Today, we are celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the Foreign Language Centre of Warsaw University of Technology but actually its origins can be traced back to the years preceding World War II. I have found evidence of foreign language instruction in the curriculum dating from the period immediately following the recovery of independence by Poland.

For the academic year 1921/1922, the „Programme of  Warsaw University of Technology” included French courses. In the academic year 1924/1925, English, German and Russian courses were  incorporated  in the „ Plan of Lectures and Academic Staff” , and in the academic year 1938/1939, all four languages were offered.

October 1945 marks the beginning of our present history. Immediately after the war, language classes were organised according to the so-called „ Plan of Lectures” designed for the academic year prior to the outbreak of World War II. Courses in four languages, Russian, English, French and German, were offered at 2 levels /lower and advanced/ on a two-hour weekly basis. Attendance was optional and the courses were identical for students of all faculties and years of studies. However,  due to  the growing needs of the university and greater interest in learning foreign languages as manifested by students, this rudimentary organisation framework soon became ineffective .

In the academic year 1950/1951 , in conformance with the instructions of the Ministry, all faculties provided tuition in 2 foreign languages: Russian and a western European language of choice / German, French or English/. A small teaching staff, limited allocation of hours for language teaching, classes overburdened with students and, in general, a heavy academic workload, all this accounted for the fact that the first year of mainstream foreign language teaching at Warsaw University of Technology did not altogether produce satisfactory results. In addition,  the lack of solid structures also made work more difficult.

At that time, teachers were directly appointed by the Rector’s office and language classes were entrusted to the care of Professor St. Straszewicz , vice rector. There was no networking between teachers and neither did they share experience nor have joint guidelines. For the majority employed for the first time in a higher technical school, the job was both demanding and challenging  given the fact that the subject area and technical vocabulary  were totally unfamiliar.

September 1, 1951 : by the decision of the Ministry of Higher Education, the Section of Foreign Languages was established. Władysław Głuchowski became head of the  Section. The first priority  of the administration was to reduce  the number of participants in language classes. It could not exceed 25-30, basing on the fact that tutorials are a more suitable medium for language learning than lectures. In consequence, the number of hours designated to this aim was augmented. In the academic year 1951/1952, newly-instituted permanent posts for language teachers committed them to hold classes on an 18-hour weekly basis. In effect, restructuring aimed at establishing stronger ties between teachers and university. Since then, the number of teachers permanently employed continually grew. Before long, in spite of deficient facilities on the university premises, the administration managed to secure several rooms for the Section in the Main Building, at first on the second floor and 2-3 years later on the fourth floor where to this day the Centre occupies a small part of this floor. Already at that time the area was not large enough to accommodate the Section, yet it enabled  administration and in time became a venue for all teachers. It was then that teachers of Russian became acquainted  with the provisional programme of study of this language as prepared by the Ministry and that conforming textbooks were introduced. Under the supervision of  Janina Smólska ,who was in charge of instruction of western European languages on a gratuitous basis, teachers of these languages set up provisional programmes of study.

In 1952, a union group of teachers headed by Mikołaj Czyrko was inaugurated what, consequently, had a highly desirable effect on the activities of the educational community. This, by far, fostered professional integration and generated  greater interest in teaching-related issues. With a view to enhance methods of teaching foreign languages, topic-oriented discussion reports were presented at general meetings and many teachers upgraded their qualifications over periods of several weeks at training sessions organised by the Ministry.

The decision of the Ministry of Higher Education of February 27, 1953 to open the Centre of Practical Teaching of Foreign Languages was a momentous event. It laid down the foundations for the successful development of the Section which eventually was renamed Foreign Language Centre. Within the framework of the Centre, language sections  were set up to form key units for the organisation of foreign language instruction. The directors of these sections, M.Czyrko for the Russian section and J. Smólska for the western European section set down to work demanding  much energy and dedication. Projects of educational tasks were to be developed in each section and means of implementing programmes prepared  by the Ministry with the participation of  a number of teachers throughout Poland were to be ensured.

Being granted official status, the Foreign Language Centre of Warsaw University of Technology could now receive substantial funds to fuel its development  and teaching aids to facilitate learning. Soon, acquisition of books and periodicals  supplemented the reference library of the Section which initially held a small number of  English, French and German books donated by the University Main Library and Russian books from  the private collections of teachers. Bilingual dictionaries, manuals on methods of foreign language teaching, grammar textbooks as well as the Great Soviet Encyclopaedia were a precious aid to teachers and students. Also very helpful were Soviet magazines subscribed in large quantities for student use which, many a time, replaced course manuals. Soviet dailies were subscribed and a larger number of books was purchased for student loan.

