While the UN values promotion of multilingualism, English remains to be the main global common language of communication at the UN Headquarters and throughout the network of the UN organizations around the world. If one aspires to become an international civil servant to work at a UN organization, having the English proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and listening is a must. This paper describes an approach to teaching pragmatic language and communication skills useful for a career at an UN organization with broader applicability to other types of international career. At the same time, such instruction of the language usage is integrated into the study of sustainable development in the context of the United Nations, which is a crucial point in the so-called English for Specific Purposes (ESP) according to Rahman (2015). The instructor tries to illustrate different ways in which English is used at the United Nations and how a non-native can acquire the necessary skills while learning the substantive issues. In the context of the course on QPPI523 entitled “United Nations and Sustainable Development”, the assignments given to students resemble the actual tasks given to junior-level professionals at the UN Secretariat and sometimes in the field offices. This article explains the type of learning-by-doing, similar to on-the-job training that the students will benefit from.
Hiroko MORITA (Fri,) studied this question.