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9LANGUAGE TEACHING AS AN ATTRIBUTE OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
PhD Savchenko O., Grigorova I.
Ukraine, Kharkiv, I. Kozhedub National Air Force University
Abstract. Language is a means of interaction among the representatives of various linguistic societies and is also a tool for social transformations at the international level. In the study we focus on the language teaching as a tool of multicultural education that is aimed at mastering a foreign language as a means of direct and indirect communication with a native speaker, a way to explore a national culture by introducing students in the context of human cultural interrelations and social cultural existence. The multicultural paradigm makes the diversity of world politics and culture including via new information technologies accessible as language and linguistic education. The social and pedagogical essence of the language teaching is considered in the context of the social order of the society and the state taking into account the general educational concept and the development of the education system.
Keywords: language proficiency, language competence, foreign language communication, multicultural paradigm
Introduction. At present, education is an important tool for solving the strategic task of the transition of mankind from the culture of war to the culture of peace. Skills and capabilities to conduct intercultural dialogue, search for compromise solutions, the desire for democracy and respect for human values are the goal and content of education in general and language teaching in particular, as the basic objective of language teaching is to develop students' readiness to live and work in the information space of the world that is continuously changing, to communicate successfully with the members of other linguistic and ethnic cultures for mutually beneficial cooperation. Moreover, language is a means of interaction among the representatives of various linguistic societies and is also a tool for social transformations at the international level.
Each language society has its own conceptual system that can be referred to as a picture of the world that corresponds to its physical, spiritual, aesthetic and other needs. The vision of the world changes from one culture to another, so there are no identical national cultures and identical images of consciousness. XXI century issues new challenges to the system of language teaching. In the context of a multicultural paradigm, language teaching becomes oriented toward overcoming empathy conflicts, developing tolerant behaviour and ability to live under the cultural and ethnic diversity. Nowadays language teaching comprises both linguistic and cultural components and has the tendency of studying native and foreign languages in close connection with culture.
The review of recent papers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11] shows that many scholars today pay great attention to various issues of the language teaching as a significant tool for developing interaction and communication between different cultures, since "the essence of a culture is not its artifacts, tools, or other tangible cultural elements, but how the members of the group interpret, use, and perceive them. It is the values, symbols, interpretations, and perspectives that distinguish one person from another in modernized societies; it is not material objects and other tangible aspects of human societies. "People in a culture usually interpret the meaning of symbols, artefacts, and behaviour in the same or similar ways". [1, p.6] But, at the same time, the thorough look at the issue indicates that there is a discrepancy between the theoretical and practical levels of understanding the target problem, as there is contradiction between the needs of society in specialists with advanced multicultural competence and the real' level of development of this competence among the graduates of higher educational institutions. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the considerable potential the discipline "Foreign Language" has and, at the same time, the insufficiently explored pedagogical conditions for its implementation in the course of university studies. All these factors have determined the interest and relevance of the analysis of the current situation in the target area made in this article.
The goal and objectives of this study is to focus of the language teaching as tool of multicultural education that is aimed at mastering a foreign language as a means of direct and indirect communication with a native speaker, a way to explore a national culture by introducing students in the context of human cultural interrelations and social cultural existence vie the dialogue of different cultures on the basis of respecting and understanding each particular culture as a unique and equal one
taking into consideration that foreign language teaching involves mastering values and standards of verbal and non-verbal behaviour that are specified by features of development of both a native country and a country whose language is learnt as well as the world civilization in general.
The outcome of interest. Education as one of the basic aspects of culture contributes to accumulating knowledge, creating a mechanism for knowledge preservation, transfer and development. Culture allows a student to discover a new world and to understand this world as a whole. The introduction of the personality into the context of a global culture inevitably promotes rethinking of the surrounding reality, the view of the world. As a result, the moral values of a person change thus converting a person as a citizen of his country only into them as a citizen of the world who possesses planetary thinking and is open to the ideas of peace and the social and cultural values of other peoples. That is why it is logically proved to regard language teaching as a linguistic and cultural education which results in the development of the multilingualism of the world citizens who are aware of their belonging to a certain ethnic group and to the state as a whole. Language teaching as a value makes the issues of harmonizing state, public and personal needs topical.
The Wikipedia defines language teaching as "the process and practice of acquiring a second or foreign language. It primarily is a branch of applied linguistics, however, can be considered an interdisciplinary field" Í111. It is really so, as "more and more educational systems are appreciating the need to train teachers and administrators in those aspects of linguistics that are relevant to education and in the various subfields that have grown up within educational linguistics itself' [5, p.1]. Language teaching comprises four main learning categories: communicative competencies, proficiencies, cross-cultural experiences, and multiple literacies [9, p. 267].
Establishing mutual understanding between people of different languages and cultures can be referred to as the multicultural paradigm since "intercultural communication is on how collective worldviews interact across cultural contexts" in other words it "is concerned with how people of different cultures jointly make meanings" [5, p.14]. The multicultural paradigm makes the diversity of world politics and culture including via new information technologies accessible as language and linguistic education are sine qua non condition for successful human life in a multicultural and multilingual community of people.