The administration of the Centre primarily focused on achieving better results in teaching practice by developing innovative methods tailored to teaching foreign languages  in a higher school, on the professional growth of its staff and on  providing them with additional teacher development programmes. Accordingly, respective sections promoted continuing self-

education by drawing up reports on foreign language teaching methodology and organizing demonstration lessons. Teacher duty hours were also made available to students, special groups for„zero” students were opened and support was given to beginners and to those who fell behind in their academic work and assignments. Furthermore, at the initiative of the Teachers’ Section Council, teacher development meetings were held to raise teaching standards through stimulating discussions. Here, especially significant was the particular encouragement given to learning Russian.

One of the problems faced by the FLC then was the lack of pocket dictionaries suited to the needs of technical university students. Therefore, in 1954, to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the Polish People’s Republic, both language sections in a joint effort decided to compile a mini-dictionary containing words and expressions commonly used (but not technical) and necessary for the understanding of technical publications in Russian, German and English.

The FLC administration has always required from their employees to be highly qualified educators with the 2^nd or 3rd academic degrees. Among the teachers employed by the FLC, there were some authors of popular course books. Correspondingly, they were appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education to co-operate with the Polish Scientific Publishers (PWN).

 

Amid the members of the FLC staff there were such well-known authors of language course-books as:

Prof.    Jan Rusiecki

PhD     Stanisław Kaczmarski

MA      Janina Smólska

MA      Leon Leszek Szkutnik

MA      Jerzy Godziszewski

MA      Mikołaj Czyrko

 

In the past some of our teachers were also the authors of many printed series of course lectures which, at the time, were the only kind of teaching aids that could be used during language classes. Recently, the situation has changed. We can choose from a broad range of course books and teaching materials offered by different publishing houses.

Apart from regular courses and extra duty hours available to the students, the FLC has always provided special courses for the University academic staff. On January 1, 1989 the Warsaw University of Technology entered into an agreement with the British Council. As a result, the English Language Studium was set up. Initially, it was to run language courses for the academic staff , and, on October 1, 1989, classes commenced. The staff of the Studium consisted of a few teachers employed by the FLC and assigned to work for the ELS. In 1991 the Studium evolved into the English Language Centre and became a separate unit. It still exists and provides payable courses not only for the academic staff, but also for students and all those interested in learning English.

In September 1990 a new bill on higher education was passed. As a result, the organisation of the University was to undergo a substantial change. The autonomy of different faculties and even institutes was increased, along with the opportunity to decide on the faculty curriculum and examinational requirements, including those concerning foreign languages. But, at the same time, the change of policy did not favour effective organisation of languages.

Currently, the FLC employs about 100 teachers of different languages and operates as an inter-faculty teaching unit. The courses run by the Centre are available in 6 languages: English, French, Italian, Spanish and, for foreign students, in Polish. Every semester  language classes are attended by 11,000 students divided into 500 groups.

The Centre’s main facilities and offices are still located in the University Main Building on the fourth-floor but the space it occupies is much smaller than in the past. This is why classes are held in different faculties and teachers have to change buildings even several times a day.

 

During the past 50 years the position of  FLC Director was held by:

Władysław Głuchowski  MA            (1951-1964)

Olgierd Spirydowicz      MA            (1964-1966)

Jerzy Rzewuski            MA            (1966-1969)

Stanisław Karczmarski  PhD            (1969-1975)

Maria Czupratowska-Semczuk MA  (1975-1981)

Witold Chromcewicz  MA               (1981-1987)

Krzysztof Starczyński  MA             (1987-1991)

Danuta Sołtyska  MA                    (1 July 1991 – till now)

 

Two members of the secretarial staff should be mentioned:

Ms Danuta Łojakowa (1958-2001), who worked at the FLC Secretariat for 40 years,

and Ms Henryka Duda (1967-1992), known to many of the former and present employees of the FLC as Ms Halina Dudzina.

 

Many employees deserve to receive wide recognition for their active and important role not only in the history of the FLC, but also of the Warsaw University of Technology. People such as Ms Mieczysława Krystosiakowa or Ms Celeste Zawadzka and many other teachers strove for a greater understanding of the vital role of foreign languages and stressed their relevance in the University curriculum.

 

Some parts of the text were based on the notes left by the first Director of the FLC Mr Mieczysław Głuchowski MA and memories of Ms Danuta Łojakowa.