, LEARNERS), we may notice that TEACHING AS ART metaphor (see Table 3.1) implies two other related metaphorical conceptualisations – TEACHER AS ARTIST (see Table 3.2) and LEARNER AS OBSERVER/NEGOTIATOR. However, the categories labelled as TEACHING AS ART and TEACHERS AS ARTIST contained metaphors that can be further classified into more specific subcategories, depending on the types of artistic performance (TEACHING AS PERFORMING, TEACHING AS ENTERTAINING, TEACHING AS SPEAKING, TEACHING AS ACTING) and the performers’ characteristics, respectively (TEACHER AS PERFORMER, TEACHER AS ENTERTAINER, TEACHER AS SPEAKER, TEACHER AS ACTOR). The second dominant category in Table 3.1, TEACHING AS BUSINESS, implies that the teaching process is very much like a production process. It corresponds with the second categories of the other two concepts, namely, TEACHER AS INPUT PROVIDER /GIVER /VESSEL FILLER and LEARNER AS RECIPIENT/ CONTAINER /EMPTY VESSEL. Respondents also provided some additional metaphorical instantiations, which could be placed under the previously mentioned categories (e.g. TEACHER AS SALESMAN, LEARNER AS BUYER, LEARNER AS COLLECTOR OF KNOWLEDGE). The fourth dominant category in Table 3.1, TEACHING AS POWER, implies the authoritative role of the teacher in TEACHER AS SUPERIOR AUTHORITY FIGURE (see Table 3.2). However, under this dominant category, we placed metaphorical expressions referring to different aspects of teacher’s control and responsibility (e.g. TEACHER AS CONDUCTOR, TEACHER AS DIRECTOR, TEACHER AS LEADER , TEACHER AS COACH). Subsequently, in the LEARNER AS FOLLOWER dominant category (see Table 3.3), we placed the following metaphorical expressions: LEARNER AS LISTENER, LEARNER AS SUFFERER, LEARNER AS STRUGGLER, LEARNER AS TEAM MEMBER. This category also appeared to hold mostly negative connotations for those using it. Respondents’ additional elaboration of the definition revealed their dissatisfaction with a rather ‘passive’ and ‘struggling’ role they assume in the learning process. Table 3.2 Dominant metaphors about pre-service teachers Generation of preservice teachers 2004 2014

TEACHERS

generated by two generations of EFL

Metaphors 1 n (%)

2 n (%)

3 n (%)

4 n (%)

5 n (%)

Total (n)

10 (8.3) 8 (4)

48 (64.7) 8 (4)

7 (5.8) 3 (1.5)

3 (2.5) 4 (2)

15 (12.5) 27 (13.5)

83 50

Key to metaphors: 1. TEACHER AS ARTIST. 2. TEACHER AS INPUT PROVIDER/GIVER/VESSEL FILLER. 3. TEACHER AS REPAIRER. 4. TEACHER AS SUPERIOR AUTHORITY FIGURE. 5. TEACHER AS COOPERATIVE LEADER.

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Table 3.3 Dominant metaphors about pre-service teacher Generation of preservice teachers 2004 2014

LEARNERS

generated by two generations of EFL

Metaphors 1 n (%)

2 n (%)

3 n (%)

4 n (%)

5 n (%)

Total (n)

26 (19.5) 18 (9.72)

30 (22.5) 15 (8.1)

5 (3.75) 4 (2.16)

3 (2.25) 8 (4.32)

11 (8.25) 9 (4.86)

75 54

Key to metaphors: 1. LEARNER AS NEGOTIATOR. 2. LEARNER AS RECIPIENT/CONTAINER/EMPTY VESSEL. 3. LEARNER AS MACHINE. 4. LEARNER AS FOLLOWER. 5. LEARNER AS TRAVELLER.

The final dominant category labelled TEACHING AS PERSONAL DYNAMICS puts the teacher into the guiding position, but assumes a more cooperative role between the participants involved. Thus, learners in Table 3.3, category five, are usually metaphorically defined as travellers. However, cross-category metaphorical expressions profile different aspects of travelling, which are eventually all placed under the same dominant category. For some respondents, teaching is ‘crossing the bridge’, learners are ‘passengers crossing the bridge’ and teacher is ‘a bridge constructor’ (taking the passengers across the bridge). For others, teaching is ‘a road’, learners are ‘travellers along the road’ and the teacher is ‘the driver’. Individual respondents even go further in their description, specifying ‘the road taken’ as ‘a one-way’ or ‘a two-way road’. Similarly, we identified other metaphorical expressions which also fit into TEACHING AS PERSONAL DYNAMICS category. Respondents indicated some form of creation using different types of materials within TEACHER AS BUILDER metaphor (e.g. teacher is ‘molder’, ‘builder’ and ‘character former’). Determining exactly what was metaphorical in the respondents’ definitions did not prove easy. Single concepts were often elaborated extensively in the form of open-ended statements and it was not obvious to determine whether a particular expression was metaphorical. For example, does ‘reproduce’, as used in phrases like ‘reproduce knowledge’, draw on a production metaphor or is it a linguistic expression whose literal meaning is ‘to repeat’. Moreover, most respondents included all three concepts while trying to define a single one, thus providing redundant metaphorical expressions which were not easy to classify. As mentioned above, due to space limitations, only major or ‘dominant’ conceptual categories are presented in the tables. Dominant conceptual categories are characterised by higher frequency of occurrence. More refined subclassifications and keyword examples are elaborated descriptively.

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Results EFL pre-service teachers’ conceptualisation of teaching We identified five categories of metaphors about teaching (see Table 3.1). Respondents in 2004 generated 73 metaphors, whereas respondents in 2014 provided 70 metaphors. The dominant category for both generations of preservice teachers was labelled as TEACHING AS BUSINESS. It implies that the teaching process is very much like ‘a production process’ whose final goal is to ‘deliver a product’. Some of the keywords point to the trade business and involve actions like ‘giving/collecting/gaining/sharing/getting’.5 The object of trade which has to be successfully delivered is usually ‘knowledge/ information/language’. During the analysis of metaphors related to teaching, representations of the ‘conduit metaphor’ (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980) came to our attention. This refers to respondents’ perception of knowledge and is placed under the TEACHING AS BUSINESS metaphor. It is not illustrated separately in the table since it refers to a different target concept – ‘knowledge’. Knowledge is taken as an object that is stored and can be retrieved from the teacher’s mind; it can further be transferred to another container – the student’s mind – via a conduit or channel. The dominant subcategory in the conceptualisation of TEACHING AS BUSINESS is the KNOWLEDGE AS OBJECT conduit metaphor, which could be linked to the TEACHING AS FILLING A CONTAINER and TEACHING AS TRANSFER metaphors. Thinking of KNOWLEDGE AS OBJECT (‘things, classes, practical advice, doctrine, something, facts, issues, subjects, information, language, rules, topics, lecture, resources’) focuses attention on how this knowledge is received (‘stuffing, filling learners’ minds with facts’). Some of the additional conceptualisations of knowledge are: KNOWLEDGE AS POSSESSION, KNOWLEDGE AS VALUABLE COMMODITY/SOMETHING FOR WHICH THERE AS A NEED (‘skill a person needs, ability one wishes to know’), KNOWLEDGE AS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE QUANTIFIED (‘maximum knowledge, collective, accumulated’). Metaphors in the second dominant category focused on the artistic aspect of teaching in TEACHING AS ART (‘form of art, act, show, presentation, skill, ability’) category and on student–teacher interaction in the TEACHING AS PERSONAL DYNAMICS category. The latter category promotes a more democratic approach to teaching and indicates the long-lasting nature of teaching. Some of the metaphors that belong to this generic category, but are not included in the Table 3.1, are: TEACHING AS A STRUCTURED PROCESS (‘in an organised way, in a planned way, through communication’), TEACHING AS A (LIFELONG/ONGOING) PROCESS OF A CERTAIN LENGTH (‘long process, active, continuous, something we are connected with all our life’), TEACHING AS CONSTRUCTION (‘building up already known into better known’), TEACHING AS GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT/SOMETHING MOVING AND BRINGING CHANGES (‘improve abilities, evolution of humans, become better in specific things we deal with, enable to further develop, become better’).

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Of particular note in our study is the TEACHING AS JOURNEY metaphor (‘find the best way, extend horizons the youngsters have, two-way street’) which seems to act as a global metaphor that serves as an organiser for other roledetermining metaphors – CURRICULUM AS PATHWAY, TEACHER AS PATHFINDER, KNOWLEDGE AS OBJECT. In classrooms where the journey metaphor governs teaching and learning practices, we observe the predominant activity to be learners complying with teacher-directed learning activities. Even though the metaphor TEACHING AS CONSTRUCTION/TEACHING AS GROWTH identifies learners’ prior knowledge as the foundation of their new conceptual development and the potential to become more involved in the learning process, TEACHING AS A JOURNEY still facilitates teacher-led activities and guidance. The least dominant metaphors, labelled TEACHING AS SCIENCE and TEACHING AS POWER , point to the classroom atmosphere which, in line with our hypothesis, revolves less around the issue of power-sharing in the classroom and the perception of the teacher as ‘a precise mechanism’ among both generations of respondents. As Table 3.1 shows, there are some striking consistencies in the frequency of the metaphor distributions across five generic categories of teaching across time. It follows that there are no significant changes in the metaphorical conceptualisation of teaching among two different generations of Bosnian EFL pre-service teachers. Even though the period of a decade might seem sufficient for some changes of the learners’ belief system to appear, the findings point in the other direction. Although the dominant metaphorical conceptualisations reflect the characteristics of the modern business world and consumer society, the traditional educational system inherited from the Yugoslav era still appeard to be present in learners’ minds. The findings of the study reveal the existence of rooted cultural concepts of teaching and learning (where teaching is focused much more on ‘delivering the product’ than on learners’ involvement in the process).

EFL pre-service teachers’ conceptualisation of teachers Respondents in 2004 generated 83 metaphors, whereas respondents in 2014 provided only 50 metaphors. Based on Chen’s (2003) taxonomy, five categories resulted from an examination of the metaphors about teachers (see Table 3.2). Three of those five categories dominated the results, with a response rate of 46.7% referring to the 2004 generation of respondents and 44.1% referring to the 2014 generation of respondents. In comparison to Table 3.1 the same three categories in Table 3.2 dominate the results. The total number of metaphors provided by the 2004 generation of EFL pre-service teachers is 83, whereas by the 2014 generation only 50 appeared. Nevertheless, detailed analysis pointed to some subtle differences in the depth of definitions generated by the 2014 generation.

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Despite great variation and somewhat conflicting metaphorical representations, most of the Bosnian pre-service teachers’ responses focused on the dominant TEACHER AS PROVIDER /GIVER /VESSEL FILLER metaphor, characterised by the expected element of ‘giving’, i.e. passing knowledge. Pre-service teachers’ responses characterised their teachers as experienced and influential, but also susceptible to lead and give orders. The findings are very much in line with the above-mentioned ‘conduit metaphor’. The metaphor of TEACHER AS CONDUIT is central to the cultural transmission perspective (Oxford et al., 1998). It represents education as a uni-directional flow of information, skills and values (‘give instructions, transmit knowledge, fill in, pours in’) from the teacher (TEACHER AS AUTHORITY FIGURE) with the requisite skills and status (‘has/ possesses knowledge/skills, authority, mentor, speaker’) and professionalism (‘highly educated, qualified, competent, expert, skilful, specialised’) to the learner, who is framed as an ‘empty vessel’. Metaphors in the second dominant category focus on the TEACHER AS COOPERATIVE LEADER – someone who coaches, conducts, guides and directs. Predominant metaphors in this category include ‘coordinator’, ‘guide’, ‘facilitator’, ‘helper’, ‘motivator’ and ‘active participant of teaching’. Also included in this category are metaphors which contain richer and more refined images, such as ‘mentor’, ‘mediator’ and ‘conductor’. The research findings in Table 3.2 are fairly consistent with the research findings in Table 3.1. They overlap not only in the similar number of metaphorical occurrences per individual categories, but also indicate a striking connection between two different generations of EFL pre-service teachers and their conceptualisation of teaching and learning. The third category, labelled TEACHER AS ARTIST, contains metaphors from the spheres of artistic performance and entertainment (e.g. ‘performer’, ‘entertainer’, ‘artist’, ‘actor’, ‘presenter’ and ‘speaker’). Of these, 8.3% were produced by 2004 respondents and 4% from 2014 respondents. Surprisingly, the least dominant categories are TEACHER AS REPAIRER and TEACHER AS SUPERIOR AUTHORITY FIGURE. The first includes keywords like ‘improve’ and ‘implement’ and suggests that learners are not ‘empty vessels’ and that a certain amount of knowledge already exists, whereas the second evokes images of teacher dominance and ultimate power. A small number of respondents focused less on the imbalance of power and more on teacher’s capacity to ‘help, motivate, mediate and share’ in TEACHER AS FACILITATOR , TEACHER AS ROLE MODEL, TEACHER AS MORAL COMPASS, TEACHER AS MOTHER /NURTURER , TEACHER AS MEDIATOR , but due to space limitations these metaphors are not included in the taxonomy. However, it is interesting to mention that we identified a proportionally higher number of such metaphorical constructions among the 2014 generation. As expected, the results might be attributed to the wider context of ongoing education reform which promotes a more nurturing role of the teacher in the EFL

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classroom. More liberal or socially inclusive attitudes among the 2014 generation of pre-service teachers, and their development of methodicaldidactic competences as a result of syllabus changes might have motivated such conceptualisations. As Table 3.2 shows, we identified most of Chen’s (2003) images of the teacher among Bosnian EFL pre-service teachers. However, the most consistent dimension is not the one that contains the metaphors pertaining to power relationships, but rather to the image of the TEACHER AS PROVIDER, which ultimately highlights the unidirectional nature of the classroom interaction between the parties. Even though the third dominant dimension of teachers implies the cooperative nature of the relationship, we still perceive that learners are still construed as passive observers in the process of teaching. In the classroom environment in which the focus is more on ‘the product’ than on ‘the process’ of learning, power is often concentrated solely in the hands of the teacher. Few metaphorical constructions, generated mostly by the 2014 generation, displayed teacher– learner equality typical of the democratic teaching approach. The reason for the lack of such images might be found in cultural and family values, the regional and social environment and educational practice. What comes as a surprise is the consistency in the teacher conceptualisations by the two generations of respondents across a decade. The pervasiveness of the same conceptual metaphors and the overlapping frequency of their distribution might point to the fact that some core beliefs and perceptions are very resistant to change.

EFL pre-service teachers’ conceptualisation of themselves Between 1967 and 1995, a group of second language acquisition researchers identified several main metaphors used in describing learners (adopted from Ellis, 2001: 72): (1) LEARNER AS CONTAINER, (2) LEARNER AS MACHINE, (3) LEARNER AS NEGOTIATOR , (4) LEARNER AS PROBLEM-SOLVER , (5) LEARNER AS BUILDER, (6) LEARNER AS STRUGGLER and (7) LEARNER AS INVESTOR. As indicated in Table 3.3 of our study, only a few of these metaphors (LEARNER AS CONTAINER , LEARNER AS MACHINE, LEARNER AS NEGOTIATOR) were identified as key metaphors in the definition of learners supplied by both generations of EFL students. Other metaphors were either labelled as subcategories within another dominant category (e.g. LEARNER AS STRUGGLER under LEARNER AS FOLLOWER) or were not identified at all (e.g. LEARNER AS INVESTOR). The overall results indicate a strong overlap in the total number of learner metaphors provided by the different generations of prospective teachers. Respondents in 2004 generated 77 metaphors, whereas respondents in 2014 provided 54 metaphors. As Table 3.3 indicates, the dominant metaphor category, labelled LEARNER AS RECIPIENT/CONTAINER /EMPTY VESSEL, is not only completely congruent with Ellis’s (2001) taxonomy, but also

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very consistent with Chen’s taxonomy (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). This metaphor logically derives from the concept of TEACHING IS FILLING A CONTAINER. This category represents the teacher who simply pours ‘the objects’ (i.e. knowledge) into ‘the vessels’ (i.e. learners). Metaphors that focus on what the teacher does rather than what the students learn do not expect students to take up any active role. In this respect, the LEARNER AS CONTAINER metaphor can be seen as part of the more general conduit metaphor. The LEARNER AS CONTAINER metaphor positions learners as lacking control over what they do and how they learn. It presents them as passive and restricted. According to Ellis: Learners are passive in the sense that they have things done to them rather than do things themselves. They are restricted in the sense that they have limited capacities for learning, both in the sense of what they can attend to and what they can remember. (Ellis, 2001: 72) The second and the third dominant categories, labelled as LEARNER and LEARNER AS TRAVELLER , put the learner in a much more active role than the predominant metaphor. The learner is perceived as the one who does the negotiating, knows what to negotiate and how the negotiation takes place. Consequently, it is an active process showing that learners can contribute equally to the process of learning in the classroom. L EARNER AS TRAVELLER positions the learner on a journey where she or he can either assume the role of a passive bystander or an active co-traveller. Manifestations of this metaphor are common in all of the conceptualisations (see Tables 3.1 through 3.3) under study. The metaphor clearly points to a rich number of entailments which learners can exploit to refer to different aspects of the learning process – ‘observing, extending the horizons, travelling with a companion, offering help and guidance, pointing to the right direction, travelling down a two-way street’. Following Lakoff and Turner (1989), Ellis (2001: 81) argues that ‘the LEARNER AS TRAVELLER metaphor can be seen as an adjunct of the more general LIFE IS A JOURNEY metaphor, which is one of the major ways in which we conceptualize goal-oriented behaviour’. While the journey metaphor potentially takes travellers on a ride down a two-way street, which implies exploratory endeavour, a reciprocal obligation or a mutual action, the overall research findings identify learners mostly as passive observers in the education process. Importantly, the results of our study revealed that the pre-service teachers’ metaphors did not only include cognitive aspects (e.g. LEARNER AS NEGOTIATOR), but also consisted of affective aspects of the learning process (e.g. LEARNER AS SUFFERER). The LEARNER AS SUFFERER metaphor describes learning in terms of how the learners feel, how they get along with other learners and teachers, how they face their fears and anxieties. AS NEGOTIATOR

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Finally, the least dominant metaphor, labelled LEARNER AS MACHINE, exhibits a small number of occurrences, but revolves again around the idea that learners are not in control over what they do and how they learn. Not a single metaphor was identified under the category LEARNER AS PROBLEMSOLVER or LEARNER AS INVESTOR. These would both suggest learners’ active role and personal responsibility.

Discussion Underlying beliefs regarding teacher/learner role doubtlessly influence an individual’s use of metaphors to describe the EFL teaching-learning process. The metaphor strategy applied in this study provided useful feedback to all the participants involved in the EFL classroom setting in evaluating the teaching process, learners’ beliefs and feelings, and their perception of the teachers. Applying the strategy of an open-ended questionnaire, Bosnian EFL pre-service teachers were challenged and provoked to think critically and respond reflectively to the classroom practice. They also showed they were confident in using a variety of metaphors to reflect on the teaching experience from both cognitive and affective perspectives. We must acknowledge, however, that the limitations in the analysis of this study included the relatively small sample size and difficulties with the interpretation of metaphors included due to their different possible interpretations (Glucksberg et al., 1992). Metaphors that pre-service teachers produce reflect complex and conflicting aspects of the Bosnian education system. As pointed out by the research findings, the metaphors generated relate to both autocratic and democratic teaching approaches. Along the same lines, teacher/learner roles vary substantially – from controlling to fairly open-minded and lenient. Varieties of metaphors thus capture the multidimensionality of the learning process. Exploring the nature of the teacher/learner roles and questioning the goals of schooling, metaphor proves to be an important instrument of analysis, a timely connecting tool that successfully combines past and present experiences, theory and practice. Unconsciously-held metaphorical conceptualisations may influence how pre-service teachers approach classroom teaching. Metaphor analysis can also enhance self-awareness and professional development, and trigger creative or imaginative approaches to problem-solving. On the basis of all of the above-mentioned, we would recommend it as a useful strategy for developing learner autonomy. In the case of BiH, dominant metaphors for classroom teaching might conceivably either have reflected traditional approaches to the teaching-learning process or, as a result of two decades of social change and political reform, a growing democratisation of the classroom space. As the results point out, even under the influence of the contemporary

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educational paradigms, most EFL teachers’ beliefs remain unchanged across the decade. Remarkable consistencies, such as the distribution of metaphors and the dominant conceptual categories, are indicated in all the conceptualisations under study. The dimensions along which the metaphors aligned highlight TEACHING AS BUSINESS , TEACHERS AS INPUT PROVIDERS and LEARNERS AS RECIPIENTS . The concepts seem to evolve more around the issue of a one-way flow of information from the teacher to the learners rather than mutual sharing and interaction among them. It is not so much the conceptualisation of teachers as ‘subject-matter experts’ and the high recurrence of the ‘production’ metaphor that took us by surprise, but rather a static conceptualisation of learners as ‘passive recipients’ in a process largely controlled by others. The results of the present study, unlike previous studies (Cortazzi & Jin, 1999; Villamil & de Guerrero, 2005), show that EFL pre-service teachers’ conceptualisations are resistant to change across time and, in the case of these participants, seem to preserve the aspects of the traditional educational system. The inflexibility of learners’ belief system might be attributed to the following factors: (i) life in school experiences; (ii) past school experiences; (iii) life out of school experiences; (iv) current sociocultural context; (v) curriculum design and objectives; (vi) educational paradigm; (vii) professional development; (viii) lack of teaching practice. Current educational reform in BiH supports a more democratic teaching approach and recommends a shift towards a student-centred paradigm, in line with EU guidelines on education. This entails a substantial departure in learners’ perceptions and deeply-rooted beliefs. We encourage future teacher educators in BiH to use metaphor analysis in pedagogical training programmes and thereby encourage greater reflective practice during these years of educational reform. The metaphors generated by pre-service teachers reveal much of their unconscious beliefs, and thus help in initiating inquiry into the fundamental purpose of education.

Notes (1)

Statistical Bulletin, Higher Education, Institute of Statistics of RS, No. 9, Banja Luka, 2012. (2) Statistical Bulletin, Higher Education, Federal Office of Statistics, 2012. (3) The Bologna Process is the most important and wide-ranging reform of higher education in Europe. The ultimate aim of the process was to establish an EHEA by 2010 in which staff and students could move with ease and have fair recognition of their qualifications. The Bologna Declaration was signed by ministers of education from 29 European countries in 1999. BiH joined the process in 2003. (4) In line with the literature on conceptual metaphor studies, this chapter uses SMALL CAPITALS to designate conceptual metaphors and categories and italics to indicate metaphorical linguistic expressions. (5) Examples from students’ responses are provided throughout this section in italics.

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References Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, n.d. See http://www.hea.gov.ba (accessed 5 May 2015). Block, D. (1992) Metaphors we teach and live by. Prospect 7 (3), 42–55. Cameron, L. (1999) Operationalising ‘metaphor’ for applied linguistic research. In L. Cameron and G. Low (eds) Researching and Applying Metaphor (pp. 3–28). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cameron, L. (2003) Metaphor in Educational Discourse. London: Continuum. Chen, D. (2003) A classification system for metaphors about teaching. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 74 (2), 24–31. Cortazzi, M. and Jin, L. (1999) Bridges to learning: Metaphors of teaching, learning and language. In L. Cameron and G. Low (eds) Researching and Applying Metaphor (pp. 149–176). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Delić, Z. and Šarić, H. (2013) Mogućnost kritike Bolonjskog sustava obrazovanja u Bosni i Hercegovini iz perspektive održivoga razvoja [The possibility of criticism of the Bologna education system in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the perspective of sustainable development]. Filozofska istraživanja 131 God 33 (3), 441–457. Ellis, R. (2001) The metaphorical constructions of second language learners. In M.P. Breen (ed.) Learner Contributions to Language Learning New Directions in Research (pp. 65–85). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Ellis, R. and Barkhuizen, G. (2005) Analysing Learner Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press. European University Association (EUA) (2004) Institutional Evaluations of Seven Universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (A. Sadikovic, trans.). European University Association. See http://www.eua.be/policy-representation/higher-education-policies/euainvolvement-in-south-east-europe.aspx (accessed 5 May 2015). EU Commission (2014) Progress report Bosnia and Herzegovina. See http://ec.europa. eu/enlargement/pdf/key _documents/2014/20141008-bosnia-and-herzegovinaprogress-report_en.pdf (5 May 2015). Glucksberg, S., McGlone, M. and Keysar, B. (1992) Metaphor understanding and accessing conceptual scheme: Reply to Gibbs. Psychological Review 99 (3), 578–582. Grant, G.E. (1992) The sources of structural metaphors in teacher knowledge: Three cases. Teaching and Teacher Education 8, 433–440. Herron, C. (1982) Foreign-language learning approaches as metaphor. The Modern Language Journal 66 (3), 235–242. Jurin, M.C. (2003) Bosnia and Herzegovina’s higher education in times of change: An analysis of how globalization and multiethnicity shapes the development of the universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Master thesis, University of Oslo. Kramsch, C. (2003) Metaphor and the subjective construction of beliefs. In P. Kalaja and A.M.F. Barcelos (eds) Beliefs about SLA: New Research Approaches (pp. 109–128). New York: Springer. Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980) Metaphors We Live By (+ Afterword, 2003). Chicago, IL/London: The University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, G. and Turner, M. (1989) More Than Cool Reason: A Field Guide to Poetic Metaphor. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Lantolf, J. (1996) SLA theory building: ‘Letting all the flowers bloom!’ Language Learning 46, 713–749. Lantolf, J. and Pavlenko, A. (2001) Second language activity theory: Understanding second language learners as people. In M. Breen (ed.) Thought and Actions in Second Language Learning: Research on Learner Contributions (pp. 141–158). London: Longman.

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Lučin, P. (ed.) (2007) Kvaliteta u visokom obrazovanju [Quality Assurance in Higher Education]. Rijeka: Nacionalna zaklada za znanost, visoko školstvo i tehnologijski razvoj Republike Hrvatske. See http://www.hrzz.hr/UserDocsImages/pdf/Publikacije/ nzz-kvaliteta_za_web.pdf (accessed 18 May 2015). Nikitina, L. and Furuoka, F. (2008) ‘A language teacher is like…’ Examining Malaysian students’ perceptions of language teachers through metaphor analysis. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 5 (2), 192–205. See http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/ v5n22008/nikitina.pdf (accessed 22 September 2014). Norton, B. (2000) Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity and Educational Change. Harlow: Longman/Pearson Education Limited. Oxford, R., Tomlinson, S., Barcelos, A., Harrington, C., Lavine, R.Z., Saleh, A. and Longhini, A. (1998) Clashing metaphors about classroom teachers: Toward a systematic typology for the language teaching field. System 26 (1), 3–50. Pantić, N. (ed.) (2008) Tuning Teacher Education in the Western Balkans. Belgrade: Centre for Education Policy. Polšek, D. (2004) Visoko školstvo u Hrvatskoj i zahtjevi Europske unije [Higher education in Croatia and EU demands]. In K. Ott (ed.) Pridruživanje Hrvatske Europskoj Uniji [Croatian Accession to the European Union]. Zagreb: Institut za javne financije, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 259–287. Rajković, V. and Radunović, L. (2007) Kako nastavnici opazaju svoje inicijalno obrazovanje: na koji način su sticali znanja i razvijali kompetencije [How teachers perceive their initial training: how they acquired knowledge and developed competencies]. Nastava i vaspitanje, 4, 413–435. Saban, A., Koçbeker, B.N. and Saban, A. (2006) An investigation of the concept of teacher among prospective teachers through metaphor analysis. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 6 (2), 509–522. Shuell, T.J. (1990) Teaching and learning as problem solving. Theory into Practice 29 (2), 102–108. Spaulding, S., Cohen, L. and Rakotomanana, M. (1995) Education in a nation in crisis: The Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A status report prepared for World Education Services 9 (1), 10–18. (accessed 5 May 2015). Thornbury, S. (1991) Metaphors we work by: EFL and its metaphors. ELT Journal 45, 193–200. Vilke, M. (2007) Engleski jezik u Hrvatskoj: pogled u prošlost, sadašnjost i budućnost [English language in Croatia: Glimpse into the past, present and future]. METODIKA 8 14 (1), 8–16. Villamil, O.S. and de Guerrero, M.C.M. (2005) Constructing theoretical notions of L2 writing through metaphor conceptualization. In N. Bartels (ed.) Applied Linguistics in Language Teacher Education (pp. 79–90). New York: Springer. Wang, C.L. (2010) Toward a second language socialization perspective: Issues in study abroad research. Foreign Language Annals 43 (1), 50–63. White, B. and Smith, M.W. (1994) Metaphors in English education: Putting things in perspective. English Education 26 (3), 157–176. Zgaga, P. (ed.) (2006) The Prospects of Teacher Education in South-East Europe. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana.

4 Military English Matters Claire Whittaker

Introduction Since 2006, the role of English in the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (AFBiH) has increased in importance and is now perceived by a growing number of military personnel as a gateway to professional opportunities. This growth in importance can actually be dated back to the immediate post-war period when English was important for two main reasons. Firstly, so that multinational forces on North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO)1 peacekeeping operations could communicate effectively between themselves, and secondly so that they could communicate effectively with the local people. In fact, this need for ‘a shared communication system’ (Monaghan, 2012: 23) between NATO member countries taking part in multinational exercises had been recognised as early as the 1950s. With the continued expansion of NATO membership and the active role that NATO has played from the 1990s in crisis management operations, including peacekeeping missions, this need has resulted in English emerging as the lingua franca of the Armed Forces. As an aspiring NATO member, these factors have led Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) to recognise the need for members of its Armed Forces to have an English language capability and this has been a driving force in the development of its English language programme. This chapter considers NATO’s influence on the growth of English in the AFBiH, firstly from 1995–2004 in its role as a peace enforcement and stabilisation force, and secondly through its Partnership for Peace (PfP) programmes from 2006 onwards. Of these, the Planning and Review Process (PARP) programme resulted in a set of partnership goals, which included the ‘G1200 Language Requirements’, which establishes the place of English language provision in cooperation between NATO and BiH. This partnership goal was instrumental in the development of an official foreign language learning policy (FLLP). In this chapter, I describe the implementation of the G1200 partnership goal and FLLP and highlight two significant issues that need addressing in the current English language training system, namely, the status of the instructors and student numbers. Testing is an important component in any language teaching system, but even more so when the operational effectiveness of multinational forces,

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which is dependent to a large degree on national test scores, is at stake. Recognising this, NATO developed a standardisation agreement (STANAG 6001) on language proficiency levels so that national standards could be compared. However, it is the responsibility of each country to develop its own tests for measuring language proficiency, and in 2008, with the support of international stakeholders, a BiH STANAG testing team was formed. I take a closer look at STANAG and consider how it is viewed in the AFBiH, and describe the testers’ role to date. In addition to supporting the creation of the testing team, since 1997 international stakeholders have played an active role in shaping the English language provision in the AFBiH. I examine the aims and legacy of both UK and US funded English language projects from a retrospective perspective, and discuss their renewed interest in supporting English language training at a strategic level. International stakeholders also supported the establishment of a Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC) in 2005 and I consider the impact which the opening of this centre had on English language training. Despite the fact that the AFBiH has a well-established system in place for delivering English courses to military personnel, concerns have been raised regarding the management of the programme in terms of its current outreach (i.e. the number of students who have access to the courses), and the status of the instructors. In the course of this study, five ideas were proposed from various stakeholders concerning how the system could evolve. Lastly, a personal perspective is provided by recent English language students (military personnel) on how they perceive the role of English in relation their work. The data for this study were collected via interviews, an online questionnaire and personal correspondence (emails). The interviews were conducted in Sarajevo in the first week of February 2015 with a senior political-military advisor at NATO Headquarters, the UK Defence Attaché, members of the STANAG testing team, the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program manager, the US Chief of Defence Cooperation, the heads of the English centres, English instructors, the head of the training and education department at the PSOTC, PSOTC instructors, British Council (BC) trainers, the head of section for education and the senior expert advisor in the section for education, sector for personnel management, Ministry of Defence (MoD). With the interviewees’ permission, interviews were recorded and later transcribed. The online questionnaire was administered through SurveyMonkey and completed by 62 students attending English courses in the centres in Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Čapljina and Tuzla in February and March 2015. Emails were exchanged with the head of the foreign languages department in the AFBiH and the Dutch Defence Attaché to Serbia, Montenegro and BiH. The role of English in the AFBiH is of professional and personal interest to me, as between December 2003 and July 2007, I worked as the training

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and systems manager on the Military English Support Project (MESP) in BiH (details of which are provided at a later point in this chapter). During this time, I worked closely with the English language stakeholders, both international and local, which allowed me to gain an understanding of the context. Many of the local personnel involved in English language teaching between 2003 and 2007 have remained in post, as well as a small number of internationals, and it is thanks to their full support and cooperation, for which I am extremely grateful, that I was able to undertake this research.2

NATO’s Influence NATO’s role in BiH between 1995 and 2004 was vital to ensuring peace enforcement and stabilisation initially through the deployment of a 60,000 strong NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR), which was NATO’s first peacekeeping operation. It was subsequently replaced in 1996 at the end of its mandate with a smaller Stabilisation Force (SFOR). After 2004, the European Union Peacekeeping Force (EUFOR) assumed responsibility for maintaining security in BiH, while NATO established a small military headquarters to support BiH with its defence reforms and its anticipated PfP membership, which BiH politicians had agreed to seek during the 2001 and 2002 talks. The need for a lingua franca was evident as IFOR involved troops from 31 countries and SFOR from 38 countries (Kelly & Baker, 2013: 163). Despite the dominance of English, the ‘French units were initially committed to using the French language wherever possible … [and] Russian was widely used as a lingua franca among eastern European contingents’ (Kelly & Baker, 2013: 161). The number of countries involved posed linguistic challenges in a context where the ‘need for effective communication is particularly acute’ as ‘linguistic misunderstandings risk leading to mistakes, which might, in a worse-case scenario, result in casualties’ (Crossey, 2005: 2). Moreover, the possibility for such linguistic misunderstandings was considerable given that ‘the chain of command was multinational, with each step being conveyed in the variety of English used by the superior officer and being understood according to the variety used by the recipient’ (Kelly & Baker, 2013: 180). Communication with the local populace was usually managed through locally hired interpreters who played an essential role in the peace support activities undertaken by British troops such as ‘weapons inspections, liaison visits, mine clearance, civil-military relations, patrols’ (Baker, 2012: 100). No reference is made in the literature to the linguistic ability of military personnel from either the Armed Forces of Republika Srpska or the Armed Forces of the Federation (which were united into a single AFBiH in 2006) during this time (late 1990s to early 2000s), but according to one of the officers who was interviewed in the course of this study ‘immediately after

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the war we had a very low level number of people who could function outside in English speaking environments’, and because they knew English this afforded them the opportunity to work as an interpreter and a protocol/ liaison officers. In 2006, BiH joined the PfP, which according to NATO documentation (2014), ‘… is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Partner countries and NATO’, which allows for flexible cooperation in accordance with the respective priorities of each partner country. One of the key PfP programmes for BiH is the PARP, which has been ‘designed to assist BiH in improving its capabilities as it works towards becoming a credible candidate for NATO membership’ (Maxwell & Olsen, 2013: 78). PARP, of which BiH has been an active member since 2007, ‘is a biennial planning cycle designed to advance interoperability and increase transparency among NATO Allies and partners. For each cycle, BiH undertakes to complete the “PARP survey”, which covers information on a wide range of subjects including defence policy, democratic control of the Armed Forces, PfP co-operation, and relevant financial and economic plans’ (Maxwell & Olsen, 2013: 78). The PARP survey helps identify measures which partners need to undertake to improve the structure and operations of its Armed Forces with a view to enhancing its ability to operate in conjunction with NATO countries (The NATO Integration Process, 2014). PARP is significant to this study because one of the 40 partnership goals that NATO and BiH have agreed upon is the ‘G1200 Language Requirements’. In the most recent partnership goals document (dated 2014), the synopsis for ‘G1200 Language Requirements’ reads as follows: (1) Continue to improve English language skills of all personnel (military and civilian) who are to cooperate with NATO forces in NATO-led PfP operations, exercises and training, or with NATO staffs. These individuals must be able to communicate effectively in English, with added emphasis on operational terminology and procedures. (2) In addition to special measures to increase the language proficiency of current officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), where appropriate, integrate adequate language training into the curricula of officer and NCO education establishments and in career development programmes. (3) Ensure that all personnel planned for participation in NATO staffs or other multinational headquarters, and MoD, joint forces staff and other personnel also from other ministries who are routinely involved with NATO issues, have English language skills. There are clear signs that this PARP language goal has helped raise awareness of the importance of English in the AFBiH and according to

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Maxwell3 (interview, 2 February 2015) ‘… the desire to join NATO, or at least to be credible in terms of working with NATO, has driven language training more than anything else’. BiH is certainly endeavouring to work with NATO by ‘[declaring] a number of forces and assets as potentially available for PfP activities, including for NATO led crisis-response operations’.4 Moreover, BiH has already sent officers to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan and committed to NATO’s post-2014 mission there.

Foreign Language Learning Policy The BiH MoD has an official FLLP that dates back to December 2007, the year in which BiH became an active member of PARP, which is no coincidence as the policy refers to ‘partnership goals’. The purpose of the FLLP is to ‘define priorities and regulate the unified procedure for planning, managing and implementing the process of foreign language learning in the BiH MoD and AFBiH’. The focus is on developing training and testing systems for the official NATO languages and other languages of NATOled countries (English, French, German, Turkish, Greek and Italian) with a specific focus on English. With the exception of Italian, these languages are taught by the Foreign Language Department (which is covered in more detail in the following section). The policy provides guidelines on which defence institutions personnel should be prioritised for English, and other foreign languages, training based largely on the amount of contact (daily or occasional) with NATO and other international representatives and the likelihood of being deployed on NATO-led missions, operations or exercises. The policy outlines the minimum levels of language proficiency required to perform in these contexts that are measured in STANAG 6001 terms, which is NATO’s STANAG on language proficiency levels, using its four digit standardised language profile (SLP). The four digits represent the four language skills that are listed in the following sequence: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Therefore, an SLP of 3232 means Level 3 in listening, Level 2 in speaking, Level 3 in reading and Level 2 in writing. There are six proficiency levels ranging from 0 to 5: Level 0 – No proficiency; Level 1 – Survival; Level 2 – Functional; Level 3 – Professional; Level 4 – Expert; Level 5 – Highly articulate native, for which Lewis (2012: 63) provides an ‘indicative equivalence’ to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) (Table 4.1). The policy sets the language proficiency bar reasonably high, requiring prioritised officers and civil servants to have a minimum SLP 3333; NCOs, employees and civilians SLP 3232; and all defence personnel working on tactical communications and NATO communication networks SLP 2221. Reference is made to providing English language learning up to Level 5

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Table 4.1 STANAG/CEFR comparison chart STANAG level Above 0 1 – Survival 2 – Functional 3 – Professional 4 – Expert 5 – Highly articulate native

Approximate CEFR level A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2

for the top-priority personnel, but this is overly ambitious given that the conclusion from a Bureau for International Language Coordination (BILC) Working Group established in 2010 to research Level 4 proficiency was that ‘it would be extremely rare to attain Level 4 proficiency in a training environment alone, without extensive and intensive daily interaction with higher-level native speakers outside the classroom’ (de Silva Joyce & Thomson, 2015: 218). Moreover, it has yet to be determined just how many NATO positions actually require this level of competence, let alone Level 5.

Language Training in AFBiH The Foreign Language Department forms part of the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), which is managed by Support Command of the AFBiH (see Figure 4.1). The department is responsible for integrating ‘adequate language training into the curricula of officer and NCO education establishments and in career development programmes’ (PARP Language Requirement Goal). To this end, the department oversees the provision of English, German, French, Turkish and Greek courses. However, the capacity for teaching English far outweighs that of the other languages in terms of the number of instructors (35 for English and 4 for each of the other languages) and student places on courses at any given time (120 for English, 12 for French, 12 for German, 12 for Greek and 20 for Turkish). According to the head of the Foreign Language Department, Greek, Turkish and German are taught to prepare candidates for placements on military courses and academies, and French is taught because it is one of the official languages of NATO and the United Nations (UN). There is no capacity in the Foreign Language Department to teach Italian. At present, English courses are held in five locations across the country and are open to members of the MoD and the AFBiH, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Federation of BiH, the Ministry of Internal Affairs Republika Srpska and any NATO/PfP state Armed Forces member. The two larger centres in Sarajevo and Banja Luka provide general English courses at five levels ranging from elementary to advanced, while the remaining

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MoD

Joint Staff AFBiH

Operational Command AFBiH

Support Command AFBiH

TRADOC

Foreign Language Dept.

Figure 4.1 Chain of command in AFBiH

three centres in Čapljina, Tuzla and Doboj offer courses at elementary and pre-intermediate level only. The larger centres also offer specialised English courses on military terminology and peace support operation (PSO) preparation. On average, two or three intensive 13-week general English courses are delivered annually in each centre and, since 2006, over 2700 students have received English language training. Currently, because the US is taking the lead on supporting English language training in the AFBiH, the curriculum follows the American language course (ALC) and uses as the core texts the materials that have been developed by the Defense Language Institute of English Language Center (DLIELC) curriculum specialists. These texts are supplemented with a variety of British published materials, which are a legacy from the UK MoD-funded MESP that was managed by the BC and which ran from 2000 to 2009 (discussed later). In addition to the intensive courses, one-toone non-intensive courses are provided for key personnel from the MoD and Joint Staff. The English programme is unusual in that the 33 instructors and the 2 heads of the English centres are all military personnel, predominantly officers, who have either taken one or more of the following American or British courses which combine language enrichment with language teacher training: •

Basic American Language Instructor Course (BALIC) – a 27-week course conduced at DLI in San Antonio.

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Advanced English Language Instructor Course (AELIC) – a 16-week course conducted at DLI in San Antonio. Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) preparation provided by the BC.

In addition to this training, the majority of the instructors have taught for five years or more (some have been involved in English language teaching since 2002). According to the information provided, in terms of language proficiency 5 instructors have attained STANAG Level 2 (functional), 12 instructors Level 3 (professional) and the remainder have SLPs that are a combination of Levels 2 and 3, although a number of the certificates have passed their three-year expiry date. As yet, being STANAG certified is not an essential requirement to be an English instructor, but this could be a future consideration for the AFBiH. Despite having what appears to be a sustainable system for teaching English in place, several issues need addressing. The foremost concern is the status of the instructors because in the present organisational structure of the Foreign Language Department there is no scope for promotion. This is demotivating for the instructors and, if the opportunity arose, a number stated that they would rather move elsewhere in the structure to obtain a higher rank than remain in their current positions. This is understandable as ultimately they are keen to pursue their military careers. There is real pressure on them to obtain a promotion as, according to their ‘rule book’, those who spend twice the recommended length of time at a certain rank could be released from the AFBiH. The second issue relates to student selection and dwindling numbers. One reason cited for falling student numbers is that commanding officers do not want to release their personnel for 13 weeks at a time. This is understandable as it is a significant period of time to be absent from work. Offering a portfolio of courses (i.e. intensive, non-intensive, blended and online) may alleviate this problem. Another reason that potential students are reluctant to study at the larger centres in Banja Luka or Sarajevo, where higher-level courses are offered (intermediate and above), is that they are housed in military accommodation for the duration of the course and therefore lose their privileges and benefits such as food allowances, transportation money, etc. Such financial factors are an important consideration in BiH where allowances are used to supplement the basic salary.

STANAG 6001 Testing Team The growing importance of STANAG certification for AFBiH personnel resulted in the formation of a BiH STANAG 6001 testing team in 2008 with five members and three reserves. This was necessary because each country has to generate its own STANAG 6001 tests in the absence of a

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central body tasked with this responsibility. This raises the crucial question of how comparable STANAG tests and their results are from nation to nation especially given its high stakes status as ‘based upon the assessment results assigned by nations, members are assigned to international staff or operations’ (Monaghan, 2012: 30). Monaghan goes on to state that ‘occasionally, the discrepancy between national scores and the required linguistic proficiency leaves something to be desired’. In a bid to address inconsistency in testing, the BILC, NATO’s advisory body on language training and testing issues, has focused on language testing to ‘promote a common understanding and interpretation of proficiency levels IAW NATO STANAG 6001, so that the results yielded by national testing protocols are comparable’.5 It does this by offering advice on establishing testing teams and by providing language testing seminars to improve competency to develop and administer tests based on STANAG 6001, which the BiH team have all attended. These seminars are highly valued by the team members as ‘without [them] it’s impossible to fully understand the STANAG descriptors and the whole concept of STANAG’ (member of the STANAG testing team; interview, 3 February 2015). The STANAG descriptors are organised by skill (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and then by level, i.e. from Level 0 (no proficiency) through to Level 5 (highly articulate native). Like the CEFR, the descriptors contain ‘can-do statements’, yet unlike the CEFR, illustrative scales are not provided for the activities associated with the individual skills, e.g. sustained monologue: describing experience for oral production, and the descriptors are given in the form of a paragraph. For example, for listening, Level 1 (survival), the descriptors are: Can understand common familiar phrases and short simple sentences about everyday needs related to personal and survival areas such as minimum courtesy, travel and workplace requirements when the communication situation is clear and supported by context. Can understand concrete utterances, simple questions and answers, and very simple conversations. Topics include basic needs such as meals, lodging, transportation, time, simple directions and instructions. Even native speakers used to speaking with non-natives must speak slowly and repeat or reword frequently. There are many misunderstandings of both the main idea and supporting facts. Can only understand spoken language from the media or among native speakers if content is completely unambiguous and predictable.6 In March 2009, the testing team piloted their first bi-level test targeting both STANAG Levels 2 and 3 (more levels are possible in multilevel military testing, see Green & Wall, 2005). The first testing session took place in BiH in June 2009 with 62 candidates and since then the team have tested

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a total of 1097 candidates, out of which 519 hold valid certificates.7 This is perceived as being a ‘great success’ by the BiH MoD. According to the US Chief of Defence Cooperation, the AFBiH goal is for 500 personnel to hold a STANAG. However, the number of certificate holders only equates to around 5% of the entire AFBiH based on the figure of 10,000 personnel on active duty and the international stakeholders would like to see this number increased and for positions to be identified where an English language capability, in the form of a STANAG, is a prerequisite. In addition to testing military personnel in BiH since 2009, the team have conducted regular sessions in Montenegro, where they have tested 371 individuals, and have run two sessions in Macedonia, where they have tested 85 individuals. The idea of acting as a mobile testing unit is innovative and of great benefit to countries such as Montenegro as it removes the need to create their own testing team, which is a lengthy and expensive process. Reflecting the practice of regional cooperation, the tests are routinely piloted in Croatia and have also been piloted in Italy, Serbia and Macedonia. Furthermore, there are also plans to cooperate with Bulgaria. This level of cooperation is commendable and in future could be developed further with the creation of a central item bank and an online version of the test, although the latter was considered by the testers to be ‘a challenge’ because of system (presumably IT) requirements. According to the testers there has been a shift in attitude towards STANAG with personnel now contacting them to enquire about the next testing session, rather than vice versa, as they begin to appreciate its importance for securing opportunities on international missions or postings. There is also a drive from the international stakeholders to make career advancement in certain posts dependent on English language capability.

International Stakeholders International stakeholders have played a crucial role in establishing sustainable English language teaching systems which, in the case of UK-funded projects, date back to 2000. It was in April of that year that the MESP, which was part of the wider BC-managed Peacekeeping English Project, came into existence. MESP’s immediate aim ‘was to train personnel so that they could function effectively in real-life situations where they needed to be able to use English actively’ and the wider goal was to ‘ensure that personnel of the MoD and the Armed Forces have sufficient English for integration into Euro Atlantic defence structures and for duties such as UN peacekeeping missions’ (Military English Support Project, 2009: 3). In order to fulfil the immediate aim, MESP’s first task was to establish a system whereby teaching could take place, as there was little or no English language provision within either of the Armed Forces at the time.

