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FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING OF SPECIALISTS IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
Т. G. Dementieva
The aim of foreign language teaching in the system of supplementary education of adults is the acquisition of knowledge and skills in the field of intercultural communication. The use of authentic materials contributes to development of foreign language speaking skills and social and cultural competence of specialists.
Key words: foreign language, intercultural communication, social and cultural competence, dialogue of cultures, authentic materials.
Adult education is an integral part of the educational system, and its relatively separate division, the main task of which is to promote comprehensive development of man during his/her independent life. At the present stage of development of society, foreign language teaching of adults has become of particular importance. The focus of modern education on the formation of an individual who has an environmentally-based conscious and outlook, on the process of humanization and culture-based approach, contributed to establishing a new vision of a foreign language, which is considered as a means of understanding the treasures of human culture, and as a tool for personal development in the dialogue (polylogue) of cultures (5 , p. 13). Knowledge of a foreign language and the culture behind it not only allows a person to freely navigate in the world open for cooperation, but also promotes mutual understanding between people of different linguistic cultures and their approximation. In this regard, the formation of foreign language communicative competence of specialists (adult learners) is a priority of advanced adult education.
The origination, formation and development of foreign speech of an adult, although different from the speech development of a child, nonetheless, largely follows the same laws. Development of mental functions (including speech), as well as personal qualities, is associated with both innate instincts, and with external factors (human interaction with the environment, the effect of special technology, etc.). However, such development does not end with the completion of age-related changes, and can, under favorable conditions, last a lifetime (4, p.71). This problem - formation and development of foreign speech of adults - is solved by a teacher-andragogist, who forms a small model of society in a group of students, where all conditions are created for comprehensive improvement and development of a person, and consequently, for development of a person’s ability to speak a foreign language.
There is an objective need to find the best methods of teaching a foreign language in the system of postgraduate continuing education for professionals, and the specific organization of the educational process, which is conditioned by the students’ age, the nature of their actual or potential professional and social activities, personal orientation, motives and interests.
Intensification of the process of foreign language teaching at the Faculty of Foreign Languages for executives and specialists of the Institute of Advanced
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Training and Retraining of Minsk State Linguistic University is based on a rigorous, science-based selection of educational materials, and the use of social and information and communication technologies, justified in the practice of teaching. The objectives of foreign language teaching of adults are defined as the mastery of skills and abilities of intercultural communication. The relationship of language and culture is undeniable, hence, the need for their mutual study is also undeniable. As you know, intercultural communication is an adequate mutual understanding of the two participants of the communicative act, belonging to different national cultures (1, p. 532). In order to achieve mutual understanding, one should know a certain system of facts of the foreign culture, should have an experience of attitude to such facts of culture, and finally, a person should be willing to see in someone else the features that unite people rather than divide them.
The purpose of the study of foreign languages is not only the acquisition of communication skills, but also the acquisition of social and cultural competence to facilitate understanding of values and norms of behavior of people of another culture; promotion of mutual understanding and tolerance in relation to a foreign culture; respect for other people and their customs. A social and cultural approach to teaching foreign languages is based on the fact that communication-oriented teaching of a foreign language is closely associated with the use of language as a means of knowledge of the world and national culture, and the culture of the country of the studied language. Knowledge of a foreign language without knowledge of cultural realities, of the characteristics of the mentality of representatives of a certain culture, does not provide for fully adequate integration of a human being into the cultural environment of the other nation.
Culture means self-realization of a person: by studying one’s language, you can learn the language of its culture. We are talking about the need for a deeper and more thorough study of the world of native speakers in the broadest sense, their way of life, their national character and mentality, as the cultural and national philosophy is embodied in the vocabulary and grammatical structure of the appropriate language. The principle of learning in the context of the dialogue of cultures is considered to be one of the leading principles of training of specialists in foreign languages. Each lesson of a foreign language is a crossroads of cultures, is a practice of cross-cultural communication, knowledge of culture, of nature, of the way of life and mentality of other people through their language. According to G.A. Kitaygorodskaya [2], this understanding takes place in three stages. In the first stage: removal of prejudice and stereotypes about other people, a different culture, or a different psychology. We need to answer the question, “Why do they behave like this?” In the second stage: reflection, which means the following, “I try to understand these strange things”; Third stage: identification, which means “I accept you, accept them, accept it, but do not lose my own values”.
By means of telling specialists about the national culture of different countries, a teacher focuses attention on their own national culture. Here we can talk about comparative linguistic and cultural study. Adults not only have a need to acquire the skills necessary for intercultural competence, the ability to correctly say, and express one’s opinion in a particular situation, but also the ability to live in the country of the studied language. The ability to live (savoir vivre), and to have knowledge about how to behave, means knowledge of customs and traditions of other people, and the willingness to follow these customs in different situations of
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real life. For example, a comparison of the realities of life of French people and our fellow countrymen give us a chance to more deeply understand the culture, the way of life, and the mentality of the Belarusian people. The cultural aspect should be an integral part of language teaching of specialists. The dialogue of cultures in the process of teaching foreign languages is appropriate, inevitable and logically natural.
One of the most important conditions for the implementation of a social and cultural approach to learning foreign languages includes extensive use of authentic documents as one of the main tools of representation of reality of a foreign country. The authentic materials not only raise students’ motivation, but are a rich source for language study. They have a number of advantages that cannot be overestimated, in particular: (a) they are more persuasive than invented ones;
(b) they are more interesting, because they bring the real world to the class;
(c) they open the environment for the practice of research and use of the target language, etc.; (d) they require not isolated skills and practices, but their combination and integration; (e) they give samples of the original language, etc.
The authentic materials that are original, that have a pragmatic purpose and significance, that are rich with facts of other culture, stimulate students’ cognitive activity. Their use in the classroom contributes to the formation of foreign language communicative, social, and cultural competence of specialists.
A foreign language is an integral part of professional training of specialists. Without knowledge of foreign languages it is not possible to carry out any types of activity in modern society, because a foreign language gives a specialist-professional an opportunity to study and use the latest achievements of world practice, as well as to contribute to the development of any problems considering both the existing domestic and foreign experience. The task of teachers working in the system of additional education of adults is to use modern innovative technologies in the course of teaching foreign languages in order to increase the interests of specialists in the success of the educational process and to enhance their learning activities, i.e. improving communicative motivation, and to intensify and optimize the learning process of adults of professional-oriented communication using a foreign language.
Bibliography
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2. Китайгородская Г.А. «Основные положения метода активизации возможностей личности и коллектива» // Гордеева Е.В., Курилов В.Б., Лав М. Интенсивный курс американского варианта английского языка для начинающих = America the Beautiful: Книга для учащихся. - М.: Научн.-образоват. Центр «Школа Китайгородской», 1999. - 184 с.
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Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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