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IMPORTANT ISSUES OF DEVELOPING
LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
IN THE SYSTEM OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
I. L. Schegay
Kh. A. Mustafakulova
А. Abduvalieva
This article deals with the specific features of linguistic competence development in the system of education of the Republic of Uzbekistan, with strategies for improving the quality of teaching foreign language to ensure free communication.
Key words: linguistic competence, improving the quality of teaching foreign languages, free communication.
Based on the most important priorities of the country’s development strategy, the National Program for T raining of Staff of the Republic of Uzbekistan is aimed at providing profound qualitative changes in educational systems, and developing a new generation of harmoniously developed, educated and professionally trained people. Successful development of the economy and acceleration of economic growth are largely dependent on improving the competitiveness of the workforce, and improving the educational, professional and qualification level of specialists. Accordingly, a strategy of ensuring positive qualitative changes in the system of lifelong education, supporting the existing educational structures, stimulating the creation of new chains of the system of selfeducation corresponding to modern market requirements, has been developed. President I. Karimov pays special attention to the development of the system of professional training and the need to improve the quality of vocational training of staff, because professional growth and improvement of qualifications are the main factor of competitiveness on the labor market [1, p. 146-147]. Reforming the educational system is focused on this as well.
Despite the significant achievements in professional training of staff, the labor market suffers from a lack of qualified specialists. The competitiveness of staff on the labor market depends on the quality of professional training. This can be achieved by improving pre-university education, improving the quality of education in the field of vocational training, expanding the scope of advanced training of managers and specialists, developing university research, and establishing interaction between education, science and business.
As world practice shows, the specific advantages of countries and prospects for economic development are becoming less dependent on geographical conditions, whereas knowledge and corporate experience become of particular importance. The high level of qualification is no longer a sign inherent exclusively to the elite of the society, but rather a standard requirement of professionals responsible for how our country will look like in a few years from now. Free communication skills in foreign languages make a person more successful and popular in society. Specialists, who speak foreign languages, contribute to faster implementation of innovations, because they do not have to wait for translation of
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articles about the advanced developments and technologies. That is why Uzbekistan relies on improving the foreign language teaching system.
In Uzbekistan, a lot of attention has been paid for many years to linguistic education. The twelve-year education system includes at least three languages -students’ native language, Russian and a foreign language. Study of foreign languages is a mandatory component of higher educational institutions’ postgraduate education training programs. Foreign language teaching classes have been organized in many preschool educational establishments in recent years. The issues of improving language education have always been at the center of attention. New textbooks on this subject have been published recently, and the approach to studying foreign languages has been changed. Today, the focus is not on the study of grammar, but rather on development of communication skills. Maximum effort is made to teach free communication in a foreign language.
The Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On measures to further improve the system of teaching foreign languages” (2012) gave an impetus for further improvement of teaching foreign languages such as English, German and French [2]. In the 2014-2015 academic year, 26,344 teachers of foreign languages are employed in Uzbekistan, including 20,365 teachers of English, 3,506 teachers of German, 2,345 teachers of French, and 128 teachers of other languages. Secondary schools hired 1,464 young teachers with higher education as foreign language teachers in the 2013-2014 academic year alone [3, p. 14]. As for the set of measures that should lead to an increase in the number of people speaking foreign languages, much has been implemented already. A Republican Scientific and Practical Center of the Development of the Innovative Foreign Language Teaching Methods has been established at the Uzbek State University of World Languages. The Centre has been actively involved in solving issues related to retraining and advanced training of foreign language teachers and their methodological support, and introduction of advanced teaching methods.
The Government has approved the state educational standard for foreign languages for the system of lifelong education. A fundamentally new thing in the state standards is that now learning foreign languages begins with the first grade. Requirements on the level of learning a foreign language at each stage are correlated with the requirements of the Pan-European competence of foreign languages: competence and assessment. Graduates of bachelor’s and master’s degree course of language departments will have the highest level of mastering foreign languages, which will correspond to the C1 level according to CEFR - the level of professional knowledge of a foreign language. On the basis of the approved standard control and measuring parameters for state certification, training programs specific to the institution have been developed. Particular attention in the standard is paid to sociolinguistic competence, which describes the requirements of students’ skills in choosing the right linguistic forms and means of expression depending on the situation, the communication purpose, and direction of the speaker. Pragmatic competence, according to the standard, includes the ability to communicate in a foreign language in accordance with the development of a communication situation and strategy that promote effective communication. This program has the main aspects that should give an expected effect: foreign language teaching does not start from the fifth grade, as it used to be before, but
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from the first grade. The world experience and practice of teaching foreign languages show that foreign languages are studied better and faster at an early age. In the first form, a foreign language teaching class takes place twice a week in interactive form.
The inclusion of a foreign language as a compulsory subject for testing for admission to higher education institutions has become an additional motivation to study foreign languages. This should encourage all people, who wish to receive higher education, to learn foreign languages. A foreign language will be needed for further career growth in the graduate and postgraduate education system. Business goes beyond state borders, and becomes global. The opening of special free economic zones, and joint ventures in the Republic, suggests the presence of foreign experts. So, knowledge of a foreign language becomes a necessity.
Specialists who speak foreign languages will contribute to bringing the country to a new level of development faster.
Bibliography
1. Каримов И. А. По пути модернизации страны и устойчивого развития экономики. -Т. 16. - Т., Узбекистан, 2008. - 340 с.
2. Постановление Президента Республики Узбекистан «О мерах по дальнейшему совершенствованию системы изучения иностранных языков» от 10.12.2012, Ташкент // Газета «Народное слово», 11.12.2012 г. - № 240 (5630).
3. www.Presseller.com. №33 (700) от 14 августа 2014 года [Электронный ресурс] // URL: www.presseller.com.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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