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It must be noted that in 2000, MESP was dealing with two MoDs and Armed Forces, one in Republika Srpska and one in the Federation, and it was not until early 2006 that the two entity MoDs and entity armies were transformed into a state-level MoD and AFBiH. Therefore, MESP started by opening two language centres, one in Banja Luka in Republika Srpska and one in Sarajevo in the Federation (Figure 4.2), and it recruited six qualified English language teachers, civilians, to work in them and to provide pre-service teacher training to the military personnel who would become English instructors in the 13 smaller centres that MESP opened between 2002 and 2003 in barracks around the country (Figure 4.2). These centres allowed for a greater outreach by enabling military personnel to attend courses at their place of work rather than having to move to Banja Luka or Sarajevo, thereby making it a cost-effective solution and one that was considered to be sustainable. MESP ran until 2009 when the management of the centres in Sarajevo and Baja Luka was handed over to the BiH MoD and AFBiH. (The smaller

Figure 4.2 MESP English language centres, circa 2002 (MESP: Military English Support Project, project brochure, British Council, BiH. Reproduced with permission from the British Council, BiH)

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centres had been handed over in 2007.) Since 2009, the English language teaching landscape has altered, with the downsizing from 13 to 5 centres and the introduction of ALC materials, but a lasting legacy is the large number of instructors that MESP trained who remain in place, which adds great value to the programme. Furthermore, MESP was instrumental in helping establish the STANAG testing team, with the support of funding by the Government of the Netherlands, which is composed of a number of former English instructors. Lastly, a number of the paper materials (general and military English coursebooks) remain and are used in conjunction with the US materials. However, the ground-breaking blended learning courses that combined face-to-face study with online learning and self-study no longer remain, as in terms of cost (for replacing computer equipment, purchasing licences etc.), this most likely proved to be unsustainable. This move away from blended learning, an approach to teaching and learning that is being increasingly adopted in a number of sectors of education, demonstrates how the direction of the English programme in the AFBiH is influenced by the lead international stakeholder and their views on language teaching and learning. Since the closure of MESP in 2009, the US has taken the lead on English language teaching in the AFBiH through their IMET programme. While the aim of both the UK and the US has been to support English language training in the AFBiH, they have significantly differing approaches, which Hare and Fletcher (2012: 205–207) categorise and describe under the headings: syllabus, methodology, teacher training and development, testing, autonomous learning and sustainability. So, while in all likelihood the UK stakeholders would have maintained and developed the blended learning courses, they could not be maintained under the IMET programme. The main objective of the IMET programme is, through training and education, to ‘further the goal of regional stability through effective, mutually beneficial military-to-military relations that culminate in increased understanding and defence cooperation between the US and foreign countries’.8 English language proficiency is a requirement for many of the IMET-funded courses and one of the reasons for supporting English language teaching in the AFBiH is to reduce expenditure by ensuring that individuals meet the language requirements before they go to the States, which has been achieved, according to the IMET programme manager. The IMET programme in BiH has a substantial annual budget of roughly $1 million, of which approximately 30% is spent on language training primarily on the purchase of language labs, ALC books and instructor training (BALIC and AELIC). In 2014 the programme donated and installed a 20-position multimedia lab in the centre in Banja Luka, a 10-position audio lab in Sarajevo and a 10-position multimedia lab was due to be delivered in 2015. Since 1997, when the IMET programme

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officially started with the Federation Armed Forces, a total of 37 AFBiH personnel have attended BALIC and 18 AELIC, which at a current cost of almost $43,000 for one person to attend BALIC represents a significant investment. In addition to the work that is being carried out through the IMET programme, the Government of the Netherlands currently provides ‘funding for the training of English language instructors and procurement of resources necessary for language training through the British Council Sarajevo’ according to the Dutch Defence Attaché. This funding dates back to 2005 when it was used by MESP for similar purposes as it is to date. Since 2012, through this Dutch partnership programme, the BC has been designing and delivering workshops based on the English instructors’ needs such as course design, preparing them for the TKT exam, providing access to BC online teacher training courses and purchasing resources. While a great deal has been achieved with regard to English language training over the years, and the funding from the US and the Netherlands seems set to continue, there are concerns among the international stakeholders regarding the direction that the English language programme has taken. These concerns centre on why the instructors are still military personnel as opposed to civilian (when the latter are considered more costeffective) and why (with 25 active instructors) the current capacity is only 300 students per annum. The current lack of collaboration between the international donors was also noted and is to be addressed by the creation (or recreation as such a board existed during MESP’s time), of what has alternately been referred to as a donor board, steering group or advisory board that will work at a strategic level with relevant personnel from the BiH MoD, AFBiH, STANAG testing team and NATO. The board intends to address the significant challenges that the system is facing, which have been mentioned (instructor status, student selection and dwindling numbers), to consider what the role of English is in the AFBiH and the direction that the English language programme could take, and to determine how best to work collaboratively towards the goals with buy-in from the BiH MoD and AFBiH.

Peace Support Operations Training Centre With the support of 18 multinational partners, BiH established a PSOTC in 2005 at Butmir in Sarajevo as a way of preparing for the PfP programme and it remains the only certified PfP training centre in the region. The PSOTC’s mission is to ‘perform training and education in the field of peace support operations (PSO) for the Armed Forces in BiH (AFBiH) and for members outside of the MoD, as well as to act as a NATO Partnership and Regional centre for training and education in PSO, with the goal of reaching NATO and UN compatible standards and providing support to AFBiH in

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overall efforts of BiH’s contribution to international peace and security’ (PSOTC Course Catalogue, 2015: 4). To this end, it offers a programme of 15 professional development courses to officers and NCOs, both local and from NATO/PfP countries. Courses include a four-week international staff officer skills course, a five-week PSOs staff NCO course and a two-week counterinsurgency course, and eight of them have been accredited either by the UN, NATO or the University of Sarajevo. The working language of the PSOTC is English and the language requirements to attend each course are stated in the course documentation in STANAG 6001 terms. The establishment of the centre had an immediate impact on MESP’s work and it shifted its focus to improving the language skills of young officers in the AFBiH so that they could cope linguistically with the PSOTC’s courses. MESP was therefore crucial in the early days to the success of the PSOTC as a large number of its upper intermediate level students went straight onto PSOTC courses. This was most likely one of the first tangible indicators to military personnel in the AFBiH of the importance of a knowledge of English to training, and ultimately career opportunities.

Developing the English Language Programme While there are concerns regarding the management of the current English language programme with regard to its reach and the status of the instructors, five ideas were presented from the different parties who were interviewed on how it could be developed. A suggestion that was voiced more than once is to widen the programme to encompass employees from other state agencies (e.g. Ministry of Security) where in total there are 12,000 employees, which would seemingly adhere to the G1200 Language Requirements Partnership Goal which states ‘ensure that ….other personnel also from other Ministries who are routinely involved with NATO issues, have English language skills’. In fact one of the heads of the English centres has been approached by personnel from other agencies, notably the police in Republika Srpska, with requests to join the courses as they have opportunities to go on missions, but require English in order to do so. Greater regional collaboration through bilateral agreements would also be welcomed and the example given was that BiH could provide language training or STANAG support to Montenegrin Armed Forces personnel, and in return pilot training could be offered in Montenegro to BiH pilots. A further idea that the international partners have been discussing is the possibility of ensuring that every soldier in the AFBiH has an English capability, which is being adopted in other countries including, in the region, Macedonia. ‘We’re not saying privates need to be 3333 that’s only the leadership, lower echelons of leadership 2222, but why not train privates?’ (Chief of Defence Cooperation, US Embassy, interview, 4 February 2015).

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The introduction of a mandatory retirement service law, which means compulsory retirement at 55, will affect approximately 70% of the personnel in the next five years. In relation to this, currently under discussion is the possibility of providing the individuals who will be affected (especially those who may not be entitled to a pension because they do not have the required length of service to be eligible for it) with English lessons so they have a skill to take to the marketplace. Lastly, the retirement of so many personnel will create the need for 6,000 newcomers, who may require English language training, although the younger generation is likely to join with a certain language capability acquired from school. Depending on their level, this may create a need for more than two centres to run higherlevel courses. These suggestions indicate that there is certainly scope for maintaining and even expanding the current system for teaching and testing English.

The Importance of English in the AFBiH In order to gain an understanding of how military personnel in the AFBiH perceive the role of English in relation to their work, an online questionnaire (Appendix 2) was administered through SurveyMonkey to students attending high-level English language courses (intermediate and above) at the centres in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Čapljina and Tuzla. It was divided into four sections: background information, language learning history, English language learning and the importance of English, and there were a total of 25 questions. The questions were a combination of Likert scale with a three-point scale (not very important/ important/very important), multiple choice, yes/no and open ended. The questionnaire was completed by 62 students (excluding the three who only completed questions 1–10). It was not ascertained how many students were on the courses and therefore could have completed the questionnaire. This method of data collection was chosen because the target population was geographically dispersed, making this the most efficient way of reaching them with the support of the heads of the English centres. This is known as ‘convenience sampling’ in which ‘the researcher simply chooses the sample from those to whom she has easy access’ (Cohen et al., 2000: 102–103), in this case, via the heads of the English centres. The limitations of such an approach are that this cohort is not representative of a wider population. This lack of generalisability is acknowledged as a limitation, as is the fact that the questionnaire was in English and could thus only be administered to higher-level learners, and that it was not accompanied by follow-up interviews due to the access issues. Despite these limitations, it does provide an insight into how this group view the role of English in the AFBiH.

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Background information In terms of participants’ rank (Q1), the distribution was widespread, ranging from soldiers/privates to a colonel, with all the ranks in between represented (Table 4.2). The split between civilians, soldiers, NCOs and officers was: 1 (2%); 10 (15%); 17 (26%); and 34 (52%), respectively, with 3 (5%) not stating their rank/status. The job titles (Q2) were varied and included commanders, team leaders, instructors, medics and administrators. The majority of the respondents work in Banja Luka or Sarajevo (Q2, Table 4.2), which is unsurprising given the earlier reference to personnel not wishing to attend courses that necessitate them staying in barracks, because of the associated loss of financial benefits. However, given the distances between some of the respondents’ workplaces and English language centres, e.g. Bijeljina and Banja Luka, it is possible that a few might have billeted at the barracks. With regard to age (Q4), the majority fell in the 36–45 age bracket, and 97% of the respondents were under the age of 45 (Table 4.2).

Language learning history When asked what language(s) they studied at school (Q5), English was the most commonly taught, followed by Russian, then German

Table 4.2 Rank, workplace and age Q1: Rank (lowest to highest)

Number

Unknown Civilian Soldier/Private Corporal Sergeant Staff Sergeant Sergeant First Class Master Sergeant Lieutenant Colonel Sergeant Major Captain First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant Major Colonel

3 1 8 2 5 6 4 1 2 1 13 14 1 3 1

Q2: Workplace Banja Luka Bihać Bijeljina Bileća Čapljina Doboj Livno Mostar Pale Pazarić Sarajevo Travnik Tuzla Zenica Žepče Not stated

Number

Q4: Age

Number

20 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 21 2 4 2 1 1

60

1 (2%) 21 (32%) 41 (63%) 2 (3%) 0 0

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(participants could choose more than one language) (see Table 4.3). It is difficult to draw any conclusions from these figures, but when analysed in relation to the respondents’ ages they show that all bar one of the Russian learners fell in the 36–45 age bracket. Moreover, only one respondent in the 26–35 age bracket studied Russian at school, while 17 studied English and eight German, which might indicate that post-1995 there was a shift in emphasis in language learning away from Russian towards English and German. This is supported to an extent by a comment from one of the English instructors who stated that ‘before may be 90s most people learned Russian. Especially ex-Yugoslavia provided most of education in Russian, some English, little French and German’. Twenty-two of the respondents attended a military academy (Q6/Q7) and, where stated (in 15 instances), these were either in Serbia (Belgrade), Turkey or the US. Most attended these academies (Q8) after 1995 (17 respondents), some during the 1992–1995 conflict (four respondents) and one respondent gave no date but stated ‘before the war’. At the military academies most respondents learned English, while a smaller number learned either Russian, German or Turkish (Q9, Table 4.3). Where the data can be cross-referenced, they reveal that in the military academies in Serbia the respondents learned English (four responses), German (three responses) and Russian (three responses); in the US it was English only (two responses) and in Turkey English (three responses) and Turkish (one response). Responses to Question 10 revealed a marked increase in the number of people studying English post-1995 (Table 4.3). Furthermore, a greater variety of languages were studied post-1995 with the inclusion of Turkish and French, both of which are languages of NATO countries and are mentioned in the FLLP. Interestingly though, Italian was not studied by any of the respondents either prior to or post-1995, despite its status as a NATO country language and its being listed in the FLLP as the fourth priority language. Table 4.3 Language learning history

Languages learned Russian English German Greek Turkish French Italian

At school

At a military academy

In the AF before 1995

In the AF after 1995

17 36 21 0 1 7 0

4 14 4 0 2 0 0

6 5 2 1 0 0 0

2 59 1 4 3 3 0

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English language learning As previously stated, the respondents were attending intermediate, upper intermediate and advanced courses in Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Čapljina and Tuzla (Q11). The question required two pieces of information, course level and location, which only 37 (60%) of the respondents provided, while the remainder provided either one or the other, thereby making the data difficult to meaningfully interpret. What is striking from the results to Question 12 (the length of time the respondents have been learning English) is that 40% have been learning for less than a year (Table 4.4), yet they have reached intermediate or higher level in that time. By cross-referencing this information with that from Question 5 (languages studied at school) and Question 9 (languages studied at military academy), the findings show that of these 25 respondents, 15 (60%) did not study English at school or military academy. Assuming the data are accurate, the level of competency attained within this brief period is an impressive achievement. However, the results are problematic as the remaining 10 (40%) respondents, who stated that they had English for less than one year, had actually studied it at school or a military academy. This may indicate that the question was misconstrued and interpreted to mean ‘How long have you been learning English in the Armed Forces?’ rather than to date. When asked to rate their level of English (Q13), on average 11.29% rated it as excellent, 44.35% as good, 37.37% as average and 6.99% as poor. With regard to individual skills, the respondents believe their reading and listening skills, with a combined 75.81% rating as excellent/good for both, as being comparatively stronger than their speaking and writing skills with respective ratings of 45.16% and 37.10% (Figure 4.3). Interestingly, these concur with Orna-Montesinos (2013) findings on the perceived proficiency levels of personnel in the Spanish Armed Forces. With regard to vocabulary, the respondents indicated that their ‘general’ vocabulary was comparatively better than their ‘military’ vocabulary with 56.45% indicating that their level was excellent/good and 43.55%, respectively. It was felt necessary to differentiate between the two types of vocabulary as the advent of specialised military English dictionaries and coursebooks means that it has been recognised as a specialised vocabulary.

Table 4.4 Length of time learning English Years learning English 11 years

Number of respondents 25 (40%) 22 (35%) 6 (10%) 9 (15%)

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70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Reading

Writing Excellent

Speaking

Listening Vocabulary (General) Average

Good

Vocabulary (Military)

Poor

Figure 4.3 Level of English

The findings from Question 14 on the learners’ short-term linguistic needs (Figure 4.4) support those from Question 13 in that the areas with the most responses are speaking and writing, the skills that are perceived as being weaker than listening and reading. Interestingly, despite indicating that their ‘military’ vocabulary is comparatively weaker than their ‘general’ vocabulary, the respondents would prefer to work on the latter in the short term. This could be because a knowledge of ‘general’ vocabulary is perceived as having greater application, whereas the use of ‘military’ terminology is limited to a degree to missions, but without the benefit of further information Q14 What are the three most important areas of English that you need to improve in the short term?

Sentence structure Spelling Pronunciation Reading Military vocabulary Grammar Listening General vocabulary Writing Speaking 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Number of responses First choice

Figure 4.4 Areas for improvement

Second choice

Third choice

40

45

50

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Table 4.5 Required STANAG levels STANAG requirement None Level 1 – Survival Level 2 – Functional Level 3 – Professional Level 4 – Expert I don’t know

Response count 18 3 30 7 0 4

this remains simply an educated guess. To confuse matters further, the results for Question 15 on the importance of a knowledge of military (as opposed to general) English show that 85.50% of the respondents see it as being either important or very important, yet in the short term ‘military’ vocabulary is not viewed as an area that needs improving. This appears to be a contradiction which could have arisen because in the long term, as opposed to the short term, a knowledge of military English is seen as a necessity, or because the terms military English and military vocabulary are somehow being interpreted in different ways. STANAG is slowly growing in importance in the AFBiH and is being recognised by many as a necessity, especially for those wishing to go on peacekeeping missions. Results show that the vast majority of the respondents are aware of the level that is needed for their current job (Q16) (see Table 4.5), with only four respondents being unsure. Most state that they require Level 2, although at present being STANAG certified is not an essential requirement, so further information is needed to understand the basis for this assumption. Sixteen of those questioned have taken a STANAG exam (Q17) at some point in the last seven years with the most recent in 2015 (Q18). As the certificate is only valid for three years, based on the dates provided, six certificates will have expired and seven were due for renewal through retesting in 2015. As previously mentioned, STANAG results are recorded using a four digit SLP with these digits representing the four language skills in the following sequence: listening, speaking, reading and writing. So an SLP of 3232 means Level 3 in listening, Level 2 in speaking, Level 3 in reading and Level 2 in writing. The SLPs of the 16 who have taken STANAG (Q19) are given in Table 4.6. The results are varied and a couple present a jagged profile showing different levels across the four skills, i.e. 3132.

The importance of English When asked if they needed English for their job (Q20), 47 of the 62 respondents replied ‘Yes’ and when questioned on how often they used English at work (Q22), five replied never, which contradicted their previous

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Table 4.6 STANAG results SLP – listening, speaking, reading and writing

Number of candidates

2222 2212 2122 3333 3232 2323 3222 3132 3221 2212

5 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

claim that they needed English for their job, 34 replied occasionally (once or twice a month), five frequently (once or twice a week) and three always (nearly every day). Question 21 asked what the respondents needed English for (Figure 4.5), but because the words ‘at work’ were omitted from the question and the available options were not strictly part of a daily/weekly work routine (i.e. socialising with internationals, attending training courses), this may have been misinterpreted to mean what do you need English for ‘in general’. This is confirmed to some extent by the responses to ‘Other’ where two respondents specified that they needed English to ‘translate in some specific common training’ and for ‘helping to my child in education’. The results of Question 24 (Figure 4.6) in which the respondents were asked to state reasons why English is important for their military career Q21 What do you need English for?

Other (please specify) Reading reports & policy documents Writing official correspondence Making telephone calls Writing short reports Giving presentations Reading manuals Meetings with internationals Overseas work trips Reading official correspondence Socialising with internationals Peacekeeping operations Attending training courses 0

5

10

15

20

Number of responses

Figure 4.5 English for work

25

30

35

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Q24 Reasons why English is important for your military career Becoming a member of NATO Communicating with internationals Career (promotion) Overseas courses Peacekeeping missions 0

5

10

15

20

25

Number of references

Figure 4.6 Reasons for learning English

tally with the findings from Question 21 (What do you need English for?) in respect of three responses, ‘peacekeeping missions’, ‘attending courses’ and ‘socialising/communicating with internationals’, emphasising the importance of these opportunities for this group of military personnel. With reference to their military careers (Q23), 51.61% stated that English is important, 43.55% that it is very important, with only 4.84% believing that it is not very important. The final question (Q25) inquires into the main motivational factors for learning English. While professional reasons (such as ‘participating in peacekeeping operations’, ‘attending training courses’ and ‘work obligations’) receive the single most number of references, there are a number of more intrinsic or personal influences, which counted together outweigh professional reasons. Under the heading of ‘self-development’, comments such as ‘to improve my knowledge’ and ‘to improve my skills and education in general’ were grouped. Under the heading ‘personal reasons’ fell statements such as ‘possibility to translate American and Britain poetry’, ‘I like to vacation in Europe’ and ‘I can help [my son] learn English’. Communication included any references to socialising or communicating with people/international officers from around the world, and under the heading ‘world language’ references to ‘the most useful/most spoken language in the world’. Only one participant cited money as his main motivational factor (Figure 4.7).

Conclusion Although English was taught prior to 1995 in the Armed Forces of Republika Srpska and the Armed Forces of the Federation, the numbers were low and it was only post-1995 that they began to rise. This can be attributed to a number of factors, which in chronological order are: the deployment of the NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force (IFOR in 1995 and its replacement SFOR in 1996) whose operations were mainly carried out in English; the start of the US IMET programme in 1997 with

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Part 1: English Language Teaching: Policy and Practice Q25 What is your main motivation for learning English? Financial reasons World language Communuication Personal reasons Self-development

Professional reasons 0

5

10

15

20

25

Number of references

Figure 4.7 Motivational factors

the Armed Forces of the Federation; the opening of the BC-managed MESP in 2000; the establishment of the PSOTC in 2005; and latterly BiH joining the PfP programme in 2006 and becoming an active member of the PARP in 2007, which culminated in the creation of an FLLP in 2007 by the MoD and the formation of a STANAG 6001 testing team in 2008. Over time, attitudes towards learning English have altered, as personnel in the AFBiH have begun to appreciate that it is a gateway for professional development opportunities, such as participating in peacekeeping missions and attending overseas courses. As the results from the questionnaire indicate, these two reasons alone have largely fuelled the respondents’ motivation for learning the language, along with the chance for selfdevelopment. In addition to the opportunities for professional development, a large number of the respondents (76%) also indicated that they need English for their job, with some, albeit a minority of 6%, using it on a daily basis. Despite the fact that English is being used at work, a level of English proficiency expressed as a STANAG is not an essential requirement for any post, although there is a drive from international stakeholders for this to be reviewed, which presumably would have an impact on attitudes towards learning it. The foundations for the current system for teaching English (i.e. geographically spread centres and using military personnel as instructors) date back to 2000 and are the legacy of the MESP. Needless to say, over the last 15 years significant changes have taken place, such as the reduction in the number of centres and the shift from a UK-led English language programme to a US-led programme, but to a large extent it has endured. Change seems imminent, however, due to concerns over the status of the English instructors and the low student numbers. With reference to the latter point in particular, during the course of this study five suggestions were made on how this can be addressed. These were: widening the programme to include personnel from other BiH state agencies where there are some 12,000 employees; greater regional collaboration through bilateral agreements whereby BiH could provide language training

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to military personnel from the region; providing a certain level of language training to all AFBiH personnel regardless of their rank; providing language training to those who are facing retirement in 2020; and lastly providing language training to the 6,000 anticipated newcomers. At the time that this study was undertaken, an alternately named donor board, steering group or advisory board composed of stakeholders was due to be formed to discuss the direction that the MoD/AFBiH should take in response to the aforementioned concerns and to address the emerging demands. There was a general consensus among the international donors regarding the need to work collaboratively at a strategic level to help steer a new course, and with their renewed interest and continued (financial) support the role of English in the AFBiH looks set to continue grow in importance.

Notes (1)

The use of acronyms is common in military organisations. Due to the substantial number of acronyms in this study, a list of these is provided in Appendix 1. (2) Approval for this study to be published was granted by the Deputy Minister for Personnel Management at the Ministry of Defence, BiH. (3) Chief of Politico-Military Advisory Section, NATO HQ Sarajevo and co-author of Destination NATO Defence Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003–2013 (4) http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_49127.htm (5) http://www.natobilc.org/LanguageTesting.html (6) See the STANAG Edition 4. Accessed from http://www.natobilc.org/ STANAG6001.html (7) Certificates are valid for three years. This is also common practice in other nations. (8) http://2001-2009.state.gov/t/pm/65533.htm

References Baker, C. (2012) When Bosnia was a Commonwealth country: British forces and their interpreters in Republika Srpska 1997–2007. In H. Footitt and M. Kelly (eds) Languages and the Military: Alliances, Occupation and Peace Building (pp. 100–114). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bureau for International Language Coordination. See http://www.natobilc.org/index. html (accessed 9 April 2015). Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2000) Research Methods in Education (5th edn). London: Routledge Falmer. Crossey, M. (2005) Improving linguistic operability, NATO Review, Summer 2005. See http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2005/issue2/english/art4.html (accessed 9 April 2015). de Silva Joyce, H. and Thomson, E.A. (eds) (2015) Language in Uniform: Language Analysis and Training for Defence and Policing Purposes. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Febbraro, A.R., McKee, B. and Reidel, S.L. (2008) Multinational and Military Operations and Intercultural Factors. See https://www.cso.nato.int/pubs/rdp.asp?RDP=RTOTR-HFM-120 (accessed 22 April 2015). Green, R. and Wall, D. (2005) Language testing in the military: Problems, politics and progress. Language Testing 22 (3), 379–398.

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Hare, P. and Fletcher, N. (2012) Resolving conflict via English: The British Council’s Peacekeeping English Project. In H. Footitt and M. Kelly (eds) Languages and the Military: Alliances, Occupation and Peace Building (pp. 202–216). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kelly, M. and Baker, C. (eds) (2013) Interpreting the Peace: Peace Operations, Conflict and Language in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lewis, J. (2012) Languages at war: The UK Ministry of Defence perspective. In H. Footitt and M. Kelly (eds) Languages and the Military: Alliances, Occupation and Peace Building (pp. 58–69). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Maxwell, R. and Olsen, J.A. (2013) Destination NATO Defence Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003–13. Sarajevo: Sarajevo Open Centre. Military English Support Project. (2009) A story of partnership 2000–2009 and beyond. British Council and the British Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Monaghan, R. (2012) Language and interoperability in NATO: The Bureau for International Language Co-ordination (BILC). Canadian Military Journal 13 (1), 23–32. Orna-Montesinos, C. (2013) English as an international language in the military. LSP Journal – Language for special purposes, professional communication, knowledge management and cognition 4 (1), 87–105. PSOTC Course Catalogue (2015) See http://mod.gov.ba/OS_BIH/struktura/Komanda_ za_podrsku/KOiD/PSOTC/documents/140704_Final%20PSOTC%20Catalog%20 for%202015.pdf (accessed 9 April 2015). STANAG 6001 NTG (4th edn) – Language Proficiency Levels (12 October 2010) See http://www.natobilc.org/STANAG6001.html (accessed 9 April 2015). The NATO Integration Process (2014) NATO Headquarters, Sarajevo.

Military English Matters

Appendix 1: Acronyms AELIC AFBiH ALC BALIC BC BiH BILC CEFR DLIELC EUFOR FLLP IFOR IMET MESP MoD NATO NCO PARP PfP PSO PSOTC SFOR SLP STANAG TKT TRADOC UN

Advanced English Language Instructor Course Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina American Language Course Basic American Language Instructor Course British Council Bosnia and Herzegovina Bureau for International Language Coordination Common European Framework Reference for Languages Defense Language Institute English Language Center European Union Peacekeeping Force Foreign Language Learning Policy Implementation Force International Military Education and Training Military English Support Project Ministry of Defence North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Non-Commissioned Officer Planning and Review Process Partnership for Peace Peace Support Operation Peace Support Operations Training Centre Stabilisation Force Standardised Language Profile Standardisation Agreement Teaching Knowledge Test Training and Doctrine Command United Nations

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Appendix 2: Questionnaire (condensed form) Background information 1. 2. 3. 4.

What is your rank? What is your job title? Where do you work (location)? How old are you? Under 25 26–35 36–45 46–55

56–60

over 60

Language learning history 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

What languages did you study at school (primary and/or secondary)? Russian Turkish German English French Italian Greek None Other (please specify) Did you attend a military academy? Yes No Which military academy did you attend? When did you attend the military academy? What language(s) did you learn at the military academy? Russian Turkish German English French Italian Greek None Other (please specify) What languages have you learned during your time in the Armed Forces? Before 1995; after 1995 Options: Russian, Turkish, German, English, French, Italian, Greek, Other

English language learning 1. 2. 3.

4. 5. 6.

What English course are you currently attending (level and location)? How long have you been learning English? 11 years How would you rate your level of English? Excellent Good Average Poor Options: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Vocabulary (general), Vocabulary (military) What are the three most important areas of English that you need to improve in the short term (i.e. during this course)? How important is a knowledge of military (as opposed to general) English to you? Not very important Important Very important What STANAG level do you need for your current job? None Level 1 (survival) Level 2 (functional) Level 3 (professional) Level 4 (expert) I don’t know

Military English Matters

7. 8. 9.

Have you taken a STANAG exam? Yes No When did you take the STANAG exam (year)? What was your STANAG result? Level 1: Survival Level 2: Functional Level 3: Professional know Options: Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening

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The importance of English 1. 2.

3.

4. 5. 6.

Do you need English for your job? Yes No What do you need English for? (You can choose more than one answer.) • Reading official correspondence (emails and letters) • Reading reports and policy documents • Reading manuals • Writing official correspondence (emails and letters) • Writing short reports • Giving presentations • Participating in meetings with international personnel • Socialising with international personnel • Making telephone calls • Attending training courses • Going on overseas work trips • Participating in peacekeeping operations • Other (please specify) How often do you use English at work? • Never • Occasionally (once or twice a month) • Frequently (once or twice a week) • Always (nearly every day) How important do you think that English is for your military career? Not very important Important Very important Please give a reason(s) for your answer to Question 4 (How important do you think English is for your military career?) What is your main motivation for learning English?

Part 2 English Language Publishing

5 Think Globally, Write Locally: ELT Materials Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina Asmir Mešic´

Introduction Before 1992, English was taught in a fairly small number of schools in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, mainly in larger towns, along with German or French, whereas the vast majority of students learnt Russian. This is comparable to the foreign language learning sector in other Eastern European countries at this time (Bolitho, 2008). The main objective for language learning at the time was for the student to attain a solid understanding of grammar rules and vocabulary, together with good translation and reading skills. This would eventually ensure good results in tests and exams, but the approach did not support the development of communicative competence and nor was this the aim. The ‘reading’ skill was actually confused with pronunciation; what it really meant was reading aloud with the objective to produce correct sounds. Similarly, vocabulary learning was usually reduced to memorising individual words or frequent phrases and sentences, with little or no attention paid to collocation, register or synonymy. Not confined to the former Yugoslavia or the Eastern European region, this approach to language acquisition was common in many parts of the world and is, for instance, quite similar to the Tunisian context, as described by Mason (2010). English textbooks in use during this period were locally produced, written by local teachers with occasional help from native English-speaking authors, with or without previous experience in textbook writing. Just as in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, state publishing houses were given a monopoly over educational publishing, where ‘textbooks were seen as a given, simply because they were officially commissioned, […] and centrally prescribed’ (Bolitho, 2008: 213). Most authors applied a methodological approach that combined grammar work, translation and communication practice, with a strong emphasis on reading texts, usually read aloud in class, accompanied by a set

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of questions to check comprehension, and very little coverage of other skills. Units were mainly text based, and their inconsistent struture indicated the lack of a clear template. In addition, the content was seldom interrelated. Inconsistency was particularly obvious when comparing the different levels of textbooks in a single series, where sometimes each book followed a different style, structure and layout, very similar to Mares’s (2003: 136) description of the material he had written in the late 1980s, ‘free of virtually any conventional constraints with respect to unit length or template’. In terms of visual appeal, English textbooks were not very different from others – basic design, poor quality black-and-white photographs and simple illustrations were typical of the books at the time. Those books gave few, if any, experiential activities suggested by Tomlinson (2003) that are supposed to ‘encourage students to enjoy the experience of the text rather than to study it’ (Timmis, 2014: 246). The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the Eastern bloc meant the abandonment of Russian as the principal foreign language in the state school system, resulting in a tremendous demand for teachers of English, as well as English textbooks (see also Bolitho, 2008). During the war and post-war period in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the already inadequate number of English teachers in the country was further reduced by most teachers leaving the profession and opting for much better paid jobs, usually involving interpreting and/or translating for international organisations. Thus, schools were left with few qualified teachers where hundreds were required. As described in Chapter 2 of this volume, in the face of such demand it was relatively easy to become an English teacher, regardless of one’s knowledge of the language. No teaching skills were required and a prospective teacher’s English language ability was not evaluated. In the early 2000s, however, certificates of English language proficiency were introduced and schools were instructed to only hire teachers with such certificates. Few of these ‘teachers’ had entered the profession with any real pedagogical interest or commitment; it was simply one of the few available jobs. Many of these teachers considered teaching as a short-term career option and soon left their posts, which meant a school might need to replace several English teachers in a single school year. Nevertheless, there are very successful English teachers in BiH schools today who learnt the profession in those days and later obtained formal qualifications. The choice of textbooks available for classroom use was very limited, so the pre-war titles continued to be used. In reality, books were scarce with only enough for the teachers and a few students, all of them used. As photocopiers were not widely available (and photocopying was expensive by local standards), writing texts and exercises on the blackboard for students to copy was a common way that teachers used such textbooks. Unlike many other countries in the region where major British publishers readily entered the new market as soon as the first reforms of the

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socialist system took place, BiH remained closed. Due to the devastation during the war, the country was unable to introduce new books until the late 1990s, when the opening of the economic market towards the West and, later, the adoption of the Common European Framework of Reference for language teaching led to the introduction of numerous internationally produced textbooks onto the market. The pre-war titles that had continued to be used were replaced with, by those standards, fantastic-looking global textbooks produced by renowned British publishers. Despite the methodological weaknesses and mismatches between their content and the local syllabus, the new books were well received both by students and teachers. Students enjoyed the great improvement in the design and visual appeal while the clear structure, coverage of all language skills and plentiful additional materials lightened teachers’ work. Another crucial step forward was the availability of the books for all schoolchildren as they were purchased by the government and distributed to schools. To ensure several generations could use the books, as it was a one-off project, students were asked to return them to school libraries at the end of the school year and were expected to buy their own workbooks. However, it transpired that this use of textbooks was impractical, as they soon became worn and covered with generations of students’ annotations. By the time the first global textbooks had worn thin and the initial excitement they induced had waned, BiH had begun to stabilise sociopolitically, while economically the winds of change had started. In this context, more publishers entered the market. Consequently, for the first time, lists of approved books were introduced, and teachers were free to choose ones to teach with. The approval procedure was similar to that followed in other countries, with public calls, teams of experts evaluating the materials and evaluation checklists. The number of recommended textbooks fluctuated unpredictably from year to year, from three to an unlimited number to only one. As expected, publishers became furious when the list was reduced to a single recommended title, but policymakers justified their decision by stressing the convenience from the perspective of students and their parents. A significant number of teachers also resented the idea of having no choice again, especially if the only recommended book was not a part of the series they had been using in earlier years. Lists of recommended textbooks gave the teachers not only an opportunity, but also a responsibility to choose the most appropriate one to teach with and for students to learn from. Many teachers experienced this ‘right of choice’ as a form of unnecessary burden. Less informed teachers might not have even be aware of the choice available as they had been accustomed to working with the materials provided by others. As often happens when changes are introduced, reactions to new books varied from enthusiastic to displeased. While a majority of teachers welcomed the new titles and all the improvements that came

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with them, some disliked the donkey work they brought, such as the chore of getting to know the book, writing lesson plans or adjusting teaching–learning routines to the new material. Teachers who were still not used to communicative teaching methodology complained about the ‘lack of texts’ to work with, and the scant number of grammar exercises and other drill-oriented features that had been typical of older books. It was to some extent understandable when such comments came from teachers who had started their teaching careers in the early 1980s and had scorned the novelty of putting grammar and text translations on the margins of the teaching–learning process. However, some newly qualified teachers also held such views, perhaps because they put more store on the methodology used during their own school years and the way they had personally learnt the language, than they did on their English language teaching (ELT) methodology training at university or pre-service and in-service workshops and seminars. According to Bolitho’s (2008) observation, this practice was common in many countries in Eastern Europe. Similarly, when English was introduced to first graders (sixyear-olds) and the textbooks were selected and purchased, there were cases of furious reactions by parents (and even some teachers), calling the textbooks ‘mere picture books’ and asking where the text was. It took some time to learn that teaching methods at this age should be very different from those used for older learners. Obviously, concomitant with such drastic changes to teaching and textbooks, teacher training was needed to facilitate greater understanding among teachers of the learning principals underlying these textbooks (Garton & Graves, 2014: 655; Hadley, 2014: 221). Another problem was seen in minor mismatches between the textbooks in use and the official syllabus. For instance, some tenses, conditional sentences and reported speech, to name a few, were covered within the series but not exactly at the levels prescribed in the syllabus. Although most teachers understood that the textbooks were only a means, not an end, and resolved such issues by combining the books and using additional materials, sometimes a lot of fuss was made about it. In order to be on the safe side, decisions regarding the selection of a particular textbook were often made during local teacher council meetings. A fairly common practice was for local teacher councils to hold meetings, sometimes with a representative of an education authority, where decisions were made or at least recommendations given uniformly for several schools that administratively belong to the same municipality. The idea behind this kind of decision was to prevent problems for students who moved house and consequently had to change school, which was not uncommon in those days. Additionally, this was more practical for the teachers themselves, who also had to change schools quite often, so they didn’t have to become accustomed to a different text each time. As the competition among

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publishers intensified, teachers’ preference for books appeared to be swayed by the availability of support from the publishers in the form of readymade lesson plans, freebies handed out at seminars and the like, rather than prioritise the criterion of textbook quality. Soon after the introduction of the first global textbooks, the British Council (BC) in BiH started a systematic campaign to improve the quality of ELT practice in the country. A series of seminars was given in several towns and a simple ELT newsletter was published occasionally. At the turn of the new millennium, the BC decided to transfer the organising capacity to local teachers; this would provide a capacity building opportunity and greater self-reliance in a country where international organisations had played a major role in organising and determining local affairs since the end of the war. This project was quite successful and well received, with two teams of carefully chosen teachers sent for two weeks training in the UK in two consecutive years. As the ultimate criteria for choosing the teams were not the teachers’ formal qualifications but rather their practical teaching abilities, along with enthusiasm, willingness and readiness to share what had been learnt, this showed local teachers that they did have the potential needed to get things moving. A further outcome of this support from the BC was that the teachers who were not confident with the newly introduced textbooks were presented with ways of making the best use of them. Thus, communicative tasks, work on pronunciation, listening, speaking and writing found their way into the classrooms, having often been skipped altogether previously. In the following years, other education authorities and non-governmental organisations joined the teacher training trend and progress in the quality of methodology was evident from year to year. In addition, several universities organised degree programmes in English language and literature, which were very attractive to a large number of students, as hundreds of teaching posts were available in schools throughout the country. Although it took time for all schools to be staffed with fully qualified teachers, once this goal had been reached the problem of ‘overproduction’ occurred as the universities continued to produce new teachers in abundance, whose chances of finding school teaching positions were now minimal. This is similar to the phenomenon of over-training in Japan described in Hadley (2014: 221). On the other hand, this surplus of teachers consequently meant better quality teaching. As the competition increased for fewer and fewer positions, teachers felt impelled to demonstrate their commitment to professional development by attending workshops, seminars and conferences, joining teacher associations and familiarising themselves with information and communication technology (ICT) resources, moves which ultimately improved their employment prospects. Indirectly, such engagement inevitably also led to a better understanding of textbooks and their more effective exploitation in the classroom.

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Localisation In 2007, nearly 10 years after the first global textbooks were used in BiH, education authorities demanded that all textbooks be locally produced, or at least ‘localised’ in the case of foreign languages. Such a book was to contain at least 30% of local references to the country’s cultural and historical heritage. It is difficult, if at all possible, to say where this idea originated and pinpoint the reason for this change; its main purpose is most likely to prevent the Anglo-Americanising influence of the cultural content of global ELT materials. Local publishers, which were at the same time distributors of major global publishers’ textbooks, were baffled – the term ‘at least 30%’ was rather vague. No one knew, neither the publishers nor the authorities, what this actually meant. How is this 30% measured? Is it the number of pages? Topics? Lessons? Text? Another, much greater problem arose: who was going to write the new textbooks? It was clear that the country did not have any trained and skilled authors, simply because there had not been any need for them over the previous 20 odd years. All local publishers opted to adapt established global titles they had been distributing, as it required less time, fewer experts and – probably most importantly – a much smaller budget than writing new books from scratch. International publishing companies supported this idea and collaborated with local writers. Although Tomlinson’s (2010) starting position in his principles of effective materials development is that ad hoc writing is to be avoided, in this situation it was inevitable. Without any experience or training in material development, the authors responsible for the adaptation could only rely on their intuition regarding what might work. Tomlinson (2010: 99) concedes that this is the chief principle of many experienced authors who had previously been effective classroom teachers and who subsequently intuitively applied the principles of teaching to textbook writing. The resulting books varied in quality, but some of them received great feedback from reviewers and teachers. Although very few teachers, let alone students, had ever thought of or proposed a ‘localisation’ of textbooks, this idea was welcomed once the books found their way into the classroom. Indeed, if properly written and designed, localised materials can foster connections between the content of the materials and students’ lives. In other words, local material developers can help avoid the ‘MacDonaldisation of ELT practice’ (Hadley, 2014: 211). In addition to the obvious importance of locally related topics, avoiding certain exercise types commonly found in global textbooks to which students generally have negative reactions, such as reporting in front of the class or activities involving physical contact between students, is just as important. Also, this was an opportunity to introduce exercises that are usually successful

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and well-received by learners with a particular cultural background but which global textbooks lack. The localisation project undoubtedly had the best intentions; however, the fashion in which it was carried out by the Ministry of Education was far from a pleasant experience for the publishers. The process of the textbooks’ approval had too many flaws and stumbling blocks, many of which were unnecessary and avoidable. Apart from objective problems of an administrative and political nature, the publishers had to overcome various cultural sensitivities, such as the use of the names of the country and official language(s) and scripts. Furthermore, there were the constraints of the syllabus together with poorly designed evaluation schemes which allowed reviewers to be very subjective. This was not new, however, as Harwood (2010: 15) points out ‘material writers are obliged to satisfy curriculum requirements and other stipulations made by education authorities and political policymakers’. In the process, material developers are forced to consider to what extent they should attenuate their principled approach to material development in response to feedback from intermediaries (Timmis, 2014), particularly in cases where the feedback is clearly not based on any evidence from actual practice or teaching principles, but solely on a reviewer’s assumptions, feelings and attitudes. The approval process was made particularly difficult on account of the political structure of BiH and the far-reaching autonomy in educational matters at the cantonal level. Its 14 local governments at three levels of jurisdiction make BiH a country with arguably the most complicated education system in Europe. It is divided into two entities, roughly the same size, the Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska, with the addition of the District of Brčko, which is not part of either of the two entities. Republika Srpska has no further administrative divisions, the only smaller administrative bodies being municipalities governed by local councils. Although the District of Brčko covers the territory around a small town, it does have its own authorities. The Federation of BiH, on the other hand, has a government of its own and is further divided into 10 cantons, each with its own local government. Thus, BiH has 13 ministries of education, but without one at the state level. The situation is most dire in the Federation of BiH, which possesses 11 governments and ministries. To make things even worse, all decisions are made and approvals given by the federal ministry, but the cantons have the legal right to choose not to comply with them. This practically means – and it has happened – that a canton can decide to have a publisher submit a manuscript for re-evaluation after it has been approved for the whole Federation. Thus, a textbook that is very well-received by federal reviewers may not necessarily good enough for those appointed by a cantonal ministry.

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The introduction of a second compulsory foreign language as part of a major education system reform in 2004 reduced the number of weekly lessons of the first foreign language, usually English, from three to two. However, as explained earlier, cantonal education authorities were allowed to adapt the curriculum, so this led to different numbers of lessons in different cantons, creating a nightmare for publishers. Providing different textbooks for different cantons was utterly impractical, so a one-bookfits-all compromise had to be made, despite the inevitable drawbacks of providing either too much or too little material. Textbooks naturally had to reflect the national syllabus for English and this was one criterion reviewers evaluated. However, this syllabus was written back in the 1980s and, noticeably, has barely been revised since. For example, the number of topics to be covered in each year varies from six to nine, which automatically implies problems when trying to keep the same structure of the books in each year. Secondly, a textbook in the sixth grade, (the fourth year of learning English) is expected to teach numbers up to 1000 although no textbook used in BiH actually does this, probably because it appears arbitrary and unnatural to simply stop at this number. Thirdly, teaching the imperative for all persons at one time or the future tense including the form shall is simply contrary to modern ELT methodology and contemporary language use. Although the flexibility shown by reviewers helped avoid such weaknesses in the syllabus from becoming problems, on occasion an excellent book was in danger of being disqualified because the requirements of the official syllabus were strictly imposed. The following is a discussion of the main issues arising from the textbook ‘localisation’ policy implementation. A consideration of the six issues discussed here is important not only for the ELT sector in BiH but also for other countries in the immediate Balkan region (and beyond) which may also implement such a policy. These issues became apparent to me as a textbook writer, local schoolteacher, teacher trainer, a former textbook distributor and as a member of various ELT committees and organisations during the two decades of BiH’s existence as an independent country. During this discussion, I provide examples from my practical experience in the aforementioned roles, as I believe such examples can assist textbook writers and local Ministry of Education representatives when considering criteria used to design and judge local textbook production.

Subjectivity issue One of the greatest problems that authors and publishers faced with regard to the reviewers appointed by the Ministry of Education was that the evaluation scheme, including the checklists, allowed for considerable

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reviewer subjectivity. While two of the required three reviewers might coincide in providing a similar and largely positive evaluation, a negative review by the third may lead to a swift rejection of the book. A negative evaluation may have no relation to pedagogical criteria and may rest solely on personal preferences or cultural criteria. Instances of this included a reviewer who was appalled at the sight of snakes on a textbook page, even when the accompanying text was about Austin Stevens, the well-known expert on snakes and other reptiles. Similarly, Gollum of Lord of the Rings was found by a reviewer to be too scary to be shown as a visual aid in a text about special effects in films. For another, ‘too much Disney’ appeared in a book for 7 to 10-year-olds. In practice, I have never had a 13-year-old who was scared of Gollum or the snakes in the pictures. On the contrary, a 14-year-old boy asked me whether I knew of a school where he could study snakes, because he had been interested in them for years and considered observing snakes a dream job. In light of this, I believe that some reviewers made their decisions based on their own personal preferences, without considering the books from children’s point of view and with little or no consideration to how such books might be used in class (Garton & Graves, 2014). This problem is even greater when a reviewer replaces much needed objective, real-life insights with a very subjective assumption of students’ interests and preferences. Thus, as the adoption of a textbook depended more on a reviewer’s preferences rather than its objective quality, and the books were reviewed on a one-off basis, similar to the adoption process in Romania described in Bolitho (2008), not a single series was adopted at all levels, despite recognition that ‘coursebooks do better if they are part of a series’ (Mares, 2003: 138).

Gender issue In the case of one textbook, the instructions for one exercise required students to translate sentences into their first language where appropriate (i.e. where there are grammar equivalents in both languages) as a strategy to support the development of study skills. Thus, sentences in the past simple were translated into the students’ first language. The sentences (i) I saw that film (ii) Did you see that film? (iii) I didn’t see that film were translated as (i) Gledao sam taj film (ii) Jesi li gledao taj film? (iii) Nisam gledao taj film, respectively. The purpose of this was to draw students’ attention to the use of the verb in its past form without auxiliaries in the affirmative sentence, and the use of auxiliary do (did) in the negative and interrogative forms, along with the infinitive of the main verb. However, unlike in English, verbs in Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian have gender markers. Therefore, a gender issue was spotted in the word gledao, as it marks the masculine gender in all three sentences, while it is also possible to translate it as gledala (feminine) or gledalo (neutral). One reviewer demanded that

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the sentences be translated gender-correctly, i.e. all three genders were to be used equally. From the author’s perspective, this brought two problems: (i) using neutral gender would make no sense whatsoever; (ii) using different genders to translate different sentence forms could easily mislead students into concluding that different forms have something to do with different genders. All this may sound absurd; however, such details jeopardised the approval of a textbook which eventually had the best reviews and is currently used by a great number of teachers and students throughout the Federation of BiH.

Political issues Although the official name of the country is Bosnia and Herzegovina, in most cases it is common in English to refer to it as Bosnia, whereas the adjective is always Bosnian, both for the language and nationality, unless it refers to the southern part of the country, Herzegovina. It is important to understand that the two names refer to two geographical regions, not political entities. However, some people from Herzegovina feel that they are unfairly neglected and intentionally discriminated in these names. Therefore, one of the reviewers insisted that in order for the book to be approved and published, no reference to the country or people which omitted the word ‘Herzegovina’ would be accepted anywhere in the book. Once again, the authors were at a loss as to how to respond to this objection, while the publishers understandably insisted on some compromise. Even if the awkwardness of the several repetitions of the term ‘Bosnia(n)-Herzegovina(n)’ in one text is ignored, one cannot deny that the people living in this country are referred to in English as Bosnians, and the same term is used for the language. Yet again, so as to avoid prolonging the issue, the texts were rewritten to avoid the mere mention of these terms wherever possible for the sake of convenience. As Mares (2003: 137) has argued, ‘the art of compromise is a vital one to learn for any writer ’.

