Džalila Muharemagić, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Curriculum vitae

Currently, Džalila is employed at the International Relations Office at the University of Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Project Officer. Her work there includes the monitoring and coordination of all activities related to projects financed by Bosnia and Herzegovina and international institutions (ministries, embassies, the European Commission, etc.), as well as the coordination of some activities related to the exchange of students and staff at the university.

Her work enables her to travel, meet many different people and get insight into educational practices in various countries. She considers this experience to be of great value for her academic career. At the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien she has met many interesting people and they have discussed possibilities of further cooperation, especially in the field of English for Specific Purposes which is relatively neglected in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The prospective forms of cooperation could be workshops, guest lectures, projects, etc. Since her undergraduate studies, she has always been interested in English for Specific Purposes as she considers that this area needs improvement at the educational institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2013, she was granted a scholarship by the US Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina for an English teacher programme in English for Specific Purposes at the University of Oregon, USA.

Reflection

I have been granted a CEEPUS III Freemover scholarship for study period of 23 days at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien for the purpose of my master thesis research, which is part of my master thesis project at the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of this project is to determine specific features of ESP courses in developed and developing countries through a comparison of the UAS Technikum Wien, Austria (developed country) and the Technical Faculty University of Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina (developing country). The reason why I chose to visit this university was because of the fact that this is one of the few (if not the only) technical universities organizing conferences on current issues in English for Specific Purposes. My interest grew even bigger when I found out that the university, being a technical university, has a Department of Humanities dedicated exclusively to provide high-quality language education to future engineers. Knowing this, I recognised them as being relevant for my research. During my stay, I have been supervised by Ms Lisa Nazarenko from the Department of Humanities, who has made my stay even more useful, comfortable, and enjoyable than I could have expected. The entire team at the Department was at my disposal the entire time, with all the necessary resources available at any time. My intended work plan included the observation of English courses at the university, insight into relevant course materials and curricula, interviews with teachers and visits to the library. However, during my stay I got the opportunity for additional activities, which made my research even more relevant than I could imagine when I was applying for the scholarship. In addition, my stay was even more comfortable thanks to the professionalism and hospitality of the staff at OeAD office, which provided me with all the relevant information and the funding immediately upon my arrival. Thus I was able to finance my stay without any problems, and dedicate myself to my research. If I had to grade my stay at UAS Technikum Wien, I would grade it with excellent, as I have reached all the objectives I set for my research, and enriched my professional contacts that will help my future professional development.