Language issue The official name of the language used in BiH is Bosnian/Croatian/ Serbian, which makes all three variants equal. The difference between the three official languages is similar to those found in British, American and Australian English, with certain variations at the levels of lexicon, syntax and phonetics (Busch & Schick, 2007: 217) which do not impede mutual comprehension. In addition, two scripts, Latin and Cyrillic, are treated equally and should be taught and used in state schools throughout the country. The truth is that each region prefers one of the two, and teaches the other script only because it is required by law or the education

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authorities, and thus keeps its usage in class to a minimum. Textbooks for all school subjects are therefore required to allot space to both scripts, and usually one prevails in each book, while the other has a reduced presence. Common sense tells us that foreign language textbooks should be excluded from this rule. However, as this is nowhere explicitly stated, this is another unnecessary issue that authors and publishers encounter and are not sure how to solve. As the linguist M. Šipka has put it (in Busch & Schick, 2007: 217), ‘the problem is not that there are differences, but how these differences are experienced and how people identify with respect to these differences. The problem is not communication, but the symbolization of language’. Issues related to the degree of variation between the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian languages or dialects date from as far back as the 19th century, and have not been resolved in BiH, despite numerous attempts by various authorities including the international community.

Design issue With a view to introducing textbooks which could be reused by generations of students, the Ministry of Education declared that textbooks should not provide spaces for students to write answers. Publishers were also discouraged from including workbooks in their learning sets as these could not be reused, and the Ministry of Education explicitly stated that it would not give official approval to workbooks. Despite the ensuing bitter complaints from authors and publishers, policymakers were steadfast in their decision. From the publishers’ perspective, this was impractical, illogical and contrary to the whole philosophy behind the methodology and book design. However, from the viewpoint of the bulk purchaser, such books should last as long as possible and therefore cost less in the long term. In the context of localising global textbooks, this meant redesigning the whole book, which would be nearly as difficult as writing it from scratch. The eventual compromise involved retaining the existing gapped exercises but replacing the lines with symbols which prevented writing, such as question marks. In addition, every exercise had to contain the explicit instruction for students to write in their notebooks. The same procedure was applied to books in all subjects and in all years, including first graders. Indeed, poor little six-year-olds were expected to copy the tasks in their notebooks before doing the matching, tracing, colouring and other activities first graders normally do in their textbooks and workbooks. Naturally, children were puzzled, to say the least, and their parents soon became furious, but the teachers were helpless to respond. Impervious to this, the educational authorities proudly announced the provision of free textbooks.

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Lobbying When potentially huge profits came into play, certain local publishers did not hesitate to use powerful lobbies to ensure that their books were approved, whatever the quality. Interestingly, this coincided with the government’s decision to buy the books for all schoolchildren. Understandably, the consequences of such decisions were far-reaching and long-lasting. Since low-quality books were literally forced into classrooms, both teachers and students started to resent them right away. They were often judged to be a huge leap backwards in terms of methodology, language authenticity and overall quality. Visual appeal was poor, structure inconsistent and occasionally complicated; the texts mismatched the target learners’ levels and abilities; publisher’s support that the teachers had become accustomed to waned. A considerable percentage of teachers complained about the books that they were required to use. However, they soon learnt that they could not change official policy, so some decided to find alternative solutions, including using various handouts, mostly from other textbooks or the internet.

The Present State of ELT Textbooks in Bosnia and Herzegovina Twenty years after the introduction of English as the major foreign language in state schools, the quality of language teaching has much improved. Modern, up-to-date textbooks are demanded both by teachers and students and their parents, CD-ROMs are widely used and interactive whiteboards are becoming common in both state and private language schools. At publishers’ seminars, teachers can easily recognise when the presenter is only trying to ‘sell’ the book and they express their preference for practical knowledge that they can take with them and easily apply in the classroom. Publishing houses take account of this when preparing their promotional activities. Teachers are also more engaged – they attend and organise seminars, workshops and conferences throughout the country and abroad, where feasible. The low level of teachers’ salaries, however, inevitably means that such participation can only be on a very modest scale, as they frequently receive no financial support from the Ministry of Education or their school for this professional development. They are more aware of what they want from a textbook and are more skilful in their evaluation; they are more ready to adopt new materials offering something different, innovative, regardless of the inevitable additional work. Teachers’ readiness to welcome different ideas was best seen in the example of a teacher who, having been trained in the UK to teach without a textbook, was so eager to try her newly acquired skills, that she managed to persuade

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the education authorities, her school director and her students’ parents to allow her to abandon textbooks altogether. This method, called ‘teaching unplugged’ (see Meddings & Thornbury, 2009), meant that the students would not be using a textbook throughout the year, and it was their responsibility to decide what, when and how they wanted to learn, as long as they did not deviate from the official syllabus framework. As the first year of this teaching ‘experiment’ is still in progress at the moment of writing, its benefits and downsides are yet to be seen. However, whatever the results, I believe that this example shows that today’s teachers in BiH are ready and willing to think outside the box, even if it includes the risk of being severely criticised for a possible failure. It is also symbolic of the trajectory of ELT materials in BiH. In the first years of the country’s existence, many teachers had no textbooks due to the ravages of war; now, two decades since the end of the war, BiH possesses skilled and highly qualified teachers who spearhead the ‘post-textbook era’ by choosing to teach without textbooks. The level of students’ language skills is also considerably higher than during the immediate post-war years; they are more used to communicative methodologies in the classroom and are better able to communicate successfully, both orally and in writing. All this is thanks to the fact that today’s teachers are much better trained and qualified, there is wide exposure to the language on TV and the internet and the quality of approved textbooks has improved. It is unrealistic indeed to make predictions about the future of material development in the country as no progress is evident in the government’s approach to education. At the moment, no systematic plans or programmes aiming at author development or simplifying the textbook production process exist. Although a number of ELT materials writers in the country have absorbed the principles of foreign textbook writing practices and have applied these to locally produced material, real cooperation between education authorities and potential authors still does not exist, so it seems that ad hoc decisions will continue to be made. Materials development for ELT has progressed faster than for other foreign languages in post-war BiH. No longer solely consumers of foreignproduced material, local ELT practitioners have become material creators in local-foreign partnerships. It is conceivable that the lessons learned by the local ELT branch may usefully inform the practice of materials development for other foreign languages in the country.

References Bolitho, R. (2008) Materials used in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. In B. Tomlinson (ed.) English Language Learning Materials: A Critical Review (pp. 213–222). London: Continuum International.

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Busch, B. and Schick, J. (2007) Educational materials reflecting heteroglossia: Disinventing ethnolinguistic differences in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In S. Makoni and A. Pennycook (eds) Disinventing and Reconstituting Languages (pp. 216–232). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Donia, R.J. (2000) The quest for tolerance in Sarajevo’s textbooks. Human Rights Review 1 (2), 38–55. Garton, S. and Graves, K. (2014) Identifying a research agenda for language teaching materials. The Modern Language Journal 98 (2), 654–657. Hadley, G. (2014) Global textbooks in local contexts: An empirical investigation of effectiveness. In N. Harwood (ed.) English Language Teaching Textbooks: Content, Consumption, Production (pp. 205–238). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Harwood, N. (ed.) (2010) Materials in ELT: Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Mares, C. (2003) Writing a coursebook. In B. Tomlinson (ed.) Developing Materials for Language Teaching (pp. 130–140). London: Continuum. Meddings, L. and Thornbury, S. (2009) Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching. Peaslake: Delta Publishing. Timmis, I. (2014) Writing materials for publication: Questions raised and lessons learned. In N. Harwood (ed.) English Language Teaching Textbooks: Content, Consumption, Production (pp. 241–261). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Tomlinson , B. (2003) Developing principled frameworks for materials development. In B. Tomlinson (ed.) Developing Materials for Language Teaching (pp. 107–130). London: Continum. Tomlinson, B. (2010) Principles and procedures of materials development. In N. Harwood (ed.) Materials in ELT: Theory and Practice (pp. 81–108). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Achieving Visibility in the International Scientific Community: Experiences of Bosnian Scholars Presenting and Publishing Research in English Alma Jahic´

Introduction With English as the uncontested lingua franca of science in a globalised academic marketplace (Englander, 2014; Ferguson, 2007; Flowerdew, 2015; Gibbs, 1995; Hyland, 2009; Wood, 2001), achieving international visibility is predicated on one’s ability to publish and present in this language. This visibility, primarily obtained through publishing in reputable English-medium journals, is difficult to attain for any scholar, but the challenge is greater for non-native English-speaking scholars (NNESs) from developing countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Besides linguistic difficulties, these scholars from the periphery are likely to experience considerable non-linguistic hurdles in their endeavour to participate legitimately in the international scientific arena. Earlier studies found that, despite their importance, these linguistic difficulties were not necessarily seen to play a determining role in international publishing (Flowerdew, 1999a; Hwang, 2005; Li, 2014), as these can be addressed through language support services or strategic co-authoring. Rather, non-linguistic obstacles seem to be perceived as being of equal or greater gravity (Bardi, 2015; Buckingham, 2014; Canagarajah, 1996; Curry & Lillis, 2004; Englander, 2014; Flowerdew, 1999a, 1999b; Gibbs, 1995; Lillis & Curry, 2006, 2013; Uzuner, 2008; Wood, 2001). Publishing is not the only way for scholars to assert themselves in the international scientific community. Presenting at science conferences

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also affects scholars’ visibility at an international level. As the official language of these events is mainly English, NNESs from the periphery also experience certain challenges in this segment of their academic careers. As this is a relatively under-researched topic, the two available studies only partially deal with this issue and focus on NNESs from the two European Union (EU) countries, namely Spain and Sweden. PérezLlantada et al. (2011: 23) showed that Spanish scholars did not view the actual conference presentations as an insurmountable challenge, since they could prepare for them in advance, but they found informal interactions with colleagues and handling questions after presentations difficult. Similarly, Swedish academics interviewed by Olsson and Sheridan (2012: 41) recognised that there are linguistic limitations that prevented NNESs from being able to ‘make sophisticated contributions to discussion and debates at international conferences’, thus putting them at a disadvantage compared to native English speakers (NESs). It is to be expected that these difficulties affect periphery scholars from countries without a strong tradition of English language training in academia with equal or greater intensity. Universities in BiH do not satisfactorily prepare future BiH scholars for research-based academic careers with respect to supporting the acquisition of English to the level required to access international scientific literature. While undergraduate students are usually expected to acquire a preintermediate to intermediate level of English (in contexts where language courses are available), at MA and PhD levels English language courses are not usually foreseen.1 Additionally, no academic writing courses are offered, whether in the mother tongue or in English. The lack of systemic support for the development of academic English competence in degree programmes has resulted in the generally low English language proficiency levels of BiHbased academics. However, the more pressing challenges they encounter in attaining international visibility seem to be mostly economic and political in nature. Severe underfunding of research institutions may partly be to blame for the low scientific output of BiH scholars, as no systematic financial support is provided for research activities. Furthermore, the chaotic political situation in the country also negatively influences scientific production of BiH scholars and consequently their visibility at an international level. This study investigates the general experience of BiH scholars regarding publishing and presenting in English, along with the challenges they face and ways of overcoming them. In addition, it also looks at the type of support and recognition the scholars receive from domestic institutions to facilitate their insertion into the international academic community. The study shows that for some BiH scholars it is possible to overcome the obstacles and contribute to knowledge production at an international level.

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Background Twenty years after the 1992–1995 war, BiH is still recovering. The war affected all aspects of life in BiH, including its scientific institutions and policies which are ‘in real need of development’ (Radošević, 2010: 183) and consequently requiring substantial investment. Although prior to the war investment in the science and technology sector was solid, namely 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) (Papon & Pejovnik, 2006: 33), in the postwar period this amount greatly decreased. According to UNESCO data, during the period 2003–2009 (the only period for which data is available), BiH gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) was only about 0.02%–0.03% (UNESCO country profile). Papon and Pejovnik (2006: 40) mention that some official reports indicate GERD of 0.05% for 2003, but that they believe it to be somewhat higher, amounting to approximately 0.15%–0.20%. They recognise, however, that this is still ‘far below international standards’ (Papon & Pejovnik, 2006: 33). Due to such low research and development (R&D) expenditure, the BiH science sector suffers from a chronic lack of funding for research activities. Some financial support for conducting research exists at entity and cantonal levels2 since the competent ministries of education, science, culture and sport provide funding for selected research projects which are submitted to them upon a public call. However, these funds are inadequate to support BiH research production. Universities, which seem to be the main carriers of research activities in the country, occasionally have some funds available for supporting their staff in obtaining their Master’s and doctoral degrees. Despite obvious financial problems which negatively influence the research output of BiH scholars, there is also the problem of criteria for academic promotion in BiH, which is not in line with internationally recognised promotion procedures (see Zerem, 2014). Although quite unusual, academic promotion in BiH is not conditioned by a candidate’s international research publishing record, as is nowadays commonly the case at universities around the world (see, for instance, Uzuner-Smith & Englander, 2015). The statutes (or regulations) of all eight BiH public universities, besides other promotion requirements, specify only the number of research articles (RAs) required for promotion without specifying that they need to appear in indexed and peer-reviewed journals. The vague formulation of the statutes (or regulations) stipulates that RAs are to be published in ‘recognised publications’; the promotion committee is the body tasked with determining whether this criterion has been fulfilled. Potentially, this leads to the absurd scenario whereby an academic with three papers published in prestigious journals, but who needs five papers for promotion, risks failing the bid. This outcome would be unlikely for an academic who has satisfied the ‘quantity’ stipulation by publishing five low-quality papers in low-visibility journals, however. The exception to this

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state of affairs is the University of Sarajevo, whose statute explicitly states that RAs must appear in indexed publications or at least be double peerreviewed (Sarajevo University Statute, 2013), and the University of Banja Luka, which, according to the statute, requires publications to be doublepeer reviewed (Banja Luka University Statute, 2012). No BiH university statute (or regulation) identifies international conference presentations as a promotion requirement. This lack of clarity regarding the value attributed to publications in prestigious journals for an academic’s career progression conceivably contributes to the relatively low level of research output from BiH in indexed journals. Igić’s (2002) study revealed that scientific production from BiH scholars in the Science Citation Index (SCI) during the post-war period up to 2000 was the lowest among the succession states of the Former Yugoslavia (FY).3 Similarly, SCImago 4 data for the period 1996–2013 reveal the gulf between the research output in indexed journals in BiH and other FY successor states (see Table 6.1). Despite this modest performance, BiH scientific output has nevertheless seen steady growth since the end of the war (December 1995), as seen in Table 6.2. According to Jovanović et al.’s (2010) study, which used the Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science (WoS) database, scientific output in BiH has climbed steadily since 2000. As BiH R&D expenditure appears to have remained relatively constant throughout the 2000s, 5 this steady increase in the number of published articles can probably be attributed to factors other than funding, such as international cooperation. BiH has managed to participate in several important EU-funded framework programmes, such as FP7, COST, EUREKA Table 6.1 SCImago country ratings for successor states of the FY (1996–2013) Ranking (out of 329 countries) 47 49 54 94 98 135

Country

No. of published documents

Croatia Slovenia Serbia FYR Macedonia* Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro

65,197 57,652 37,658 6,643 5,351 1,472

* The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Table 6.2 Number of published documents from BiH in SCImago (1996–2013) Year No. of docs Year No. of docs

1996 25 2005 194

1997 41 2006 234

1998 31 2007 314

1999 45 2008 481

2000 53 2009 543

2001 53 2010 702

2002 81 2011 797

2003 104 2012 814

2004 127 2013 712

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and HORIZON 2020. BiH universities also actively participate in the EU Tempus Programme (aimed at supporting a university’s ‘modernisation’) and academic exchange programmes like the Erasmus Mundus and Fulbright. Participation in projects supported by these and other programmes often provides BiH scholars with the necessary research funding and access to equipment and other resources that are essential for conducting research, such as access to current literature in the field. Academic mobility and crossborder research collaboration also facilitate the establishment of networks between BiH scholars and their colleagues in Europe and further afield. Prewar networks have also been maintained to a certain extent (particularly those between academics and universities of the successor states of the FY), which have contributed to reducing BiH researchers’ isolation (Papon & Pejovnik, 2006: 36). Research networks and collaboration on research projects are important and are an increasingly common form of scientific research production which, according to Jones et al. (2008), contribute to strengthening research output.

Methods The choice of disciplinary areas selected for this study was based on the research output history in BiH. According to data on BiH from SCImago, the strongest performing BiH-based academic journals are in the fields of medicine, electrical engineering and economics. Some of the BiH-based journals from these fields listed in SCImago existed before the establishment of the independent state of BiH, and thus represent the country’s academic strength in these fields from a (relatively speaking) long-term perspective. The data for this study were compiled through two channels: a survey emailed to participants and semi-structured interviews. Both data collection instruments were in Bosnian,6 the first language (L1) of all participants. The purpose of the initial survey was to compile biographicaltype data on the participant’s academic background, research activities and self-assessed English language competence (see Appendix 1). The interview guide (see Appendix 2) was formulated after an in-depth review of literature related to research and publishing in ‘peripheral’ environments (in particular, Englander [2014] and Lillis and Curry [2010]) to establish key topics or issues likely to be relevant to academics in the BiH context. The selection and formulation of interview questions was further influenced by the interview guides used in recent comparable studies by Bardi (2015) and Buckingham (2014). The final interview guide comprised two main sections: research publication experience and conference presentations. Preliminary versions of both the survey and the interview guide were piloted. This involved the collaboration of three academics based at the same university from the field of technology who completed the survey;

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two subsequently participated in the interview. Following this, I requested these participants to reflect upon the instruments and the procedures used in a discussion with me. This led to minor changes in the formulation of some questions and their order of occurrence. The participants in this study were all academic staff with a publishing record who were employed at a state university in north-eastern Bosnia (in the text referred to as ‘the university’). I obtained email addresses from the university administration and contacted a total of 111 academics with a description of the scope and purpose of the research project and a request for volunteers. These academics were relatively evenly distributed across the three targeted disciplines (Faculty of Economics: 30; Faculty of Medicine: 48; Faculty of Electrical Engineering: 33). They were informed that their participation would comprise completing an online questionnaire and being interviewed by the author. Twelve individuals responded to the call, but only 11 participants completed the two sections of the study. Although the return rate was very low, this was not unexpected as BiH scholars generally perceive themselves to be overburdened with teaching and administrative duties, and cross-disciplinary collaboration among colleagues is not common at this university. Table 6.3 provides information on the study’s 11 participants. Since the focus was on the participants’ English-medium research output, I did not differentiate between journal articles, articles in conference proceedings and book chapters. The number of recorded conference presentations in English is approximate, as not all participants kept accurate records of these. Due to disciplinary differences and individual inconsistencies with regard to lead and co-authorship, no distinction was made with respect to the participants’ degree of contribution to authorship. Furthermore, no distinction was made between BiH and foreign English-medium journals, as the terms international, regional and local are not used consistently (see Petrić, 2014). While Lillis and Curry (2010: 6) point out that the term international is commonly used to mean a ‘high quality, English-medium’, the reality is that any English-medium journal can be identified as international if it, for example, has an international component in the editorial board, international reviewers, an international readership and an international authorship. Although the greatest prestige and visibility come with publishing in high-impact English-medium journals, international visibility can also be attained by publishing in more modestly ranked English-medium journals, which may be based locally or regionally. For example, participant M17 has not published in English-medium journals outside of BiH but, due to the inclusion of the journals in databases such as PubMed, her work has nevertheless been cited internationally. Therefore, while ‘visibility’ is usually viewed in terms of publishing in prestigious journals, in this study ‘researcher visibility’ is also viewed as a potential outcome of publishing in English-medium local or regional journals.

Economics Economics Economics Economics Medicine Medicine Medicine Medicine Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering

Field Female Male Female Female Female Male Male Female Male Male Male

Gender B1/B2 C1 C1 B2 B2/C1 C1/C2 C2 B1/B2 A1/A2/B1/B2 B1/B2/C1 B2/C1

English lg. knowledge* Associate professor Associate professor Assistant professor Associate professor Full professor Associate professor Associate professor Associate professor Assistant professor Assistant professor Associate professor

Position No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes

Spent time abroad**

0 15 7 1 25 2**** 6 0 2 4 7

No. of pres. in Eng.

**** M2 stated that he presented in English at only two conferences; however, he provided additional information showing that he held guest presentations/lectures on several occasions (postgraduate courses, symposium, conference, etc.) thus demonstrating considerable experience in presenting in English internationally.

*** M1 has no English-medium publications outside of BiH.

14 12 12 11 14*** 30 44 28 7 18 26

No. of articles in Eng.

**Time spent abroad refers to time spent in anglophone or non-anglophone countries for educational or research purposes.

* Personal evaluation of participants based on CEFR.8

E1 E2 E3 E4 M1 M2 M3 M4 EE1 EE2 EE3

Participant

Table 6.3 Information on participants

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The interviews were conducted in person between January and February 2015 and lasted from around 20 to 43 minutes, the average length of each interview being about 32 minutes. They took place in the scholars’ offices or other convenient locations such as common rooms or classrooms and were audio recorded with the participant’s permission. The interviews were transcribed in Bosnian and then coded manually. The narrated accounts produced by the participants provide their subjective views of their lived realities as practising academics in BiH over the last two decades. As a site of social interaction (Mann, 2011) in which information (whether accounts, opinions or ‘facts’) is collaboratively produced, the interview data inevitably reflect to some degree the nature of my relationship with the participants. Although their colleague (and thus subject to the same academic performance requirements of the university), I am from a different disciplinary area. Our lack of academic proximity combined with the physical distance of our respective workplaces means that it is unlikely that they would perceive me as a ‘competitor’ within the academic sphere and they may be ready to speak candidly about their experiences. A thematic analysis of interview data was undertaken following the procedure outlined in Braun and Clarke (2006). In recognition of the subjectivity involved in the coding of qualitative data, Braun and Clarke (2006: 88) acknowledge that the process may be either ‘data driven’ or ‘theory driven’, depending on the extent to which the researcher approaches the data with specific research questions in mind (‘theory driven’). As the first study on this topic in BiH, the research question in this study was intentionally quite open and general to allow for a wide variety of responses. I therefore considered a more ‘data-driven’ approach to coding was more suitable. The coding was done separately for the publishing and conference presentations sections. The coded data related to English language publishing (ELP) were grouped into one of three overarching themes (participants’ perceptions of their publishing experience; challenges of publishing; career-related issues) and these have been discussed in separate subsections. The coded responses related to conferences are presented separately.

Results and Discussion Perceptions of publishing experience Overall, participants were satisfied with their ability to produce ‘publishable’ research and recognised the learning path they had traversed during their academic career. Academic writing for scientific publication (whether in English or Bosnian) is not taught during degree programmes in BiH and the learning process thus combines an autodidactic approach with ad hoc mentoring in cases where participants had participated in research projects led by more senior colleagues.

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Criteria for academic career advancement in many countries often highly value evidence of the ability to publish research in prestigious journals. Some countries, such as China and Turkey, provide financial incentives to publish in high-ranking journals (see Uysal, 2014; Li, 2014). No such steps have thus far been implemented in BiH, either at a state or institutional level. Therefore, it does not surprise that these scholars claimed to have received little or no support or recognition by their home institution for the effort they put into conducting high-quality research and publishing it internationally. The only two participants who were actually rewarded for their research achievements are M2 and M3; the reward, although monetary, was symbolic and was not given by the university but by the clinical centre where they work. While academic promotion criteria in neighbouring Croatia (NVZVOTR, 2013) and Serbia (Petrić, 2014) require evidence of publications in journals indexed in databases like Current Contents (CC) and SCI, promotion criteria in BiH still emphasise overall quantity rather than evidence of publication quality. A prominent Bosnian scientist, Zerem (2013, 2014) is critical of the assessment of research accomplishments in BiH according to local (rather than internationally recognised) criteria. The study participants claimed that the need to publish in reputable English language journals did not formally exist at the university, as such evidence was not required for academic promotion. The vague formulation of publishing-related criteria for promotion means that a RA published, for example, in a CC-indexed journal may be judged by the university to be of the same value as one published in a non-peer-reviewed and non-indexed journal. This current practice may be reviewed in the foreseeable future, as state universities in BiH are undertaking reforms to ensure the harmonisation of the BiH education system with EU structures and standards. Potentially signalling the beginning of more far-reaching changes, evidence of greater attention to the quality of research produced was provided by M2, who claimed that the Faculty of Medicine had recently introduced the requirement that its doctoral students publish one RA in a CC database journal in order to graduate. In the absence of university requirements to publish in quality journals, two important push-and-pull factors contributed to the motivation to invest the effort required for a quality publication. The importance that participants placed on the ‘visibility’ of their work that resulted from a high-profile publication constituted a strong ‘pull’ factor. The decreasing or inherently low number of quality journals which publish in the official BiH languages, i.e. Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (B/C/S), was an inevitable ‘push’ factor (Examples 1 and 2). There are, for instance, about 13 scientific medical journals in BiH (BHAAAS, 2009) and only one publishes in both English and B/C/S, while all the others have an Englishonly policy.

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Example 1 … I’m afraid that there is no journal here in Bosnia [published in B/C/S] that is significant anymore. (E2) Example 2 In BiH I have one journal which is important for me and which has an appropriate impact factor and which is indexed in appropriate databases and which accepts manuscripts in B/C/S and English. Therefore I have no choice, I have one journal and I will publish in it. (EE3) Even when participants submit to an ‘international’ journal, journal prestige may not be a priority when selecting an appropriate journal. The review process of quality journals can be quite protracted and the delay until an accepted article appears in print may be considerable. Participants perceived speedier progression from article submission to publication in the case of less statusful journals. The time factor was an important consideration in the case of academics needing to fulfil the publication requirements for promotion or continuation within a certain time frame (Example 3). For many BiH academics, waiting two years before their study is published is a luxury they cannot afford. Retaining their position and thereby ensuring their family’s sustenance is of the utmost importance in a country with high unemployment and a stagnant economy. Thus, these participants also factored in the anticipated delay until publication when making a decision on a suitable journal for their work. Example 3 You know we are pressed for time. The appointment period lasts 4, 5, 6 years and within that time you need to publish a sufficient number of articles where, of course, you finance everything yourself; … And so, especially for the journals within IEEE organization … what happens is, you send your manuscript and after some 6–7–8 months you receive the confirmation that it has been taken, not accepted, taken, and that the reviewers have been selected. Then, for example, it may happen that you receive the first review after a year, and if there is a need for revision of anything in the manuscript, while you attend to it and send it back to the reviewer, it may again take several months or a year and then finally you receive information that the paper has been accepted. (EE3) Journal reviewers exert enormous influence on the reception of a manuscript and perform a ‘gatekeeping’ role in the submission to publishing process. While believing that a stigma is attached to their institutional

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affiliation or national provenance, the participants generally viewed the quality of feedback from reviewers of ‘international’ journals, i.e. those published abroad, as better compared to feedback received from reviewers of BiH and regional9 journals. International reviewers’ feedback is largely seen as more objective, detailed, meaningful, useful and appropriate (Example 4). Some participants, namely E1 and E4, feel that, regarding BiH journals and conference proceedings, reviewers’ comments may be influenced by factors other than the quality of a manuscript (Example 5). Thus, similar to findings in Salager-Meyer (2008: 123), participants viewed ‘international’ journals as offering greater opportunities for professional development through interactions with the journal editor and reviewers. Example 4 I sometimes received 3000-word long reviews – that detailed. That’s especially specific to American journals from which you regularly receive the most detailed reviews. They are really thorough in evaluation of the manuscript. Our journals are not nearly as good. (M3) Example 5 …or reviews are affected by some other factors like interpersonal relationships and I can even say some hostility among colleagues from the same research field. (E4)

The challenges of English language publishing Producing a well-written study in English was perceived as a challenge to most participants. The need to invest time, energy and money in learning English for one’s academic career has been amply documented elsewhere (Bardi, 2015; Hwang, 2005; Pérez-Llantada et al., 2011; Salager-Meyer, 2008). The ‘language challenge’, although burdensome, may also be perceived as an intrinsic part of developing one’s disciplinary identity, as NNESs have noted competence in ‘academic’ or ‘scientific’ English is quite distinct from ‘general’ English ability (Buckingham, 2014; Hwang, 2005). Despite the frustrations involved in having to draft a manuscript in a language they did not (in most cases) master, the participants in this study viewed the language issue to a certain extent as ‘resolvable’ through contracting out proofreading and editing. This task may be informally undertaken by friends or colleagues, or formally assigned to English language ‘professionals’ in BiH (e.g. qualified professionals in the English as a Foreign language [EFL] or translation sectors) (Example 6). Although usually beyond the means of academics in BiH, one participant acknowledged using UK-based professional editing services on several occasions.

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Example 6 … every manuscript so far I have, I have never sent directly to the editorial board but it has always undergone some kind of internal editing by friends, or, believe me, I even paid for editing twice. (EE1) While language use could be improved to a certain extent through such services, the rhetorical organisation of an article was more difficult to master and less likely to be ‘fixed’ through a third-party language broker. EE2, for instance, mentioned the difficult rhetorical move structure of the introduction section of a study and the importance this had to the reception of one’s work (‘…the presentation [of the research idea] is crucial’ EE2). Linguistic competence aside, academics on the periphery also face nonlinguistic challenges which are generally viewed as more pressing than English language skills (Canagarajah, 1996; Lillis & Curry, 2013). These participants consider the lack of financial support as the most pressing challenge they encounter. Papon and Pejovnik (2006: 40) also identified the lack of financial support as ‘one of the greatest weaknesses of scientific research in BiH’. In the absence of financial support, BiH scholars often personally finance the research and publication processes. Costs incurred might include translation and editorial services, article submission and publication fees, research resources (instruments and literature) and travel costs. E2, for example, acknowledged spending on average about KM300 to KM500 (approximately €150–€250) of his own money on a single RA (Example 7). It is not unusual for journals in the sciences to impose article publication costs, and charging for colour illustrations is general practice (Examples 8 and 9). Example 7 …the last seven articles are from the last year, meaning that in the last year alone I probably spent about KM3000 [approximately €1500] of my own money. (E2) Example 8 For example you have experimental journals, like the one in experimental surgery, for them just the submission fee is 600 euros… (M2) Example 9 For example in [name of the journal inaudible] which is number one journal in laparoscopic surgery … color photographs are, let’s say, 400 – 500 euros, so I tell them to publish in black-and-white. (M2) Limited contestable funding is available annually from the Federal and Cantonal Ministries of Education, Science, Culture and Sport for selected

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projects, and some of the study participants’ projects procured this funding. Also, some participants have collaborated on international research projects which have secured funding. EE2, for example, participated in a project funded by SCOPES, the Swiss national research programme for Eastern Europe. Inadequate financial support often results in a resource-deficient research environment at BiH universities. According to Papon and Pejovnik (2006: 11), in BiH ‘Most of the research infrastructure is obsolete; many laboratories, if not all, are lacking operating funds; libraries are not able to pay subscription costs to international science journals’. While the participants in this study identified the dearth of facilities and equipment as problematic, the lack of access to major databases was described as especially serious. As previously documented in other studies (e.g. Bardi, 2015; Buckingham, 2014; Lillis & Curry, 2010), sought-after bibliographic material was secured by these participants by requesting the assistance of colleagues situated in resource-rich contexts, by emailing the author of the required RA and by participation on international projects and EU academic mobility programmes. Specific examples of how these participants overcame resourcerelated obstacles to their work are as follows: E3 cooperates closely with a colleague from a banking sector in Austria who is able to provide the important data for their joint research projects; professional connections are what enabled EE3 to use a lab at a university abroad when he needed it to conduct research and when such a lab was not available at his home institution; and E1’s close cooperation with a colleague from Australia enables her to obtain the needed RAs for her literature review. While these strategies to circumvent resource deficits may resemble temporary ‘stop-gap’ mechanisms more than a systematic solution, these networking activities are ‘highly consequential’ for periphery scholars working in under-resourced contexts (Lillis & Curry, 2010: 69). While sending requested bibliographic material may be considered a simple ‘act of kindness’ by a colleague in a resource-rich context, for an under-resourced academic, access to this material may constitute the determining factor in getting a study published. The participants from the Faculty of Economics pointed out the expectation of top-tier journals for RAs to cover a broader scope or demonstrate the relevance of the study’s results beyond one specific country, particularly when this was a marginal economy such as that of BiH (Example 10). E3, for example, had a manuscript rejected on the grounds that the journal was not interested in BiH specifically, but in the wider region. The wider perspective was often difficult for BiH scholars to achieve unless they participated in a joint research project with scholars based abroad. These views echo the experience of Romanian economists in Bardi and Muresan (2014).

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Example 10 If it is Thomson Reuters, they wouldn’t, they won’t judge it [the manuscript] by English, they’ll judge it by the scope of research. 99% [sure] BiH as a country will not be interesting to them, but they’ll ask that the sample includes at least Southeast Europe. (E1) Common to almost all participants (except EE3) was the perception that their affiliation to a non-prestigious institution in a country not known as a ‘research producer’ affected the journal editors’ (and reviewers’) evaluation of their submitted work. This, rather than their NNES status, appeared to constitute their main scepticism of the review process (Example 11). Example 11 … it used to happen occasionally. I witnessed the rejection of my paper and, in the same issue of that journal, an article which was clearly worse than mine was published, but the authors of that article belong to a more reputable home institution, so to say, because they come from a big country. So, you can feel that sometimes, not everywhere, but you can feel it. (M3) Publishing papers in reputable English-medium journals is challenging and scholars, regardless of their English native-speaker status and provenance, may voice discontent with the review process (Belcher, 2007). With regard to scholars from the periphery, this dissatisfaction may be even stronger since they often feel their geographical location and institutional affiliation conspire against them (Bardi & Muresan, 2014; Buckingham, 2014; Flowerdew, 2007, 2008; Gibbs, 1995; Hwang, 2005; Lillis & Curry, 2010). While discriminatory practices may occur, counter-evidence is also available. Hackett et al.’s (2014: 357) study revealed that scholars from nonanglophone countries had a better abstract-to-publication rate compared to their anglophone countries’ colleagues, namely 41.1% versus 33.6%. M3’s clarification that scepticism, where perceived, relates to average-quality manuscripts, while top-quality ones are accepted regardless of which country and institution an author comes from, appears to support this.

English language publishing and career trajectories Despite no formal requirement for ELP from the university, the participants viewed ELP as a core ingredient in their academic career. They generally see publishing in Bosnian as ‘not so important’ (Question 17 in the questionnaire), due to the inevitable lack of visibility resulting from disseminating research in a language of lesser diffusion (Example 12). Nevertheless, L1 publishing was viewed as a means of informing local

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practice, particularly when it could function as a conduit for recent findings or disciplinary trends published in English (Example 13). Example 12 If you want to be local: local professor, local doctor and local researcher, then you can write in your mother tongue, but you have isolated yourself from scientific, international scientific community. (M2) Example 13 … we are the ones who are supposed to improve the local practice. So, all our results are in vain if they only go abroad, they also have to go to the local professional audience. So, in that sense, it [publishing and presenting in Bosnian] is important, more out of this moral and civic duty, but concerning the academic career, it is not so important. (E1) All participants rated ELP as either extremely important or very important (Question 18 in the questionnaire). The symbolic importance of this (perceived) objective affirmation of worth was perhaps particularly important in a context such as BiH, which is known for high levels of corruption (International Crisis Group, 2014). Words such as status, respect and recognition were commonly mentioned in their responses to the query into the value of ELP. A second factor commonly mentioned by participants concerned the intellectual and personal satisfaction derived from their ELP. Although publishing in their L1 was viewed as an acceptable way to meet promotion requirements, they did not perceive it as intellectually enriching (Example 14). Example 14 I think that by publishing in some local journals you can still satisfy minimal legal requirements and stay at your job, so to say, progress in an administrative way, but not in an intellectual way. For this intellectual progress, I think it is extremely important [to publish in English]. (E4) The visibility attained through ELP allowed these participants to project themselves beyond the borders of BiH and, in some cases, this projection resulted in the initiation or diversification of professional networks. Examples of this were described by E2 and M3, who were both contacted by foreign colleagues familiar with a particular study they had published in English. These initial contacts led to fruitful cooperation; for instance, the paper E2 co-authored while on a Fulbright scholarship led to an opportunity to collaborate with an Italian association of insurance companies, and this in turn led to additional publications.

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Presenting in English at conferences The majority of participants viewed presenting in English at conferences as extremely important in terms of its contribution to an individual’s reputation and visibility. In contrast, presenting in Bosnian at scientific conferences generated a variety of answers from not at all important to extremely important. However, scholars’ opinions were somewhat divided concerning the influence that conference presentations in English have on their status at the university. While some cited the irrelevance of conference presentations to fulfilling promotional criteria, others cited the symbolic value attached to international conferences within their work spaces (Example 15). A few had experienced conferences as a networking opportunity (Example 16). Example 15 It’s all the matter of prestige, you know. You’re making some kind of academic reputation for yourself, reputation of someone who knows how to do it, who does it well, who strives for perfection in that respect. (M3) Example 16 … I think that several contacts I’ve made abroad facilitated my further research endeavours by about 50%, which wouldn’t have happened otherwise. (EE1) Potential issues regarding the delivery of their paper in English seem to be circumvented by good preparation. For the majority, this preparation involved practising their presentations (for some, almost to the point of memorising) aloud and with a timer. This might be done in front of a mirror and the performance may be recorded in an attempt to see themselves from their audience’s perspective. One participant took the autodidactic approach a step further by accessing resources on the internet to his advantage (Example 17). Example 17 … on YouTube there are many video clips, TED presentations, you can learn a lot from them too. So, those are some resources I most commonly use. (M3) When presenting, the most difficult part for the majority of study participants is the questions from the audience (Q&A) section; however, this is not out of fear of being unable to provide satisfactory answers concerning the presentation content, but rather due to problems of understanding questions posed by either NESs or NNESs with strong accents or NNESs with low English language proficiency. EE1 believes that the Q&A section

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is where the lack of English language skills becomes obvious, since this is where the scholar needs to capitalise on his/her presentation, which is difficult since one cannot prepare for it in advance. Some participants find posing questions to colleagues after their presentations to be the most demanding part at conferences, since when it comes to answering questions regarding their own presentations they are on their own turf, but when it comes to posing questions themselves one needs to ‘think of, come up with, get into, understand what he talked about and then [pose a question]’ (M1). The time limit for presentations can sometimes also present a problem, especially if one is dealing with a demanding topic. As with publications, the participating scholars’ university does not seem to recognise the scholars’ efforts to attend conferences and present research in English. While on isolated occasions individual participants may have received funding from the university, no systematic support was in place beyond granting paid leave for the days of their absence from work. For scholars from the medical field, the situation is more favourable due to funding of conference-related costs by pharmaceutical companies.

Conclusion A country’s research output measured by the number of published RAs is an indicator of that country’s integration into the international scientific community (Radošević, 2010: 188). According to current indicators, BiH does not fare very well, even when compared to comparable countries in the region. This is largely due to an academic context in BiH which is not conducive to producing quality research. While the infrastructure for empirical scientific research is lacking, a more basic research input, access to international journal databases and other library resources, is deficient, although such resources are a fundamental requirement for academic research. According to the experience of the participants in this study, BiH scholars generally lack support for their research endeavours; they often personally fund their research and the dissemination of the obtained results and receive no particular recognition for their efforts. However, regardless of numerous obstacles and the lack of financial and institutional support, some BiH scholars are successful in their aspirations to enter mainstream science and contribute to knowledge development. This is evidenced by the increasing number of published RAs from BiH institutions (visible in SCImago). This improved output is a signal that the research infrastructure in and academic capacity of BiH are recuperating from the wartime destruction and post-war brain drain. EU research funds have probably played a major role in this respect. Namely, joining the FP7 programme in 2009 as an ‘associated country’ (Radošević, 2010: 195), as well as other EU-funded programmes, enabled BiH scholars to access European research funds, which gave them the greatly needed push

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in the direction of increased research output and has facilitated research networking with EU partners. Significant improvements are still needed, however. For example, a national science policy needs to be established which should promote high-quality research and international publications, as has been done in Croatia, Serbia and Turkey. Similar to accepted practice elsewhere (e.g. in Croatia, Serbia and Turkey), the state, through a national science policy, should take a leading role in building and supporting the development of a productive research culture in BiH. Through such support, selected BiH universities could develop a stronger research-focused profile, in place of the current primarily teaching-focused profile. Moreover, national and international research funding should comprise a ‘training’ component, which would enable research project participants access to resources to develop skills, whether related to undertaking (i.e. research methodology) or producing (i.e. publishing or presenting) research. Project funding would likely have a more holistic and long-term impact if it provided systematic opportunities for the development of research expertise and thereby contributed to building a critical mass of research-active academics in BiH (Wray & Wallace, 2011). Scientific research and publishing is not, after all, simply a matter of individual career advancement, but is also evidence of a nation’s knowledge-generating capacity (Lillis & Curry, 2013).

Notes (1)

Students majoring in English language and literature or translation are an exception to this. (2) BiH has several levels of government: state level, entity level (the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska), cantonal level (in the Federation) and level of the District of Brčko. (3) The FY here refers to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which consisted of six republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia) and two autonomous regions (Vojvodina and Kosovo). (4) SCImago data are based on the information from Scopus database. Information on the methods used in their bibliometric analysis is available at http://www. scimagojr.com/index.php. (5) UNESCO data for R&D expenditure cover the period between 2003 and 2009. Reliable data from the late 1990s are difficult to acquire due to the decentralised political structure of BiH and the deep political divisions in the country during that period. (6) In this study, I refer to the language spoken in BiH as ‘Bosnian’. I acknowledge, however, that the nomenclature for this language in BiH varies depending on factors such as a speaker’s provenance and perception of ethnic group belonging. (7) Codes are used to maintain participant anonymity. (8) The participants were asked to assess their language ability for the following aspects of language knowledge: understanding (listening and reading); speaking (spoken interaction and spoken production); and writing. Descriptors from the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) were used as a guide to determine their level of proficiency. (9) The term regional is used here to refer to countries of the FY.

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References Banja Luka University Statute (2012) See http://unibl.org/uni/sajt/doc/File/pdf/Statut_ UNIBL_2012.pdf (accessed 7 April 2015). Bardi, M. (2015) Learning the practice of scholarly publication in English – A Romanian perspective. English for Specific Purposes 37, 98–111. Bardi, M. and Muresan, L.M. (2014) Changing research writing practices in Romania: Perceptions and attitudes. In K. Bennett (ed.) The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing: Discourses, Communities and Practices (pp. 121–147). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Belcher, D.D. (2007) Seeking acceptance in an English-only research world. Journal of Second Language Writing 16, 1–22. BHAAAS (Bosnian-Herzegovinian American Academy of Arts and Sciences) (2009, February 2) List of medical journals published in Bosnia and Herzegovina. See http://www.bhaaas.org/projects/50-list-of-medical-journals-published-in-bosniaand-herzegovina- (accessed 15 March 2015). Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (2), 77–101. Buckingham, L. (2014) Building a career in English: Users of English as an additional language in academia in the Arabian Gulf. TESOL Quarterly 48 (1), 6–33. Canagarajah, S.A. (1996) ‘Nondiscursive’ requirements in academic publishing, material resources of periphery scholars, and the politics of knowledge production. Written Communication 13 (4), 435–472. Curry, M.J. and Lillis, T. (2004) Multilingual scholars and the imperative to publish in English: Negotiating interests, demands, and rewards. TESOL Quarterly 38 (4), 663–688. Englander, K. (2014) Writing and Publishing Science Research Papers in English. Dordrecht: Springer. Ferguson, G. (2007) The global spread of English, scientific communication and ESP: Questions of equity, access and domain loss. Ibérica 13, 7–38. Flowerdew, J. (1999a) Writing for scholarly publication in English: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing 8 (2), 123–145. Flowerdew, J. (1999b) Problems in writing for scholarly publication in English: The case of Hong Kong. Journal of Second Language Writing 8 (3), 243–264. Flowerdew, J. (2007) The non-Anglophone scholar on the periphery of scholarly publication. AILA Review 20, 14–27. Flowerdew, J. (2008) Scholarly writers who use English as an additional language: What can Goffman’s ‘Stigma’ tell us? Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7, 77–86. Flowerdew, J. (2015) Some thoughts on English for research publication purposes (ERPP) and related issues. Language Teaching 48 (2), 250–262. Gibbs, W.W. (1995) Lost science in the third world. Scientific American 273 (2), 92–99. Hackett, P.J., Guirguis, M., Sakai, N. and Sakai, T. (2014) Fate of abstracts presented at the 2004–2008 International Liver Transplantation Society meetings. Liver Transplantation 20, 355–360. Hyland, K. (2009) English for professional academic purposes: Writing for scholarly publication. In D. Belcher (ed.) English for Specific Purposes in Theory and Practice (pp. 83–105). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Hwang, K. (2005) The inferior science and the dominant use of English in knowledge production: A case study of Korean science and technology. Science Communication 26 (4), 390–427. Hwang, K. (2008) International collaboration in multilayered center-periphery in the globalization of science and technology. Science, Technology and Human Values 23, 101–133. Igić, R. (2002) The influence of the civil war in Yugoslavia on publishing in peer-reviewed journals. Scientometrics 53 (3), 447–452.

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International Crisis Group (2014) Bosnia’s Future. Crisis Group Europe Report, No. 232. Jones, B.F., Wuchty, S. and Uzzi, B. (2008) Multi-university research teams: Shifting impact, geography and stratification in science. Science 322, 1259–1262. Jovanović, M.M., John, M. and Reschke, S. (2010) Effects of civil war: Scientific cooperation in the republics of the former Yugoslavia and the province of Kosovo. Scientiometrics 82, 627–645. Li, Y. (2014) Seeking entry to the North American market: Chinese management academics publishing internationally. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 13, 41–52. Lillis, T. and Curry, M.J. (2006) Professional academic writing by multilingual scholars: Interactions with literacy brokers in the production of English-medium texts. Written Communication 23 (1), 3–35. Lillis, T. and Curry, M.J. (2010) Academic Writing in a Global Context: The Politics and Practices of Publishing in English. London: Routledge. Lillis, T. and Curry, M.J. (2013) English, scientific publishing and participation in the global knowledge economy. In E.J. Erling and P. Seargeant (eds) English and Development: Policy, Pedagogy and Globalization (pp. 220–242). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Mann, S. (2011) A critical review of qualitative interviews in Applied Linguistics. Applied Linguistics 32 (1), 6–24. NVZVOTR (Nacionalno vijeće za znanost, visoko obrazovanje i tehnološki razvoj [The National Council for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development]) (2013) Pravilnik o uvjetima za izbor u znanstvena zvanja NN 26 2013 [Regulations for the requirements for the election to academic titles NN 26 2013]. See http:// www.nvzvotr.hr/hr/dokumenti (accessed 13 April 2015). Olsson, A. and Sheridan, V. (2012) A case study of Swedish scholars’ experiences with and perceptions of the use of English in academic publishing. Written Communication 29 (1), 33–54. Papon, P. and Pejovnik, S. (2006) Guidelines for a Science and Research Policy in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Venice: UNESCO. Pérez-Llantada, C., Plo, R. and Ferguson, G.R. (2011) ‘You don’t say what you know, only what you can’: The perceptions and practices of senior Spanish academics regarding research dissemination in English. English for Specific Purposes 30, 18–30. Petrić, B. (2014) English-medium journals in Serbia: Editors’ perspectives. In K. Bennett (ed.) The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing: Discourses, Communities and Practices (pp. 189–209). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Radošević, S. (2010) Southeast Europe. In UNESCO Science Report 2010: The Current Status of Science Around the World. Paris: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Salager-Meyer, F. (2008) Scientific publishing in developing countries: Challenges for the future. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7, 121–132. Sarajevo University Statute (2013). See http://unsa.ba/s/images/stories/A0/ KonacniStatutUNSA.pdf (accessed 7 April 7 2015). UNESCO country profile. See http://www.uis.unesco.org/DataCentre/Pages/countryprofile.aspx?code=BIH (accessed 13 April 2015). Uysal, H.H. (2014) Turkish academic culture in transition: Centre-based state policies and semiperipheral practices of research, publishing and promotion. In K. Bennett (ed.) The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing: Discourses, Communities and Practices (pp. 165–188). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Uzuner, S. (2008) Multilingual scholars’ participation in core/global academic communities: A literature review. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7, 205–263.

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Uzuner-Smith, S. and Englander, K. (2015) Exposing ideology within university policies: A critical discourse analysis of faculty hiring, promotion and remuneration practices. Journal of Education Policy 30 (1), 62–85. Wood, A. (2001) International scientific English: The language of research scientists around the world. In J. Flowerdew and M. Peacock (eds) Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes (pp. 71–83). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wray, A. and Wallace, M. (2011) Accelerating the development of expertise: A step-change in social science research capacity building. British Journal of Educational Studies 59 (3), 241–264. Zerem, E. (2013) Right criteria for academic in Bosnia and Herzegovina [correspondence section]. The Lancet 382 (9887), 128. Zerem, E. (2014) Academic community in a developing country: Bosnian realities [editorial]. Medicinski Glasnik 11 (2), 248–251.

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Appendix 1: Questionnaire in English (condensed form) The questionnaire requested information about the following topics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Biographical data: Name, age, gender. Professional data: Rank, faculty, year obtained PhD. Level of English competency (rated according to the CEFR). Importance of English during PhD work. Number of conference presentations in English (local and abroad). Participation in academic exchange programmes. Time spent working or studying abroad. Importance of publishing in English and Bosnian in academic journals. 9. Importance of presenting one’s research in English and Bosnian at conferences. 10. List of English language publications.

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Appendix 2: Interview Questions in English (condensed form) The interview covered the following topics. The exact formulation of the questions varied according to the dynamics of each interview. 1.

Experience publishing in English (perceptions of pressure, perceived reception by journal editors and reviewers). 2. Linguistic and writing challenges as an NNES. 3. Publishing and research challenges as an academic in BiH. 4. Criteria guiding choice of journal for submissions. 5. Strategies to overcome linguistic and writing challenges. 6. Co-authoring experience (establishing contact, developing a research/ writing partnership). 7. Challenges of conference presentations in English and strategies to overcome them. 8. Perceived career benefits from publishing and presenting at conferences in English. 9. The impact of publications in English on one’s status at the university. 10. Financial support from the university for research, publication, conference presentations.

7 Keeping Economics Local in the Academic Mainstream: Competitive Journal Management Practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina Louisa Buckingham and Tanja Pavlovic´

Disciplines such as the hard sciences, business studies and medicine in many Central and Eastern European countries have experienced a shift in the language of publication to English from the local language or the common currency lingua francas of academia in the 20th century, German, French and Russian (Bardi, 2015; Curry & Lillis, 2004; Duszak & Lewkowicz, 2008; Petrić, 2014). The territories of the former Yugoslavia (FY) were no exception. The shift to an English-medium policy could be either partial (i.e. submissions could be in either the local language or English) or complete (i.e. submissions had to be in English) (Petrić, 2014). Commonly adduced reasons for this shift were the need for journals to become ‘international’ in readership and submissions and, as the advent of the internet enabled the development of bibliometric analyses, for journals to have ‘impact’. While a number of academic journals are hosted by universities in the FY, many fail to attain visibility beyond their local context despite the English-medium policy, and their contribution to disciplinary knowledge generation as measured by content usage statistics is often modest. Scientific journals based in peripheral1 or less-privileged locations frequently have a more difficult path to becoming established and recognised internationally as a desirable platform for scholarly publication due to both material shortcomings and institutional obstacles. The practices of one notable exception, the Croatian Medical Journal (CMJ), have been extensively documented, however (e.g. Marušić et al., 2004; Marušić & Marušić, 2001; Mišak et al., 2005). Through a combination of author-friendly editorial policies aimed at strengthening the presentation

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of research of promising submissions, rigorous review by appropriately (i.e. merit-based) selected experts and measures taken to facilitate the inclusion of the journal in prestigious academic and medical databases, the journal has become one of the more prominent medical publications in Southeast Europe. For a journal in a ‘small country’ and ‘small language’ context, the English language policy was a vital factor in achieving recognition as a prestigious publishing outlet (Mišak et al., 2005). Academic journals which are essentially local in their initial years with respect to the editorial board, reviewers, production team and (initially) readership, are able to cultivate an international profile and diversified readership through an Englishmedium policy, as evidenced over the years by submission numbers from scholars affiliated to foreign institutions and by tracking content usage, in particular, author citations (Mišak et al., 2005; Petrić, 2014). The preferential use of English for academic publications in a territory without strong historical ties to the anglophone world is a pragmatic choice for countries whose official language(s) is of limited diffusion beyond their own borders (Bardi, 2015; Duszak & Lewkowicz, 2008; Petrić, 2014). In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the English-medium policy also circumvents the potential politicisation of the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (B/C/S) language(s) within the domain of academic publishing. Although treated here as one language with multiple dialectal variants, as is characteristic of pluricentric languages, nationalistic tensions in Serbia, Croatia and BiH during the wars of succession and their aftermath gave rise to a politicisation of language ontology and language use and, in the case of Croatia in particular, energetic corpus planning (Greenberg, 2004; Kordić, 2010; Langston & Peti-Stantić, 2011). This concern is perhaps of greater consequence in BiH where the three dialect variants possess the constitutional status of the country’s national languages. In this context, entrenched, politicised views on linguistic purism by the editorial board of a regionally based journal would detract from the goal of attaining a wide readership and attracting quality submissions. This study examines the journal management and publication practices of two English-medium economics journals, the South-East European Journal of Economics and Business (SEEJ) and Economic Review/Ekonomska Revija (ER), which have succeeded, to varying degrees, in establishing a transnational presence and receiving transnational recognition of the publication’s scholarly value without compromising the journals’ locally rooted orientation and the editorial board’s agenda-setting autonomy. The palpable limitations of economic and material privation in BiH’s chronically underfunded research and development sector, together with the war-time demographic decimation2 and the post-war brain drain, were not insurmountable obstacles for the establishment (and successful

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trajectory) of these journals. Successful academic publishing is evidence of knowledge-generating capacity at an individual, institutional and national level (Lillis & Curry, 2013: 220). Through journals such as these, the capacity of BiH as a nation to contribute to transnational knowledge building is evident despite the odds. What Lillis and Curry (2013) do not clarify, however, are the criteria that might be employed to evaluate the degrees of ‘success’ of locally embedded journals such as these.

The Bosnian Context During the two decades of BiH’s existence as an independent state, institutional development in the tertiary sector has led to a diversification in the range of degree programmes and the establishment of additional universities, whether as spin-offs from the University of Sarajevo or as upgrades from the status of technical or vocational colleges (e.g. the University of Zenica, the University of Džemal Bijedić and the University of Bihać). While the quantity of institutions is laudable, results have been mixed with regard to overall quality. Academic standards have come under criticism in recent years from prominent Bosnian scientist and practising physician Enver Zerem. His very public denunciations, similar to the examples below, have appeared on prime-time BiH state television. A large proportion of Bosnian scientists apply local measures to assess scientific accomplishments, completely abandoning the internationally recognised evaluation criteria, which are key to assess changes and progress. (Zerem, 2013: 128) We are proud when we host our colleagues from abroad at various international scientific meetings taking place in our country, and they are fond of our ćevapčići which we offer on those occasions, yet we do not have competitive presentations at the same meetings nor do we have papers that could qualify for a peer-reviewed journal. (Zerem, 2014: 249) While Zerem refers here to the standards of some tertiary-level degree programmes, the politicisation of academic appointments and the dearth of objective quality control of academic practices within tertiary institutions, these comments may also apply by extension to the sphere of academic publishing in BiH. It is revealing that Zerem selects both a prominent domestic (Medicinski glasnik) and a top-tier international journal (The Lancet), and English as channels for his discontent. His work, and that of a select number of BiH academic journals, successfully spans the domestic and transnational divide. It is precisely the ability to ‘span this divide’ and operate successfully within a broader, more competitive scientific environment that Zerem believes is essential to prevent research in the

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fast-moving disciplines such as medicine or economics from becoming (or remaining) parochial and outdated. The lack of transparency and objective criteria with regard to tertiary sector management decried by Zerem are compounded by woefully inadequate funding. To gain insight into the socio-economic context of research and development in BiH, it is instructive to compare its predicament to that of neighbouring Croatia and Serbia. As can be deduced from Table 7.1, not only is BiH unable to support full-time researchers, but investment in the research sector lies at a fraction of the level of its neighbouring countries. Thus, despite BiH being ranked in the ‘high human development’ category (UNHDP, 2014), the local socio-economic context does not propitiate the insertion of the country’s research institutions into the global knowledge-generating network. This situation is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future on account of economic stagnation, a political system imbued with patronage (International Crisis Group, 2014) and the widely acknowledged obstacles to ‘doing business’ in the country.3 Such obstacles deter investment in research and development in the private sector and discourage the growth of research-related linkages between the private sector and universities. As socio-economic underdevelopment afflicts many nations worldwide, it is important to understand how, in the face of the abject level of investment in research and development in BiH, strategic journal management practices have resulted in these journals achieving the prerequisite level of disciplinary excellence for acceptance in international abstracting and indexing databases (AI databases). This is a context where, as described by Zerem (2013, 2014), political interests rather than meritbased criteria may guide academic appointments. Publications in quality journals have a ‘bitcoin’ value, in the sense that they are a universally accepted currency in the negotiation of promotion, remuneration levels Table 7.1 Country profile data: BiH, Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia*

Estimated population in 2012 (millions) GDP per capita (PPP$) in 2012 Estimated number of researchers Estimated number of full-time researchers Gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) in 2009***

BiH

Croatia

Serbia

Slovenia

3,834 9,392 763 (2007)** 193 (2007) 0.02%

4,307 20,964 11,454 (2011) 6,847 (2011) 0.85%

7,182 11,801 1,418 (2011) 1,221 (2011) 0.92%

2,068 27,474 6,069 (2011) 4,255 (2011) 1.86%

* Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. ** More recent figures are not available for BiH. *** GERD as a percentage of GDP. To facilitate comparison, 2009 was used as this is the only year in which data is available for all four countries.

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and appointments. It would thus seem reasonable to suppose that the ‘influences’ denounced by Zerem might extend to decisions to accept or reject local scholarly work. Such practices, were they to exist, would be to the detriment of the journal’s transnational objectives.

Methods Two prominent, locally based economics journals were chosen for this study. Criteria guiding the selection of these two journals included the longevity of the journal, the inclusion of articles from local and international authors, the existence of a peer review process, reputation in the local academic community and willingness of the editorial board to participate in the study. The local reputation of the journal was ascertained by requesting two faculty members from the University of Tuzla in the Department of Economics to identify, in their view, the most reputable local English-medium journals in their respective discipline. As the number of BiH-based journals is limited, the level of consistency was high; the final choice of journals was guided by the additional aforementioned criteria. The original study design foresaw the collection of data from participants with three distinct professional roles in journal production with the purpose of introducing a degree of data triangulation. These were: representatives from the editorial board,4 language editors and reviewers. For reasons of space, however, the focus of this chapter will be limited to the journal editors. The second author conducted all contact with the journals. Her position as an established academic at a prominent local university, her B/C/S native-speaker status and her experience as a language editor for a local English-medium scientific journal contributed to the positive response we received when initiating contact with the selected journals in February 2014. Participants received a description of the study’s objectives and written assurances that their names would not appear. Communication with each journal extended over a period of about four months and occurred via email and telephone. Semi-structured interviews were held in the respective editor’s office. These were recorded with the permission of the editor and later transcribed by a research assistant. The ‘member checking’ (Guba & Lincoln, 1982) approach was employed to ensure that interviewees’ responses had been accurately transcribed and appropriately interpreted. This involved sending the interview transcription and a close-to-final version of the results section of the present study to the interviewees for their verification. Written permission was obtained to reveal the name of the journal on completion of the ‘member checking’ stage. The language used throughout the data collection and transcription analysis was B/C/S.

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The interview guide was formulated after extensive reading of the pertinent literature on academic writing and publishing in a second language and in discussions between the authors with regard to the local publishing context. The guide encompasses three main topic areas: manuscript (MS) submissions and the peer review process, journal profile and reputation and language of publication. According to convention, the phrasing and order of questions varied during each interview in response to the dynamics of the interaction.

Results This section is a synthesis of the interview data collated from the journal editors and organised around three main themes: journal identity and status; the submission and review process; and maintaining journal standards. Quotations have been included to illustrate points which were particularly well captured in the respective editor’s original words (SEEJE: SEEJ editor; ERE: ER editor). These were translated into English by the authors. According to recommended practice (Mann, 2011), in most cases the responses have been prefaced by the interviewer’s prompt. This contextualisation enables insight into how specific information was elicited and the interviewer’s role in co-constructing the interview. Where the prompt is not included, the quoted response occurred during a longer stretch of talk originally on a different topic.

Journal identity and status Both editors interpreted the query into journal status in terms of the journal’s inclusion in prestigious AI databases (see ‘databases’ Table 7.2). The current presence of the respective journal in numerous AI databases (such as EBSCO, Elsevier-Scopus, ProQuest) was seen as an achievement and as objective evidence of the journal’s scholarly value. The journals’ future identity and status were also viewed from the perspective of increased international indexing, a factor which influenced current editorial policies (Example 1). The quality of journal indexes rather than the quantity was key for journal status; high-stakes journals may only be in the few topranking databases. The SEEJE underscored the importance of a single database, Elsevier-Scopus, above others in which SEEJ was included. Example 1 Tanja: What’s the journal’s long-term plan? SEEJE: Acceptance into the Social Science Citation database. So we’ve tightened criteria, like I said, the acceptance rate before was 40% and

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now it’s lower, and it’s because of this [goal] that we are insisting on higher quality. Now it’s, like I said, about 20–30%. For both journals, the content orientation towards the immediate region and other transition countries was a key component of the journal’s identity and was viewed as the journal’s publishing niche. While the standard of accepted MSs might be high, such studies were difficult to place in top-tier journals due to the very limited interest of such journals in specific, localised issues relevant to transition economies such as those in Southeast Europe. By occupying a niche area, SEEJ in particular was able to present readers with an identifiable product and offer authors a specialised editorial board and set of reviewers. Studies too strongly focused on localised conditions or insufficiently informed by a recognised theoretical framework were disfavoured, however (Example 2). Example 2 SEEJE: Our focus is Southeast Europe. South-East European Journal. Tanja: You see that as an advantage? SEEJE: We see this as both an advantage and a disadvantage. It’s an advantage because it’s mostly authors from the region who send us their work. It’s a disadvantage because sometimes someone could send an article from Pakistan about, say, consumer behaviour at some market place in Pakistan. It could be a good piece of research, but that would never fit into the context of the journal. Table 7.2 Profile of journals SEEJ

ER

Founded Databases Acceptance rate

2007 27 Currently around 20–30% Previously around 40%

Origin of submissions

Mostly from immediate region; to a lesser degree the rest of the world 80 active reviewers

2003 5 Currently around 60% Previously around 70% When published in B/C/S, 50% Grouped in three categories: BiH, the region, rest of the world; majority from BiH and neighbouring countries 50–60 active reviewers

Number of reviewers Choice of language Editorial board

English from the beginning 12 members (3 from the FY)

English since 2011 32 members (24 from the FY)

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The stronger local and regional orientation of ER is reflected in the composition of the editorial board. While 75% of the board members were based in countries of the FY, this dropped to just 25% in the case of SEEJ (see Table 7.2). In the case of this journal, the majority of the remaining board members were affiliated to prestigious institutions in the UK or the US. When asked to identify a comparable journal(s), the responses revealed discrepancies between each editor’s views of the journal’s positioning and perceived profile (Example 3). ER’s broad disciplinary orientation meant that it potentially competed in a similar market for submissions with other local journals. Factors which distinguished ER from other regional economics journals related to its 12-year publishing tradition and its experience shifting to an English-medium policy. Conversely, the SEEJE, interpreting the question in terms of academic quality, identified a Hungarian journal rather than a journal in the FY as of comparable standard. The editors both made reference to the inclusion of a comparable journal in relevant AI databases as a distinguishing factor that would ascribe status (and therefore difference) and represent a benchmark of standard. In this context, the ERE’s reference to SEEJ as a journal which had attained this mark of prestige signalled the importance of this journal as a local model. Example 3 Tanja: Speaking about the reputation and development of the journal in relation to the discipline, could you tell us say, two or three journals that are similar to yours and which aim at the same market or readership, or which publish the same sort of work as ER? ERE: Well, it’s difficult to compare. Our concept is quite broad. I mean, we don’t really limit ourselves to one area of economics, whether it’s marketing or accounting...So it’s quite broad, and all journals in the region are conceptualized in a pretty similar way. We haven’t entered the EconLit database yet. That is a standard we are aiming for. [...] In Bosnia only two journals are in EconLit. That’s the Sarajevo journal that I showed you. [ERE makes reference to SEEJ]. They’ve got ahead a bit... SEEJE: I don’t think any journal in the region in this discipline is at approximately the same position as us. [...] For us, it could be Acta Oeconomica, a journal from the Hungarian science and arts academy, it’s in the social science database and it has an impact factor of 0.2.That’s a solid journal, though not at the top world level. Our aim is to get to that level. I mean, that’s a model for us. The impact of the journal was more difficult to gauge, however, as this required software to track the citations of articles published in the journal.

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In the case of ER, this was beyond the current level of journal resources. As a member of the De Gruyter Open collection, SEEJ had introduced the necessary software to trace citations in early 2014. While this was still in the initial stages of development, clearly the journal viewed this as a vital step to better integration into international academic publishing platforms. This objective accreditation of the journal through its inclusion in AI databases contributed, in turn, to the perception of the journal as an attractive publishing outlet. In this sense, attaining an acknowledged standard contributed to the journal’s sustainability: a journal which is perceived to be desirable will attract quality work (Example 4). Example 4 Tanja: What do you think makes your journal different from others? ERE: [...] We’re in five databases, that’s good for a journal in economics, and I don’t think others [from the region] have achieved that. SEEJE: It’s in 23 databases5 and because of this the authors are out there on the international knowledge marketplace. […] Ultimately, we don’t have problems with lack of submissions, so I would say the position of the journal in the marketplace seems pretty good. Through the journals’ niche position just below top-tier mainstream journals, the editors believed that their journal offered local scholars valuable experience with the review and publication process. In addition to giving exposure to their work (and their name), this experience was to their advantage when submitting to higher-prestige journal. This was a progression that the ERE had seen among his own colleagues (Example 5). Example 5 Tanja: Would you say that ER opens doors in a way to those on the periphery of scientific research, thinking of language and research topics. ERE: Yes, that’s it, you could say that it helps them in their transition to reaching higher standards. We aren’t in Thompson’s [database], we aren’t at that ... level [...] but our lecturers now publish internationally, they write, and that’s good for the faculty, in my opinion. The journal’s English-medium policy is perceived as being a key factor in contributing to the journal’s reputation, both in terms of visibility in AI databases, increasing submission numbers and enabling the journal to select quality submissions from a broader submission pool than would be possible with a B/C/S-medium journal. Underscoring the journal’s regional

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orientation, neither editor considered a bilingual B/C/S/English abstract policy to be useful. The ERE also considered that the greater care required when composing in English positively impacted on the quality of the submitted work. Additionally, authors appear to appraise the quality of their work strategically as, according to the ERE, they invest the effort required for an English-medium publication in research with greater publication potential (Example 6). Example 6 Tanja: Do you think that the change to English made publishing more difficult for authors? ERE: I think it helped raise the quality of submissions. Everyone, if they know they have to translate something, puts more care into it. And.. quality... there are fewer submissions but those who do submit, send us work that they really put some effort into. The English-medium policy in the economics sphere was also normalised in the sense that, from the perspective of the SEEJE, research in economics aimed at an international readership meant accessing data and theoretical perspectives from, predominantly, Englishmedium institutions or publications (Example 7). Due to the rapidity and complexity of socio-economic developments in the 21st century, data (and ideas) risk becoming outdated if scholars rely on information filtered through to local contexts through translations. That is, to publish innovative work in a quality journal, authors require access to primary data sources and need to be abreast of developments aired in top-tier journals; reliance on translations or secondary sources was seen as a serious disadvantage. Thus, indirectly, the English-medium policy, from the editors’ perspective, facilitated an initial quality filter of submitted work. The policy thus had both status-building and quality-control functions for these journals. Example 7 Tanja: Do you think that publishing in English puts non-native speakers at a disadvantage? SEEJE: No, I don’t. Tanja: Can you explain? SEEJE: Look, our articles offer internationally relevant research and those who aren’t in the position to read English can’t even follow this sort of work. I mean, in the context of economics not using English is unimaginable because, generally speaking, research

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sources, all new information, comes from regions using English. It is not a question any more about reading some book or waiting for the translation of that book, but it’s all about going straight to the source of information. You have to be able to follow work published in the last year; that work won’t appear in books for another five years. The editors viewed the English-medium policy as supporting the overall scientific quality of the journal as it enabled a wider submission catchment area. In the case of ER, it also helped shift the journal from being ‘faculty dominated’, and thus potentially a target for ‘influencebased’ rather than merit-based publication criteria pressures (Example 8). In the journal’s experience, publishing in B/C/S contributed to the journal being viewed by some as a convenient channel to meet promotion publishing requirements. When publishing in English, authors are aware that their work may be accessed and potentially critiqued by scholars from around the world and authors are thus likely to monitor more closely the research they submit for publication. In this sense, the use of English rather than B/C/S enabled the evaluation of an author’s work to be decoupled from the social constraints of a specific geographic location and institution (as described in Zerem, 2013, 2014). Example 8 ERE: Before it was literally everyone employed at the faculty and possibly their colleagues from countries around Bosnia and that was it. Tanja: So it really just served the needs of those who needed more published articles for promotion? ERE: That’s it....for promotion... I really, and they really criticised me because of this... with this [English-medium policy] I practically stopped all that. [...] I mean, it still happens that someone from the faculty publishes in ER, but much less often. Before about 80% of the papers were from our faculty. Now perhaps in one issue there might be one or none.

Manuscript submission and review procedures The two journals differed in their submission procedures. While SEEJ benefited from a fully automatised submission process as found in top-tier journals, ER lacked the prerequisite resources and the receipt of submitted work and the assignment of reviewers was still a labourintensive process.

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Both journals had experienced a decline in their acceptance rate in recent years (see Table 7.2). In the case of SEEJ, this was due to the need to become more discriminating with regard to quality to ensure inclusion in particularly prestigious AI databases. Most work originated in BiH or the region; in the case of SEEJ, the editor underscored the quantity of submissions from the FY, in particular Slovenia and Croatia. The ERE identified a particular rise in ‘global’ submissions upon the entry of ER into the Directory of Open Access Journals, evidence that this type of AI database had a positive impact on journal visibility. Both editors were prompted to talk through the submission and review process. These steps are provided in Table 7.3 in note form. The table is not intended to invite a direct comparison between the processes followed by each journal, as each editor was not necessarily exhaustive when relating the stages. Rather, this table is intended to facilitate insight into what is largely an occluded practice. Table 7.3 Submission and review process Step 1 2

3

4

5

6

SEEJ

ER

Identify if it is economics or business – given to appropriate section editor. First reading by editor; can be rejected at this point if not in keeping with journal aims or does not display required quality. Sent to two reviewers using online system, have 7 days to reply, 1 month to review, the system signals if the reviewer has not replied in 1 month. Reviewer enters decision and report into system, received by editor, rejected authors automatically receive the report. Revisions are given 1–2 months to complete. Need to resend work and a ‘response file’ to explain changes.

Editor reviews it. May be rejected at this stage. The MS is sent to the appropriate disciplinary specialist of the editorial board to request potential reviewer names. MS is sent to reviewers who are given 10 days to review. A review template is provided.

When the two reviewers accept, the work is taken to the editorial board, which takes the decision to accept. Rejection decisions can be taken by the section editor, but not acceptance.

The review is sent to the author, who is given a limited period of 3–7 days to make changes. The editorial board discusses whether to resend to the reviewer to check the changes. Up to three rounds of review are possible. Accepted MSs are sent to the language editor.

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Perhaps due to the perception that the journal might be an easy target for ‘express’ publications,6 ER received random submissions by authors who approached MS submission like a lottery. The ERE underscored the importance of the pre-review screening stage (Step 1) in distinguishing between bogus and genuine academic submissions. This was a vital point in the chain that served to avoid ‘wasting time’ (ERE) and valuable resources further down the line. Evidence used to determine this included whether the author had clearly followed the journal-specific guidelines for the submission and presentation of work (Example 9). Example 9 ERE: I see the accompanying message doesn’t make any sense but the article looks great and immediately I’m suspicious. I just don’t want to bother with this. Someone from [country] sends something but didn’t write a word, there’s no name, no details and even below there’s ‘sent from an Ipod’. The two journals differed in their selection of reviewers. ER depended to a great extent on local academics, many of whom were affiliated to the university at which the journal is based. As peer review activities are not acknowledged or rewarded in local academics’ annual performance record, the ERE found it a constant struggle to get reviewers to commit to the task and to submit the review. The collegial relationship between members of the editorial board and the reviewers was an important factor in ensuring the task was undertaken. This was the principal reason for the short time frame provided for the review. In the ERE’s experience, if the reviewer was not impelled to prioritise the task, the review was unlikely to be completed. SEEJ had an electronic database of reviewers accessible according to sub-discipline or specialisation. According to the editor, this facilitated a rapid assignment of appropriate reviewers with automatic reminders sent when reviews were due. To exercise a measure of control over reviewing standards, the SEEJ reviewer database tracked review quality, ranking reviewers in relation to the work they submitted. High-ranking reviewers were prioritised when sending reviewer invitations. The journal received sufficient expressions of interest from prospective reviewers to maintain an active database.

Maintaining journal standards This section covers three themes related to issues of journal standards: reviewer standards, MS rejections and authorship ethics. The MS review procedure was the pivotal quality control mechanism for both journals. An MS could be rejected at different points of the review

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process: by either the general editor or the section editor at the pre-review stages, or by the general editor in response to unfavourable reviewer reports. MSs would be typically rejected at the pre-review screening stage due to suspicions that the article was not directed specifically at the respective journal (as previously explained by the ERE), or due to methodological weaknesses, or lack of contribution to the field of applied economics. A clear preference was given to empirical research. The different levels of expectations of each journal regarding the contribution to knowledge is evidenced on the journals’ websites; SEEJ stipulates explicitly that MSs are judged on their ‘contribution to the field’, while ER (both on the website and during the interview) focused on the requirement for submissions to follow an introduction, methods, results, discussion (IMRD) format. Both editors identified the study’s methodology as the section which appeared to be most challenging to authors. While an MS may evidence problems with language use, this was never a justification for rejection. As the ERE explained, ‘90% of authors have problems with English, but that’s what we have the language editor for’. To deliver the additional linguistic support required by many MS authors, a language editing stage (undertaken in collaboration with the author) was built into the journal production process of both journals. This might extend beyond copyediting to include deeper textual incursions such as sentence reconstruction or paragraph rearrangement. Only if comprehension was obscured would the author be requested to revise the text for language issues and resubmit (Example 10). Example 10 SEEJE: If the English is bad...if it is really bad, then we ask the author to fix up the language; but at the end our internal reviewer will take care of the language, our language editor. Upon identifying MSs with potential but which still required substantial work to lift them to the level required for publication, both journal editors explained how they worked with the author and reviewers to achieve this. Reviewer input contributed to moulding the MS, as well as educating or informing authors on how to present their work more effectively and, in some cases, instructing authors on particular aspects of research methods or data analysis, or identifying pertinent literature. This coaxing or cradling required to tease out the element of novelty or strengthen the author’s claims in the initial submission thus depended to a large extent on quality reviewer feedback. SEEJ had a policy of submitting articles to reviewers in distinct geographical locations. In practice, this usually meant seeking ‘local’ expertise (i.e. from a reviewer located in the country or region where the submitted study was conducted), combined with ‘translocal’ expertise from

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Central or Western Europe (often the UK). The SEEJE expressed satisfaction with the overall quality of reviews, explaining that the journal’s reviewer ranking procedure and the provision of a template to reviewers helped regulate the quality and quantity of review reports. Doubtlessly, the greater international visibility of the journal and its collaboration with De Gruyter Open contributed to its ability to attract capable reviewers. In turn, the journal’s reputation for quality reviewers contributed to higher-quality submissions (authors seek to benefit from an expert view). Thus, building and maintaining journal quality involved an array of intermeshed actors and activities. A weak link in the cycle had immediate and delayed repercussions for journal status management and journal production. In one example, the ERE explained how additional reviewers were recruited to coax an MS along in a case where the original reviewers’ reports disagreed and the editorial board considered the paper had potential (Example 11). Example 11 ERE: There have been a few occasions when we literally had to force a submission through so it could be published. Tanja: ‘Babysit’ it through as we say. ERE: That’s right. So we got a third and fourth reviewer but then it got complicated, and those are the hardest cases, if I can put it like that. Thus, a lower-quality journal appears effectively to be in a catch-22 situation: quality reviewers are needed to help shape the submitted MS, but a less prestigious journal has difficulty in attracting quality reviewers and successfully enforcing appropriate review criteria. When asked to comment on the general quality of reviews received, the ERE chose to compare his experience as an author for prestigious journals with his experience as an editor for a local journal (Example 12). His explanation, accompanied by an example on his computer, underscored the pedagogical and intellectual benefit for the author of a quality review. Example 12 ....people [local reviewers] are up to it but they won’t do it. It’s too much work for them. Just let me find the name of that journal...this is it... this... letter of acceptance... [the editor reads through his mails] here it is, the report and it’s 6 pages long. All the main suggestions and the more minor ones, separate comments by paragraphs, pages, comments on literature, all in detail and someone really read it in detail. [...] So, no, we don’t have those. Here it’s a review of a page, maximum. Due to considerations of efficacy, but also as a mark of respect for the value of the reviewer, not all MSs were resubmitted to the reviewer

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upon the author’s resubmission. Instances in which the author had been instructed to revise substantial issues such as the study’s methodology or results would warrant a second review. Less substantial issues (such as supplementing the literature review or using the citation system correctly) could be verified by the editors, while language issues would be addressed by the language editor. The integration of SEEJ into prestigious AI databases and the collaboration with De Gruyter Open had led to the introduction of the text-matching software Turnitin as a further layer of quality control at the initial MS review stage. Since its recent introduction, only one case of suspected infringement has been identified in a submitted MS. In a recent development by De Gruyter Open affecting SEEJ, accepted MSs will automatically undergo plagiarism checks with CrossCheck software. ER currently lacks the resources to acquire such software and is not able to access such resources through affiliation to a larger organisation.

Discussion For a journal to attain market currency, that is, attract quality submissions and quality reviewers, and thereby break the ‘circle of inadequacy’ (Marušić & Marušić, 1999), targeted management policies are needed. From the perspective of an economics journal in BiH, applying extramural and ‘supranational’ criteria to benchmark journal quality and inform journal production procedures was indispensable. Without this extramural perspective, the editorial board of a local journal is unable to attain an objective view of the journal’s readership and its positioning in relation to other comparable journals within the sub-discipline. Information such as content usage statistics (e.g. article views and downloads) allows journal editorial boards insight into the journal’s reception in the academic community and the perceived value of its published research. Chronic underfunding of the research and development sector in BiH means that access to technology of this ilk is reliant on integration into broader research and publishing networks. Transnational resource pooling, in the sense of affording access to literature, technology or skills, is a strategy which helps scholars in less privileged contexts to lift the quality of their research output, while also enabling locally construed knowledge to enter mainstream research channels (Curry & Lillis, 2010; Lillis & Curry, 2010). In the case of SEEJ, this involved collaboration with the international publishing house De Gruyter Open which facilitated access to sophisticated, publication-related technology and targeting of specific AI databases. The experience of both journals in this study indicated that such integration increases journal exposure as evidenced by MS submission numbers and presumably also readership, without compromising the editorial board’s agentive role and autonomy.

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The place these journals accord to ‘language issues’ in submitted MSs also deserves comment. While some authors perceive their lack of ‘nativespeaker’ facility in English to play a deterministic role in their publication success (Clavero, 2010; Englander, 2006), it is revealing that both editors viewed language issues to be of relatively minor importance, well behind concerns regarding methodological faults or lack of novelty, and able to be addressed internally. The knowledge that criteria such as topic significance, study design and analytical strength will be prioritised in the MS review may instil greater confidence in authors’ perception of their ability to present their research. The availability of a language editor in each journal is evidence of a pedagogical component in the journal’s MS review and publication procedure. Interventions by such literacy brokers to raise the linguistic standard of MSs are likely to be of instructive value to authors and can serve as a reference when they compose subsequent texts. The findings in this study also underscored the gravity of the reviewer’s role in the journal’s quality control process and reiterated the importance of attracting capable reviewers. This has previously been recognised in relation to other disciplines and higher-tier journals (Coniam, 2011; Ligthelm & Koekemoer, 2009). Securing capable and reliable reviewers, however, can be particularly challenging for journals lacking prestige. Considering that one of the principle attractions of the unpaid and often laborious reviewing task is exposure to current research, it is perhaps unsurprising that reviewing tasks for journals known for quality research are perceived as more attractive. The unpredictable quality of reviewers’ reports has been noted across a range of journals and is not necessarily characteristic of lower-tier publications (Coniam, 2011). Consideration of how the benefits of the reviewer role can be made more tangible, which in turn would enable journal editors to enforce greater accountability and consistent quality in submitted reports, is beyond the remit of this study, however. From a broader perspective, participation in research-related activities through reviewing for, or publishing in, reputable local or regional journals is an important means by which academics in peripheral locations may maintain a research-active profile. The significance of this cannot be overestimated in a resource disfavoured environment such as that of universities in BiH. Difficult access to research resources, the most basic being current literature in the field, is a key factor which contributes to the challenge of undertaking research at the level required by high-stakes journals (Curry & Lillis, 2010). The interaction with journal editors and reviewers of reputable local journals such as the two in this study represents an important channel for building and maintaining the multifaceted skills which comprise ‘research expertise’, insofar as it provides opportunities for experience, observation and imitation (Wray & Wallace, 2011). For some authors, such interactions may constitute a rehearsal or training ground for future interactions with a transnational academic community.

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For most, this publishing experience is likely to have positive spin-offs for local university teaching and supervision duties, in the sense that these are more likely to be research informed and primed by recent practice.

Notes (1)

Following Hwang (2008), our understanding of the term peripheral academic contexts denotes those dependent on ‘core’ or ‘centre’ countries for knowledge creation. The academic ‘periphery’ is an important consumer of knowledge production emanating from ‘centre’ countries; it typically contributes to knowledge creation or extension through applying and adapting such production to its own context. As Hwang (2008) elucidates, this division does not neatly correspond to the developed–developing dichotomy, and nor does it necessarily reflect the level of a country’s investment in research and development. (2) According to demographic analyses conducted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, deaths as a consequence of the 1992–1995 war in BiH are estimated at 102,622 (civilian and military) (Tabeau & Bijak, 2005). (3) In 2014, BiH was 107 (out of 189 countries) in the World Bank’s Doing Business ranking, and was placed close to the bottom (24 out of 26) in the ‘Europe and Central Asia’ group (World Bank, n.d.). (4) For convenience sake, the term journal editor will be used henceforth rather than ‘representative of the journal’s editorial board’. (5) Since this interview, the figure has risen to 27 databases. (6) There is a market for ‘express’ publications and the internet has proved a ripe spawning ground for such dubious practice. This is attested by the existence of websites which present themselves as an academic journal and enable academics to ‘publish’ their work online; however, no editorial board or peer review process exists (see Butler, 2013; Hemmat Esfe et al., 2014).

References Bardi, M. (2015) Learning the practice of scholarly publication in English – A Romanian perspective. English for Specific Purposes 37, 98–111. Butler, D. (2013) The dark side of publishing. Nature 495 (7442), 433–435. Clavero, M. (2010) ‘Awkward wording. Rephrase’: Linguistic injustice in ecological journals. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25, 552–553. Coniam, D. (2011) Systematising system: One reviewer’s analysis of the review process. System 39, 539–553. Curry, M.J. and Lillis, T. (2004) Multilingual scholars and the imperative to publish in English: Negotiating interests, demands, and rewards. TESOL Quarterly 38 (4), 663–688. Curry, M.J. and Lillis, T. (2010) Academic research networks: Accessing resources for English-medium publishing. English for Specific Purposes 29, 281–295. Duszak, A. and Lewkowicz, J. (2008) Publishing academic texts in English: A Polish perspective. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7 (2), 108–120. Englander, K. (2006) Revision of scientific manuscripts by nonnative-English-speaking scientists in response to journal editors’ language critiques. Journal of Applied Linguistics 3, 129–161. Greenberg, R.D. (2004) Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and Its Disintegration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1982) Epistemological and methodological bases of naturalistic inquiry. Educational Technology Research and Development 30 (4), 233–252.

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Hemmat Esfe, M., Wongwises, S., Asadi, A. and Akbari, M. (2014) Fake journals: Their features and some viable ways to distinguishing them. Science and Engineering Ethics. See http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11948-014-9595-z/fulltext.html (accessed 4 October 2014). Hwang, K. (2008) International collaboration in multilayered center-periphery in the globalization of science and technology. Science, Technology and Human Values 23, 101–133. International Crisis Group (2014) Bosnia’s Future. Crisis Group Europe Report, No. 232. Kordić, S. (2010) Jezik i nacionalizam [Language and Nationalism]. Rotulus Universitas. Zagreb: Durieux. Langston, K. and Peti-Stantić, A. (2011) A language academy by any other name(s): The case of Croatia. Language Policy 10, 343–360. Ligthelm, A.A. and Koekemoer, E.M. (2009) Academic publishing: Lessons learnt from the Southern African Business Review. Southern African Business Review 13 (3), 28–50. Lillis, T. and Curry, M.J. (2010) Academic Writing in a Global Context: The Politics and Practices of Publishing in English. London: Routledge. Lillis, T. and Curry, M.J. (2013) English, scientific publishing and participation in the global knowledge economy. In E. Erling and P. Seargeant (eds) English and International Development (pp. 220–242). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Mann, S. (2011) A critical review of qualitative interviews in Applied Linguistics. Applied Linguistics 32 (1), 6–24. Marušić, A. and Marušić, M. (1999) Small scientific journals from small countries: Breaking from a vicious circle of inadequacy. Croatian Medical Journal 40, 508–514. Marušić, A. and Marušić, M. (2001) Good editorial practice: Editors as educators. Croatian Medical Journal 42, 113–120. Marušić, M., Mišak, A., Kljaković-Gašpić, M., Fišter, K., Hren, D. and Marušić, A. (2004) Producing a scientific journal in a small scientific community: An author-helpful policy. International Microbiology 7, 143–147. Mišak, A., Marušić, M. and Marušić, A. (2005) Manuscript editing as a way of teaching academic writing: Experience from a small scientific journal. Journal of Second Language Writing 14, 122–131. Petrić, B. (2014) English-medium journals in Serbia: Editors’ perspectives. In K. Bennett (ed.) The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing: Discourses, Communities and Practices (pp. 189–209). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Tabeau, E. and Bijak, J. (2005) War-related deaths in the 1992–1995 armed conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A critique of previous estimates and recent results. European Journal of Population 21, 187–215. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) See http://www.uis.unesco.org/Pages/default.aspx (accessed 10 January 2014). UNHDP (United Nations Human Development Report) (2014) Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. See http://www.undp. org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/hdr/2014-human-development-report. html (accessed 2 April 2014). World Bank (n.d.) Doing Business. See http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings (accessed 15 March 2014). Wray, A. and Wallace, M. (2011) Accelerating the development of expertise: A stepchange in social science research capacity building. British Journal of Educational Studies 59 (3), 241–264. Zerem, E. (2013) Right criteria for academia in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lancet 382, 128. Zerem, E. (2014) Academic community in a developing country: Bosnian realities. Medicinski Glasnik 11 (2), 248–251.

Part 3 English in the Media and Politics

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English, ‘Polyglot’ Politicians and Polyglot Businessmen: Language Ideologies in Contemporary Bosnian Press Adnan Ajšic´

Since the arrival of English-using United Nations (UN) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) peacekeeping troops in the early 1990s and the consequent post-war administration of the country by an Englishusing international conglomerate, as well as owing to the ongoing influx of the largely anglophone neoliberal capitalism, English has seen a surge in importance and interest in independent Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Thus, as a global language and, more importantly, the primary language of powerful outsiders, English quickly solidified its already dominant position as the foreign language of choice in prestigious domains, from politics to media to education. At the same time, paradoxically, with no ratified translations into the country’s official languages, BiH may be the only country in the world to have an English language constitution but no official role for English (see Ajšić, 2014; Buka, 2013). As a consequence of these developments, English has gained wide acceptance throughout Bosnian society and is a primary foreign language choice for anyone from prospective emigrants to academic scholars.1 During this same period, English also firmly established itself as the global lingua franca without historical precedent and (for the foreseeable future) without competition (Graddol, 1997, 2006). Surprisingly, however, despite the availability of an extensive critical literature on the globalisation of English (e.g. Blommaert, 2010; Canagarajah, 1999; Pennycook, 1998; Phillipson, 1992) and a vast literature on ideology (e.g. Eagleton, 1991; Thompson, 1984; van Dijk, 1998), little scholarly attention has been paid outside the anglophone and postcolonial worlds, and particularly from a quantitative or mixed-methods perspective, to the obviously important language-ideological issues emanating from the globalisation of English.

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This study thus aims to provide an empirical account of English-related language ideologies (i.e. conscious or unconscious, explicit or implicit beliefs about language) in the context of post-war BiH as a (somewhat) atypical ecology for global English. Focusing on media language as the principal domain for public discourses and ideologies (cf. Fowler, 1991; van Dijk, 1998, 2006), the study examines references to the English language in contemporary Bosnian press for evidence of language ideologies pertaining to English. To this end, a comprehensive 11-million-word corpus comprising news articles from five leading Bosnian-language publications from the period between 2003 and 2010 was compiled. Following recent developments in corpus linguistics (henceforth CL) and critical discourse analysis (CDA; e.g. Baker, 2006, 2010; Baker et al., 2008, 2013; Partington, 2010), the corpus data were subjected to a combination of quantitative corpus-linguistic analytical procedures (collocation, keyword and exploratory factor analysis [EFA]) and qualitative CDA analytical techniques (e.g. examination of discursive strategies such as topoi) to identify and describe dominant English language-related discourses and underlying language ideologies circulating in the Bosnian public.

Literature Review In order to understand how the present study fits into existing language ideology research, it is helpful to briefly recount the historical trajectory of language ideology research here. The question of language ideology, as Kroskrity (2004) notes, was neglected for the better part of the history of linguistics. Considered briefly by the leading figures of early 20th-century linguistic theory, it was quickly dismissed as inconsequential and relegated outside the scope of legitimate linguistic research. Thus, it was not until Silverstein’s (1979) seminal paper that language ideology began to return to focus, first of linguistic anthropology and later also of applied linguistics research. Following the oft-cited 1989 contributions by Susan Gal (1989) and Judith Irvine (1989), academic interest in language ideology surged during the 1990s with a series of conferences and publications, culminating in the 1998 and 2000 volumes titled Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory (Schieffelin et al., 1998) and Language Regimes (Kroskrity, 2000), respectively. Research in applied linguistics and particularly language policy and sociolinguistics soon followed suit (Blackledge & Pavlenko, 2002; Blommaert, 1999; Duchêne & Heller, 2007; Lippi-Green, 2007; Mar-Molinero & Stevenson, 2006; McGroarty, 2008, 2010; Ricento, 2000; Spolsky, 2009). Importantly, the resurgence of interest in language ideology in these two fields has been paralleled by similar interests in the field of CDA, where emphasis has been on the interplay between discourse and ideology in language-based analyses of power and domination in contemporary societies (e.g. Blackledge, 2005; van Dijk, 2006; Wodak & Meyer, 2009).

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Most recently, this interest has taken a methodological turn following synergistic developments in CDA and CL (for a seminal paper, see Baker et al., 2008) which resulted from the rapid development of CL and its application in an increasing number of areas of linguistics (for a comprehensive overview, see McEnery et al., 2006), as well as the response to methodological criticisms of CDA (Mautner, 2009; Meyer, 2001; Wodak & Meyer, 2009). As Baker et al. (2008) explain, a mixed-methods approach relying on both CL and CDA has a number of advantages, most important of which are triangulation, generalisability and replicability. However, the number of corpus-based or corpus-assisted studies that specifically focus on language-related discourses (i.e. more or less coherent systems of statements which construct an object of which they speak, e.g. language) and language ideologies rather than discourses or ideologies more generally (such as, for example, Baker et al., 2013) remains small. Similar to many qualitative studies of language ideology (e.g. Blackledge, 2002; Blommaert & Verschueren, 1998; Bokhorst-Heng, 1999; DiGiacomo, 1999; Kuo & Nakamura, 2005; Ricento, 2003), mixedmethods studies often rely on newspaper and, to a lesser extent, policy corpora as their main data sources (for an overview of data sources used in studies of language ideology, see Ajšić & McGroarty, 2015). Partington and Morley (2004), for example, rely on a 500,000-word corpus compiled from editorials published in seven English broadsheet and tabloid newspapers to identify and analyse frequent phraseology (cf. clusters below) in political debates. Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2009) uses corpora compiled from Arizona newspaper articles to compare the lexical overlap between discourses of language policies and immigration in this local context. Similarly, Vessey (2013a, 2013b) examines two sets of corpora of English- and French-language articles from Canadian newspapers for language ideologies and their links to discourses on national identity. Most recently, Subtirelu (2015) has used a corpus of 14 million online student evaluations of university instructors to examine language-related remarks made about instructors speaking English as a foreign language. Freake et al. (2011), on the other hand, study a bilingual corpus of English and French policy briefs submitted to a Canadian government commission on religious and cultural accommodation, while Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2011, 2014) bases her investigations of lexical variables as indicators of language ideologies on a 1-million-word corpus of language-in-education policy documents harvested from the Arizona Department of Education website. Most pertinently for our purposes, however, Ensslin and Johnson (2006) use a corpus of newspaper articles from The Times and The Guardian to investigate ideological representations of language and linguistics in the British press, ultimately focusing their follow-up qualitative analysis on the occurrences of the phrase the English language.

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Following the research tradition outlined above, this study seeks to answer the following research questions: RQ1: How do quantitative corpus-linguistic analytical procedures (keyword, collocation and EFA) compare in terms of their potential for the identification of English language-related discourses and ideologies in a corpus of mainstream Bosnian newspaper discourse? RQ2: What English language-related discourses and underlying language ideologies can be identified in mainstream Bosnian newspaper discourse from the period between 2003 and 2010?

Data and Method Data Similar to existing research (e.g. Ensslin & Johnson, 2006; Vessey, 2013a, 2013b), this study is based on a specialised corpus comprising newspaper articles containing the search term lemma JEZIK ‘language’ (i.e. jezik, jezika, jeziku, jezikom, jezici, jezike, jezicima). 2 The parent corpus used here is a comprehensive corpus of relevant articles (BOSCORP) from five leading Bosnian daily, weekly and biweekly newspapers and news magazines (Dnevni Avaz, Oslobođenje, Dani, Slobodna Bosna, Start). BOSCORP comprises 11,252,145 words from 11,592 articles from the period between 2003 and 2010. It was compiled using the following procedure. First, using the the Infobiro digital archive of the Bosnian press (Mediacentar Sarajevo, 2013) and its built-in search function and the search term ‘jezi*’, all articles containing any of the forms of the lemma JEZIK ‘language’ (as well as, perforce, those containing forms of the lemma JEZIČ[K /N]I ‘linguistic’) were identified. Second, a custom-written Python program was used to download and save all the relevant articles. After the corpus was thus compiled, a wordlist was created using the ‘wordlist’ tool in WordSmith Tools 6.0 (WST; Scott, 2014) and checked against the selection criteria (i.e. articles containing forms of the lemma JEZIK). Third, another custom-written Python program was used to identify all articles in BOSCORP which contained any of the lemma forms of the phrase ENGLESKI JEZIK ‘English language’ (using the search term ‘englesk* jezi*’), and these were then copied into separate folders to compile a sub-corpus pertaining to the English language (ENGCORP). This search identified 1,353 articles with a total of 1,209,898 words. Next, a wordlist was created for ENGCORP and checked against the selection criteria to ensure representativeness. Finally, both BOSCORP and ENGCORP were examined for errors (e.g. articles containing words that matched the keywords ‘jezi*’ and ‘engleski jezi*’ but did not otherwise match the selection criteria).

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Method As mentioned above, three distinctly different methodological approaches were used in the process of indentifying pertinent lexis and lexical patterns here. All quantitative analyses were conducted with the help of WST and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 21.0 (SPSS; IBM, 2012). The following is a brief explanation of the theoretical background and the relevant procedures and parameters.

Keyword analysis Keyword analysis (Scott, 1997, 2014) uses statistical techniques such as the chi-square and log likelihood tests to compare the difference between the observed frequency of a word in a corpus with its expected frequency, on the one hand, and the difference between that same word’s observed and expected frequencies in a larger, reference corpus, on the other. The result is a statistical measure of a word’s salience in the node corpus such that if the difference between the two sets of frequencies is statistically significant, the word is identified as key and given a keyness score based on the strength of the difference. A list of keywords calculated for a corpus (or a single text) thus suggests the ‘aboutness’ of that corpus, i.e. what a corpus (or text) is about. Keywords can be positive (when they are significantly more frequent in the node as compared to the reference corpus) or negative (when they are significantly less frequent in the node corpus). Whereas positive keywords suggest what a corpus is about, negative keywords can be used as an indicator of what may be missing from it. Keyword analysis has been used in a wide variety of discourse studies (see, for example, the essays in Bondi & Scott, 2010) to identify what characterises a certain text or corpus, as well as to look for differences between parallel texts or corpora. Although keyword analysis has been the object of criticism on several grounds and particularly for its dependence on the reference corpus chosen, it was used as a starting point here because it can provide a macroscopic discursive profile of a corpus. It has been suggested that a reference corpus needs to be at least five times the size of the node corpus (Berber-Sardinha, 1999). The reference corpus used here was the remainder of BOSCORP (8,275,378 words) after ENGCORP (1,209,898 words) had been subtracted (i.e. articles containing references to language but not the English language) and thus meets the size criterion. There are two principal advantages to this particular choice of reference corpus. First, items identified as key can be expected to be characteristic of discourses around English as compared to general languagerelated discourses, and second, because both corpora comprise newspaper register, the resulting keyword list will be free from items that characterise newspaper language in general. The analysis was conducted with the help of the ‘keywords’ tool in WST, using log likelihood (p (3) na engleskom jeziku ‘in the English language’ > (4) bosanskom i engleskom jeziku ‘Bosnian and English language’ > (5) na bosanskom i engleskom jeziku ‘in the Bosnian and English languages’ > (6) nastava se odvija na bosanskom i engleskom jeziku ‘instruction is given in the Bosnian and English languages’. A closer examination of the more semantically complete frequent clusters confirms some of the patterns identified earlier such as sets of items referring to translation (preveden na engleski jezik ‘translated into the English language’), higher education (na odsjeku za engleski jezik ‘in the English language department’, engleski jezik i književnost ‘English language and literature’), language proficiency (govori engleski jezik ‘speaks the English language’, poznavanje engleskog jezika ‘a command of the English language’), language learning (programa za učenje engleskog jezika ‘of program[s] for the study of the English language’) and, arguably, identity maintenance through binary oppositions (na našem i engleskom jeziku ‘in our and English language’, na bosanskom i engleskom jeziku ‘in the Bosnian and English languages’). Importantly, however, frequency alone seems to be of limited value here as many of the more semantically complete and therefore potentially more interesting clusters are found further down the cluster lists. For example, the cluster list for the form engleski includes a set of clusters referring to different levels of language proficiency which is potentially interesting in terms of language-ideological analysis (see above): tečno govori (engleski) ‘speaks fluent (English)’, ranks 22 (two-word) and 17 (three-word); odlično govori (engleski) ‘speaks excellent (English)’, ranks 43 (two-word) and 28 (three-word); and perfektno govori (engleski) ‘speaks perfect (English)’, ranks 70 (two-word) and 44 (three-word). But, as can be seen from the clusters’ respective ranks, they are not among the most frequent clusters identified. Conversely, many of the most frequent clusters, such as jezik i ‘language and’ (65 occurrences) and i engleskom ‘and (in) English’ (130 occurrences), are semantically incomplete and rather less informative. Cluster analysis, then, seems to provide little information beyond a confirmation of patterns identified earlier in the analysis.

Downsampling using the ‘plot’ function of the ‘concordance’ tool in WST As noted above, the final step in the collocation analysis section of this chapter was to downsample or identify a small number of representative texts for qualitative analysis (cf. Hunston, 2002). The results of the downsampling procedure described above are shown in Table 8.7. Again,

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as noted above, only the four top-scoring texts (one per lemma form) were selected for follow-up analysis.

Content summaries of articles selected for qualitative analysis based on raw frequency scores Article DI-04-05-2007 (Selimbegović, 2007) discusses the hiring practices at one of the most successful privately owned Bosnian companies, with an emphasis on the hiring of well-educated Bosnians holding degrees from (prestigious) foreign universities and having a fluent command of English and other foreign languages. In a nutshell, the author systematically juxtaposes home and abroad, associating educational and business success with stints abroad and proficiency in foreign languages, English in particular. Article ST-04-11-2003 (Filipović, 2003) is a commentary on the apparent attempts by several domestic and foreign contributors to Walter magazine to discredit the literary success of the Bosnian American writer Aleksandar Hemon, who writes mainly in English. In addition to the topos (i.e. explicit or implicit premise linking argument with conclusion) of inauthenticity of literature written in second/foreign languages, this text also juxtaposes the spheres of home and abroad, associating time abroad and proficiency in English with success and, as a corollary, a lack thereof with failure and backwardness. The third article, OS-03-11-2009 (O. M., 2009) reports on a successful English language training programme for members of the Armed Forces of BiH, part of a larger effort to join NATO. Also here, the central theme is the relationship between home and abroad, while English is associated with success. Finaly, article ST-20-10-2009 (Redakcija Starta, 2009) is an interview with the well-known Bosnian linguist Midhat Riđanović in which he opines on several language-related issues such as the Bosnian linguistic culture, language use in the Bosnian media, language policy in Bosnia, the lagging of local linguistic science, and English in Bosnia. Similar to the articles discussed above, this text juxtaposes home and abroad and equates the sphere of abroad and proficiency in English with success on the one hand, and localness and a lack of proficiency in English with failure and backwardness on the other.

Exploratory factor analysis Finally, let us look at the results of EFA which produces sets of collocates based on their co-occurrence. As shown in Tables 8.9 and 8.10, EFA yielded a four-factor solution with a total of 29 highly loading variables accounting for 40.57% of the total variance in the data. In contrast to EFA-based studies of distribution of grammatical features (e.g. Biber, 1988), there were no variables loading negatively on any of the factors. The identified factors were interpreted and labeled as follows: Factor 1: proficiency in foreign languages (to use, Spanish, perfectly, German, Italian, Russian, to know, to

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speak, foreign); Factor 2: published translations from foreign languages into Bosnian and vice versa (translation, Bosnian, published, version, French, edition, translated, book, to publish); Factor 3: language in higher education (department, professor, philosophy, Tuzla, students, faculty, instruction); and Factor 4: computer science and foreign languages (computer science, course, all, German, French, knowledge). It will be noted that the factors identified here indicate some general themes and discourses emerging from articles mentioning English and, in contrast to the findings in Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2011), are only suggestive of language ideologies. We thus see, in Factors 1 and 2, traces of a discourse of binary linguistic identities (Bosnian vs. foreign languages), a related discourse of discrete linguistic codes and associated monolingual ethnocultural identities (Bosnian, German, French, etc.) and a discourse of measurable language proficiency (e.g. perfectly). In addition to these, there are traces of a discourse of intercultural communication through translation (Factor 2), a discourse of foreign languages in higher education (Factor 3) and, arguably, a related discourse centering on computer science and foreign languages as indispensable in a knowledge economy. Although it is possible to deduce certain language ideologies already at this point, such as for example the apparent ideology of monolingualism, for a more complete language ideology profile a qualitative analysis of the most representative texts is necessary.

Downsampling using factor scores Following the procedure outlined above, factor scores were estimated for each of the 161 texts with three or more hits for the search term lemma ENGLESKI. Table 8.10 shows the five top-scoring texts for each factor. Only the four top-scoring texts (one per factor) were selected for qualitative analysis here. Similar to the four texts identified above, these texts are analyzed in detail below.

Content summaries of articles selected for qualitative analysis based on factor scores Similar to content analysis above, in this section we examine four articles with top scores on each factor. The top-scoring article on Factor 1 (proficiency in foreign languages) DA-09-12-2005 (Sinanović, 2005) discusses the ability of high-ranking Bosnian politicians to speak foreign languages. Although it is noted that some are proficient in various foreign languages, the overall assessment is negative (they are ironically referred to as ‘polyglots’) as their ability to speak foreign languages is deemed critical in the context of the country’s drive to join the European Union. English is explicitly treated as the most important foreign language (e.g. it is the only one mentioned in the title). The top-scoring article on Factor 2 (published translations from foreign languages into Bosnian and vice versa)

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Table 8.10 Texts with top factor scores (by factor and score) Factor 1 DA-09-12-2005 DA-11-07-2010 OS-16-09-2009 DI-23-12-2005 SB-19-07-2007

8.702 8.532 1.214 1.110 1.050

Factor 2 DA-29-03-2008 DA-12-08-2005 DA-03-03-2008 OS-27-04-2009 DA-13-09-2005

7.934 3.566 2.988 2.411 2.340

Factor 3 DA-28-11-2005 DA-21-07-2005 DI-30-05-2008 DA-12-01-2008 OS-02-10-2005

Factor 4 9.515 DA-03-08-2009 2.940 DA-29-03-2008 2.677 OS-03-11-2009 2.606 DI-22-05-2009 2.410 SB-10-07-2003

10.038 2.493 2.185 1.168 1.087

DA-29-03-2008 (FENA, 2008) reports on an effort to translate into Bosnian the French version of the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case BiH brought against Serbia and Montenegro for genocide. The French version is said to be ‘richer’ than the English one, a translation of which was already available. The top-scoring article on Factor 3 (language in higher education) DA-28-11-2005 (Hadžić, 2005) is a short vignette about the experiences of a visiting American professor teaching English at the University of Tuzla. The professor is quoted as saying that her students in Tuzla ‘are the best students I have worked with in my career so far’. Finally, the top-scoring article on Factor 4 (computer science and foreign languages) DA-03-08-2009 (DŽ. A., 2009) briefly reports on computer science and foreign language courses, among others, offered by the public library in the city of Zenica during the summer months.

Discussion This study set out to (1) compare three quantitative corpus-linguistic methodological approaches to the identification of language-related discourses and language ideologies (keyword, collocation and EFA; RQ1) and (2) identify and describe English language-related discourses and underlying ideologies in the mainstream Bosnian newspaper discourse (RQ2). The analysis proceeded by method (from keyword to collocation to EFA) and epistemological orientation (from quantitative to qualitative). The following sections discuss, first, the results of the methodological comparison; second, language-related discourses and ideologies identified through quantitative analysis; third, language-related discourses and ideologies identified through qualitative analysis; and fourth, the resulting overall language-ideological profile of English in the mainstream Bosnian press. The final section discusses the limitations and directions for future research.

Methodological comparison It was noted above that, while researchers have sometimes combined keyword and collocation analysis, no previous research has compared the two or combined them with EFA (see Ajšić, 2015 for a comprehensive study

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Table 8.11 Semantic fields and factors in ENGCORP (by prominence/significance) Keyword analysis Education and higher education United States

Collocation analysis Language proficiency

Government and foreign affairs Work

Computer science

Money Publishing

Discrete languages National identity Publishing Literature Pop culture/media Science Religion

Translation

Language instruction

Exploratory factor analysis Proficiency in foreign languages Translations from foreign languages into Bosnian and vice versa Language in higher education Computer science and foreign languages

from which this methodology derives). This is the first objective of this study. Keyword and collocation analyses identified 124 keywords and 183 collocates, respectively, grouped into several semantic fields, with a partial overlap. EFA, on the other hand, produced four factors, again with a partial overlap with the semantic fields identified by the other two methods. Table 8.11 shows all of the semantic fields and factors organised by method. Although there is some overlap between the results of all three analyses (semantic fields/factors related to higher education), it is clear that there are considerable differences as well. The difference is at its most obvious between the results of keyword analysis on the one hand, and collocation analysis and EFA on the other. Thus, semantic fields relating to the United States, government and foreign affairs, work and money are entirely absent from the results of collocation analysis and EFA. This is, of course, hardly surprising considering that EFA depends on a similar set of collocates to that used in collocation analysis. Despite the reliance on similar sets of collocates, however, collocation analysis and EFA also produced somewhat different results. Thus, semantic fields relating to national identity, literature, pop culture/media and religion identified by collocation analysis are either entirely absent or are much less prominent in the EFA results. In addition to semantic fields, differences are also apparent in the results of the different downsampling methods. Here, two sets of four entirely different articles were identified by collocation analysis and EFA.6 Further, it was shown that, beyond the triangulation of the results of collocation analysis, cluster analysis and pattern analysis can be helpful in the identification of patterns

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that are otherwise difficult to detect, such as the set of adverb collocates used as proficiency markers. Based on these observations, then, it seems reasonable to conclude that all of the employed analytical methods have certain advantages and can contribute to the overall analysis, particularly in terms of triangulation. Let us then examine the dominant discourses and language ideologies identified in this sample.

Dominant language-related discourses and language ideologies: Quantitative findings Based solely on the quantitative evidence, the lexical data suggest that references to the English language in the mainstream Bosnian press can be classified into several dominant semantic fields: higher education, language proficiency, translation and publishing, and discrete languages and ethnolinguistic identity. In addition to these, there exist marginal semantic fields pertaining to English and literature and popular culture and media, government and foreign affairs, business, science and religion. This evidence suggests conceptualisations of English in terms of an international ‘high’ variety reserved mainly for prestige domains such as higher education, government and foreign affairs, business and media. This is coupled with a very prominent discourse on language proficiency (e.g. adverb collocates indicating a cline of proficiency, Table 8.5), as well as discourses of discrete linguistic codes and ethnolinguistic identities, and intercultural communication. In language-ideological terms, then, the quantitative evidence seems to suggest a dominant ideology of monolingualism and the indispensability of English as the means of global communication in domains of consequence, as well as, paradoxically, the language of the ‘other’ which is routinely discursively constructed in terms of an implied binary conception of identity (e.g. naš ‘our’, rank 20 and svoj ‘own’, rank 37 vs. strani ‘foreign’, rank 42, Table 8.3). Moreover, there is the prominence of the American identity of English which in post-war Bosnia can be ascribed to the dominant role that the US has played in the country’s political life as well as global US dominance (cf. Ajšić, 2014). These results are congruent to a certain extent with Ensslin and Johnson’s (2006) findings based on a combination of keyword and discourse analysis. They identify four dominant semantic fields pertaining to English in the mainstream British press: individual languages and language varieties, education, media culture and a set of terms relating broadly to identity (Ensslin & Johnson, 2006: 160–161). Further, their collocation and concordance analyses of the patterning of the phrase ‘English language’ suggest a discourse of English as a monolithic standard, a discourse of folk linguistic commentary and endangerment of English, a discourse of commodification and prestige and a discourse of symbolic global dominance and triumphalism. The difference between these

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findings points to a conspicuous absence in Bosnian discourses around English: namely, that of threat or contestation (pervasive in discussions of global English), which suggests full acceptance and naturalisation of the dominance of English (albeit only as a means of communication with the outside world). The question, however, is what English-related discourses and ideologies can be identified from individual texts and to what extent do they correspond to the quantitative trends, to which we now turn.

Dominant language-related discourses and language ideologies: Qualitative findings One of the major goals of corpus-based discourse analysis, as noted above, is objective downsampling or selection of representative texts for in-depth qualitative analysis. In this study, two sets of representative individual texts were selected based on (a) frequency counts of the different forms of the node lemma ENGLESKI ‘English’ in individual texts and (b) individual texts’ factor scores. The content and discourse strategies in both sets of texts were summarised above. The qualitative analysis conducted in this section is based on topoi (explicit or inferable obligatory premises which make it possible to connect arguments with conclusions; Wodak, 2001: 72–74). One dominant topos was identified: a systematic albeit largely implicit juxtaposition of the spheres of home and abroad in which a foreign education and/or professional experience abroad and/or proficiency in English (and other languages) were consistently associated with both individual and societal success and progress, whereas a lack thereof was consistently associated with failure and backwardness. This topos was evident in all four articles in the first set, as well as the topscoring articles on Factors 1 and 3 in the second set. In line with the apparent naturalisation of English dominance, its position seems to be accepted by default and English is therefore rarely ideologised and explicitly thematised in metalinguistic terms in ENGCORP articles. This makes the traditional CDA approach based on the selection and close examination of one or several rich, illustrative examples problematic (cf. Blackledge, 2002). Indeed, the topos of juxtaposition is entirely implicit in four of the six articles in which it has been identified, and partly so in a fifth. The solution for in-depth qualitative analysis, therefore, is not necessarily to examine full texts, as has been the case traditionally, but rather to select illustrative excerpts from the articles identified as representative through quantitative analyses. Here, we will examine two such excerpts: one from the first set of articles (ST-20-10-2009, Table 8.7) and one from the second (DA-09-12-2005, Table 8.10). In a rare metalinguistic commentary on English in ENGCORP, linguist Riđanović is rather explicit:

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May I now add something you haven’t asked me? I am concerned to say that I believe the main reason we have been lagging behind in all kinds of areas is that we have a pitifully small number of people who have a high proficiency in English. In today’s world you cannot do anything at all without decent English. If you follow CNN, BBC, or Al-Jazeera, you will see, for example, that every Palestinian politician of any standing speaks fluent English. Why? Well, because they realize they cannot attain independence by way of arms, but might possibly be able to do so by way of negotiations. Now, negotiating through interpreters is much less effective than negotiating directly. I do not mean here that type of knowledge of English which suffices to order water at a restaurant, but that which makes it possible for you to communicate using standard English in order to attain some higher goal. Attaining such proficiency in English is an exacting, long-term endeavor and the typical Bosnian would sooner die than expend that much effort. This is why I am fully convinced that Bosnia has NO hope of progress WHATSOEVER. (Original emphasis, my translation) In this first excerpt, linguist Riđanović, at the end of an interview in which he was asked to discuss a variety of language-related issues, takes the opportunity to offer his opinion on an issue he had not been asked about by the interviewer but one which he obviously considers to be very important. He then proceeds to a diagnosis of the systemic societal failure in Bosnia, which he ascribes, somewhat hyperbolically, primarily to ‘a pitifully small number of people who have a high proficiency in English’, which is to say low English language standards. His argument is simple: (1) English is necessary for societal progress (‘In today’s world you cannot do anything at all without decent English.’) and (2) only a high proficiency in a certain variety of English is effective (‘I do not mean here that type of knowledge of English which suffices to order water at a restaurant, but that which makes it possible for you to communicate using standard English in order to attain some higher goal.’), but (3) attaining such proficiency is a difficult task and Bosnians are typically not interested in doing things thoroughly (‘Attaining such proficiency in English is an exacting, longterm endeavor and the typical Bosnian would sooner die than expend that much effort.’), so (4) Bosnian society is not likely to make any progress (‘This is why I am fully convinced that Bosnia has NO hope of progress WHATSOEVER.’). What we see here then is an apparent belief in language as a discrete code with a cline of possible varieties and proficiency levels (‘a high proficiency in English’, ‘decent English’, ‘fluent English’, ‘that type of knowledge of English which suffices to order water at a restaurant’), only one of which has value (‘that which makes it possible for you to communicate using standard English in order to attain some higher goal’), i.e. the standard variety.

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These are, of course, all classic elements of a language ideology of monolingualism based on a prestigious standard variety, which has historical origins in the West (see Bauman & Briggs, 2000). What is particularly interesting, however, is (a) the exaggerated assessment of the importance of English in Bosnian society and (b) the parallel Riđanović makes between Bosnia and Palestine. It is not unreasonable to talk of systemic failure in post-war BiH with its rampant corruption and severe poverty, but the more likely primary reason for this state of affairs, of course, is the recent war which left the country in ruins and the society divided along ethnic lines. The implicit comparison with Palestine, however, sheds some light on the logic behind the exaggeration of the importance of English. Similar to Palestine, Bosnia seems to have been drawn into an intractable, long-term conflict with the direct involvement of the US and other global powers. This means that decisive political power has lain outside of Bosnia itself which necessitates appeals to that power to be made in its language. Needless to say, the language of international diplomacy, regardless of the level of US involvement, is English. Hence, the need for ‘decent English’ as ‘negotiating through interpreters is much less effective than negotiating directly’. Finally, it is important to note here the implied negative assessment of the country’s political establishment, which, of course, is the one ‘negotiating through interpreters’ with, arguably, pitiful results. Somewhat similarly to the excerpt above, the author of article DA-09-12-2005 makes the main topos of juxtaposition (partly) explicit: A knowledge of one foreign language, above all English which has long been one of the basic means of communication throughout the world, is one of the requirements for political and diplomatic practice today. This rule, however, does not seem to apply to Bosnia and Herzegovina. […] Judging by their official biographies, none of the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina speak English. Sulejman Tihić does not speak any foreign languages. Borislav Paravac gets by in French, while Chair Ivo Miro Jović speaks German. The situation in the Council of Ministers [i.e. government] is somewhat better, but Prime Minister Adnan Terzić cannot speak any languages other than the mother tongue. He is joined by federal ministers Mirsad Kebo, Ljerka Marić, Dragan Doko and Safet Halilović, as well as entity Prime Ministers Ahmet Hadžipašić and Pero Bukejlović. Minister of defense, Nikola Radovanović, speaks Italian, Slovene and English, while Mladen Ivanić [minister of foreign affairs] speaks German and English. Bariša Čolak has a passive knowledge of German like his colleague Slobodan Kovač who knows Russian, while Branko Dokić speaks English. Of course, the question is whether these ‘polyglots’ are a sufficient basis for a country hoping to join European integrations. Moreover, interpreters serving our politicians almost on a daily basis are too

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expensive. […] The ‘polyglots’ in the parliament. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nikola Špirić speaks only his mother tongue, Martin Raguž gets by in English, while Šefik Džaferović gets by in German. Of the remaning 41 representatives, eleven cannot speak any foreign languages. In the House of Peoples, seven of the 15 representatives speak only local. How this is done elsewhere. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Croatian minister of foreign affairs, speaks perfect English, Spanish, and Portuguese, and gets by in Italian, German, and French. Similarly, [Croatian] Prime Minister Ivo Sanader communicates without problems in English, German, Italian, and French. In Serbia and Montenegro, President Boris Tadić speaks English and French, while Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica speaks German in addition to those two. (my translation) In this excerpt, we again see evidence of a matter-of-fact explicit acceptance of English (‘English […] has long been one of the basic means of communication throughout the world, [and] is one of the requirements for political and diplomatic practice today’), as well as the juxtaposition of home and abroad (‘This rule, however, does not seem to apply to Bosnia and Herzegovina’, ‘How this is done elsewhere’, ‘seven of the 15 representatives speak only local’) and a belief in language as a discrete code with a cline of proficiency levels (‘gets by in French’, ‘speaks German’, ‘has a passive knowledge of German’, ‘knows Russian’). Further, we see the same topoi of (1) English is indispensable (‘the basic means of communication throughout the world’, ‘one of the requirements for political and diplomatic practice today’), (2) only a high proficiency in standard English has value (‘speaks perfect English’, ‘communicates without problems in English’), (3) Bosnian politicians are (linguistically) inept (‘none of the members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina speak English’, ‘Of the remaning 41 representatives, eleven cannot speak any foreign languages’, ‘seven of the 15 representatives speak only local’) and that same conclusion that (4) there is little hope of societal progress in Bosnia while things are as they are (‘the question is whether these “polyglots” are a sufficient basis for a country hoping to join European integrations’). Note also that the same topos of externality of decisive political power is evident here, albeit referring to a different external locus of power (‘a country hoping to join European integrations’).

A tentative language-ideological profile of English in Bosnia Based on the quantitative and qualitative evidence presented in this study, it is possible to sketch a tentative language-ideological profile of English in Bosnia. As noted above, the quantitative evidence suggests conceptualisations of English as an international ‘high’ variety reserved for prestige domains, in addition to discourses of language proficiency, discrete

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linguistic codes and monolingual ethnolinguistic identities, and intercultural communication. Again, in language-ideological terms, the quantitative evidence seems to suggest a dominant ideology of societal monolingualism and the indispensability of English as the means of international/global communication. Further, as the prominence of the lexical set referring to the United States among the keywords in ENGCORP shows, despite its supranational aura English in Bosnia seems to be strongly associated with the United States.7 As might be expected, the qualitative evidence adds a degree of nuance to this macroscopic view of the language-ideological profile of English. The qualitative analysis of contents and discursive strategies revealed a dominant topos that can be described as a systematic albeit largely implicit juxtaposition of the spheres of home and abroad whereby a foreign education and/or professional experience abroad and/or a high proficiency in English (and other foreign languages) are consistently associated with both individual and societal success and progress, whereas a lack thereof is consistently associated with failure and backwardness. The discourse and ideology of endangerment attested elsewhere (Duchêne & Heller, 2007), then, are turned on their head so that it is English rather than Bosnian that is endangered by low standards and whose low standards are a danger to societal progress.8 Moreover, a close analysis of the two metalinguistically more or less explicit excerpts shows that proficiency in English, as a correlate of success, functions as a sort of litmus test in evaluations of individuals and groups, particularly those with power and influence such as politicians. This is corroborated by a similar discourse strategy in evidence in article DI-04-04-2007 (Selimbegović, 2007) which highlights the hiring practices at one of the most successful privately owned Bosnian companies, extolling the local hiring of well-educated Bosnians with degrees from foreign universities and a high proficiency in English (and other foreign languages). Finally, when juxtaposed, these articles arguably suggest a nascent neoliberal discourse of global vs. local (e.g. ‘seven of the 15 representatives speak only local’9; cf. articles in Shin & Sung-Yul Park, 2016), pitting the (attested) ineptitude of local politicians and the public sphere they represent against the private sphere of business and the (unexamined) success of globe-trotting English-using businessmen.

Limitations and Directions for Future Research Despite an effort to triangulate the findings by employing multiple methodological (keyword, collocation and EFA, CDA) and epistemological (quantitative and qualitative, macro- and miscroscopic analysis) perspectives, as well as an exhaustive data set (including all relevant articles from the given time frame), the language-ideological profile of English in Bosnia presented here must be understood as tentative. The primary

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reason for this is that manifestations of public language-related discourses and language ideologies are not limited to the press, but can be found throughout the public sphere. Furthermore, while the press is an excellent source of data on dominant discourses and ideologies purveyed by the elites, it is clear that it does not represent equally well what the linguistic anthropologist Paul Kroskrity (2004: 505) calls ‘practical consciousness’, i.e. the so-called ordinary people who, in the context of language ideology, tend to accept and naturalise dominant ideologies. In addition to this, there are further aspects of the language-related discourse that merit consideration such as, for example, its diachronic development or its possible correlation with political affiliation, but which are not considered here. Future research would therefore do well to consider data from other discursive sites such as various kinds of institutional documentation, popular culture and language-related discussions in social media. Also, consideration of independent variables such as time and political affiliation would provide further distinctions in our attempt to account for the totality of English language-related discourses and ideologies in Bosnia as well as elsewhere.

Notes (1)

With the possible addition of German with its colonial foothold, geographical proximity and a roughly 100-million-strong market. (2) Bosnian is a heavily inflectional language, which complicates a corpus-linguistic analysis of material in this language. In order to account for the totality of variation, a decision was made to include all lemma forms of all lexis considered in this study. This means that, depending on the goals of a particular analytical technique, lemma forms were sometimes considered as a set and sometimes separately. (3) All patterns identified using the different subtypes of collocation analysis were also subjected to concordance analysis for triangulation purposes. However, in contrast to many other studies which rely heavily on concordance analysis and base their discussions of findings on it, the results of concordance analysis were deemed to be insufficiently informative to be reported here, especially because the microscopic qualitative analysis was conducted on full texts and text excerpts. (4) The decision to include pronouns with lexical material stems from their potential importance for the construction of in- and out-groups (us vs. them) which has been shown to be an important discursive strategy (Wodak, 2001). (5) Note that the pattern function features the full original list of 298 collocates, including function words, as these cannot be easily removed from the concordance tool results. (6) Keyword analysis does not offer an obvious or effective way to identify a small number of representative texts for qualitative analysis. (7) Findings such as this cast some doubt on the claims of English’s independence of the inner-circle countries often made in the English as a lingua franca literature (e.g. Seidlhofer, 2011). (8) Arguably, both the sometimes implicit, sometimes explicit negative (self) assessments of Bosnia and Bosnians and the reverse discourse and ideology of endangerment suggest a kind of (neo?) colonial consciousness, not unlike that widely attested in many ‘anglophone’ postcolonial settings (e.g. Pennycook, 1998).

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Referring to the language spoken in BiH as ‘local’ here has a dual function. It is an economical way of refering to the language without using its unwieldy triple label (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian) or running the danger of offending someone or other by only using one of the three labels. Perhaps more importantly, it is a tonguein-cheek reference to Bosnian politicians, whereby the discourse of globalisation and the built-in binary difference between local and global are used to implicitly characterise them as ‘local’ and therefore third-rate.

Primary references DŽ., A. (2009, September 3) Ljeto u biblioteci za sve [Summer at the library for all]. Dnevni Avaz, p. 29. FENA (2008, March 29) Za dva mjeseca prvi prijevod presude MSP-a [The first translation of the International Court of Justice’s ruling will be available in two months]. Dnevni Avaz, p. 10. Filipović, N. (2003, November 4) Zašto Walter pokušava dezavuirati književni rad Aleksandra Hemona [Why Walter is trying to discredit the literary work of Aleksandar Hemon]. Start, p. 59. Hadžić, A. (2005, November 28) Moji studenti u Tuzli ruše sve predrasude o BiH [My students in Tuzla are breaking down all prejudices towards BiH]. Dnevni Avaz, p. 11. O., M. (2009, November 3) Kursevi engleskog jezika za blizu 800 pripadnika OSBiH [English language courses for nearly 800 members of the Bosnian Armed Forces]. Oslobođenje, p. 20. Redakcija Starta (2009, October 20) Od lingvističkih neznalica bukvalno mi se povraća [I am sick of language amateurs]. Start, p. 56. Selimbegović, V. (2007, May 4) Asini lavovi [The lions of ASA]. Dani, p. 32. Sinanović, L. (2005, December 9) Engleski ne zna nijedan od članova Predsjedništva BiH [None of the members of the Presidency of BiH can speak English]. Dnevni Avaz, p. 3.

References Ajšić, A. (2014) Political loanwords: Postwar constitutional arrangement and the co-occurrence tendencies of anglicisms in contemporary Bosnian. Journal of Language and Politics 13 (1), 21–50. Ajšić, A. (2015) Language Ideologies, Public Discourses, and Ethnonationalism in the Balkans: A Corpus-based Study (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ. (UMI No. 3705442) Ajšić, A. and McGroarty, M. (2015) Mapping language ideologies. In F.M. Hult and D.C. Johnson (eds) Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide (Chapter 16). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Baker, P. (2006) Using Corpora in Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum. Baker, P. (2010) Sociolinguistics and Corpus Linguistics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Baker, P., Gabrielators, C., Khosravinik, M., Krzyzanowski, M., McEnery, T. and Wodak, R. (2008) A useful methodological synergy? Combining critical discourse analysis and corpus linguistics to examine discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UK press. Discourse & Society 19 (3), 273–306. Baker, P., Gabrielatos, C. and McEnery, T. (2013) Sketching Muslims: A corpus driven analysis of representations around the word ‘Muslim’ in the British Press 1998–2009. Applied Linguistics 13 (3), 255–278. Bauman, R. and Briggs, C.L. (2000) Language philosophy as language ideology: John Locke and Johann Gottfried Herder. In P.V. Kroskrity (ed.) Language Regimes:

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Ideologies, Polities, and Identities (pp. 139–204). Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. Berber-Sardinha, T. (1999) Using key words in text analysis: Practical aspects. Direct Papers 42, 1–9. Biber, D. (1988) Variation Across Speech and Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Biber, D., Conrad, S. and Reppen, R. (1998) Corpus Linguistics: Investigating Language Structure and Use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Cortes, V. (2004). If you look at… : Lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks. Applied Linguistics, 25(3), 371–405. Blackledge, A. (2002) What sort of people can look at a chicken and think dofednod?: Language, ideology, and nationalism in public discourse. Multilingua 21 (2/3), 197–226. Blackledge, A. (2005) Discourse and Power in a Multilingual World. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Blackledge, A. and Pavlenko, A. (eds) (2002) Language ideologies in multilingual contexts [Special Issue]. Multilingua 21 (2/3), 121–326. Blommaert, J. (ed.) (1999) Language Ideological Debates. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Blommaert, J. (2010) The Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Blommaert, J. and Verschueren, J. (1998) The role of language in European nationalist ideologies. In B.B. Schieffelin, K.A. Woolard and P.V. Kroskrity (eds) Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory (pp. 189–210). New York: Oxford University Press. Bokhorst-Heng, W. (1999) Singapore’s speak Mandarin campaign: Language ideological debates in the imagining of the nation. In J. Blommaert (ed.) Language Ideological Debates (pp. 235–265). Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Bondi, M. and Scott, M. (eds) (2010) Keyness in Texts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Buka (2013) Ustav BiH i nakon dvije decenije samo na engleskom jeziku [Even two decades later the constitution of BiH remains available in English only]. See http:// www.6yka.com/mobile/novost/45279 (accessed 16 February 2015). Canagarajah, A.S. (1999) Resisting Linguistic Imperialism in English Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Chen, Y. and Baker, P. (2010) Lexical bundles in L1 and L2 academic writing. Language Learning & Technology 12 (2), 30–49. Cheng, W. and Lam, P.W.Y. (2013) Western perceptions of Hong Kong ten years on: A corpus driven critical discourse study. Applied Linguistics 34 (2), 173–190. Cortes, V. and Csomay, E. (eds) (2015) Corpus-Based Research in Applied Linguistics: Studies in Honor of Doug Biber. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DiGiacomo, M. (1999) Language ideological debates in an Olympic city: Barcelona 1992–1996. In J. Blommaert (ed.) Language Ideological Debates (pp. 105–142). Berlin/ New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Duchêne, A. and Heller, M. (eds) (2007) Discourses of Endangerment: Ideology and Interest in the Defence of Languages. London: Continuum. Eagleton, T. (1991) Ideology: An Introduction. London: Verso. Ensslin, A. and Johnson, S. (2006) Language in the news: Investigating representations of ‘Englishness’ using WordSmith Tools. Corpora 1 (2), 153–185. Fitzsimmons-Doolan, S. (2009) Is public discourse about language policy really public discourse about immigration? A corpus-based study. Language Policy 8 (4), 377–402. Fitzsimmons-Doolan, S. (2011) Identifying and describing language ideologies related to Arizona educational language policy. Doctoral dissertation. Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database. (UMI No. 3467048) Fitzsimmons-Doolan, S. (2014) Using lexical variables to identify language ideologies in a policy corpus. Corpora 9 (1), 57–82.

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Fowler, R. (1991) Language in the News. London: Routledge. Freake, R., Gentil, G. and Sheyholislami, J. (2011) A bilingual corpus-assisted discourse study of the construction of nationhood and belonging in Quebec. Discourse & Society 22 (1), 21–47. Gal, S. (1989) Language and political economy. Annual Review of Anthropology 18, 345–367. Graddol, D. (1997) The Future of English? A Guide to Forecasting the Popularity of the English Language in the 21st Century. London: British Council. Graddol, D. (2006) English Next: Why Global English May Mean the End of ‘English as a Foreign Language’. London: British Council. Gray, B. and Biber, D. (2013) Lexical frames in academic prose and conversation. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 18, 109–135. Hunston, S. (2002) Corpora in Applied Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. IBM (2012) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Irvine, J.T. (1989) When talk isn’t cheap: Language and political economy. American Ethnologist 16 (2), 248–267. Kroskrity, P.V. (ed.) (2000) Language Regimes: Ideologies, Polities, and Identities. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. Kroskrity, P.V. (2004) Language ideologies. In A. Duranti (ed.) A Companion to Linguistic Anthropology (pp. 496–517). Malden, MA: Blackwell. Kuo, S. and Nakamura, M. (2005) Translation or transformation? A case study of language and ideology in the Taiwanese press. Discourse & Society 16 (3), 393–417. Lippi-Green, R. (2007) English with an Accent: Language, Ideology, and Discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge. Mar-Molinero, C. and Stevenson, P. (eds) (2006) Language Ideologies, Policies and Practices: Language and the Future of Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Mautner, G. (2009) Corpora and critical discourse analysis. In P. Baker (ed.) Contemporary Corpus Linguistics (pp. 32–46). New York: Continuum. McEnery, T., Xiao, R. and Tono, Y. (2006). Corpus-Based Language Studies: An Advanced Resource Book. New York: Routledge. McGroarty, M. (2008) The political matrix of linguistic ideologies. In B. Spolsky and F.M. Hult (eds) The Handbook of Educational Linguistics (pp. 98–112). Malden, MA: Blackwell. McGroarty, M. (2010) Language and ideologies. In N.H. Hornberger and S.L. McKay (eds) Sociolinguistics and Language Education (pp. 3–39). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Mediacentar Sarajevo (2013) Infobiro. See http://www.idoconline.info/ (accessed 12 April 2016). Meyer, M. (2001) Between theory, method, and politics: Positioning of the approaches to CDA. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (eds) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 14–32). London: Sage. Partington, A. (2010) Modern diachronic corpus-assisted discourse studies (MD-CADS) [Special Issue]. Corpora 5 (2), 83–108. Partington, A. and Morley, J. (2004) At the heart of ideology: Word and cluster/bundle frequency in political debate. In B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (ed.) Practical Applications in Language and Computers (pp. 179–192). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Pennycook, A. (1998) English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routledge. Phillipson, R. (1992) Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ricento, T. (ed.) (2000) Ideology, Politics and Language Policies: Focus on English. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. Ricento, T. (2003) The discursive construction of Americanism. Discourse & Society 14 (5), 611–637. Schieffelin, B.B., Woolard, K.A. and Kroskrity, P.V. (eds) (1998) Language Ideologies: Practice and Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

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Scott, M. (1997) PC analysis of key words – and key key words. System 25 (2), 233–245. Scott, M. (2014) WordSmith Tools Help Manual. Version 6.0. Liverpool: Lexical Analysis Software. Seidlhofer, B. (2011) Understanding English as a Lingua Franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Shin, H. and Sung-Yul Park, J. (eds) (2016) Researching language and neoliberalism [Special Issue]. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 37 (5), 443–522. Silverstein, M. (1979) Language structure and linguistic ideology. In R. Clyne, W. Hanks and C. Hofbauer (eds) The Elements: A Parasession on Linguistic Units and Levels (pp. 193–247). Chicago, IL: Chicago Linguistic Society. Spolsky, B. (2009) Language Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Stubbs, M. (1996) Text and Corpus Analysis. London: Blackwell. Subtirelu, N.C. (2015). ‘She does have an accent but…’: Race and language ideology in students’ evaluations of mathematics instructors on RateMyProfessors.com. Language in Society 44 (1), 35–62. Tabachnick, B.G. and Fidell, L.S. (eds) (2007) Using Multivariate Statistics. Boston, MA: Pearson Education. Thompson, J.B. (1984) Studies in the Theory of Ideology. Cambridge: Polity Press. van Dijk, T.A. (1998) Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. London: Sage. van Dijk, T.A. (2006) Ideology and discourse analysis. Journal of Political Ideologies 11 (2), 115–140. Vessey, R. (2013a) Too much French? Not enough French?: The Vancouver Olympics and a very Canadian language ideological debate. Multilingua 32 (5), 659–682. Vessey, R. (2013b) Language ideologies and discourses of national identity in Canadian newspapers: A cross-linguistic corpus-assisted discourse study. Unpublished PhD dissertation. Wodak, R. (2001) The discourse-historical approach. In R. Wodak and M. Meyer (eds) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis (pp. 63–94). London: Sage. Wodak, R. and Meyer, M. (eds) (2009) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis. London: Sage.

9

The Impact of English on Language Use in the Bosnian Press Vildana Dubravac

Introduction Bosnian is both a language with a long history and a newly evolved language. While the early Bosnian literary language dates back to the 10th century, it was subsumed into the Serbo-Croatian/Croato-Serbian1 dialectal umbrella term during the 20th century, but re-emerged with a separate identity upon the foundation of the independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Since the establishment of the independent state of BiH, the Bosnian language has undergone a period of rapid change and state-sponsored standardisation. The strong international presence in many aspects of social and political life in Bosnia after the war, on account of the thousands of international employees in governmental and nongovernmental organisations stationed in Bosnia for extended periods, and the political and judicial oversight over affairs in Bosnia by the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and European Union bodies, constituted favourable conditions for the extended influence of English on the evolving Bosnian language. In comparison with other foreign languages in BiH, English stands apart as a nativised foreign language (Prčić, 2014); that is, in addition to being an obligatory school subject, it has gained additional domains of everyday use. Firstly, exposure to English through the internet, television or radio is inevitable. The ready audio-visual availability of English leads to another unique property – its dual (institutionalised and non-institutionalised) acquisition modes. Before they start learning English at school, many children pick it up through exposure in early childhood. English not only functions as a communicative resource, by filling linguistic lacunae in Bosnian, but it also supplements Bosnian in that borrowed elements may be used alongside Bosnian (with a translation), or they may replace Bosnian (with no translation).

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This chapter explores the impact of English on standard Bosnian as evidenced by language use in the Bosnian press. After the war, the Bosnian press was overseen by the OHR with a view to creating non-nationalist media. Unlike the broadcasting sector which virtually exploded after the war,2 the print media market has been considered undeveloped since ‘they were not in the focus of public attention and had less influence in wartime political propaganda’ (Udovičić et al., 2001: 15). However, the last 20 years have seen an increase in the number of newspapers; whereas in 1990 there were two daily newspapers published in BiH, Oslobođenje and Dnevne novine, currently, according to the Press Council of BiH, there are nine daily newspapers and more than 100 magazines. The readership of each paper is, however, limited since ethnicity plays an important role in reading patterns in BiH. The fact that newspapers based in one region of the country where one ethnic group is predominant are not read in other parts of the country or by other ethnic groups prevents print media from reaching a broader audience on the national level. Still, newspapers present a means of informing, educating and entertaining people in BiH, and they constitute a useful tool for promoting literacy. Since one of their roles is to uphold standard language, newspaper articles are considered a relevant focus for the present corpus-based study, which comprises texts from domains relating to domestic affairs: politics, sport, show business and advertising.3 This study examines the influence of English on contemporary Bosnian language use in a corpus comprising news articles from two prominent daily newspapers. The study addressed the following questions: (1) How great is the inflow of English words into Bosnian in this corpus? (2) Are some word classes more prevalent in borrowings? (3) How are loanwords adapted orthographically, phonologically and morphologically to the Bosnian language system? (4) Is the influence of English limited to the lexical level or does it extend to the morphosyntactic level? (5) Do English loanwords have a comparable presence across different domains? (6) Does the influence of English have a comparable presence in both newspapers? In addition, a survey was undertaken to inquire into the following: (1) To what extent do Bosnians understand the borrowed expressions? (2) To what extent do Bosnians find the use of loanwords natural when compared to the use of standard Bosnian words with equivalent meaning? (3) Are younger people more likely to understand borrowed expressions than older people?

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Literature Review Worldwide, English nowadays serves as a donor language. An ongoing flow of English loanwords into various languages has been noted in the case of French (Chesley, 2010), Japanese (Daulton, 2004; Takashi, 1990), Spanish (Morin, 2006), Greek (Oikonomidis, 2003), German (Onysko, 2004) and Chinese (Yang, 2005), to name a few. The influence of English on those languages is mostly seen on the lexical level, with borrowed nouns being particularly common. The main penetration of English words into Serbo-Croatian4 is concentrated around two periods. The first period was after World War II (Benson, 1967), especially after the 1970s (Horvat, 2005) when words were borrowed to denote new ideas, to fill lacunae in the lexicon (Filipović, 1990) and these words went through a process of adaptation on the orthographic, phonological and morphological levels, as they were integrated into the receiving language system: bestseler [bestseller], ček [check], dizajn [design], džip [jeep], gol [goal], kviz [quiz], piknik [picnic], sendvič [sandwich], triler [thriller] (Benson, 1967). Upon being integrated, they assumed the status of loan words (Filipović, 1997). The second period occurred from the early 1990s and was caused primarily by the massive international presence in the Balkans, in addition to the global popularity of English. The reasons for borrowing during this period are not only linguistic but also extralinguistic – English symbolised prestige and a modern lifestyle (Horvat, 2005). These ‘new borrowings’ are usually not fully integrated and are used in the receiving language as foreign words, retaining all the phonological features of the source language or as foreign loans, retaining some foreign features: bend [band], body art, boss, buking [booking], cash, dream team, face lift, happening, hard disc, jeans, jumbo jet, laptop, link, party, snowboard, šoping [shopping], timing. Of greater interest is the appearance of so-called pseudo-Anglicisms – words containing English elements but which do not actually exist in English in that form (e.g. Sa ovakvim uber cool odazivom i prijedlozima sve se ovo čini kao... loša ideja; sad svi imaju mišljenje o tebi da si ti jedna kewl osoba koja je jako zrela i pri zdravoj pameti) (Sočanac & Nikolić-Hoyt, 2006). Currently, the greatest influence of English on all languages previously comprising Serbo-Croatian has been noticed on the lexical level. The influx of English words has been identified in various domains: medical terminology (Gjuran-Coha, 2005); terms related to different jobs (Dobrić, 2008); sports (Milić, 2004); music (Kajtazović, 2012); and political discourse (Ajšić, 2014). These studies mostly dealt with the adaptation of borrowings on different levels (orthographical, phonological, morphological, semantic) to the receiving language system. The authors pointed out that a great number of words did not undergo changes and are used as foreign words (e.g. bypass, mobbing, office manager, art director, play off, MP3 player, soundtrack).

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Additionally, the orthography of borrowed words is inconsistent, since both adapted and unadapted versions of the same words are in use (e.g. mail and mejl; file and fajl). They also identified a number of calques, formed by literal translation of the English expressions: sound inžinjer [sound engineer], dance glazba [sound engineer], meč lopta [match ball], buyer tekstila [textile buyer]. Ajšić (2014) carried out a corpus-based study investigating the most frequent loanwords in contemporary Bosnian political journalism and compared collocational patterns in Bosnian and English. He detected many loanwords (e.g. agresija, eventualno, objektivno, referendum) and concluded that the political organisation of the newly independent BiH had given rise to new collocational patterns (e.g. Vijeće ministara, Republika Srpska, nacionalni interes, nacionalna stranka). A number of studies have investigated the role of the media in BiH in disseminating English words (Barbarić, 2011; Brdar, 2010; Dropić, 2013; Opačić, 2006; Runjić Stoilova & Pandža, 2010; Šehović, 2009; Šljivić, 2006). These studies point to the growing influence of English on language use in the media. Increasingly, English words are used which are not fully integrated into the Bosnian language, leading Opačić (2006: 6) to conclude that ‘The excessive use of English seriously disrupts the comprehension of media communication and easily results in misunderstandings’.5 English has especially permeated internet communication, as demonstrated by Vlajković (2010) who studied language use on Facebook. She suggested that due to the impact of English all words in some titles or headlines are written with capital letters (e.g. Liga Izuzetnih Dzentlmena u Saloon-u). The author also provided examples showing that young people are mixing the rules of two languages: they double the letters following English (e.g. prellepa si ovdee) and also freely use some letters from English not used in their mother tongue (e.g. w0limmm tee macxkice moa). Furthermore, she indicated that English words are usually used in their original form, not adapted to the receiving language system (e.g. dress ti je super). Only a few cases of adapted English words were identified (e.g. soooooo swit). Young people may even transcribe whole sentences (e.g. d fors iz vid ju jang skaj voker...khhhhh....bat juar not dzedaj jet...khhhhhhhh). Although grammar should be resistant to foreign influence, Vlajković noticed that in some cases foreign suffixes (e.g. dosta mi je notifications), compound adjectives (e.g. Katarina likes ovaj Doroti-u-zemlji-oz fazon) or structure preposition+infinitive (e.g. to je bio divan dan za živjeti) are used. The influence of English on the morphosyntactic level has also been acknowledged by others. In her scientific review, Drljača Margić (2009) identified compounds containing nouns instead of adjectives (e.g. bungee skok, web-stranica, pres-konferencija, online poslovanje); the omission of case endings in some foreign names and abbreviations: bestseler Dan Browna (instead of Dana Browna), predsjednik SAD (instead of SAD-a); and the use of incorrect prepositions following English norms: hvala ti za nešto (instead of hvala ti na nečemu) [thank you for something], u Excelu (instead of na Excelu) [in Excel].

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Maček (1991) pointed out the transitive use of some intransitive verbs influenced by English: šetati psa [to walk a dog] and Hudeček and Mihaljević (2005) identified structures consisting of superlative+ever: najbolja zabava ikad [the best party ever], instead of najbolja zabava na kojoj sam ikad bio/ bila. Previous work has also identified the appearance of relatively new structures, such as noun+noun sequences due to the influence of English (Drljača Margić, 2009; Šljivić, 2006). In Bosnian, premodifiers most usually appear as adjectives (lijepa djevojka), adjectival pronouns (svaki čovjek), adverbials (puno jada) or numerals (dva mjeseca), while prepositional phrases (tišina nad morem), genitive nouns (klub zastupnika) and a small number of proper nouns in the nominative case (bomboni Orbit) may appear in the postmodifier position (Šljivić, 2006). However, due to the increasing internationalisation of advertising and the entertainment industry, many examples of N1+N2 structures were identified in media language: foto sesija, horror film, antiage efekt, lifting efekt, Goodyear liga, VIP osoba, plasma TV, web stranica, hipi mama, dress kodovi. Šljivić (2006) concluded that the most productive N1+N2 examples were those related to a name (Giorgio Armani odjevna linija), location (BiH film festival) and institution (fitness centar). Previous studies analysed loanwords in one particular domain or across the media more generally. This study, in contrast, examines the impact of English as evidenced in four specific domains in two daily newspapers.

Methods Newspaper analysis Data for the analysis were gathered from 50 issues of two Bosnian daily newspapers: 25 issues of Oslobođenje and 25 issues of Dnevni avaz published between April and May 2014. These two newspapers are considered to be among those with the highest circulation (Jusić, 2004), although due to the inexistence of an independent media-watch agency and the fact that circulation data are considered a business secret, circulation figures are unavailable. The editorial concept of both papers is that of the family-oriented political daily paper (Jusić, 2004), although they target a different readership. Dnevni avaz is a mixture of newspaper and tabloid reporting, while Oslobođenje has a rich tradition of political journalism in BiH. Although once the leading paper, Oslobođenje lost its glory after the war, not being able to adjust to the changed post-war media market (Jusić, 2004). It is, however, still popular and respected among Bosnians. Language use in articles (related to politics, sport and show business) and advertising was analysed manually in the sections in the paper dealing with domestic affairs. Although a digital archive of print journalism exists in BiH, hard copies were preferred because the online database is incomplete

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Table 9.1 The number of analysed articles

Dnevni avaz Oslobođenje Both papers Total

Politics 240 271

Sport 199 254

Show business 33 81

511

453

114

Advertising 59 40 24 123

and omits many articles dealing with local sport and entertainment, as well as advertisements. The number of analysed articles is presented in Table 9.1.6 Since both newspapers have a strong focus on local politics, the high number of articles from this domain is unsurprising. Regarding advertisements, only those advertising local companies and events were analysed, while those advertising foreign companies (e.g. Toyota, Turkish Airlines, LG) were excluded from the study. Since many advertisements are repeated in different issues, the figures in Table 9.1 show only the number of different advertisements as found in different issues of both newspapers. Some advertisements (n = 24) appear in both newspapers.

Survey A survey, comprising three tasks, was carried out to investigate change in language use in Bosnia. Task 1 required participants to explain the meaning of 11 underlined borrowed words and expressions (stand-by aranžman, bilateralne konsultacije, CV, het-trik, stupidno, frontmen, cover, lajkuj, after party, involviran, inferioran) used in the sentences copied from the two analysed newspapers (see Appendix). The expressions are chosen from different domains, and are words of either high or medium frequency in the corpus, but are also commonly used in everyday communication. For every correctly explained expression, participants received a point.7 In task 2, the respondents were asked to evaluate the degree of appropriateness of certain formulations taken originally from English when compared to the formulations in standard Bosnian with equivalent meaning. The task required them to complete sentences choosing between two options: borrowed words (e.g. participirati, golgeter, floor) and standard Bosnian equivalents (e.g. učestvovati, strijelac, bina). Similarly, in the second part of task 2 (question 3 in the survey) participants were required to underline their preferred expression. The first item contained elements from English, while the second item was in standard Bosnian (e.g. Jazz Fest u Sarajevu or Festival džez muzike u Sarajevu). The Cronbach alpha coefficients for both tasks exceed 0.80, indicating that both tasks are internally consistent. The participants were 50 Bosnians of two different generations: 27 participants were between 18 and 30 (11 male and 16 female) and 23 were

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Table 9.2 Task reliability measures Task 1 (explanation) 2 (evaluation)

Items 11 15

Participants 50 50

Reliability α = 0.80 α = 0.82

between 50 and 65 (10 male and 13 female). At the time of the study, participants lived in one of the following three central Bosnian cities: Zenica, Sarajevo and Zavidovići, and they all voluntarily participated in the survey. Several factors were decisive in the choice of participants: they had to be native Bosnian speakers, not currently studying English or having previously studied it beyond school level, and they had to be either 18–30 or 50–65 years old. They completed the survey in the presence of the researcher in approximately 10 minutes.

Results Newspaper analysis The impact of English at the lexical level The analysis yielded the results according to which Bosnian in print media is characterised by a rapid inflow of English vocabulary, the adaptation of which is diverse, ranging from the absence of change, minimal change in form and meaning to complex changes. A total of 195 borrowed expressions were detected, out of which 66 (33.8%) were found in both newspapers, 66 (33.8%) only in Dnevni avaz and 63 (32.3%) only in Oslobođenje. The strongest impact of English is seen on the lexical level, with the greatest number constituting borrowed nouns (n = 151), followed by adjectives (n = 33) and verbs (n = 10), while of all other word classes only one preposition was noticed (vs). Tables 9.4 and 9.5 display borrowed expressions detected in the two analysed newspapers, nouns and other word classes, respectively. The borrowings are classified into three groups: high frequency (HF) words, if they appear in more than six different articles, medium frequency (MF) words if they appear in three to six different articles and low frequency (LF) words if they appear in fewer than three articles. The words are included in the tables as borrowings from English if different sources (e.g. Anić et al., 2002; Čedić, 2008) confirm this. However, some words included here entered Bosnian due to English influence, despite not originally coming from English (adjectives: transparentan, restriktivan, bilateralan, memorijalni, inferioran; verbs: involvirati, participirati, inicirati; nouns: transparentnost; preposition: vs). The words in Tables 9.4 and 9.5 are also classified according to the domain in which they appeared. Although the majority of articles were from the domain of local politics (see Table 9.1), this was not the domain

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with the greatest number of borrowings (see Table 9.3). Considerably more numerous were borrowings in the domains of show business and advertising, suggesting that these domains are more prone to borrowing. In the transition from foreign words to loanwords an important stage should be the adaptation of English words in sound and spelling to the features of Bosnian. Interesting is the lack of uniformity when it comes to the use of the same words in the two newspapers. Some nouns used in Dnevni avaz have been assimilated in both sound and spelling to the features of Bosnian (stejdž, het-trik, džez, plej-of, brejk, šou), while appearing unmodified in Oslobođenje (stage, hat-trick, jazz, play-off, break, show). This inconsistency suggests that the adaptation of these words is still in process. Although in Dnevni avaz there is a greater tendency to adapt the words to the Bosnian language system that is not the rule, since many unadapted HF words were found (e.g. show biz, shop, charter). Generally, verbs are usually adapted on the orthographical, phonological and morphological levels: lobirati [lobby], lajkovati [like]. However, the verb downloadirati is adapted only on the morphological level, while LF verbs buy and surf are used in their original form. The analysis of adjectives and nouns provided similar results. Many are used unadapted to the features of Bosnian: unplugged, all-inclusive, topless, antifashion, pick-and-roll (igra), after party, soundtrack, talk show, smartphone. This is especially characteristic of LF words, suggesting that for the time being they are used as foreign words, and that their adaptation will take place once they start being used more often. Most HF and MF words are used as foreign loans or loanwords, being modified on phonological, orthographical and morphological levels: budžet [budget], lider [leader], rejting [rating], singl [single], golgeter [goal getter], finiš [finish], biznis [business], stupidna (ideja) [stupid], or at least on the morphological level: (na) mainstageu, (u) shopu, (tri) floora, (na) YouTubeu, (na) smartphonu. Surprisingly, some HF words (Facebook, YouTube, fax) are not assimilated to the Bosnian language system. This might be explained by the fact that the media provide considerable exposure to the original forms to the extent that adaptation is perceived as unnecessary. The unadapted Table 9.3 The number of borrowed words in different domains Politics HF MF LF Total Total

Sport

N

V

Adj

N

V

Adj

8 6 10 24 36

1 2 1 4

2 3 3 8

15 8 9 32 43

0 2 0 2

3 4 1 8

Show business Prep 1 1

Advertising

N

V

Adj

N

V

Adj

15 12 28 55 68

1 0 0 1

1 4 7 12

8 9 23 40 48

1 0 2 3

0 2 3 5

Note: N = noun; V = verb; Adj = adjective; Prep = preposition; HF = high frequency words; MF = medium frequency words; LF = low frequency words.

biznis (Da, O) budžet (Da, O) internet portal (Da, O) lider (Da, O) pres-konferencija (Da, O) rejting (Da, O) stand-by aranžman (Da, O) tranfer (Da, O)

CV (Da) inžinjering (Da, O) lobiranje (Da) menadžment (Da) pres-centar (Da) tender (Da)

HF

MF

Politics

Table 9.4 Borrowed nouns Sport

bek štuer (O) brejk (Da)/break (O) fer-plej (Da) futsal (Da, O) het-trik (Da)/hat-trick (O) menadžer (Da) miting (Da) respekt (O)

derbi (Da, O) dres (Da, O) finiš (Da, O) gol (Da, O) golman (Da, O) golgeter (Da, O) kup (Da, O) liga (Da, O) meč (Da, O) ofsajd (Da) plejmejker (Da) plej-of (Da)/play off (O) rejting lista (Da) start (Da, O) tim (Da, O)

Show business

after-party (Da) cover (O) CD (Da, O) floor (O) internet (Da) mix/miks (O) pop (O) pop-rok (O) pub (Da) remiks (Da) Talk show (Da) smartphone (Da, O)

bend (Da, O) DJ (Da, O) džez (Da)/jazz (O) Facebook (Da, O) fan (Da, O) fest (Da, O) frontmen (Da, O) hit (Da, O) jet set (Da) mastering (Da, O) singl (Da, O) stejdž (Da)/stage (O) show-biz (Da) You Tube (Da, O) android (Da, O) DVD (O) Facebook (O) internet (O) leasing (Da) mix (Da) portal (Da) relaxiranje (Da) shop (Da, O)

(Continued)

Advertising charter (Da) e-mail (Da, O) fax (Da, O ) lajkovi (Da, O) sms (Da, O) supermarket (Da, O) vikend (Da, O) YouTube (Da, O)

The Impact of English on Language Use in the Bosnian Press 211

air-traktor (O) breaking news (Da) darling (O) e-uprava (O) grant (O) insajder (Da) kontejner (O) monitoring (O) overdraft (O) transparentnost (O) bench press (O) dubl (Da) limit (O) nokaout (O) pick-and-roll (O) powerlifting (O) skalp (O) singl (Da) starter (O) antifashion (O) beatbox performans (Da) bekstejdž (Da) bluegrass (O) body-building (O) club (O) country (O) download (Da) fank (Da) gospel (O)a hip hop (Da) hip hoper (O) hip hoper (O) headliner (O) lider (Da) mail (O) multiplex (O) mainstage (O) make up team (O) outfit (O) punk (Da, O) quad-copter (Da) remiks (Da) reunion (Da) sitcom (Da) spa (O) stand up comedy (O) technostage (O) wellness (O)

bingo (Da, O) brand (Da) bus (Da) city (Da, O) family (O) fan shop (Da) fitness (O) Happy Hour (Da, O)b joker (Da) koktel (O) lot (Da) pepper sprej (Da) publishing (O) ski (O) video (O) Shopping Night (Da, O) SMSanje (O) S.O.S telefon (Da) surfanje (O) transfer (Da)

Note: Da = Dnevni avaz; O = Oslobođenje; HF = high frequency words; MF = medium frequency words; LF = low frequency words.aA type of music. b The name Happy Hour in Oslobođenje is used by one petrol station to denote the time from 4pm to 6pm when you can buy petrol cheaper than usual.

LF

Table 9.4 (Continued)

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Table 9.5 Borrowings from other word classes

HF

V

Politics lobirati (Da, O)

Adj

bilateralan (Da, O) relevantan (Da)

golgeterski (Da, O) demo (Da, O) liderski (Da) memorijalni (Da)

inicirati (Da, O) participirati (Da, O)

lobirati (Da) respektirati (Da, O)

V

MF Adj

Sport

fer (Da) involviran (Da, O) inferioran (Da) stupidan (Da) transparentan (Da, O) on line (Da) startna (Da) vs (O)

Show business Advertising downloadirati (O) lajkovati (O)

miksan (Da, O) masteriziran (Da, O) online (Da, O) top (Da)

buy (O) suf/sufaj (O)

Prep V

LF

Adj

international (Da, O) limitirano (Da)

resetovati (Da) cool (O) ekspresan (O) restiktivan (Da)

final (Da, O)

ekspresno (Da) topless (O) fer (O) instant (Da) prepaid (O) smart (Da, O) ultra (O)

all-inclusive (Da) cool (Da) fancy (Da)

Note: Da = Devni avaz; O = Oslobođenje; V = verb; Adj = adjective; Prep = preposition; HF = high frequency words; MF = medium frequency words; LF = low frequency words

expressions are mostly found in the areas of show business and advertising, which again appear to be more receptive to foreign influence than sport and politics. These two domains are also marked by a greater number of English words used as foreign words in the names of some events, places and institutions (see Table 9.68). Although Bosnian equivalents exist, English words are used to sound more prestigious and stylish and the two languages may be combined within the same expression. In these instances, English norms are followed and all words are capitalised.9 English words in these names are not modified on the orthographical level to the Bosnian language system and they are also pronounced following English pronunciation, which might be attributable to the originators’ wish to transmit the idea of a modern, fashionable lifestyle. In contrast, the political domain is marked by the use of loan translations or calques (see Table 9.7), involving English two- or three-word phrases adapted on the phonological, orthographical and morphological level to

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Table 9.6 The use of English foreign words in titles Politics BiH Demining (Da) Doing Business lista (O) Gama Demining (Da) Transparency International BiH (Da)

Sport

Show business

Advertising

Banja Luka Opena (O) Fair Playb (O) Final Four (O) Football Friends Ilidžac (O) Hercegovina Classicd (O) Olympic Day (Da) Play- Offe (Da, O) Zenica Openf (O)

City Pub (O) / pub (Da) Colloseum Club (O) Demofest (O) Jazz Fest u Sarajevu (O) Mostar Summer Fest (Da, O) Sarajevo Guitar Fest (O) Sarajevo Beer Fest (Da) Sarajevo Sevdah Fest (Da) 72 sata Summer Fest (Da)

Avaz Tower Running (Da) Branding Conference (O) Cinema City (O) City Deal (O) Sarajevo peace event (O) Sarajevo City Center (O) Tobacco Press (O) Winx Club DVD (O)

Note: Da = Dnevni avaz; O = Oslobođenje a

An international karate tournament.

b

The school of football.

c

A football tournament.

d e f

A cycling race.

A basketball team.

An international karate tournament.

Bosnian. Their appearance might be explained by the massive international presence in BiH and the involvement of institutions such as the OHR in running the country. Phrases commonly used by the international community have been assimilated into the vocabulary of local politicians and media. Since their meaning is not always clear in Bosnian, they might also be used by politicians as a strategy to avoid transparency.10 The reasons for borrowings include the desire to sound more prestigious, to transmit the idea of a modern lifestyle or to denote new concepts. The first two reasons might be cited in the case of all borrowings which are doublets of the standard Bosnian words: floor – pozornica, stupidna – glupa, shop – prodavnica, finiš – završnica, završetak. The third might be set out in the case of all names of new concepts brought about by the global world culture for which a Bosnian synonym does not exist: instant, DJ, šou, imidž, smartphone, YouTube, Facebook, to name a few. Whether to name new concepts or to sound more stylish, the phenomenon of code-mixing is

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Table 9.7 Loan translations in the political domain Bosnian antikorupcijski kapacitet bilateralne konsultacije ekspertna grupa emisija trezorskih zapisa euroatlanske integracije globalna investicijska kompanija institucionalna represija izborni inžinjering kapitalno ulaganje multikulturalna inicijativa politički inžinjering strukturalni dijalog vitalni interesi vizna liberalizacija

English Anticorruption capacity Bilateral consultations Expert group Emission of treasury bills Euroatlantic integration Global investment company Institutional repression Electoral engineering Capital investment Multicultural initiative Political engineering Structured dialogue Vital interests Visa liberalisation

clearly frequent in contemporary BiH journalism across different domains (in the following examples, borrowings appear in italics). Example 1 1(a) on je sve vrijeme, darling, međunarodne zajednice (O) 1(b) ovakve odluke u mom životusu bile uvijek breaking news (Da) 1(c) bosanske teme u bluegrass maniru – izvode američku bluegrass, country, gospel and pop muziku (O) 1(d) Pod motom: 100% kinđur! No kinđur, no ulaz! (O) 1(e) Kuhanje je opet in (Da, O) 1(f) Budi uvijek online (O) 1(g) volontiranje je cool (O) Although code-mixing is present in different domains, it seems most prominent in advertising and is likely used with the intention of attracting readers’ attention (see Example 2(a–d)). From a linguistic perspective, Example 2(b) is interesting, since the word which exists neither in English nor in Bosnian (hoby) is used. In English it would be hobby, and in standard Bosnian the form ho+bi is used. Example 2 2(a) Bonito – fancy, cool, international and naš (Da) 2(b) Profesionalni i hoby alat (Da)

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2(c) Baby ski liftovi (O) 2(d) …za jednu od Super ili Super Family tarifa; Buy and Surf akcija; Buy and Surf tarifa; Ultra Smart; Moja porodica (prepaid članovi) (O)

The impact of English at the morphosyntactic level The infiltration of the English language into Bosnian is not only seen on the lexical level but also on the morphosyntactic level. This impact has been noticed in three aspects: the use of English affixes, compound nouns and the omission of case endings, all foreign to the Bosnian language system. At the level of morphology, an increasing use of nouns featuring morphological elements not found in Bosnian may be identified. This refers to the use of foreign suffixes -ing (leasing, mastering, monitoring, publishing), -er (hip hoper, reper, lider, headliner, menadžer) and also to the use of foreign prefix e- (e-uprava). Another aspect of the inflow of English into Bosnian is seen in the increasing number of N1N2(N3) structures, not used in Bosnian but very common in English. These structures are especially popular in the names of places and events (see Table 9.6), where usually two or more English words are combined. However, the same trend is followed with standard Bosnian words (see Table 9.8). In these structures, usually one part of the name is a loanword and the other a standard Bosnian word (e.g. Facebook stranica, jazz pjevač, koktel hljeb, SMS mali oglas, Sarajevo biznis forum, stand-up večer), but in a few examples both standard Bosnian words are combined (Klas centar, skok igra, Sarajevo osiguranje). In standard Bosnian these structures would sound rather like a combination of adjectives and nouns (e.g. Sarajevski poslovni forum) or they would be paraphrased (e.g. igra koju karakterišu skokovi, stranica na Facebooku, pjevač džeza). The impact of English in formulating institution and event names is also seen in two more aspects. The first is illustrated in Example 3(a) and (b), where the full names and the acronyms of two institutions are presented. While in the full name, standard Bosnian words are used, the acronym is formed following the English translation. The second aspect concerns the tendency to use capital letters in the names of some events even with standard Bosnian words (see Example 3(c) and (d)). Example 3 3(a) Svjetska karate unija (IKU) [International Karate Union] (Da) 3(b) Centar za ukidanje mina (BiH MAC) [Mine Action Center] (Da) 3(c) Svjetski Dan komšija (O) 3(d) Međunarodni Dan Turizma (O) In addition to the use of English affixes and English noun formation, the omission of case endings in a few examples might be explained by

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Table 9.8 Compound nouns (N1 N2) Politics EU integracije (Da, O) overdraft kredit (O) stand-by aranžman (Da, O) Sarajevo biznis forum (Da)

Sport

Show business

Advertising

Fed kup (O) Futsal kup BiH (Da) gol razlika (O) plej-of serija (Da) rejting lista (Da) revanš meč/finale (O) revanš susret/ utakmica (Da) skok igra (Da)

demo grupa (Da) demo scena (O) DJ scena (Da) džez priča (Da) jazz pjevač (O) pank bend (Da) pank pjevač (Da) pop pjevač (Da) stand-up večer/ komičar (Da, O) wellness spa verzija (O)

android aplikacija/ telefon (O) Auto shop magazin (O) baby ski liftovi (O) bus transfer (O) fitness studio (O) Facebook stranica (O) joker kupon (Da) kafe bar (O) Klas Centar (Da) koktel hljeb (O) koktel pecivo (O) Mastercard kartica (O) Maestro kartica (O) NLB krediti (Da) NLB nagradna igra (O) poklon set (Da) paket aranžman (O) Sarajevo/Asa osiguranje (O) Skenderija shop (Da) SMS mali iglasi (Da) SMS takmičenje (Da) trim cabinet (O) vikend akcija (O) vikend cijana (O)

Note: Da = Dnevni avaz; O = Oslobođenje

the influence of English. In Bosnian, case endings are added to all nouns, including most abbreviations and acronyms. Example 4(a)–(d) suggests a more relaxed attitude towards this rule, perhaps due to the influence of English. Without case endings in Bosnian, SAD, RS and FACE TV might be interpreted as the names of the institutions rather than nouns used in the genitive case. The forms expected to be used in the following examples are: SAD-a, RS-a, Face TV-a. On the other hand, in a similar context the nouns SAD and RS are used with case ending in Oslobođenje (see Example 5(a) and (b)). Example 4 4(a) general vojske SAD (Da) 4(b) komandant nacionalne garde SAD (Da)

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4(c) premijerka RS Željka Cvijanović (Da) 4(d) u centralnom dnevniku FACE TV sa Senadom Hadžifejzovićem (Da) Example 5 5(a) vlada RS-a (O) 5(b) predsjednik SAD-a (O) As can be seen, English seems to exert a great influence on the language use in the Bosnian press on different levels in different domains. The following section examines whether the readers fully understand those words and expressions and perceive their use to be natural.

Survey analysis The analysis of task 1 of the survey showed that participants did not demonstrate great knowledge of the target expressions (M = 49.40%, SD = 25.34), although being frequently used in the Bosnian press. Especially weak knowledge was demonstrated of the expressions used in political discourse. Only a few respondents explained the term stand-by aranžman (18%), although the word appears with very high frequency in the print media. Some of the explanations were: kredit (loan), mirovanje (inaction), pomoć (help), konstantan kredit (constant loan), pauza (break), održavanje u životu BiH građana (keeping Bosnian people alive) and pasivni kredit (passive loan). This indicates that people do not understand the term, but guess the meaning from the context in which the expression is used. The greatest number of participants correctly explained the meaning of the words lajkuj (66%), frontmen (66%) and CV (62%). While explaining the word lajkuj, participants attempted to find one verb in Bosnian which would express the meaning of the loanword, using examples such as voli (love), sviđaj (verb sviđati in Bosnian is a reflexive verb, so this form does not exist, but is used following the English form), označi (mark). The word cover (version of a song) received the lowest percentage of correct explanations (8%), which might be due to the lesser importance of the music industry in these participants’ lives. As expected, younger people (M = 59.26%, SD = 22.18) provided better explanations of the target words than older people (M = 37.18%, SD = 24.30). An independent samples t-test showed that the difference between the performance of the two groups is statistically significant (t(48) = 3.26, p implementacija/provedba/ sprovedba, civil > civilni/građanski, local > lokalni/domaći, leader > lider/ vođa, bilateral > bilateralan/obostran, administration > administracija/ uprava, harmonization > harmonizacija/usklađivanje; (b) a dual use of the translation equivalents understood as synonyms, but resulting in a confusing translation: social >social responsibility> (?) socijalna odgovornost or društvena odgovornost; national > national security > (?) nacionalna sigurnost or državna sigurnost; (c) a frequent use of more than one translation equivalent for the same concept, for example: politika > politics/policy ,odgovornost > accountability/ responsibility/liability, obaveza > request/obligation, tijelo > body/authority, nadležnost > power/authority, usklađivanje > harmonization/compliance, upravno tijelo > administrative body/body of administration, dokaz > evidence/ proof, državni > national/state, uprava > administration/management, odjel > department/unit/office, samostalne službe > independent/autonomous services, regulisana (posebnim propisima) > regulated/prescribed (by special regulations/laws), izrada (odgovarajućih zakona i propisa) > drafting/creating (relevant legislation/laws/regulations), iz nadležnosti > within the remit/scope competence of; (d) the use of the phrases which are the consequence of word-byword translation from English: transitional provisions > *tranzicijske odredbe (instead of prijelazne odredbe), administrative silence > *upravna šutnja (instead of šutnja administracije), animal breeding > *animalni uzgoj (instead of uzgoj životinja), invalid association > *invalidno udruženje (instead of udruženje invalida), electoral constituency > *izborna konstituenca (instead of izborna jedinica), consolidated text > *konsolidirani tekst (instead of prečišćeni tekst), inaugural session > *inauguralna sesija (instead of konstituirajuća sjednica), classified data > *klasificirani podaci (instead of povjerljivi podaci), legal entity > *pravni entitet (instead of pravni subjekt, pravno lice) rehabilitation of roads > *rehabilitacija puteva (instead of sanacija puteva).

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From Post-Dayton to the ‘Brussels Era’ The process of European integration (or Europeanisation23) has led to greater awareness of the importance of language in post-Dayton BiH legislation. BiH signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (hereinafter ‘SAA’) in 2008, but still has not attained the status of a candidate country. In February 2016, BiH officially requested to join the European Union by submitting its application.24 However, BiH is currently in the phase of starting to implement reforms, although these have been hindered by political disagreements and failure to reach consensus. However, in 2015 the PA of BiH adopted the Joint Statement on Reform Commitment in the EU Accession Process, thus officially recognising the willingness of leading parties to undertake economic and social measures to build a functional market economy, as well as to implement measures in order to strengthen the rule of law, the reconciliation process and administrative capacities, enhancing also the efficiency of the institutions at all levels. In terms of dealing with linguistic issues, even before signing the SAA (2008), the PA of BiH adopted the Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting in the Institutions of BiH (2005). This established, for the first time since the creation of post-Dayton BiH, a legal framework for legislative drafting at the state level in, order to respond adequately to the forthcoming challenges brought by BiH accession to EU. This act comprises 83 articles prescribing general nomotechnical legislative drafting techniques in terms of structure, organisation, style and grammar, defining also the procedures in performing legislative drafting tasks. In addition, Article 81 provides for the establishment of the Commission for Linguistic Policy in Legislation of BiH25 (hereinafter ‘the Commission’), as the body in charge of coordinating linguistic issues in terms of standardising legal terminology in B/C/S and English translation equivalents. Unfortunately, to date the Commission has not been activated, which may be attributed to a lack of political will. By signing the SAA, BiH was also obliged to harmonise BiH legislation with that of the EU. From a linguistic perspective, the harmonisation process implies (a) the translation of the EU Acquis; (b) the harmonisation of BiH with EU legislation through the existing English translations26; and (c) the production of modified versions of BiH laws in the three official languages in accordance with EU legislation. This demanding linguistic task requires the translation of approximately 120,000 pages (with an average annual increase of 3,000–5,000 pages). Thus, the commencement of the EU harmonisation process in BiH has significantly changed the position of English in the country. In post-Dayton BiH, English was used largely for informational purposes, meaning that English translations of BiH laws have never been considered either official or legally binding.27 Nevertheless, English is one of 24 official languages of the EU and is currently the most frequently used language in the process

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of drafting EU acts.28 Therefore, at this stage of the EU integration process in BiH, the English language of EU documentation is recognised as a highly formal, specialised language register, and the ability to accurately translate in this register is now associated with a high-stakes outcome: the capacity to undertake the translation of the EU Acquis according to standards required by the EU. For the purpose of dealing with European integration issues, in 2002 the BiH government established the Directorate for European Integration (hereinafter ‘DEI’), as a permanent body of the Council of Ministers in charge of coordinating the activities of the BiH authorities and supervising the implementation of decisions passed by the relevant BiH institutions concerning the requirements for European integration, including also the translation of the EU Acquis.29 However, it is important to note that the DEI has not started the translation of the EU Acquis30 into B/C/S for the following reason. Upon Croatia’s accession to the EU in 2014, the EU Acquis became available in Croatian, a language which is now both an official language of the EU and of BiH. As the Republic of Croatia delivered the Croatian version of the Acquis (now considered an official EU version) to BiH in 2010,31 the Croatian version could therefore be used for the purpose of ‘converting’ it into the Bosnian and Serbian versions, with the necessary modifications to cater for BiH legislation. However, the translation of the EU Acquis has yet to begin because the BiH government has still not defined and approved the translation strategy in terms of whether the Croatian version of the EU Acquis will be used for the process of producing all three national versions or whether a different approach may be taken. Nevertheless, within the scope of its duties, the DEI has been regularly translating other EU documents, and has undertaken important steps in the development of a methodological framework for the purpose of dealing with linguistic issues and the translation of EU documents into B/C/S. The first project was the creation of the Dictionary of European Integration Terms (DEI, 2005).32 which served as the basis for the development of the TRADOS software translation memory and the creation of the terminological database titled BiHTerm.33 In 2008, the DEI produced Glossary of the Body of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, and the Manual for Translation of Legal Acts of the EU and the translation of the Joint Practical Guide for Persons Involved in the Drafting of European Union Legislation were produced in 2009.34 In addition, since its establishment, the DEI has also been in charge of the translation of BiH laws into English and the revision of the existing English translations. The DEI has created the Translation Register of BiH Legislation, a database of translation equivalents which has been constantly updated. In 2016, the DEI produced the Manual for Translating BiH Laws into English,35 which is the first specialised document of its kind in BiH since the beginning of the translation of BiH laws into English.

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Although the translation of the EU Acquis has not started yet, the process of producing the aforementioned documents has revealed a number of translation problems, thus signalling the need to strengthen current capacity for the forthcoming translation of the EU Acquis. The absence of standardised BiH legal terminology in the three official languages and their English translation equivalents impeded the task of producing the above-mentioned glossaries. One strategy employed by the DEI involved the practice of consulting relevant bodies (ministries, etc.) on the translation equivalents, which resulted in the terminology table of concordance. As a consequence, equivalents for some frequently used legal terms and EU terms have finally been found in B/C/S36 (see Table 11.3). On the other hand, the process of translating has also revealed some other issues, thus emphasising the complexity of the language of EU institutions in general. For example, some English words used in EU documents have gained a very specific meaning, which is not the most usual one. Examples are as follows37: coherent > consistent, assist at > attend, attestation > certification, attribute to > allocate/grant, to complete > to add to, college > commission, conference > talk, lecture, presentation, etc. For illustrative purposes, the following are examples of the use of some of the abovementioned words in the EU context: The representative of the Commission as well as other officials and interested agents of the Commission assist at the meetings of the Committee and the working groups (meaning: attend); The commitment will be confirmed again in the new building policy, to be adopted by the College before the 2007 summer break (meaning: the Commission). An additional problem, and at the same time the biggest challenge in terms of the translation of EU acts, refers to finding an appropriate translation equivalent for EU terms which do not exist in BiH law. This situation is foreseeable since, as Šarčević (2003: 20) points out, many EU terms do not have a respective translation equivalent in the legislative systems of many member states, since they were created to denote new concepts that describe EU legislation. The DEI’s Dictionary of European Integration Terms identifies some examples (e.g. benchmark, benchmarking, know-how) which are defined descriptively, yet it can be noted that such words are still very often used as English words in their original orthographic form (e.g. preliminarni benchmark indikatori, benchmark indikatori BiH ekonomije, razmjena iskustava i know-how). Other words have been translated into B/C/S38 through a process of loan, whereby the English word has been adjusted to the phonological and morphological systems of B/C/S respectively (marked in bold): co-decision > suodlučivanje (bos./cro./ser.), social cohesion > socijalna kohezija (bos./ cro./ser.), consolidated > konsolidiran (bos./cro.) – konsolidovan (ser.), information society > informacijsko društvo (bos./cro.) – informaciono društvo (ser.), convergence criterion > konvergencijski kriterij (bos./ cro./ser.), structural funds > strukturni fondovi (bos./cro./ser.). 39 Other

a

Provedba Obaveza Privremena komisija Pravno lice Politička odgovornost Zajednički stav Sporazum o saradnji Ispravak Okvirni sporazum Vijeće Evrope Evropska centralna banka Zajednička spoljna i sigurnosna politika Evropska konvencija o zaštiti ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda

Bosnian Provedba Obveza Privremeno povjerenstvo Pravno lice Politička odgovornost Zajedničko stajalište Sporazum o suradnji Ispravka Okvirni sporazum Vijeće Europe Europska središnja banka Zajednička spoljna i sigurnosna politika Europska konvencija o zaštiti ljudskih prava i temeljnih sloboda

Croatian

Serbian Sprovedba Obaveza Privremena komisija Pravna osoba Politička odgovornost Zajednički stav Sporazum o saradnji Ispravak Okvirni sporazum Savjet Evrope Evropska centralna Banka Zajednička vanjska i bezbjedonosna politika Evropska konvencija o zaštiti ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda

In the Dictionary of European Integration Terms (DEI, 2005) Serbian translation equivalents are written in Latin, not Cyrillic script.

Implementation Obligation Interim commission Legal person Political responsibility Common position Cooperation agreement Corrigendum Framework agreement European Council European Central Bank Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR)

English

Table 11.3 An overview of the translation equivalents taken from the Dictionary of European Integration Termsa

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terms are still without translation equivalent (e.g. contradictory procedure, plantification, decoupling, intervention price, comitology, communisation, flexicurity, constructive ambiguity, double-hatting, non-paper40).

Concluding Remarks Over the last two decades, BiH has begun to construct its own legal translation tradition. This began with the translation into English of adopted BiH laws upon the birth of post-Dayton BiH. However, taking into account the current situation, legal translation in post-Dayton BiH is seen to be a complex domain and one which requires urgent reforms. Such reforms should ideally foresee the strengthening of inter-institutional cooperation at the state level for the purpose of (a) standardising legal terminology used in the B/C/S versions of BiH laws; (b) standardising the English translation equivalents of legal terminology in English versions of BiH laws; and (c) standardising the translation equivalents of EU English terms found in the documents which have already been translated by the DEI. The above-mentioned ‘standardisation tasks’ constitute key prerequirements for the forthcoming task of the translation of the EU Acquis, since without standardised legal terms in the target language(s), no accurate translation of the EU Acquis is possible. Satisfactory translation solutions for EU terms will depend on effective cooperation between linguists, translators and expert professionals from different fields (economy, agriculture, etc.). Thus, the task of translating EU terminology calls for the ongoing training of translation experts, and it also creates the need to inform BiH government officials and the BiH public with regard to the meaning of EU-specific terminology incorporated into BiH’s national legislation. Moreover, an agreement on the correct translation for any EU term on BiH territory has obvious pedagogical repercussions. The dissemination of these terms is crucial for the purpose of teaching and educating future generations of quality translators and interpreters. Although, as things stand, the current situation is far from ideal, it is hoped that steps towards the improvement of the current situation will be taken, as without the translation of the EU Acquis and the harmonisation of BiH legislation with that of the EU, BiH’s accession to the EU will remain a distant goal.

Notes (1) (2) (3) (4)

Signatory parties of the DPA are: the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Annex 10 of the General Framework Agreement. For more information, see Padurariu, 2014. For more information, see SFOR Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2007.

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(5) For more information on division of powers in post-Dayton BiH, see Ademović, 2012. (6) Annex 4, Article 3 (3) of the General Framework Agreement. (7) On the one hand, some linguists from Serbia and Croatia (e.g. Brborić, 2001; Brozović, 1999) argue that the creation of the three languages is justified on account of the national identity of the three constituent peoples of BiH. Yet, they strongly reject the term the Bosnian language which should, in their opinion, be replaced by the Bosniak language, since Bosnian refers to a single language of BiH, which is not the linguistic reality in BiH. On the other hand, BiH linguists strongly disagree with this proposal since the Bosniak language has never existed in the history of BiH, as opposed to the Bosnian language, which was mentioned for the first time between 1423 and 1426 by Constantin the Philosopher in Skazanie izjavljenno o pismeneh (Rizvić, 1996). Some other authors (Pranjković, 2003; Riđanović, 2009; Vajzović, 2008) claim that B/C/S are three variants of a single language (Serbo-Croatian). (8) During the referendum on independence in 1992, Bosnian Muslims defined Bosnian as their language. In 1991, the linguist Senahid Halilović published the book Bosanski jezik (The Bosnian Language), in 1996 he also published Bosanski pravopis (Bosnian Orthography), and in 2000 Gramatika bosanskoga jezika (Grammar of the Bosnian Language) (Halilović et al., 2000). The first symposium on the Bosnian Language was held in Bihać (BiH) in 1998, where it was agreed that Bosnian would have equal status with Croatian and Serbian. (9) The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1995) http://www.ohr.int/?p=63952&lang=en. (10) Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Annex 4 to the Federal Framework Agreement http://www.ohr.int/?p=63984&lang=en. (11) The Constitution of the Federation of BiH (Article 6 (1)) initially proclaimed only Bosnian and Croatian as the official languages and the use of Latin script only. Amendment XXIX to the Constitution of the Federation of BiH enacted by the OHR in 2002 adds the provision by which the Serbian language and Cyrillic script shall be the third official language of the Federation of BiH. For more information, see Ustav Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine (1994). (12) The Constitution of Republika Srpska initially prescribed only Serbian as the official language of this entity and the use of Cyrillic script. Amendment LXXI to the Constitution of Republika Srpska enacted by the OHR in 2002 prescribes that the official languages of this entity shall also be Croatian, formulated as the language of the Croatian people, and Bosnian, formulated as the language of Bosniak people. For more information, see http://www.narodnaskupstinars. net/sites/default/files/upload/dokumenti/ustav/cir/ustav_republike_srpske.pdf (13) The Statute of the Brčko District http://skupstinabd.ba/images/dokumenti/hr/ statut-brcko-distrikta.pdf. (14) For example, in the case of the Tuzla canton and the Unsko-Savski canton, the Constitution prescribes B/C/S as official languages. On the other hand, cantons such as the Posavina canton and the Hercegovačko-neretvanski canton prescribe only two official languages, i.e. Croatian and the language of Bosniaks (the phrase used instead of the Bosnian language). For more information, see http://www. zupanijaposavska.ba/ustav-zupanije-posavske/ (15) For more information on the OHR, see http://www.ohr.int/?page_id= 1139&lang=en. (16) ‘The PIC comprises 55 countries and agencies that support the peace process in many different ways – by assisting financially, providing troops for EUFOR, or directly running operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is also a fluctuating number of observers’. http://www.ohr.int/?page_id=1220&lang=en.

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(17) For more information on PIC Bonn conclusions, see http://www.ohr.int/pic/ default.asp?content_id=5182. http://www.ohr.int/?p=54133&lang=en. (18) The OHR made the so-called ‘imposed-law-interventions’ in the sphere of the reform of jurisdiction, criminal law, administrative law and witness protection, also imposing laws on the establishment of the following BiH institutions: the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Court of BiH and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH (total: 59 laws). The OHR also imposed the law on citizenship, the law on the official flag of BiH, the law on travel documents, the law on car registration plates, the law on identity cards, the law on entry and stay of aliens (total: 20 laws), along with imposing laws in the sphere of state property and privatisation (total: 18 laws ), electoral system (total: 12 laws), taxation (total: 11 laws), telecommunications (total: 10 laws) and the public broadcasting system (total: 10 laws ) (Trnka et al., 2009: 97). (19) The only exception is the Constitution of BiH which was originally produced in English and is considered legally binding, since none of the translations of the Constitution (in B/C/S) has been published in the Official Gazette of BiH. For more information, see http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_33650-1522-15-30. pdf?130227155419. (20) The examples taken from https://www.parlament.ba/sadrzaj/komisije/ p r e d s t a v n i c k i _ d o m /u s t a v n o p r a v n a /o s t a l e _ a k t i v n o s t i /d e f a u l t . aspx?id=2756&langtag=bs-ba&pril=b. (21) The use of more than one term in the sphere of legal language is unacceptable since ‘terminological inconsistency results in multiple references causing incoherence and leading to legal uncertainty and inevitable linguistic diversity in the translations’ (Šarčević, 2010: 28). (22) In accordance with comments of the participants discussing the current situation as to the implementation of the Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For more information, see https:// w w w.pa rla ment.ba /sadr z aj/jav ne _ rasprave/odr z a ne _ rasprave/default. aspx?id=20256&langTag=bs-BA&pril=b. (23) Europeanisation in this context is understood as the influence of the EU on its member states’ political, economic and social systems (Quaglia et al., 2007 cited in Keil, 2013: 344). (24) For more information see http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/bih_eu/default. aspx?id=9808&langTag=bs-BA (25) The translation of Komisija za jezičku politiku u zakonodavstvu BH in English taken from the official report on the implementation of rules in legislative drafting in the institutions of BiH, (see Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2015). (26) Through the existing English translations of BiH laws which will be discussed with relevant EU bodies for final approval. (27) With the exception of the Constitution of BiH. (28) For more information, see Robertson (2010). (29) For more information about the DEI, see http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/direkcija/ default.aspx?id=9950&langTag=en-US. (30) The EU Acquis currently exists in 24 official languages of the EU, and each language version is considered equally authentic. In practice, it means that the states which are striving towards EU membership (i.e. which are currently not member states of the EU) can select any version of the EU Acquis for the purpose of translation. However, ‘most of the applicant states from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have selected English as the primary source for translations of the Acquis’ (Šarčević, 2001: 41).

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(31) For more information, see Europuls, the Journal of the Directorate for European Integration in BiH http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/media_servis/europuls/default. aspx?id=4949&langTag=en-US. (32) For more information on translation of EU legislation in BiH, see http:// w w w.dei .gov.ba /d i rekcija /unutrasnja _ str u ktura /pre vo djenje /defau lt. aspx?id=2468&langTag=en-US. (33) BHterm database currently contains 19,269 terms, in accordance with the last update as of 19 December 2014. For more information, see http://bihterm.anyterm. info/index.php?jezik=engl (34) Manuals for translation produced by the DEI: http://www. d e i . g o v. b a / d e i / p r e v o d e n j e / p r i r u c n i c i _ z a _ p r e v o d j e n j e / A r c h i v e . aspx?langTag=bs-BA&template_id=120&pageIndex=1. (35) For more information see http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/prevodenje/prirucnici_za_ prevodjenje/default.aspx?id=16427&langTag=bs-BA. (36) A word of caution is in order here: although the translation equivalents have been produced, they are still subject to comments and/or potential improvements, since all the proposed terms have not been deemed standardised at the state level because the Commission has yet to start operating. (37) Examples of words and sentences taken from http://ec.europa.eu/translation/ english/guidelines/documents/misused_english_terminology_eu_publications_ en.pdf. (38) In the Dictionary of European Integration Terms (DEI, 2005), Serbian translation equivalents are written in Latin script. (39) Examples taken from the Dictionary of European Integration Terms (DEI, 2005) http://w w w.dei.gov.ba /dei /media _ ser v is/publ i k acije/default.aspx? id= 591&langTag=bs-BA. (40) Examples taken from: http://esharp.eu/jargon.

References Ademović, N. (2012) Kodeks ustavnog prava Bosne i Hercegovine [Codex of Constitutional Law in Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Sarajevo: Fondacija Konrad Adenauer. Brborić, B. (2001) S jezika na jezik [From Language to Language]. Beograd: Prometej. Brozović, D. (1999) Odnos hrvatskog i bosanskoga odnosno bošnjačkoga jezika [The relationship between Croatian and Bosnian, i.e. the Bosniak language]. Jezik 47, 13–16. DEI (2012) Schematic overview of levels of governance in Bosnia and Herzegovina. See http:// www.dei.gov.ba/dei/dokumenti/uskladjivanje/default.aspx?id=13859&langTag=en-US (accessed 22 December 2014). DEI (2015) Terminološki rječnik evropskih/europskih integracija [Dictionary of European Integration Terms] (2005). See http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/media_servis/publikacije/ default.aspx?id=591&langTag=bs-BA (accessed 9 January 2015). DEI (2015) About us. See http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/direkcija/default. aspx?id=9950&langTag=en-US (accessed 12 January 2015). DEI (2015) Translation of the European Union legislation in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2015. See http://www.dei.gov.ba/direkcija/unutrasnja_struktura/prevodjenje/ default.aspx?id=2468&langTag=en-US (accessed 17 January). DEI (2015) BiHterm multilingual terminology database. See http://BHterm.anyterm. info/index.php?jezik=engl (accessed 22 January 2015). DEI (2016) Priručnici za prevođenje [Manuals for translation]. See http://www.dei. gov.ba/dei/prevodenje/prirucnici_za_ prevodjenje/Archive.aspx?langTag=bsBA&template_id=120&pageIndex=1 (accessed 9 January 2015).

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DEI (2016) Hronologija odnosa BiH i EU [Chronology of Relations between BiH and the EU]. See http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/bih_eu/defa ult.aspx?id=9808&langTag=bs-BA (accessed 16 April 2016). European Commission Directorate-General for Translation (2010) Study on Lawmaking in the EU Multilingual Environment. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union. European Union (2012) Division of Powers between the European Union, the Member States and Regional and Local Authorities, See http://cor.europa.eu/en/ documentation/studies/Documents/division_of_powers/division_of_powers.pdf (accessed 15 April 2016). E!Sharp (2015) Eurojargon. See http://esharp.eu/jargon/ (accessed 22 January 2015). Footitt, H. and Kelly, M. (2012) Language policy and peace-building. In H. Footitt and M. Kelly (eds) Languages at War: Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict (pp. 107–120). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Halilović, S. (1991) Bosanski jezik [Bosnian Language]. Sarajevo: Baština. Halilović, S. (1996) Pravopis bosanskoga jezika [Orthography of the Bosnian Language]. Sarajevo: Preporod. Halilović, S., Jahić, Dž. and Palić, I. (2000) Gramatika bosanskoga jezika [Grammar of the Bosnian Language]. Zenica: Dom štampe. Keil, S. (2013) Europeanization, state-building and democratization in the Western Balkans. Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity 41 (3), 343–353. Ministry of Civil Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2012) Jedinstvena pravila za izradu pravnih propisa u institucijama Bosne i Hercegovine [Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina]. See http:// w w w.mcp.gov.ba/org _ jedinice/sektor_ pravni_ poslovi/dokumenti/default. aspx?id=5182&langTag=bs-BA (accessed 12 December 2014). Nuhodžić, L., Čapelj, T., Bešić, A. and Aginčić, A. (2013) Priručnik pojmova i izraza najčešće korištenih u jeziku pravnih propisa institucija BiH [Manual of the Most Frequently Used Terms and Expressions in the Language of Legal Acts in the Institutions of BiH]. Sarajevo: Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine. Office of the High Representative (2015) General Information. OHR Introduction. See http://www.ohr.int/?page_id=1139&lang=en (accessed 8 January 2015). Office of the High Representative (2015) The General Framework Agreement (1995). See http://www.ohr.int/?p=63952&lang=en (accessed 8 January 2015). Office of the High Representative (2015) Vijeće za implementaciju mira (PIC) i Upravni odbor [Peace Implementation Council and Steering Board]. See http://www.ohr. int/?page_id=1220&lang=en (accessed 8 January). Office of the High Representative (2015) PIC Bonn Conclusions. See http://www.ohr. int/?p=54133&lang=en (accessed 8 January 2015). Office of the High Representative (2015) Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Annex 4). See http://www.ohr.int/?p=63984&lang=en (accessed 4 March 2015). Office of the High Representative (2015) The General Framework Agreement: Annex 10. See http://www.ohr.int/?p=64008&lang=en (accessed 4 March 2015). Okičić, M., Nuhodžić, L. and Mrković, A. (2015) O jezičnoj politici u trojezičnom zakonodavstvu BiH kroz prizmu jezika pravnih propisa i prevođenja pravne tečevine EU-a [On language policy in a three-lingual legislation of BiH through the prism of the language of legal acts and the translation of EU Acquis]. Sui Generis 2 (2), 59–79. Padurariu, A. (2014) The implementation of police reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Analysing UN and EU efforts. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 3 (1), 4. See http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/sta.db (accessed 12 January 2015).

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Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine (2015) Neautorizirani transkript stručnog savjetovanja o temi ‘Iskustva u primjeni Jedinstvenih pravila za izradu pravnih propisa u institucijama Bosne i Hercegovine’ [Unauthorised transcript of the symposium ‘Experience in the Implementation of the Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting in the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina’]. See https://www.parlament.ba/ sadrzaj/javne_rasprave/odrzane_rasprave/default.aspx?id=20256&langTag=bsBA&pril=b (accessed 3 December 2014). Parlamentarna skupština Bosne i Hercegovine (2015) Neautorizirani transkript stručnog savjetovanja na temu ‘Osiguranje identičnosti propisa na službenim jezicima u BiH’ [Unauthorised transcript of the symposium ‘Ensuring Authenticity of Legal Acts in the Official Languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina’]. See https://www.parlament. ba/sadrzaj/komisije/predstavnicki_dom/ustavnopravna/ostale_aktivnosti/default. aspx?id=2756&langtag=bs-ba&pril=b (accessed 3 December 2014). Pranjković, I. (2003) Oko Gramatike bosanskoga jezika [On Grammar of the Bosnian Language]. Bosanski – hrvatski – srpski / Bosnisch – Kroatisch – Serbisch. Aktuelna pitanja jezika Bošnjaka, Hrvata, Srba i Crnogoraca, In G. Neweklowsky (ed.) Wiener slawistischer Almanach 57, 225–23. Pupavac, V. (2006) Discriminating language rights and politics in the post-Yugoslav states. Patterns of Prejudice 40 (2), 112–128. Riđanović, M. (2009) O bosanskom jeziku, o propadanju Bosne, i ... o vama [About the Bosnian Language, Collapse of Bosnia and ... You]. Sarajevo: Zalihica. Rizvić, M. (1996) Bosna i bošnjaci, jezik i pismo [Bosnia and Bosniaks, Language and Script]. Sarajevo: Preporod. Robertson, C. (2010) Legal-linguistic revision of EU legislative texts. In M. Gotti and C. Williams (eds) Legal Discourse Across Languages and Cultures (pp. 51–73). Bern: Peter Lang. Šarčević, S. (2001) Preserving multilingualism in an enlarged European Union. Terminology and Translation 2, 34–50. Šarčević, S. (2003) Opće upute za prevođenje pravne stečevine Europske zajednice [General guidelines for translating the European Union Acquis]. In J. Novak (ed.) Priručnik za prevođenje pravnih akata Europske unije, 16–22. Šarčević, S. (2010) Creating a pan-European legal language. In M. Gotti and C. Williams (eds) Legal Discourse Across Languages and Cultures (pp. 23–50). Bern: Peter Lang. SFOR Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007) History of the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. See. http://www.nato.int/ sfor/docu/d981116a.htm (accessed 2 February 2015). Skupština Tuzlanskog kantona (2005) Ustav Tuzlanskog kantona [Constitution of the Tuzla canton]. See http://www.skupstinatk.kim.ba/b/s/ustav.htm (accessed 5 March 2015). Skupština Brčko Distrikta (2015) Statut Brčko Distrikta [Statute of Brčko District] (2010). See http://skupstinabd.ba/images/dokumenti/hr/statut-brckodistrikta.pdf (accessed 16 April 2016). Sud Bosne i Hercegovine (2015) Zakon o finansiranju institucija Bosne i Hercegovine [Law on Financing the Institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina] (2004). See http:// www.sudBH.gov.ba/files/docs/zakoni/ba/Zakon_o_finansiranju_institucija_ BH_61_04_-_bos.pdf (accessed 13 December 2014). Trnka, K. Simović, M., Miljko, Z., Begić, Z., Bajramović-Rizvanović, J., Jašarbegović, J., Marić, I., Sahadžić, M., and Talović, M. (2009) Proces odlučivanja u Parlamentarnoj skupštini Bosne i Hercegovine [A Decision-Making Process in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina]. Sarajevo: MAG Plus.

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Ustav Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine [The Constitution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina] (1994). See http://www.ads.gov.ba/v2/attachments/1952_Ustav%20 Federacije%20BiH%20sa%20amandmanima.pdf. (accessed 4 March 2015). Vajzović, H. (2008) Jezik i nacionalni identiteti [Language and National Identities]. Sarajevo: Fakutlet politicki nauka. Wikimedia Commons (2013) Map BH Entities. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Map_BH_entities.png# (accessed 3 March 2015). Žigo, A. (2010) Hrvatska ustupila Bosni i Hercegovini prijevode acquis-a [Croatia hands over the translation of the Acquis to Bosnia and Herzegovina]. EUROPULS 11, 8–9. See http://www.dei.gov.ba/dei/media_servis/europuls/default. aspx?id=4949&langTag=en-US (accessed 18 March 2015).

12 Fictionalised Accounts of Translation and Interpreting for Peacebuilding Forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo: The Memoir–Novels of Veselin Gatalo and Tanja Jankovic´ Catherine Baker

The foreign military forces that conducted peace operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), as well as Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo, during and after the Yugoslav wars could not have carried out their work without employing thousands of local people as translators and interpreters, most of whom interpreted between their first language and English. These language workers’ professional, social and economic status, and even the question of which government ought to be responsible for them if they were wounded during a mission, was ambiguous, yet their recruitment and employment goes almost unremarked by most accounts of peacekeeping and peacebuilding in BiH (or indeed in Kosovo, the part of former Yugoslavia that alongside BiH experienced the most extensive international reconstruction). The translation and interpreting needs of the foreign military forces and civilian agencies are nevertheless important in the history of the spread of English in BiH since the 1990s. This chapter adopts an interdisciplinary approach that combines two analytical lenses. Firstly, it follows an established strand of research in translation and interpreting studies that concerns itself with the agency and social positionality of language intermediaries (see, e.g. Baker, 2006; Inghilleri, 2010). Secondly, and potentially more unusually for readers of this volume, it is informed by recent contributions to feminist international relations and security studies 267

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which argue that narrative should be taken seriously by scholars as a form of knowledge, because of how deeply humans comprehend the world and its politics through narrative and because of the emotional engagement that language arranged as narrative is capable of evoking in its readers, even if it claims to be fiction rather than a directly mimetic representation of reality (Dauphinée, 2015; Edkins, 2013; Shepherd, 2012; Wibben, 2011). This chapter does not go as far as some researchers of narrative politics, such as Elizabeth Dauphinée, who have produced fictionalised narratives themselves (Dauphinée, 2013).1 Instead, it is based on two fictionalised memoirs written by former interpreters for foreign military forces, one who worked in BiH and another who worked in Kosovo: the first is by Veselin Gatalo, whose 2004 book SFOR: siesta, fiesta, orgasmo, riposo was inspired by the several years he spent working for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops in his home town of Mostar, BiH, and the second is by Tanja Janković, whose 2011 book Devojka iz Bondstila (The Girl from Bondsteel) depicted a character who, like Janković, lived in southern Serbia and went to work as an interpreter for the NATO force in Kosovo in the early 2000s. Gatalo and Janković did not offer these to the reading public as accounts of fact, and this chapter does not seek to take them as such. Rather, it finds significance in the fact that two writers who had themselves worked as locally recruited language intermediaries for NATO chose, at a time of widespread financial hardship and political disempowerment, to present these narratives rather than any others as representations of such workers’ relationships to foreign intervention forces and their own home states. The chapter also highlights certain resonances between the two narratives and interviews that I conducted during research in 2008–2011 on translation, interpreting and peacekeeping in BiH (these references to a previous research project are a writerly intervention for which I as author of the chapter am responsible). Gatalo and Janković particularly visibly, and ex-interpreters who agreed to be interviewed for an academic research project less visibly, were involved not just in ‘disseminating and contesting public narratives’ through the work of translation and interpreting, as Mona Baker (2006: 5) argues that all language intermediaries do, but taking the extra step of disseminating public narratives about the work. The choices of narrative and emphasis they made exemplify the hollowing-out of social citizenship in BiH and Kosovo (see Hromadžić, 2015; Visoka, 2012) and also illustrate the function of narrative in constituting claims to define what matters are political (Shepherd, 2012; Wibben, 2011).

Language Intermediaries and the ‘Peacekeeping Economy’ The peace operations conducted by foreign military forces in BiH (where a foreign military presence in peace operations began in 1992) and

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Kosovo (where foreign forces have been present since 1999) both depended heavily on ‘locally recruited’ language support workers (usually referred to interchangeably by members of peacekeeping forces as ‘interpreters’ and/ or ‘translators’, although translation scholars and practitioners differentiate these roles). In many, though not all, cases, locally recruited ‘interpreters’ mediated between their own first language and English, either because English was the first language of the foreign troops concerned or because it served as a convenient lingua franca for troops whose first language had not been widely taught in the former Yugoslavia.2 These interpreters, like other employees of foreign military forces (and employees of international civilian agencies), were part of what has been termed a peacekeeping economy (Jennings, 2010: 231; Jennings & Bøås, 2015): the network of formal and informal economic activity that was created by and around the offices of international organisations and the bases of foreign military forces which were involved in international intervention during and (all the more so) after the conflicts in each of these countries. Gatalo and Jankovic, by narrating the labour of translation and interpreting in a form where the reader cannot be certain what is fiction or what is fact, may seek to draw on a readerly presumption of authenticity, grounded in their own backgrounds as language intermediaries, to construct a narrative about translators and interpreters in the post-Yugoslav peacekeeping economy. The foreign military forces that hired ‘locally recruited’ interpreters had a powerful impact on the socio-economic landscape of the post-Yugoslav region: they inserted thousands of foreign troops into Bosnian and Kosovar society as temporary and privileged visitors who remained distanced from local communities, but also became significant employers in and around many towns during the period of their presence (Baker, 2012b). Jobs created by foreign military forces in the formal peacekeeping economy typically paid two or three times as much as even local professional salaries, for work that was either not highly skilled (such as cleaning, driving, catering) or that was regarded as somewhat higher skilled yet often still not as professionalised as it might be in non-peacekeeping settings. Interpreting and translation fell into this latter category. Jobs in the peacekeeping economy were simultaneously subject to endemic insecurity around the worker’s prospects of keeping the job, the likelihood of the job, base or force continuing to exist, and the worker’s opportunities to attain further stability in the future after holding one of these jobs (Baker, 2012a). The socio-economic impact of the employment created on foreign military bases could range well beyond the immediate locality, since it was not unknown for workers to travel from Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia or (in the case of Kosovo) Albania in order to take up the well-paid yet precarious work. Even when interpreters had not travelled internationally in order to work for foreign military forces, the nature of their employment complicated the relationship between the individual and the state even further than the general post-war democratic deficit between political elites

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and the public which already existed in post-conflict BiH and Kosovo and which international intervention in both countries has been criticised for exacerbating (see Hromadžić, 2013; Jansen, 2006; Visoka, 2012). Put simply: which state(s), if any, had responsibilities towards workers in the formal peacekeeping economy? In territorial terms, the international organisations were operating within the territorial boundaries of the states of BiH and Kosovo; yet the space within those borders has sometimes been said to lie partially outside the post-conflict states’ scope and authority, as a result of the privileged mobility that international agencies exerted (Coles, 2007). Indeed, some authors have argued that those states in practice have been unable to exercise their own sovereignty because of the extensive power that international institutions involved in intervention were able to exert over their political affairs (Chandler, 2006). The Bosnian/Kosovar states were not, however, the only states to which interpreters working in the peacekeeping economy might have been connected. Those who participated in temporary or cyclical labour migration across the post-Yugoslav borders were also part of complex relationships with their own state(s) of origin or residence. And in all cases where a foreign organisation was identified with a particular state, including military forces, locally recruited interpreters were potentially part of a relationship with the troop-contributing state. Even though they might well have never entered its territory, its practices still influenced their conditions of work. The situations fictionalised by the memoir/novels of Gatalo and Janković exemplify the precarity to which this ‘accountability gap’ (Visoka, 2012: 190) exposed interpreters at moments when they needed to draw on the resources of, or negotiate the authority of, one or another state. This chapter discusses the post-conflict peacekeeping economies of BiH and Kosovo rather than the better-known context of wartime BiH – specifically Srebrenica up until the genocide committed by the Army of the Bosnian Serb Republic (VRS) in July 1995 – which is depicted in the memoirs of two other former interpreters, Hasan Nuhanović (2005) and Emir Suljagić (2005). Nuhanović and Suljagić, whose memoirs are of historical importance in their own right, were both able to escape the genocide because they were working as interpreters for the Dutch United Nations (UN) battalion in Srebrenica and were allowed to join the Dutch troops’ evacuation. The dangers faced by post-conflict interpreters in BiH and Kosovo during the late 1990s and early 2000s (the periods Gatalo and Janković depict) were not comparable to the experiences of Nuhanović and Suljagić. Rather, the experiences discussed in this chapter took place after the end of armed conflict, at temporal distances of up to several years. By fictionalising their experiences as interpreters for their readerships in BiH and Serbia, Gatalo and Janković both invited commentary on what had been made to become a ‘new normal’ in the states where peacebuilding is still taking place.

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Even though Gatalo and Janković both presented their books as fiction rather than memoir, the meta-texts around each book – both authors’ experiences as interpreters were referenced when they promoted their books – showed that readers were expected to take the works as grounded in first-hand knowledge. Gatalo had spent several years working for the Multinational Division (MND; South-East) of ‘SFOR’, the name given to the NATO force in BiH between 1997 and 2004, in his home town of Mostar; Janković had worked for NATO’s ‘Kosovo Force’ or ‘KFOR’3 at the central US base in Kosovo (Camp Bondsteel) in the early 2000s but used to travel there from Vranje in southern Serbia, where she and her family lived. Their books addressed a domestic audience rather than an audience from an anglophone SFOR country, and they portrayed issues about interpreters’ employment that the authors – who had done the same work as their protagonists – wanted to present to their domestic readerships. While Gatalo’s narrative highlighted the problematic nature of interpreters’ employment contracts, which all too often left no state taking responsibility for an interpreter who had been injured on the job, a key trope in Janković’s narrative was interpreters’ ability and aspiration to emigrate. In the process, both writers provided a representation of the collapse of the economy and social welfare in interpreters’ home states and the consequences this had for them as potential citizens.

Employment, Contracts and the State The distancing of workers in the ‘peacekeeping economy’ from their home country’s state and government is a central concern in SFOR, which follows a young man from Western Mostar who begins working at the SFOR MND (South-East) headquarters in 1997. Gatalo describes this man’s pursuit of work with SFOR while both his parents are unemployed; his encounters with troops from France, Spain, Morocco and the US; his being caught up in a riot from which US soldiers attempt to escort him home; and his injury in a road accident caused by a German soldier while returning from what is represented as an unimportant civil affairs visit to a village hospital near Foča. The accident leaves him with a head injury, treated at the German military hospital, which prevents him from concentrating on translation, driving or using a PC. The fictional divisional headquarters then tightens the contracts further to prevent SFOR incurring obligations towards any future injured interpreters: The general accepted the letter and ordered them to give me another month off. And he had it put into the new year’s contracts that SFOR was free from any responsibility for anything that might happen to us at work. That SFOR was free of any material responsibility if one of us Morlachs who were working for SFOR during the time of the mission

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got injured and became disabled.4 So we got a three-month period, in which we could recover or not recover, and: a) Insofar as we come round, carry on working for them without any insurance and pray to God that nothing happens to us at work; b) Be left disabled without any benefits and pray to God to take us to him because we are no longer capable of earning anything to live on; c) Starve ourselves and save our families the suffering. (Gatalo, 2004: 125–126) The chapters are separated by what is presented as SFOR’s contract for locally recruited employees. This states that a contract will be terminated if the French military doctor cannot certify someone’s ‘readiness for work’ at a medical (Gatalo, 2004: 52); that any behaviour, acts or expressed positions that contravene the Dayton Peace Agreement’s principles or that provoke ‘a lack of confidence in the decisions or operations of any of the civilian or military international organisations’ are grounds for immediate dismissal (Gatalo, 2004: 47); and, in two short clauses on the same page, that employees are not subject to Bosnian state taxes on their earnings nor does their employer contribute to any social insurance or medical care (Gatalo, 2004: 83). Through these two clauses, the SFOR employee is effectively placed outside the space of the Bosnian state and outside any social contract in which paying tax is reciprocated by socially funded healthcare. At the end of the novel, the protagonist and his colleague Peđa petition the Sarajevo government, but in vain: ‘Peđa and I had no legal system, no state, no government to protect us. You know, our government has a sexual disease when it comes to its citizens: it couldn’t give a fuck for them...’ (Gatalo, 2004: 126). Gatalo expresses anger not only at SFOR but also at Bosnian politics, which he implies is why Bosnians working for international organisations have been left so unprotected. Besides his literary work, Gatalo is also a well-known civic activist, and was part of the 2005 initiative to erect a statue of Bruce Lee as a figure who was not part of any ethnonationalist symbolism in BiH (Pauker, 2012: 126–127). SFOR can therefore be read through a wider critique of Bosnian politics that accuses the main parties of neglecting social issues such as employment, health and education in order to focus on ethnopolitical competition, personal gain and whether to preserve or revise the constitutional structure agreed at Dayton (see, e.g. Arsenijević, 2015; Touquet, 2011). His exposure of the protection gap for international organisations’ local employees was also, however, shared by a number of interviewees in previous research, who did not present themselves as politically active in the same way as Gatalo.5 Only one group of interpreters for foreign military forces – those at the professionalised language service at HQ SFOR in Sarajevo – enjoyed an employer contribution to health insurance, and this was only from

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the early 2000s onwards (Baker, 2012a: 861). The others were in a similar position to SFOR’s protagonist if injured at work, which became a major anxiety. The weakness of SFOR contracts was raised in several interviews with former interpreters within MND (South-West), that is, the Britishled division of SFOR that had recruited interpreters through its Banja Luka headquarters. These interpreters, who had often remained friends afterwards, were conscious of several work-related injuries that other interpreters had suffered, which they believed had been caused by soldiers’ negligence (Baker, 2012b: 146–149). One interpreter, a former medical student, commented: ‘Now, I really think that, if I could turn back the time now, and with that knowledge, I would never have worked for them. At least not with that kind of contract’. He added that certain interpreters who had studied law had told them that ‘with such a contract in UK, every single employer would lose a lawsuit in the court’.6 Paying for legal action was – for Gatalo’s imaginary protagonist, but also for an unnamed woman who had been injured in a potentially preventable accident and who was mentioned as a third party in some interviews I conducted near Banja Luka – the only source of redress for employees whose contracts, combined with the absence of action on behalf of the Bosnian state, had left them without collective sources of protection. This outsourcing of risk towards the individual is problematic, yet characteristic of contemporary neoliberal governance in which rights to protection for workers and those unable to work have been rolled steadily back from the mid-20th-century welfare state (Sassen, 2008). Only being able to enforce compensation claims through legal action makes activating someone’s entitlements conditional on his/her ability to fund legal costs. This is a philosophical as well as a practical problem: it hollows out any citizen/state relationship that would exist if the citizen could count on those entitlements being enforced without having to take action on his/her own behalf. The weakening of social guarantees brought about by the intersection of the Bosnian state’s abdication of responsibility for its citizens and SFOR’s casualised employment conditions appears to have been interpreters’ most immediate problem, although other rights such as freedom of expression were also undermined. SFOR’s ability to dismiss employees who took positions that contravened the principles of Dayton or that undermined confidence in the international organisations was not such a prominent theme in interpreters’ interviews. It may, however, have lain behind one or two dismissals narrated by third parties, such as this case mentioned by an interpreter who had worked for MND (North) at Doboj: [S]he was a Serb, and she was tasked to translate a letter from the mayor of Tešanj, which is on the Federation side. And I think that she named the file calling the mayor of Tešanj a bad name. And I think someone

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from the IFOR officers saw the filename in her computer naming the mayor, the Bosniak mayor, with a bad name, so she was fired because of doing this.7 This gross misconduct case is relatively clear-cut. However, the breadth of the specimen clauses in SFOR could turn a much greater range of activities into grounds for instant dismissal, and could well have restricted the civic activism of individuals on SFOR contracts. With other family members often dependent on the earnings of SFOR’s locally recruited employees, the threat of dismissal would affect the socio-economic security of one’s family as well as oneself, potentially restricting employees’ level of civic participation. Gatalo thus has much to say about citizenship, but rather less about gender, despite the high proportion of women (90%) that he notes were employed at the Mostar base across all civilian roles. Near the end of the book, he alludes to some women suffering intimate partner violence from unemployed husbands and concealing their injuries at work: ‘That was an almost certain sign that last night her husband had used his fists to prove his leading role in the family... To make clear who the boss was, even though he didn’t go to work and wasn’t feeding the children’ (Gatalo, 2004: 110). The writing then goes into a more detailed account of older working-class women’s talk about their favourite telenovelas, leaving intimate partner violence unexplored. It is nonetheless a significant and under-researched question about the gendered experiences of international-organisation-sector employment. The (in)effectiveness of peacebuilding reforms in improving the investigation and prosecution of domestic violence, the general increase in intimate partner violence after the end of the conflict and the perpetration of intimate partner violence by the soldiers of troop-contributing states are all established objects of research in feminist security studies (e.g. Helms, 2006; Kesić, 2002; Shepherd, 2005; Williamson, 2012); this too deserves further attention within the political economy of peacebuilding.

Plans and Opportunities to Emigrate The citizenship relations in SFOR are simple: a resident of BiH and the Bosnian state. Tanja Janković’s Devojka iz Bondstila, in contrast, introduces a greater complexity of legal nationalities, of states of origin and residence and of circuits of movement in which KFOR’s employees might participate. A major difference between SFOR and KFOR was that the local languages SFOR required (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian) were mutually intelligible and were still regarded by some native speakers as one language (Askew, 2012). Kosovo, however, required KFOR to provide for two very different languages, Serbian and Albanian. It therefore had to recruit from two separate linguistic communities, with the complication that Kosovo Serbs

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were initially very unwilling to work for the multinational force. KFOR thus depended on non-Serbs with competence in Serbian who would temporarily relocate to KFOR bases from their states of residence elsewhere in south-east Europe (e.g. Croatia, Macedonia) or in the diaspora.8 Janković’s protagonist, named ‘Dijana’ but with a biography similar to Janković – including family in Vranje, time living with relatives in South Africa and previous experience as an interpreter at the international press centre in Bujanovac (Puls, 2012) – arrives at Camp Bondsteel in the unusual position of being a Serb yet working for KFOR. This relocation cannot be called ‘transnational’ without implying Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in the early 2000s (the period in which Janković worked for KFOR and the setting of the book); yet, whether or not one accepts this point of view, Dijana’s frequent travel between Vranje and Bondsteel always passes through a United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) border post. The interpreter teams at the US bases that Janković describes are also fundamentally transnational. Dijana’s best friend is an Albanian from Tirana named Armida, who became and interpreter to recoup some of the money her family lost during the Albanian pyramid banking collapse; Dijana’s main love interest turns out to be an Albanian man from New York. The Serbian language interpreters include Macedonians, Croats and Bosniaks from other ex-Yugoslav states, a Croat from San Diego, mother and daughter diaspora Serbs, ‘two young men who had escaped from wartorn Bosnia and in the meantime as asylum-seekers had received American citizenship’, and an Orthodox priest from Chicago who would be ‘dismissed when they realised that he did not know English’ (Janković, 2011: 139). Migration, both for employment and facilitated by employment, is thus represented as fundamental to the interpreter experience. In Devojka iz Bondstila, the wish to use KFOR work as a pathway towards permanent emigration is attributed to Albanian women in particular. Among the potential routes for settling abroad, such as labour migration or foreign study, the route Janković emphasises is marriage, even if women had to lower their sexual standards: Not only Deni [an Albanian colleague] had the ‘American dream’. Ninety per cent of the girls who worked on the base were dreaming of getting hold of an American passport. And that was mainly Albanians from Albania. They were all educated, they spoke something like four languages and were at least pleasant in appearance. They knew that, by marrying one of the soldiers or officers they worked for, they would secure for themselves and their families a decent life far from the misery of Albania and they were prepared to entertain themselves even with the biggest cretins whom, Dijana believed, girls with their profile would not even have looked at in normal circumstances. (Janković, 2011: 76)

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Janković thus presents marriage mobility as both gendered and ethnicised. Dijana distances herself from aspiring to settle abroad and at one point rejects an offer by a US colonel and his wife to assist her in studying journalism and international relations in the US (Janković, 2011: 137–138). At the end of the novel, migration to the US might be a logical development of her relationship with her New York Albanian boyfriend, though he dissuades her by referring to the tight-knit nature of New York’s Albanian community. More interesting than this individual romantic plot line, however, is the much more widespread wish to emigrate from south-east Europe that Janković alludes to in describing the Albanian women’s migration strategies. This wish is not restricted to Albanians or to women. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on Kosovo in 2006 suggested that more than half of Kosovo’s young people ‘would emigrate if they could’ (UNDP, 2006: 28). Similarly, a survey by the BiH Commission for Coordination of Youth Issues in 2008 found that 73% of respondents aged between 18 and 30 would leave BiH if possible and that 37% aimed at permanent emigration (UNDP, 2009: 13); ‘push factors’ for youth migration include not only the unavailability of jobs but the dependence on corruption for access to employment and health care (Nixon et al., 2009). Working for international organisations could improve migration prospects in several ways (Jansen, 2006: 193–194). Someone’s English proficiency would likely improve, important for employment and for those anglophone jurisdictions where work visas or residency were connected to language tests; they might acquire personal connections with future sponsors or indeed romantic partners; they might find support for higher education abroad, which could lead to post-study employment residency; they might gain the experience and informal know-how necessary to obtain work with one or other international organisation in a different country. The possibility would later emerge of converting SFOR/KFOR experience into working as a ‘third-country national’ for a private military contractor (PMC) engaged by coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (Brown, 2010) – workers who could likewise end up ‘bereft of the effective protections of American law, local regimes, or their home governments’ (Li, 2015: 124) when put into danger through their work. PMCs recruiting in BiH for logistics posts in Iraq and Afghanistan targeted former SFOR employees because they had experience of working on a foreign military base and being managed in English, as one interpreter from Tuzla noted: So it was [...] easy for them when they went to Iraq, Afghanistan, to employ some people who they trusted, and who worked for them, like our construction workers that worked, they were really – they’d gotten very experienced in building the base camps. They were very fast, they were very handy, and of course they needed those kind of people with those kind of skills to help to build the camps over there.9

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In terms of citizenship, the prevalence of aspirations to migrate suggests that large numbers of potential citizens in these states do not envisage themselves as ongoing members of the polity. This represents another dimension in which the state–citizen relationship has become or been made hollow: the state has failed to meet the citizen’s minimum conditions for a ‘decent life’; the citizen thus plans to leave it, permanently or temporarily. The peacekeeping economy may provide their route out, or the peacekeeping economy within another state may indeed be their destination – again raising the question of which state is being referred to when citizenship and peacekeeping economies are under discussion. Transnational employment mobility is part of everyday life in these economies, but is also subject to formal restrictions based on nationality, age, work experience, educational achievement, language skills and financial capital. Within these restrictions, personal and family circumstances, including disability, have their own effects on how or whether somebody migrates. More research is necessary on the migration strategies of international organisation employees seeking to leave countries in south-east Europe. Like any migration strategies (Raghuram, 2004; Silvey, 2004), they will be gendered, but the precise dynamics are still to be determined.

Mobility Across Borders What implications does working in the international organisation sector, particularly for foreign military forces, have for workers exercising their citizenship, that is, of their relationship vis-à-vis a state they are connected to? Although the discussion above identifies weaknesses in this relationship, there were other respects in which these workers were better able than other residents to exercise certain aspects of citizenship, as in the case of mobility. In the contemporary state system, freedom of movement for a state’s citizens around all the territory it controls is a right extended in principle by all except ‘illegitimate, authoritarian governments’ (Torpey, 2000: 164–165); it is guaranteed in Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN [1948]), was transferred into the human rights annex of the Dayton Peace Agreement (OHR, 1995) and was made the subject of multiple KFOR initiatives in Kosovo after the ‘ethnic un-mixing’ of 1999–2000 (Di Lellio, 2009: 13). The very need for such initiatives in postconflict Kosovo and BiH suggests, however, that freedom of movement there has been obstructed by what Gatalo (2004: 19) calls ‘invisible wall[s]’, and what other Mostar residents described to the anthropologist Azra Hromadžić (2015: 183) as ‘division in [people’s] heads’, invisible barriers that continue to mark out continued ethnicised divisions of territory. Gatalo and Janković both suggest that interpreters had privileged internal freedom of movement. Gatalo’s (2004: 62) protagonist could cross between the eastern and western sides of Mostar, which he suggests was

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more difficult for men than women in the late 1990s – since men from the ‘other side’ were under suspicion of having fought in an opposing army and women were excused this. Janković’s protagonist travelling between Vranje and Kosovo, meanwhile, would also have been viewed as circulation within the Serbian state in official Serbian terms. She too had greater internal freedom of movement at that time than if she had not been an interpreter: she can overcome her family’s fears about being in Kosovo as a Serb, and can illicitly take Spanish and even Albanian coworkers to visit her family in Serbia. As a woman, meanwhile, she benefited from calculations of trust based on gendered beliefs about who was (not) likely to have fought as a soldier during the war. Interpreters’ privileged mobility across ethnicised boundaries in the first few post-conflict years was similarly a theme of interview-based research with interpreters (Baker, 2015). Interpreters’ greater capacity to exercise internal freedom of movement represents another weakness of citizenship in these post-conflict states. If interpreters could only exercise it because they worked for an international organisation, it follows that the post-conflict states were not themselves providing freedom of movement for those who ought to be its citizens, and that the international organisations had failed to achieve their ‘freedom of movement’ goals. A further issue in the peacekeeping economy/citizenship relationship is whether the services that interpreters and other locally recruited employees render to another state’s military forces, and their everyday experiences of working and sometimes living on foreign bases, create any ties between them and that state. In the most diffuse sense this would pertain to cultural belonging. It was not uncommon for a cluster of interpreters around Banja Luka, who had sometimes worked and lived closely with British soldiers for over a decade, to express a certain belonging to British cultural space in terms of fondness for the Queen or a touristic appreciation of historic British places (which could of course have affected their decision to be interviewed by a British researcher in the first place) (Baker, 2012b: 153). Some interpreters had become more enduringly linked with the British state by moving there, through one or other of the routes discussed above. The question of whether employment as a civilian support worker for a foreign military force creates a citizenship relationship with its state is, of course, most urgent for those who can no longer remain living in their home country because of working for that armed force. There are known cases where former interpreters from BiH and Croatia (and, if so, almost certainly also from Kosovo) successfully sought asylum abroad based on a well-founded fear of persecution under the internationally protected criteria. Several interpreters interviewed for the research of Kelly and Baker (2013: 100) described local intimidation or harassment of themselves and others, and a Serb interpreter from Priština, Petar Topoljski, was killed in 2000 shortly after an Albanian newspaper accused him of having taken part in massacres

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as a paramilitary during the Kosovo War (Ramet, 2006: 544) – an incident which is not alluded to in Devojka iz Bondstila. However, ongoing persecution of interpreters on a countrywide basis as an occupational group did not take place on the scale that would later occur in Iraq and Afghanistan during the War on Terror. The case in favour of granting Iraqi and Afghan interpreters asylum in their employers’ states holds that, since they risked their lives for that state’s military objectives, it owes them protection and also residency (Fitchett, 2012). What degree of service or risk would then be enough to establish this tie? The question has not yet been theorised but, in light of Iraqi/Afghan experiences, cannot be avoided. In various ways, the questions opened above all tie the sites of peacebuilding in the former Yugoslavia into global networks of security, mobility and trade. It may be possible to think of the space taken up by international agencies in post-conflict societies as another way in which, as Aihwa Ong (2006: 19) argues, the spatial practices of powerful organisations in the contemporary neoliberal economy end up splitting the link between state sovereignty over territory and the citizenship claims that the people who live or reside there may be able to make towards that state. Ong’s own research relates to special economic zones in East Asia rather than international agency compounds or military bases in south-east Europe. Her identification of these ‘exceptional’ spaces nonetheless suggests that the complexities of citizenship, gender and state responsibility that emerge in the specific context of this chapter are ultimately situated within even broader global transformations.

Conclusion Both the fictionalised accounts of employment in the peacekeeping economy are inflected by their authors’/protagonists’ gender, and neither attempts to encompass all possible social positionalities. Sickness and medical care, for instance, figure very differently in SFOR compared to the life courses of female interpreters who became pregnant while working: while Gatalo’s narrative portrays a man who requires healthcare after an out-of-the-ordinary event, encounters with the healthcare system on becoming pregnant and raising a young child would be routine for mothers regardless of their health in other respects. It would therefore be women who most regularly experienced the shortcomings in SFOR’s maternity leave and sickness provision, which initially could only be resolved by temporarily or permanently giving up their posts10; in 1999, several female interpreters within MND (South-West) complained to the divisional headquarters about the lack of dedicated maternity leave and won an increase in (unpaid) leave to six months (Baker, 2013). This is an example of collective action on the part of workers in the peacekeeping economy, and significantly addressed the military organisation that employed them rather than the Bosnian state.

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Opportunities for emigration through working in a peacekeeping economy were gendered even more heavily. Migration for education or labour would not depend on gender (even if choices about the type of labour or subject of study might), but the marriage route was in practice available to women only; I am not aware of any cases of male interpreters marrying one of the much smaller number of female soldiers. This imbalance rests on an entire structure of expectations about marriage and mobility in which wives move to accompany a male head of household. This is also a structure of heteronormativity, since throughout the 1990s the marriage route would have presumed partners of opposite legal genders, and the opportunity to move with a same-gender partner to their home country would still not be available in some cases today depending on the partner’s nationality. Although no narratives of ex-Yugoslav peacekeeping economies that I have encountered discuss non-heterosexual partnerships, this silence must not be read as assuming the heterosexuality of all the thousands of participants in this employment sector. In the peacekeeping economy, workers for foreign Armed Forces were not necessarily working in their state of origin or permanent residence, and the troop-contributing state (France and Spain for Gatalo; the US for Janković) was a structuring yet unspoken presence in the experience of work. Relations between workers in the peacekeeping economy and the state on whose territory they were actually working were, in comparison, weak, yet Gatalo and Janković both suggested in different ways that interpreters were conscious that some more meaningful form of citizenship relations between them and the states they belonged to ought to exist. There might appear to have been some potential for work in the peacekeeping economy to create at least a common awareness of shared socio-economic hardship that could transcend other social boundaries: for instance, the consciousnessraising of an interpreter with legal training in MND (South-West) about the unfairness of interpreters’ contracts, or Janković’s (2011: 11) description of the fate of Armida’s family, at which ‘Dijana realised [...] that Albania too had had its own [equivalents of] Jezda and Dafina [pyramid bankers in Serbia] who in collaboration with the state had impoverished credulous citizens’.11 In such interactions there might lie a potential for solidarity which could translate into a broader social struggle. Against this, however, was the atomised nature of social citizenship in post-conflict BiH and Kosovo. The goals of many people employed in the peacekeeping economies there, and many others working in other sectors or unable to find jobs in any sector, related to improving daily life on a personal and family level, through emigration if it could not be secured where one currently lived. In part, this was a result of the evisceration of the prewar state through the interdependent processes of the collapse of Yugoslav socialism and of armed conflict. Yet, international organisations themselves could also have been at fault. Stef Jansen (2007: 24) argues, for instance,

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that refugee return programmes in BiH were concerned with protecting refugees from physical harm but that, beyond this, they ‘rendered [a wider sense of] security and certainty private concerns, beyond the realm of what politics could or should engage with’. For Jansen (2007: 22), the agencies of intervention were themselves implicated in a depoliticisation not just of refugee return but also of wider Bosnian society. This type of background lay behind the narratives of depoliticisation and disengagement from states which Gatalo and Janković both imply had already failed them and others in similar socio-economic positions.

Acknowledgement Thanks to Chiara Bonfiglioli, Louisa Buckingham, Katja Kahlina and the publisher’s anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this chapter.

Notes (1)

Dauphinée’s own autoethnographic–novelistic work, The Politics of Exile, is indirectly related to the politics of translation and interpreting in BiH: its protagonist is an international relations scholar forced to confront forms of knowledge about war that her conceptual framework cannot accommodate, and its deuteragonist is her proofreader into ‘Serbo-Croatian’, a Bosnian Serb who had served in the Army of Republika Srpska during the Bosnian war (Dauphinée, 2013). (2) Issues of language choice and interoperability in the context of UN and NATO peace operations in BiH are further discussed in Kelly and Baker (2013: 161–186). (3) SFOR=Stabilisation Force, KFOR=Kosovo Force. These acronyms refer, respectively, to the multinational force in BiH from 1997 to 2004 and the multinational force in Kosovo since 1999. (4) The term Morlachs was popularised by the 18th-century Venetian travel writer Alberto Fortis to refer to the South Slav population of the Dalmatian hinterland within his exoticised description of Dalmatia. Through Fortis’s writing, the so-called Morlachs ‘acquired a distinct mystique of their own as utter barbarians at only the slightest geographical remove from Western Europe’ (Woolf, 1994: 315). Gatalo ironically applies ‘Morlachs’ to inhabitants of contemporary Herzegovina, suggesting a continuity of views between the foreigners visiting in the 1990s and those in Fortis’s time (an argument also made in academic critique by Maria Todorova [1997] and others). (5) Civic activism of this kind is not a theme in the narratives discussed by Kelly and Baker (2013). (6) Interview with ‘Saša’, 13 May 2010. ‘Jovana’, another former interpreter who had kept working for MND (South-West) as a summer job even after she had moved to the UK, echoed this view, though applied the lens of manager–employee relations: ‘[F]rom that environment, let’s call it normal working environment, you go back to Bosnia, and all of a sudden your boss couldn’t care less about your accommodation, about your health and safety [...] or like they just can treat you the way – they can talk to you the way how they want, and nobody tells them off, and so I thought, well, this is double-faced. It’s like, you know, it’s just this – if you were back in UK you wouldn’t be allowed – you would be punished for the way you behave’ (Interview, 18 November 2009).

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(7) Interview with ‘Asmir’, 13 May 2010. The acronym IFOR (Implementation Force) relates to SFOR’s previous name and may date this incident to 1996, although IFOR is also sometimes used colloquially to refer to troops who would have been badged as SFOR. (8) The military contractor TRW, which administered interpreter recruitment for the US, would also recruit US nationals as interpreters, as they could be securitycleared and could therefore work with classified information. (9) Interview with ‘Armin’, 19 May 2010. Recruiters from one PMC were apparently operating in Tuzla around the time of my interviews there. (10) I am not aware of any comparative data regarding maternity leave for locally recruited employees of KFOR or indeed for the US citizens recruited to work for KFOR through TRW. (11) Dafina Milanović and ‘Boss Jezda’ were the operators of two pyramid schemes in 1990s Serbia who fled abroad at the peak of the pyramid, ‘while according to their later confessions their banks’ funds went to the Milošević family’ (Kronja, 2006: 271).

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Fitchett, L. (2012) The AIIC project to help interpreters in conflict areas. In H. Footitt and M. Kelly (eds) Languages and the Military: Alliances, Occupation and Peace-Building (pp. 175–185). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Gatalo, V. (2004) SFOR: siesta, fiesta, orgasmo, riposo. Sarajevo/Zagreb: Zoro. Helms, E. (2006) Gendered transformations of state power: Masculinity, international intervention, and the Bosnian police. Nationalities Papers 34 (3), 343–361. Hromadžić, A. (2013) Discourses of trans-ethnic narod in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nationalities Papers 41 (2), 259–275. Hromadžić, A. (2015) Citizens of an Empty Nation: Youth and State-Making in Postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Inghilleri, M. (2010) ‘You don’t make war without knowing why’: The decision to interpret in Iraq. The Translator 16 (2), 175–196. Janković, T. (2011) Devojka iz Bondstila [The Girl from Bondsteel]. Belgrade: Laguna. Jansen, S. (2006) The privatisation of home and hope: Return, reforms and the foreign intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dialectical Anthropology 30, 177–199. Jansen, S. (2007) Troubled locations: Return, the life course, and transformations of ‘home’ in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Focaal 49, 15–30. Jennings, K.M. (2010) Unintended consequences of intimacy: Political economies of peacekeeping and sex tourism. International Peacekeeping 17 (2), 229–243. Jennings, K.M. and Bøås, M. (2015) Transactions and interactions: Everyday life in the peacekeeping economy. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 9 (3), 281–295. Kelly, M. and Baker, C. (2013) Interpreting the Peace: Peace Operations, Conflict and Language in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kesić, V. (2002) Muslim women, Croatian women, Serbian women, Albanian women.... In D.I. Bjelić and O. Savić (eds) Balkan as Metaphor (pp. 311–222). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Kronja, I. (2006) New urban trends in Serbia, 1990–2004: From urban life to popular culture and vice versa. Ethnologia Balkanica 10, 263–278. Li, D. (2015) Offshoring the army: Migrant workers and the US military. UCLA Law Review 62, 124–174. Nixon, N., Roels, S., Desigis, L., Divčić, M., Fridberg, H., Ignjatović, M. and Koutkova, K. (2009) The Ties that Bind: Social capital in Bosnia and Herzegovina. UNDP, Sarajevo. See http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/bosnia_nhdr_2009_summary_ en.pdf (accessed 31 March 2015). Nuhanović, H. (2005) Pod zastavom UN-a: međunarodna zajednica i zločin u Srebrenici [Under the UN flag: The international community and crimes at Srebrencia]. Sarajevo: BZK Preporod. OHR (1995) The General Framework Agreement: Annex 6. Ong, A. (2006) Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Pauker, I. (2012) War through other means: Examining the role of symbols in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In O. Simić, Z. Volčič and C.R. Philpot (eds) Peace Psychology in the Balkans: Dealing with a Violent Past While Building Peace (pp. 109–128). New York: Springer. Puls (2012) Tanja Janković: mirim Srbe i Albance [I reconciliate Serbs and Albanians]. Puls Online 29 January. See http://www.pulsonline.rs/puls-poznatih/8333/tanjajankovic-mirim-srbe-i-albance (accessed 31 March 2015). Raghuram, P. (2004) The difference that skills make: Gender, family migration strategies and regulated labour markets. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 30 (2), 303–321. Ramet, S.P. (2006) The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation, 1918–2005. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

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Sassen, S. (2008) Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global Assemblages. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Shepherd, L.J. (2005) Loud voices behind the wall: Gender violence and the violent reproduction of the international. Millennium 34 (2), 377–401. Shepherd, L.J. (2012) Gender, Violence and Popular Culture: Telling Stories. London/ New York: Routledge. Silvey, R. (2004) Power, difference and mobility: Feminist advances in migration studies. Progress in Human Geography 28 (4), 1–17. Suljagić, E. (2005) Postcards from the Grave (trans. L. Haverić). London: Saqi. Todorova, M. (1997) Imagining the Balkans. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Torpey, J. (2000) The Invention of the Passport: Surveillance, Citizenship and the State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Touquet, H. (2011) Multi-ethnic parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Naša Stranka and the paradoxes of postethnic politics. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism 11 (3), 451–467. UN ([1948]) Universal Declaration of Human Rights. See http://www.un.org/en/ documents/udhr/index.shtml (accessed 31 March 2015). UNDP (2006) Youth: A new generation for a new Kosovo. [Priština]: UNDP Kosovo. See http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/kosovo_nhdr_2006_en.pdf (accessed 31 March 2015). UNDP (2009) Revised standard joint programme document: Youth employability and retention programme. [Sarajevo]: UNDP BiH. See http://www.undp.org/content/ dam/undp/documents/projects/BIH/00050771_MDG-F%20BiH%20YEM%20 JPD%20Final%20Revisions%2019%20Dec.doc (accessed 31 March 2015). Visoka, G. (2012) The ‘Kafkaesque accountability’ of international governance in Kosovo. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 6 (2), 189–212. Wibben, A.T.R. (2011) Feminist Security Studies: A Narrative Approach. London/New York: Routledge. Williamson, E. (2012) Domestic abuse and military families: The problem of reintegration and control. British Journal of Social Work 42 (7), 1371–1387. Woolf, L. (1994) Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

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Translating Justice at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Louisa Buckingham

This study examines the position of English in the lives of a small group of language experts from the former Yugoslavia (FY) who work at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), an institution catapulted into existence through the wars of succession of the FY. The ICTY has been an important employer of translators and interpreters (TIs), contracted to deliver an array of language services institution-wide. Supporting all stages of each trial, their work encompasses translating documents, facilitating communication between legal representatives and indicted persons, witnesses and other individuals called to give evidence, and translating communications between the indicted held in the UN Detention Unit (UNDU) and the exterior. By enquiring into the professional trajectories of TIs in a professional context beyond the borders of the FY, this study endeavours to illustrate how English language competence, and translation and interpreting expertise acquired locally, frequently in ad hoc circumstances, during the pre- or early war years, became a vital skill which, for some, facilitated transnational mobility and, in this case, led to employment at an international criminal court. Candidates for employment in an international tribunal with the necessary linguistic expertise and contextual knowledge may well have experienced themselves, to varying degrees, events under investigation (Cryer, 2007). As Namakula (2014: 35) explains in the context of Africa, in international court cases involving languages of lesser diffusion, TIs often originate from territories under the jurisdiction of the tribunal. The very specific requirements of this position mean that a degree of involvement (whether immediate or vicarious) in the events is often inevitable. The likelihood of prior contact with events related to the wars of succession is high for many TIs employed at the ICTY since its establishment.

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Most were originally from the FY, and many had themselves experienced the wars in Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) first-hand, or alternatively, the political and social context of war. The cases before the tribunal involved atrocities committed in the TIs’ home country (whether viewed from the current borders of the independent states or those of the FY) and some may have had connections to the communities where such acts occurred. They thus did not always have the luxury of a distanced, disengaged position with regard to proceedings, unlike legal experts and administrative staff at the tribunal, most of whom had never previously visited the FY or had personal contact with people from this region.1 For most TIs working at the ICTY, the war had been a dominant theme of their youth and adult life, and all, to varying degrees, had been personally impacted by the war and related events. Accordingly, in addition to the aforementioned linguistic focus, this study also enquires into the psychological challenges experienced by these TIs, who were engaged on a daily basis with content matter related to events and people from their former homeland. It thereby seeks to illustrate how the position of a TI in a context such as an international tribunal, which relies on a relatively narrow pool of professionals with the necessary linguistic expertise in languages of lesser diffusion, requires a broader range of skills above and beyond linguistic and subject knowledge. Data for this study were compiled through questionnaires completed by eight current employees of the ICTY, all of them providers of ‘language services’,2 whether in the capacity of TIs or language assistants. While five participants are specifically from BiH, and are thus able to relate their experience of progressing from local employment in BiH to a position at the ICTY, the data set was widened to incorporate the experiences of TIs from the FY, and three TIs from Serbia were included. TIs from Serbia are not only more numerous at the ICTY, 3 but some may have lived for a period BiH before beginning new lives in the newly independent states of either Serbia or Croatia. The elicited experiences of TIs at the ICTY were supplemented with a review of publicly accessible ICTY documents. These provide an insight into the workings of the ICTY during the trials of numerous former representatives from the military, police and local politics from Serbia, Croatia and BiH. The decision to combine insiders’ views with a review of published primary sources reflects the approach taken in Namakula (2014).

Background The ICTY was the first international tribunal established to bring to justice perpetrators of crimes against humanity since the Nuremberg trials after World War II. Created in May 1993 by a United Nations Security Council resolution, it was responsible for the process of indicting alleged perpetrators, staging criminal trials, passing judgments and enforcing

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sentences against those convicted. The tribunal’s mandate is to bring to justice those suspected of serious violations of international humanitarian law during the wars for independence on the territory of the FY between 1991 and 2001. The majority of cases tried have been for crimes committed in BiH between 1992 and 1995. In previous experiences of international tribunals in the context of World War II (the Nuremburg and the Tokyo trials) or the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, perpetrators of war crimes were brought to justice upon the cessation of hostilities. In the case of the ICTY, indictments were issued and the first trials were held while the war was still being waged in BiH. The first indictment was issued in November 1994 against Dragan Nikolić, former commander of the detention camp Sušica in Vlasenica (BiH), although his arrest and transfer to the ICTY did not occur until 2000 (Case information sheet, IT-94-2). The first trial to take place was that against Duško Tadić, indicted in 1995 for crimes committed in the east BiH city of Prijedor and whose trial commenced in May 1996 (Case information sheet, IT-94-1). At the time of writing in early 2014, the tribunal had indicted 161 individuals (including highranking representatives of the military and government, such as heads of state and army chiefs of staff). Four individuals were still on trial (Goran Hadžić, Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić and Vojislav Šešelj) and a number of appeals were still open. Only 18 people have been acquitted (ICTY, Key figures of the cases). The tribunal is currently in the final phase of operations; no further indictments have been issued since 2004. The ‘completion strategy’, initiated in 2003, includes strengthening the capacity of national courts in the territories of BiH, Serbia and Croatia, and the transfer of cases of intermediate or lesser importance to be tried there (ICTY Completion strategy report, 2014). Important documents such as transcripts of court proceedings related to cases have been translated into Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian (B/C/S)4, so that these testimonies may serve to support proceedings conducted in national courts of the region. Thus, current translating and interpreting work at the ICTY not only comprises the outstanding trials, but also translation work directed at fulfilling the exit strategy. Much of the translation and interpreting work undertaken by the ICTY falls under the remit of the Conference Language Services Section (CLSS).5 Most work involves the three main languages used at the ICTY (English, French and B/C/S), although services for languages such as Albanian or Macedonian may also be required on occasion. Interpreting duties may range from interpreting during tribunal proceedings (usually simultaneous interpreting from a booth), to consecutive interpreting during instances of questioning of the accused or witnesses by ICTY officials. Some translating and interpreting duties may be undertaken by staff employed primarily as

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translators or language assistants to support activities undertaken at the various stages of a trial’s proceedings. These may include receiving witnesses due to testify and briefing them on trial procedures (known as ‘witness proofing’), and monitoring (and, on occasion, translating) communication (such as letters and non-privileged telephone conversations) between the accused held at the UNDU and the outside world6 (Abels, 2012). The brunt of the translation work involves translating documents required for the trial into or from English, French or B/C/S.

Language and the Tribunal As Levi (1990: 4), astutely states, language use is at the heart of all legal affairs; indeed, ‘virtually all dimensions of the judicial process [...] is at least in part a function of what is said, by whom, to whom, and how’. This is all the more pertinent in the context of a highly multilingual institution such as the ICTY. Served by judicial experts and administrative staff from all over the world, the official working languages of the ICTY are English and French, but a number of different languages might be used in the course of pre-trial investigations by witnesses and by the accused. Indictments and court orders are provided in both working languages, with the version in one language identified as the ‘authoritative’ version. In the interests of a fair trial, documents deemed necessary for the accused and defence counsel are translated into B/C/S; these include indictments, court orders and material tendered as evidence. Thus, concommitent with the importance of language as the ‘means of which law is transmitted, interpreted and executed’ (Levi, 1990: 4), is the imperative of ensuring that precision in meaning is retained during the translation into and from the various languages in judicial proceedings, during which the accused and witnesses all have the right to speak in their first language (L1). With particular reference to international criminal trials, Namaluka (2014: 107) ascertains that the quality of decisions and advice given at every stage of the legal proceedings depends to a large degree on the standard of the translating and interpreting service provided. In the first study to examine the work of language experts and the ICTY and other international tribunals, Namakula (2014: 102) identifies five dimensions in which linguistic issues potentially create challenges: communicating through translation or interpretation across different linguistic cultures and legal systems; inevitable delays in judicial processes due to the requirement of translating documents; the impact that communication through an interpreter has on the dynamics of an exchange; the loss of potentially pertinent information through translating and interpreting; and the inevitable need to employ TIs originating from the territories under the jurisdiction of the court, a practice which stands in contrast to the otherwise established practice of employing international personnel in

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the ICTY (and other international tribunals) as a measure to strengthen impartiality in judicial proceedings. The imperative of accuracy in a high-stakes, multilingual, complex setting such as ICTY cannot be overstated. Namakula (2014: 127) maintains, however, that accuracy in legal translation is invariably a question of degree. This is due to the inevitable varying degrees of equivalence between terms and phrases in the source and target languages and the additional consideration of divergent legal systems and legal practices. According to the views of ICTY translators recorded in Namakula (2014), translation accuracy in certified translations (those that have progressed through the three stages of the translation process: translation, revision and proofreading) is around 90%. The ICTY has interpretation verification procedures in place within the unit of the tribunal’s translation and interpretation service (CLSS) to respond to the needs identified by the accused, the trial chamber or the prosecution. This service may be called upon to verify the accuracy of interpretations by checking the hearing transcripts with the audio recordings. This is not only with respect to interpreting from B/C/S, but between English and French (Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj, 15 July 2008, IT-03-67-T). In the case of translated texts, the original document can be sourced to verify the accuracy of the translated version, but this, even when using the current electronic document storage system, can be very time consuming, according to Namakula (2014: 112). While the normal procedure for verifying translation and interpreting accuracy would be through the CLSS, on occasion the accuracy of translations provided by the CLSS might be challenged by either the prosecution or the defence during a trial. An example of this occurred during the trial of Vojislav Šešelj in November and again in December 2008, when Šešelj informed the chamber of alleged interpretation errors in the transcript of a hearing translated from B/C/S into English and French. In early January 2008, the accused complained about shortcomings in the interpretation during the trial which allegedly ‘seriously distorted the contents of his opening statement’. Šešelj maintained that the errors and interruptions11 were intentional and accused the interpreters of a ‘lack of professionalism’ and ‘ignorance’ (Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj, 15 July 2008, IT-03-67-T). Although Šešelj’s complaint was ultimately dismissed, the chamber first acknowledged the intrinsic difficulties in rendering a verbatim interpretation of court proceedings, noting that the chamber had previously cautioned Šešelj and witnesses that the speed of the exchange and overlapping speech seriously tested the work of the interpreters and consequently negatively impacted on the quality and reliability of the trial transcript (Prosecutor v. Šešelj, 15 July 2008, IT-03-67-T). The responsibility for inaccuracies may not only lie with the CLSS, however. During one trial, it emerged that the defence counsel had

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introduced amendments to the witness statements in B/C/S, and had then inserted its own translation of these amendments into the translated versions in English provided by the CLSS (Prosecutor v. Milan Milutinović and others, 22 May 2008, IT-0587-T).

The importance of language intermediaries The centrality of the TIs’ role in ICTY work is rarely recognised in the secondary literature; this invariably spotlights the work of the legal representatives and the exploits of the accused, frequently without a single mention of the term translator or interpreter, as though these had either not been present or had been irrelevant to the institutions’ investigative and prosecution work (see, for example, the account by Hagan, 2003). Wald (2001), a former ICTY judge, briefly discusses the fact that, as a multilingual institution, the need to rely on translators for the delivery of documents presented challenges; however, this is mainly with reference to the use of two working languages, English and French, and she neglects to mention that all levels of the tribunal’s work, from identifying suspects and locating and interviewing witnesses, to communicating the final judgment to the accused, depended to a significant degree on the work of a large team of TIs within the CLSS, and that language issues ‘affect all categories of participants at all levels of communication in the trial process’ (Namakula, 2014: 137). Primary sources (i.e. texts released to the public by ICTY) provide (albeit on paper) a more balanced perspective. Not long after its establishment, judges at the tribunal recognised the vital contribution played by interpreters (and by extension translators) who ‘constitute an indispensable and invaluable element in the investigation of a suspect and an essential component of the trial process’, with the status of ‘an impartial third party’ in the administration of justice (Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalić and others, 8 July 1997, IT-96-21). Publicly available ICTY documents from judicial proceedings (e.g. motions, orders and decisions) provide valuable insight into work conducted by language experts within the ICTY and, on occasion, shed light on how translating and interpreting (whether the process or the product) may impact upon judicial proceedings. It is evident that language concerns, whether involving comprehension, choice of language, accuracy, or translation and interpretation of procedures and rights, have not infrequently been the topic of submission of the tribunal and appeals. Far from being of peripheral concern, languagerelated problems have taken considerable time and resources of legal representatives, the tribunals’ registry and the CLSS. Given that the functioning of such a high-stakes multilingual institution hinges, at all levels, on the availability and expertise of language experts, research into the professional experience of such individuals (particularly when the official documentation of proceedings is available to contextualise

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such accounts), can deepen our understanding of the role of language intermediaries in linguistically complex institutional settings.

Methods Two main sources of information were used in this study: questionnaire data from eight TIs employed at the ICTY and information on translation and interpreting work at the ICTY from primary and secondary sources. A research assistant (a native speaker of B/C/S and professional TI) facilitated contact with these individuals. Strict confidentiality clauses in employment contracts signed by all employees of the ICTY limit the degree of insight one is able to attain regarding work routines and in-house translation and interpreting experience. Questionnaire items thus needed to be sufficiently general in order to minimise participants’ concerns regarding the disclosure of potentially sensitive information. Publicly accessible information about the ICTY was therefore important in terms of providing concrete examples that might illustrate the difficulties or challenges alluded to by participants. The primary sources consulted for this study constituted official documents relating to the history of the ICTY and particular judicial proceedings. Case documents of indicted individuals were surveyed for references to translation and interpreting work. Such information discussed during a trial or drawn upon from other documents during the deliberation of the judge (for instance, in a judgment or in the decision on an appeal) provided documented evidence of aspects of translating and interpreting work at ICTY. Secondary sources consulted comprised scholarly works by former legal experts at the ICTY in which aspects of the judicial proceedings and translation and interpreting work were discussed. In early 2014, eight language experts volunteered to complete a short questionnaire (see Appendix) enquiring into the place of English in their professional development prior to their employment at the ICTY, and their ongoing development of linguistic and professional expertise while at the ICTY. A combination of convenience sampling and the snowball technique was used to identify individuals willing to contribute their knowledge and experience to this study. The first contacts were known personally to the research assistant of this study and these contacts shared with her7 names of further potential participants. Not all participants contacted chose to participate after receiving written information about the study. All participants were provided with written assurance of their anonymity.8 They were also given the opportunity to read and comment on the sections of the article containing their responses before the work was published, a procedure known as ‘member checking’ (Guba & Lincoln, 1982). The questionnaire guide was formulated after extensive reading of primary and secondary sources on translating and interpreting work

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within BiH, including ICTY official documents and accounts by historians and ICTY legal experts. Questions enquired into participants’ previous educational and professional experience in order to shed light on how these TIs developed the necessary language competence for such exacting and fast-paced work, and also their perspective as successful practitioners on how future TIs might be better prepared for such work. The questionnaire was delivered to participants by email, and the research assistant provided descriptions of the research project and responses to queries via email, telephone and in person. While the questionnaire was in English, communication between the research assistant and the participants occurred in B/C/S and six of the participants chose to complete the questionnaire in this language.

Results and Discussion This section presents and discusses findings from the questionnaire and discusses how these insights relate to published primary and secondary sources. It comprises three main sections: English language acquisition and professional experience prior to the ICTY, and developing professional TI expertise at the ICTY. This final section examines issues involved in exercising the professional role of ‘language expert’ at the ICTY and describes the importance of two unresolved problematic issues: translation quantity and accuracy within the broader context of ICTY work. As previously stated, the insights provided by the participants have been contextualised through a discussion of related themes from primary and secondary sources. Excerpts from the participants’ responses have been provided, but to maintain anonymity, details that might contribute to their identification have been deleted.

English language acquisition Of the eight informants in this study, only three had a degree in English language and literature from a university in the FY. Others had either studied other languages or had not completed a language-related degree. Two participants had benefited from English-medium instruction at tertiary level. The acquisition of English expertise reaches far back in their lives. Two participants mentioned the high level of competence expected in their grammar school years in the FY, which prepared them for language needs in the tertiary sector or professional contexts. Two had spent a period in an English-speaking country during their high school years. Three participants identified the important role of reading in their youth, whether academic texts or fiction in English, for their linguistic development. When prompted to reflect on the role of English in their lives, responses varied from the utilitarian view of English representing simply a channel

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of communication and opportunities for expanded access to information, whether in print or electronic form. Four participants underscored the key vocational role that English had played in their careers, which may be illustrated by the laconic reply: ‘Bosnian and English, I make my money off those languages’ (P1). Two participants viewed their foreign language expertise as a defining component of their identity; as one participant explained: Without translating, I wouldn’t be who I am. I have been married for years and have wonderful children, but translating is something that is mine alone, something that fulfils me and defines me and without which I wouldn’t exist.9 (P7)

Prior language-related professional experience All participants possessed prior language-related work experience. For two, this had been teaching in schools or university. Experience in translation before joining the ICTY varied from around 1 year to over 20 years. Not unlike the TIs employed by the international military in Chapter 12 of this volume, some participants had previously worked for an international aid organisation during the war, such as the Red Cross, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe or the International Police Task Force, or had gained considerable translating experience in state or private companies during the pre-war years. Participants described the importance of the variety of subject areas they had been required to work on. This had given them the impetus to build a repertoire of specialised terminology for particular subject areas, and had provided experience with different text types and with bidirectional translation and interpreting. Shifts in staffing needs meant that job roles and responsibilities might change with little notice, requiring the TIs to extend their linguistic repertoires in response to situation-specific exigencies. For instance, one participant described how she had developed consecutive interpreting skills while working for a private company through being informally assigned the role when foreign delegations visited. The position of ‘language intermediary’ frequently required interaction with representatives from other agencies. This field experience gave insights into operations undertaken by local military, police or political representatives or the international community. These positions frequently involved short contracts or fixed-term positions, but they provided an opportunity to build English language proficiency and translation and interpreting skills (Jansen, 2006; Kelly & Baker, 2013: 119).

ICTY recruitment experience For the participants who had previously worked as TIs in the FY, the ICTY was one of the few employers located abroad that appeared to offer

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an application for the knowledge and experience they had acquired as language intermediaries to date. The opportunity to work abroad in a field related to the FY became highly valued as the international community began to downscale activities or close offices, as was the case with many international organisations in BiH in the early 2000s. Awareness of ICTY’s work was widespread in Bosnian society, due to the high profile of arrests and media coverage of trial proceedings. All eight participants claimed their satisfactory performance during the recruitment language proficiency test was primarily due to their previous varied translation and interpreting experience, or, in one case, the quality of experience gained in the practical translation classes at university. In the case of the later recruits, familiarisation with the ICTY website and, in particular, the legal and military terminology used on the website was the primary (or sole) form of preparation for the recruitment test. Participants’ experience of a recruitment test varied: most sat a written test; one described translating a newspaper article; while another claimed to have undertaken both translation and interpreting tests, as well as an interview.

Developing professional TI expertise: Linguistic and professional competence The ICTY has acknowledged the difficulties involved in recruiting suitable TIs for languages of lesser diffusion such as B/C/S, the challenges in maintaining TIs conversant with both case law and pertinent terminology and the imperative of ‘ensuring sufficient time for in-house training’ (UNICRI, 2009: 184). The participants in this study did not receive professional training prior to or during ICTY employment; they thus developed their linguistic expertise and judicial procedural knowledge in situ and largely in a self-directed manner. Participants’ responses to questions concerning what they found challenging in adapting to the demands of their position as a ‘language expert’ are organised in two main sections: linguistic and psychological challenges.

Linguistic challenges Linguistic challenges during respondents’ early years at the ICTY largely involved the burden of learning appropriate terminology in English and their L1 from legal, medical and military domains. Particular cognitive skills were valued, including a high level of concentration, attention to detail and the ability to retain detail such as diverse semantic nuances, or, according to one participant: ‘the willingness to venture into the entire semantic field of a word’ [P1]. The acquisition of terminology entailed a degree of induction into the professional domain by mentors in order to comprehend the logic behind the structure of legal texts.

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At the beginning terminology was the hardest to master, but I succeeded after a while thanks to the support of older and more experienced colleagues. [P8] One participant described the initial challenge of learning how to use the ICTY translation databases. Over the years, the CLSS had developed databases to track documents (for instance, for translations of comparable texts and to track the use of terminology) and provide an electronically accessible glossary, thus helping to systematise the translation of terminology and texts (UNICRI, 2009: 186). Such tools presented a steep learning curve for translators without experience of such professional tools and with no formal training in translation. They have, however, become essential to the efficient functioning of the CLSS as they help maintain consistency in terminology usage which has been of particular importance in the case of simultaneous trial proceedings of cases that are interrelated. Overcoming such linguistic challenges required initiative and a largely autodidactic or self-directed approach to learning. Participants described the varied texts and subject-matter experts they consulted whenever the opportunity arose, both in the target language and in the L1. In the following response, one participant describes her approach to problemsolving. It also illustrates the need for seasoned interpersonal skills in order to successfully initiate and maintain contact with people from different professional spheres, to whom one can turn for clarification on specific instances of language use. I became a reviser. That meant more contact with professionals to check the use of terminology. For example, when I revised reports on autopsies I often consulted doctors, when I was working on military matters I would sometimes consult experts from that area, and so on. [P7] No participants acknowledged receiving translating and interpreting training at the ICTY, despite the reality that these employees, typically were not qualified TIs and usually did not have experience with the discourse conventions of court trials. Learning through progressive exposure to different text types and translation tasks appears to be key to their gradual professionalisation. Almost all participants cited more experienced colleagues as a valuable source of guidance during this process. Seniority, in terms of breadth and depth of experience, thus appears to be a valued attribute in a profession that relies on the steady accumulation of skills and knowledge over time. Dialectal differences, both in English and in B/C/S, also contributed to the linguistic challenges. One task assigned to language experts involved transcribing audio material; this could present a challenge due to the

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range of dialects and accents that might be used by speakers of English (see also Kelly & Baker, 2013: 161). Apart from English proficiency, a number of respondents underscored the importance of multidialectal competence and advanced literacy skills in both scripts of B/C/S for translation and interpreting in this context. Dialectal differences became salient during the translation of certain lexemes used in BiH derived from Arabic or Turkish, which might not be fully understood by translators from Serbia or Croatia. This was described as professionally challenging by a TI from Bosnia: Being confronted by Croatian and Serbian speakers who didn’t really understand the nuances of the Bosnian language but insisted, nevertheless, that they must know better than me. [P1] The ICTY’s decision to treat B/C/S as a single language with different dialect forms for the purposes of translating and interpreting and to use the Latin script in written documents was primarily motivated by reasons of efficacy and cost. In anticipation that this decision would be contested, in 1995 expert opinion was sought on the degree of mutual intelligibility of Serbian and Croatian, termed ‘the varieties of Serbo-Croatian’ (Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalić & others, 23 June 1997, IT-96-21). ICTY policy on B/C/S has been tested on several occasions through requests that interpreting be undertaken by an interpreter in their particular dialect (i.e. in Serbian or in Croatian), or that the Cyrillic script be used in the translation of documents. Such requests from the defence counsel and the accused rested on a very narrow definition of TIs’ L1. During two particular trials in 1997, the defence counsel requested (unsuccessfully) that trial proceedings be interpreted into the Croatian language, rather than through the ‘Serbo-Croatian’ interpretation service provided (Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalić, 23 June 1997, IT-96-21). During the trial of Zdravko Tolimir (2007–2012), the accused requested in July 2007 that trial documents be delivered to him ‘in a script and language he reads and writes’, namely Serbian in the Cyrillic script.10 Upon reaching the appeal chamber, the case was ultimately dismissed on the grounds that Tolimir had been educated in the FY and both scripts had been used throughout his education and working life; the judge’s decision, encompassing 10 pages, closed with ‘it would not entertain frivolous arguments in the future’ (Prosecutor v. Zdravko Tolimir, 28 March 2008, IT-05-88/2-ART73.1). When identifying the most important formative experiences related to the acquisition of professional expertise, the most common topic mentioned was the importance of interpersonal relations, including teamwork, and the facility to cultivate contacts (whether senior colleagues within the institution or representatives from other professional domains) as sources of specialised knowledge on language use. Far from being solitary, individual

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work, the careers of successful TIs were necessarily social and dependent to a large degree on the ability to initiate and foster an array of professional relationships. I read legal textbooks, relevant international conference proceedings, I talked to our own and to foreign lawyers, I consulted professors of law from the region of the former Yugoslavia, I followed court cases and was abreast of legal affairs and court proceedings in the press. [P7] I didn’t have any training after passing the test and interview, except of the help of experienced colleagues who really helped me to understand the relevant terminology needed for translating at the Tribunal.’ [P3]

Psychological demands When prompted to describe the degree to which translating and interpreting work in the context of the ICTY presented unusual psychological demands, four participants identified situations which brought them into contact with the people involved in cases before the tribunal. For instance, language assistants were called upon to facilitate communication during witness proofing sessions.12 As witness proofing involves both instructing the witness (usually a resident from the location where atrocities were committed or a survivor of such crimes) on trial procedures and reviewing the witness’s testimony, it required quite lengthy contact with people who themselves often required professional psychological support to get them through the often traumatic experience of publicly ‘reliving’ the events under scrutiny or even seeing the alleged perpetrator in the courtroom (Elias-Bursać, n.d.; ICTY Completion strategy report, 2014: 8). Contact with victims may also occur in the context of meeting survivors of a particular crime after the TI had worked on the case in detail during the pretrial preparations. In this regard, one participant identified the challenge of working on documents describing mass graves at Foča and later meeting survivors brought to the ICTY to testify. Instances of contact with the accused also occurred in the UNDU and involved the language experts facilitating communication between the facility’s officials or guards, usually in response to a request made by the accused held in detention. It was also stressful when I worked at the Detention Unit, sometimes I was sorry for one of the detainees (from a humanitarian perspective) and some of their requests to the prison administration weren’t approved (like, for example, one of them wanted a curtain to separate the WC from the room but it wasn’t allowed). [P2]

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Apart from contact with people, the subject matter of the texts (whether in the form of audiovisuals or written documents) contributed to psychological stress. In this respect, topics such as the concentration camps, rape of women and war crimes against children were identified by participants. I remember translating and interpreting the [case name omitted] case in 1997 and then again in 2007: it was much emotionally harder when I was older. To this day, nothing can ruin my concentration, but when working with material that has to do with war crimes against children. It is only then when I need substantial time to recover. Anything else goes. [P1] There were moments when it was tough, I even had nightmares when I translated reports on autopsies and mass graves, all those photos I saw, some stories just get to you, but to be a professional you just have to do your work and learn to distance yourself from your emotions. [P2] Translating devastating war experiences was sometimes deeply distressing. Sometimes, to calm myself, I had to break off and I had to cry or share these terrible experiences with a colleague; there were nights when I couldn’t sleep, thinking about the fate of those who reached me through translating; there were stressful moments, but like everything in life, you are a professional and you have to overcome those things and do your work as best as you can. [P7] With regard to the degree of acknowledgement by their superiors of the psychological strain involved in translating and interpreting work and the support TIs received within their work environment, six participants responded positively, at least with regard to their immediate work teams comprising investigators, lawyers and other TIs, although this did not always extend to the broader institutional context. Yes, but by ‘employers’ I refer to investigators and lawyers. We are together in this and we try to steer that astonishment in positive direction whereby it would benefit the case. As a matter of fact, I remember distinctly that we, interpreters and translators, were very careful never to say that we are burned out due to the emotional stress. [P1] The position of an in-house psychologist is a mechanism by which institutions dealing with classified information can ensure potentially sensitive information revealed during counselling sessions remains ‘under wraps’. Generally, only some supervisors had an idea of it. They all insisted that we have to distance ourselves from it, offering services of the ICTY psychologist. [P4]

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Psychological strain was usually seen as simply part of the job and distancing mechanisms to cope with the demands of their positions were not viewed differently from those exercised by other highly trained professionals. Moreover, prior experience of translating and interpreting fieldwork while employed by international organisations in BiH meant that the participant arrived at the ICTY with first-hand experience of working with accounts of human tragedy and suffering. I always tried to be a professional in my job so that, although it was sometimes hard when you come across situations that are familiar to you and are tough experiences, mostly I translated by seeing it in a neutral way, like it’s just work and without the interference of personal things and emotions. If I hadn’t, I would have been psychologically shattered. [P3] It was very stressful working on some translations. But I managed to stay a professional and do my work in an expert and objective way, without involving emotions, because before I worked at the Tribunal I had experienced many stressful situations in my previous positions. That previous experience really helped me in the work at the Tribunal. [P8] Stress was not only due to the content matter but the pace of the work. One participant described a key characteristic that employers look for in prospective TI recruits as being ‘human machines’ [P1]. The tight deadlines imposed on much work undertaken in the CLSS were essential to ensure the relatively smooth progression of legal proceedings. Often cited in official ICTY documents when weighing translation needs, ‘expeditiousness of proceedings’ forms part of the fundamental principles of a fair trial, and decisions regarding the admittance of documents for translation by the CLSS are always taken with consideration to the overarching rule that a trial must not be unduly delayed (The Statute, ICTY, article 20). The time required to translate the considerable quantity of material required by the prosecution and the defence has to be factored into the schedule of the tribunal. Nevertheless it is not uncommon to find complaints from the defence regarding their inability to access translations in a timely manner. In one trial chamber order, the CLSS is recorded as having a capacity of around 2000 pages13 per month for the defence and prosecution teams, depending on the number of qualified translators available at any one time (Prosecutor v. Prlić and others, 13 October 2008, IT-04-74-T). In numerous official documents, whether orders from the trial chamber or decisions from the appeal chamber, the limited translation capacity of the CLSS is mentioned, along with the need to take this into account when stipulating the quantity of documents the defence counsel is authorised to submit for translation, the prioritisation of such documents and deadlines for translations to be completed. Without such controls on the translation

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resources assigned to the accused, trial proceedings could be paralysed by excessive requests for translation by the defence counsel. The time pressure of the translation procedures was also illustrated by unexpected changes in the exhibits presented in court which were intended to be admitted as evidence. In June 2010, the prosecution of a particular case wished to add to the exhibit list 18 handwritten military notebooks belonging to General Ratko Mladić, which it had just obtained in March that year. Totalling over 3000 pages, these notebooks needed to be translated before the prosecution could identify sections relevant to the trial to add to the exhibit list. The trial chamber gave the prosecution a two-week period to provide translations of portions of the notes which appeared to be relevant (Prosecutor v. Mico Stanisić and Stojan Župljanin, 29 June 2010, IT-08-91-T). The considerable quantity of printed material required by both the prosecutor and the defence to be translated for a hearing may surpass the capacity of the CLSS. On occasion, translation capacity is bolstered through outsourcing work. An example of this occurred during the preparations of the trial of Vojislav Šešelj, who (representing himself) requested the translation of books he had authored. The chamber consented to the translation of up to 10,000 pages by internal (CLSS) and external resources (Prosecutor v. Šešelj, 27 November 2007, IT-03-67-T).14 Arguably, in acknowledgement of the inevitable limitations of the capacity of the CLSS to translate all documents, the accused or the defence counsel might submit excessive requests to frustrate the workings of the court, hence the cap on the number of pages available to each party for internal translation. Zahar (2008) claims that Šešelj managed to effectively paralyse proceedings against him on different occasions through his excessive demands on CLSS resources.

Conclusion The confluence of factors that characterise post-war societies, typically involving economic (and material) ruin, forced displacement, mass migration and ‘brain drain’, is not conducive to the provision of systematic, institutional training of ‘language experts’ who are linguistically qualified to assist in communication between the local populace and international institutions. Such qualities or ‘qualifications’ are usually acquired ad hoc through a combination of initiative and situation-specific exigencies and extend far beyond linguistic expertise to include an array of relational skills, stamina and psychological resilience. According to the experiences of individuals in this study, TIs at the ICTY may often not possess degrees in translation and interpreting prior to being hired.15 The language experts in this study developed their initial competence in English in traditional classroom contexts during

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their student years at tertiary institutions of the FY (usually restricted to obligatory courses based on a grammar-translation or structural syllabus), which was combined with an auto-didactic approach to acquiring English for the utilitarian purpose of accessing information in print or electronic form during their tertiary years. While university studies might be in a different academic field, experience reading technical, professional texts in English provided early exposure to the language of specialised genres. It is not uncommon for ICTY TIs to have previously worked as TIs for international aid organisations during the war and post-war period. This involved the varied exposure to different spoken dialects and specialised vocabulary and text types, as well as the practice of simultaneous and consecutive interpreting. However, no participants in this study had any background in court or legal translating or interpreting, and experience of legal proceedings in their L1 is likely to have been very limited (see also Kelly & Baker, 2013: chapter 5). The at times enormous demand for bilingual staff (usually English and B/C/S) by international aid organisations and for mobile TIs able to accompany foreign staff on field trips and also undertake office work, resulted in a large pool of native speakers of B/C/S, perhaps qualified in a non-related field such as engineering, who over a period of various years acquired valuable experience, together with insights into field operations and the political manoeuvrings of the local and international communities (this is further described in Baker, 2010: 156; Dragović-Drouet, 2007: 33; Footitt & Kelly, 2013: 196; Kelly & Baker, 2013: 119). For TIs who had left their country during this period, the ICTY constituted one of the few possible employment opportunities which enabled them to draw on their contextual knowledge of events during the war years (whether experienced first-hand or vicariously) and extend their sometimes quite specialized English-language skills. While linguistic ability in either English or French, acquired in the diaspora or alternatively while working for one of the many international organisations operating in the FY, was clearly a precondition for their employment at the ICTY, career progression also depended on an individual’s mental stamina. Initiative, problem-solving cognitive skills and the aptitude to establish and maintain professional relationships with experienced colleagues within the translation profession and other fields (in particular, medicine and law) were cited by TIs in this study as key attributes contributing to their own professional development. The importance of senior colleagues in inducting recent recruits into the profession is at odds with the reality of a context that does not favour employment stability. Staff retention has been an issue, as the ICTY has never offered longterm employment prospects, and skilled personnel have inevitably moved to other positions when the occasion has arisen (Namakula, 2014: 117), particularly as operations at the ICTY wind down.

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This is illustrative of the opposing tensions in this field of work as described by Footitt and Kelly (2013: chapter 5) and Kelly and Baker (2013: chapter 1) in the context of the recruitment of TIs to support peacekeeping operations in BiH. Multilingual expertise requires long-term personal investment, while the translating and interpreting requirements of military or peacekeeping operations (and in this case, the language needs of an international court) fluctuate, may be difficult to predict and are often triggered by specific events bounded in time.16 While the ICTY is closing and transferring outstanding work to the jurisdiction of courts in the territory of the FY, the need to retain professional TIs for B/C/S will continue to be required for the translation of documents into B/C/S for use in legal proceedings in local courts. Trial judgments and appeals from previous trials are required as training material for legal experts involved in local trials and as models to ensure continuity of practice. While the demand for TIs in B/C/S will inevitably lessen in the coming years, the practical expertise accumulated over more than two decades in catering for the specialised linguistic requirements of a complex multilingual international court must be harnessed by channelling the skills of the highly experienced TIs from the CLSS into developing training programmes and electronic translation tools (such as terminological databases and translating and interpreting verification systems) for the translation of other languages used in the ICTY. Such tools proved particularly useful in the case of languages of lesser diffusion, such as B/C/S and other Balkan languages used on occasion in trials. Regrettably, such expertise has not been explicitly identified in the legacy and capacity-building strategy described in the ICTY Completion strategy report (2014). This is surprising, as the very particular translating and interpreting capacity at the ICTY should surely be seen as a legacy of its operations. While the demand for particular languages will inevitably fluctuate, the need for efficient and effective language services, advanced translation tools and staff conversant in the linguistic complexities of communication at all levels of an international court will not. Sadly, as current events in the Middle East demonstrate, the need for an international court of justice for crimes against humanity is unlikely to diminish.

Notes (1)

(2) (3)

It is important to note, however, that all TIs make a solemn declaration to the effect that they will perform their duties ‘faithfully, impartially, and with full respect for the duty of confidentiality’ (Rules of Procedure and Evidence, 2013, Rule 76). This is the term commonly used in ICTY documents. Most of the indicted were Serb and dialect preference, as discussed later, occasionally became a contentious issue during court proceedings.

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(4)

(5) (6) (7)

(8) (9) (10) (11) (12)

(13) (14)

(15) (16)

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The nomenclature for the language(s) commonly known as ‘Serbo-Croatian’ in the FY has been the source of much political and linguistic debate. This is discussed in detail by Greenberg (2004) and Kordić (2010) and need not be examined here. As discussed later in this chapter, for translation and interpreting purposes, the ICTY treats Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian as one language. TIs are also employed by the ICTY in other sections, such as the Office of the Prosecutor. Telephone calls may be monitored when there are grounds to believe that the accused may interfere with the course of justice by intimidating witnesses or disclosing sensitive information to the media (Abels, 2012: 555). As a measure to protect anonymity, when referring to the participants and the research assistant, the female gender will be used. This is in recognition of the fact that the vast majority of TIs employed in the FY during the war and post-war period were female (see, for example, Footitt and Kelly, 2013: chapter 8). Names have been omitted when reporting findings. Responses to the questionnaire have been relayed in English, as the use of B/C/S would reveal gender and dialectal variant. The translation of the respondents’ statements was undertaken by the author and verified by the research assistant. Tolimir’s appeal was based on his claim that a stroke had initially impaired his ability to use any script, and that he had been able to relearn the Cyrillic but not the Latin script (Prosecutor v. Zdravko Tolimir, 28 March 2008, IT-05-88/2-ART73.1). These included not only missing sentences or words or simple errors, but also interruptions such as ‘a coughing fit, a whistle and someone saying “Jesus”’. Witness proofing involves a meeting between counsel (either the defence or the prosecution) to prepare a witness to testify, and it comprises two main objectives. The first objective is to familiarise the witness with courtroom participants and proceedings and the process of examination and cross-examination. The second involves reviewing the witness’s testimony; the witness will be allowed to read his/her witness statement, and the lawyer will likely put the questions to the witness that will be posed during the witness testimony. The purpose is to ensure that the witness is not disadvantaged while testifying through unfamiliarity with court proceedings (see Prosecutor v. Milutinović and others, 12 December 2006, IT-05-87-T, for a description of this procedure). As a standardisation measure, page limits imposed on the different parties used the ‘standard UN page’ consisting of 300 words. Seeking external assistance inevitably came at a cost. The quote received for the translation of the books (entitled The Ideology of Serbian Nationalism [1024 pages] and The Roman Catholic Criminal Project of an Artificial Croatian Nation [1032 pages]) was documented as ‘between €42,400 and €119,600’ (Prosecutor v. Šešelj, 19 February 2008, IT-03-67-T). No school of translation or interpreting existed in the FY (Dragović-Drouet, 2007). This is likely to be a challenge which the languages services unit of most international courts will face. Namakula (2012: 105) describes the TI challenges experienced by the ICC when working with speakers of African languages of lesser diffusion.

References Abels, D. (2012) Prisoners of the International Community: The Legal Position of Persons Detained at International Criminal Tribunals. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press.

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Baker, C. (2010) The care and feeding of linguists: The working environment of interpreters, translators, and linguists during peacekeeping in Bosnia-Herzegovina. War & Society 29 (2), 154–175. Cryer, R. (2007) A message from elsewhere: Witnesses before international criminal tribunals. In P. Roberts and M. Redmayne (eds) Innovations in Evidence and Proof: Integrating Theory, Research and Teaching (pp. 381–401). Oxford: Hart Publishing. Dragović-Drouet, M. (2007) The practice of translating and interpreting during the conflicts in the Former Yugoslavia (1991–1999). In M. Salama-Carr (ed.) Translating and Interpreting Conflict (pp. 29–40). Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi. Elias-Bursać, E. (n.d.) Translating at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. See http:// artsfuse.org/33537/fuse-commentary-translating-at-the-war-crimes-tribunal-inthe-hague/ (accessed 18 January 2014). Footitt, H. and Kelly, M. (2013) Languages at War: Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Greenberg, R.D. (2004) Language and Identity in the Balkans: Serbo-Croatian and its Disintegration. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Guba, E.G. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1982) Epistemological and methodological bases of naturalistic inquiry. Educational Technology Research and Development 30 (4), 233–252. Hagan, J. (2003) Justice in the Balkans: Prosecuting War Crimes in the Hague Tribunal. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ICTY, Key figures of the cases. See http://www.icty.org/sid/24 (accessed 4 May 2014). ICTY (2014) Completion strategy report. See http://www.icty.org/x/file/ About/Reports%20and%20Publications/CompletionStrateg y/completion_ strategy_16may2014_en.pdf (accessed 22 June 2014). Jansen, S. (2006) The privatisation of home and hope: Return, reforms and the foreign intervention in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Dialectical Anthropology 30, 177–199. Kelly, M. and Baker, C. (2013) Interpreting the Peace: Peace Operations, Conflict and Language in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kordić, S. (2010) Jezik i nacionalizam [Language and Nationalism]. Rotulus Universitas. Zagreb: Durieux. Levi, J.N. (1990) The study of language in the judicial process. In J.N. Levi and A.G. Walker (eds) Language in the Judicial Process (pp. 3–35). New York: Plenum Press. Namakula, C.S. (2014) Language and the Right to Fair Hearing in International Criminal Trials. Cham: Springer International Publishing. Rules of Procedure and Evidence (2013) International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. IT/32/Rev. 49. UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) (2009) ICTY manual on developed practices. Turin: UNICRI. See http://www.icty.org/en/ press/manual-developed-practices-launched (accessed 5 January 2014). Wald, P.M. (2001) The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia comes of age: Some observations on day to day dilemmas of an international court. Journal of Law and Policy 5, 87–118. Zahar, A. (2008) Legal aid, self-representation, and the crisis at the Hague Tribunal. Criminal Law Forum 19, 241–263.

Cases cited Case information sheet, IT-94-1. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Case information sheet, IT-94-2. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Milan Milutinović and others, 22 May 2008, IT-0587-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014).

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Prosecutor v. Zejnil Delalić and others, 8 July 1997, IT-96-21. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Zdravko Tolimir, 28 March 2008, IT-05-88/2-ART73.1. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Prlić and others, 13 October 2008, IT-04-74-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Mico Stanisić and Stojan Župljanin, 29 June 2010, IT-08-91-T. www.icty. org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj, 19 February 2008, IT-03-67-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj, 27 November 2007, IT-03-67-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Vojislav Šešelj, 15 July 2008, IT-03-67-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Milan Milutinović and others, 22 May 2008, IT-0587-T. www.icty.org (accessed January, 2014). Prosecutor v. Milan Milutinović and others, 12 December 2006, IT-05-87-T. www.icty. org (accessed January, 2014).

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Appendix Questionnaire (condensed form) Questions enquired into the following topics. Pre-ICTY life • Educational background • Role of English in one’s life, development of advanced languages skills • Prior experience working as a TI • Initial interest in a position at the ICTY; preparation for and experience of application procedure Employment at the ICTY • Length of employment • Linguistic challenges during early career and strategies to cope with these • Training received • Experience working on cases which had some connection to own experiences of events during the war or post-war period • Psychological challenges involved in translating and interpreting subject matter related to one’s former country • Strategies to cope in such cases • Skills or qualities of a successful TI developed since starting this position

Index abstract and indexing (AI) databases 141, 143, 145, 146, 149, 153 Advanced English Language Instructor Course (AELIC) 77, 81, 82 ALC (American Language Course) 76, 81 Armed Forces of BiH (AFBiH) 70, 72, 188 Armed Forces of Republika Srpska 72, 91 Basic American Language Instructor Course (BALIC) 76, 81, 82 belief system 55, 62, 64, 66, 67, 160, 230, 239 Bologna Declaration 50, 53, 67 Bonn Peace Implementation Council (PIC) 228, 230, 232, 240, 241, 251, 262 Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (differences) 109, 110, 110, 139, 199, 222, 241, 248, 249, 250, 254, 255, 257, 258, 261, 274, 295, 296 Brčko District 10, 50, 107, 132, 241, 247, 249, 250, 261 British Council (BC) 71, 76, 77, 79, 82, 92, 105, Bureau for International Language Coordination (BILC) 75, 78 cellar schools 20 centre/ periphery scholars 115, 116, 119, 126–128, 138, 146, 154, 155 cluster analysis 168, 180, 186, 187, 191 collocation analysis 160, 162, 168, 180, 185–187, 190–192, 197, 198, 206, 235 Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR) 74, 75, 78, 121, 133 Communism/ Socialism 11–18, 102 compulsory work order 34, 35, 46 concordance 168, 180, 186, 187, 192, 198, 233, 235, 258 Conference Language Services Section (CLSS) 287, 289, 290, 295, 299, 300, 302 conference presentations 116, 118, 119, 121, 122, 130, 131

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Constitution (of BiH) 27, 159, 228, 229, 231, 237, 239, 240, 241, 247, 249–251, 261, 272 corpus linguistics 160–163, 168, 180, 182, 184, 185, 190, 193, 198, 204, 208, 221, 231–235, 237, 238 Council of Europe 229, 237, 238 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 160, 161,180, 193, 197 Croatia 10, 22, 24, 25, 46, 51, 52, 79, 118, 132, 141, 149, 248, 249, 252, 257, 260, 267, 269, 275, 278, 286, 287, 296 Cyrillic and Latin scripts 110, 241, 250, 259, 261, 296, 303 Dayton Accords (General Framework Agreement for Peace in BiH) 1, 10, 22, 34, 46, 227, 240, 245–252, 256, 260, 272, 273, 277 Directorate for European Integration (DEI) 249, 257, 258, 260, 262, 263 Dnevni avaz 162 education reform 50, 51, 63 EFL pre-service teachers 49–51, 53, 55–67, 80, 104 electronic translation tools 295, 302 ELT syllabus and curriculum 2, 9, 14, 19, 24–27, 31, 32, 43, 45, 51, 56, 62, 64, 67, 73, 75, 76, 81, 103, 104, 107, 108, 113, 301 ELT methods 2, 9, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 25–27, 32, 38, 41–44, 52, 54, 64, 81, 101, 103–105, 108, 112, 113, 301 ELT textbooks 1–4, 14, 16, 17, 21–24, 32, 37, 43, 101–113 employment (and recruitment) 1, 2, 4, 5, 19, 26, 28, 33, 36, 37, 41, 51, 105, 124, 246, 247, 267–280, 282, 285, 286, 291, 293, 294, 299, 301, 302 English-medium instruction (EMI) 3, 9, 24, 27, 28, 115, 120, 121, 147, 292 English as an international language (EIL) 12, 13, 21, 28

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English language publishing 3, 5, 106, 112, 115–132, 138–154, 192 EU accession 228–230, 232, 237, 239, 241, 246, 256, 260 EU Acquis 256–258, 260, 262 EU harmonisation 51, 123, 246, 256, 260 EU Police Mission (EUPM) 247 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 228, 229, 231, 234, 259 European Court of Human Rights 228, 231–234, 237 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) 50, 67 Europeanisation 229–231, 239, 256, 262 exams (TOEFL, IELTS, Cambridge) 24 exploratory factor analysis (EFA) 160, 162, 180, 182, 188, 190, 191, 197 Foreign Language Learning Policy (FLLP) 70, 74, 86, 92 foreign workers 12 French 1, 11–13, 21, 23, 26, 36, 37, 39, 40, 52, 72, 74, 75, 86, 101, 138, 161, 185, 189, 190, 195, 196, 205, 297–290, 301 GDP (Gross Domestic Product) 141 GERD (Gross Domestic Expenditure on Research and Development) 117, 141 German 1, 5, 11–14, 20, 21, 23, 26, 36, 37, 39, 40, 52, 74, 75, 85, 86, 101, 138, 185, 188, 189, 195, 196, 198, 205, 228 higher education 18, 21, 24, 28, 49, 50, 51, 53, 67, 184, 187, 189–192, 276 International Military Education and Training programme (IMET) 71, 81, 82, 91 Infobiro digitalni arhiv 162, 208, 232 international community 1–3, 20, 31, 35, 36, 46, 111, 214, 227, 245, 293, 294 international criminal tribunals 285–303 International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Completion Strategy 155, 285–303 internationalisms 221 international military peacekeeping forces (IFOR/ SFOR/ EUFOR/ KFOR) 4, 5, 18, 22, 25, 26, 72, 91, 246, 247, 262, 267–279, 281, 282, 293 International Police Task Force (IPTF) 246, 247, 293

international universities (BURCH University, American University in BiH) 27, 28, 239 Italian 74, 75, 86, 129, 188, 195, 228 Jews (in BiH) 228, 231, 241 journal submission procedure 124, 126, 138, 139, 143, 148–150, 152, 153 keyword analysis 60–63, 160, 162, 163, 168, 180, 183–186, 190–192, 197, 198 language assistants (at ICTY) 286, 287, 297 language ideology, 160, 161, 180, 189, 192, 189, 195, 197, 198 language learning 9, 11, 12, 20, 26, 40, 55, 56, 70, 74, 84–87, 101, 187 languages of lesser diffusion 6, 128, 139, 285, 286, 294, 302, 303 legal language (English and Bosnian/ Croatian/Serbian) 4, 235, 236, 245–263, 289, 301 lexical borrowing/ loan words 1, 203–206, 208–210, 214, 215, 219–222 metaphors 49–68 Military English Support Project (MESP) 72, 76, 79–83, 92 migration 50, 161, 270, 275, 277, 280, 300 Ministry of Defence (MoD) 71, 73–76, 79, 80, 82, 92, 93 minority rights 2, 227, 229, 232, 237, 239, 240 mixed-methods research 3, 159, 161 multi-ethnic society 53 narrative 4, 38, 237, 268, 269, 271, 279–281 native English speakers/non-native English speakers 24, 32, 75, 78, 101, 115, 116, 128, 142, 147, 154 neoliberal 159, 197, 273, 279 Nezavisne novine 232–239 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) 1, 18, 22, 24, 40, 105, 248 Office of the High Representative (OHR) 3, 5, 22, 35, 203, 204, 214, 227–241, 245, 247, 250–252, 262, 277 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) 43, 246, 247

Index

Oslobođenje 162, 204, 207–209, 212–214, 217, 218, 221, 232, 233, 235–239, 241 Planning and Review Process (PARP) 70, 73–75, 92 pattern analysis 168, 184–187, 191, 192, 198, 206 peacekeeping 4, 28, 70, 72, 79, 89–92, 159, 267, 271, 277–280, 302 peer review 117, 118, 123, 140, 142, 143, 150, 155 Partnership for Peace (PfP) 70, 72–75, 82, 83, 92 plagiarism 132 political and administrative structure of BiH 10, 27, 34, 35, 49, 80, 107, 110, 117, 132, 227, 241, 247, 250 primary school 12–18, 20, 21, 23, 26, 36 private language schools 18, 24, 112 professional networks 25, 28, 119, 127, 129, 130, 132, 141, 153 Peace Support Operations Training Centre (PSOTC) 71, 82, 83, 92 refugees (or internally displaced persons) 34–36, 40, 42, 46, 230, 241, 281, 300 research article (RA) 117, 118, 123, 126, 127, 131 research output 116–120, 131, 132, 153 Roma (in BiH) 228, 231 Russian 1, 11–14, 20, 21, 23, 26, 36, 37, 39, 40, 52, 72, 85, 86, 101, 102, 138, 188, 195, 196, 228 secondary school (high school) 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 31, 35–37, 40, 43, 50, 292 Serbia 10, 22, 25, 52, 71, 79, 86, 123, 132, 139, 141, 184, 190, 196, 248, 249, 252, 261, 268–271, 275, 278, 280, 282, 286, 287, 296 Serbo-Croatian (Croato-Serbian) 203, 205, 220, 222, 245, 248, 261, 281, 196, 303 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) 1, 10, 32, 51, 101, 132, 240

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Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SR BiH) 6, 10, 14, 34, 241 Soviet Union 11, 51 SPSS 163, 182 STANAG 6001 (Standardisation Agreement) 71, 74, 75, 77–79, 83, 89, 90, 92, 93 STANAG Testing team 71, 77, 81, 82 teacher training 2, 24, 27, 28, 38, 51, 76, 80–82, 104, 105 teaching unplugged 113 terminological databases 257, 295, 302 topos/topoi 160, 188, 193, 195–197, 230 translation and interpretation 3–5, 11, 18, 19, 36, 55, 72, 73, 102, 189–192, 195, 221, 245–260, 267–281, 285–303 triangulation 142, 161, 191, 192, 197, 198 Turkish/ Turkey 1, 6, 21, 23, 27, 74, 75, 86, 123, 132, 228, 241, 296 Tuzla English Teachers’ Association (TETA) 26, 27 United Nations Detention Unit (UNDU) 285, 288, 297 United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 286 University of Banja Luka 118 University of Sarajevo 28, 52, 83, 118, 140 University of Tuzla 49, 52, 57, 142, 190 University of Zenica 49, 57, 140 US embassy 25, 27, 83 visibility (academic) 115–118, 120, 123, 128–131, 138, 146, 149, 152 visiting lecturers 22, 24, 25, 49, 51, 52 war crimes 287, 297, 298 witness proofing 288, 297, 303 WordSmith Tools (WST) 162, 163, 168, 180, 186, 187