The multicultural paradigm caused a shift in the emphasis in the educational system. Thus, in the recent past, the teaching of foreign languages based on a communicative approach was oriented toward the process of communication. At present, the subjects of the educational process are considered as representatives of a certain society, as bearers of the national culture. Linguistic diversity and diversity of cultures are considered now as one of the most valuable elements of the world and European cultural heritage as the philosophy of intercultural social interaction in any multicultural and multilingual space. The diversity of linguistic cultures is also recognized in the political sphere as an invaluable unique heritage which in future should evolve from a factor that hinders a dialogue between the members of different cultures into a means of mutual understanding and enrichment. Language teaching has been recently focused on the development of knowledge and skills in the context of communicative competence. At the present stage, the mastery of a foreign language is emphasized as the introduction to a different culture. Being a means of communication and knowledge, a foreign language as a subject of interdisciplinary character promotes creating a sufficiently wide social and cultural space that help develop the complete linguistic, social and cultural picture of the world. The knowledge of a foreign language as a means of intercultural communicating orally and in a written form is a tool that enables successful orientation in the modern multicultural and multi-lingual society. Today, information systems are becoming global bringing peoples and their cultures together due to the Internet, which dissolves the boundaries making the world of culture unlimited and universal. A foreign language has a dialogue-oriented nature. In the context of a multicultural paradigm, foreign language communication is, first of all, the introduction to a different culture via the dialogue of cultures. It includes the ethical norms of politeness, good command of body language and the visual signs of a foreign culture, the ability to reason and argue, to give opinions. The subjects of the educational process are given the opportunity to assimilate a new social and cultural experience on the basis of creative and critical thinking. The production, perception and comprehension of information are closely related to the level of development of the spiritual culture of speakers, with their social and cultural, and communicative competencies, which are viewed as communicative and social characteristics of the person who participates in the dialogue of cultures.
The language communication comprises three elements; they are interactive, communicative and perceptual ones. Foreign language communication as a channel of cognition, a means of development, an instrument of teaching, an adequate environment for learning contributes to developing the linguistic culture of an individual, their speech and mental capabilities and social and cultural competences. At the present stage, foreign language and culture education regards a person not only as a member of a
national culture but also as a subject of the dialogue of cultures who is aware of their role and responsibility in global human processes and in intercultural language communication.
The social and pedagogical essence of the language teaching is considered in the context of the social order of the society and the state taking into account the general educational concept and the development of the education system.
The social activity of people, their mutual relations lie at the bottom of the language teaching as a social phenomenon. Social economic, social educational and political factors act regarding the attitude of the society to foreign languages in general and to people who speak foreign languages as well as considering the requirements set by the society for the level and quality of education of their citizens.
At present, the goal of teaching foreign languages is the development of the personality of a learner who is able and wants to participate in communication at the intercultural level. The secondary conceptual system should be developed in students; this system corresponds to the cognitive picture of the world reflected in the target language. Taking into consideration the set goals, teaching a foreign language can be considered in three aspects: pragmatic, cognitive and pedagogical.
The pragmatic aspect in teaching a foreign language is associated with the development of students' skills and abilities that allow them to share the ethnic and linguistic, and cultural values of the country of the target language for intercultural understanding. A set of such knowledge, skills and abilities is the communicative competence of students which consists of knowledge of the system of the language being studied, the ability to understand and generate foreign language statements, and to see specific social and cultural features. The level of the development of the students' communicative ability in terms of intercultural interaction is characterized as a level of language proficiency. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) divides learners into three broad divisions that can be divided into six levels (from the A1 level which is described as breakthrough or beginner to the C2 level that is the level of mastery or proficiency) [10]. This system of the language level defining allows teachers and students to interpret the achieved results and assess their communicative experience.
The cognitive aspect of teaching a foreign language is connected with the process of thinking and understanding which are necessary for involving students not only in a foreign language but also in the culture of the target country. The initial vision of a foreign-language reality is generated under the influence of the culture of the native language. Personal experience, impressions, associations create the basis for a characteristic opinion, behaviour or suggestion. The method of perception which is developed under the impact of the images of native culture is used as a category of understanding the reality, i.e. as a cognitive category. The cognitive motivations and cognitive activity of a student, which, in turn, is the main stimulus of their individual vision of the world have the greatest impact on the quality of mastering foreign language and culture. The cognitive aspect of teaching a foreign language emphasized the important role of reflexive abilities related to the experience of dealing with another culture as the acquired experience is regarded from the point of its significance, novelty, relevance.
The pedagogical aspect singles out the so-called extra linguistic qualities of the individual which help use a foreign language as a means of intercultural interaction. Students' perceptual abilities should be developed to comprehend another strategy and tactics of life which. in turn, leads to the development of tolerance or empathy (as an ability to sympathize and empathize), readiness for dialogue without prejudice. Active communication with representatives of other social and cultural communities is facilitated by such personal qualities as openness,
Thus, linguistic education, which is aimed not only at studying certain aspects of a foreign language but also in involving students in the global process of cultural interaction, promotes developing a sensitive attitude and interest to the phenomena of other mentality, motivation, stimulates them to manifest their own mental, creative activity.
The language teaching in the context of understanding ethnic and linguistic culture of the country of the target language is one of the most efficient means and mechanisms for developing a personality and for solving the problems of mankind, as it is aimed at the development of a man of today as a global subject of transformative and creative activity. However, the cultural identity of students should not be suppressed, the organic combination of national and universal values in the educational process should be focused on. A person can learn to respect the cultural traditions of other countries only via respectful and careful attitude to the cultural heritage of their native country. Modern language teaching is a result of mastering a foreign language and foreign culture.
The language teaching is often considered as the process of acquiring the systematized knowledge and skills that enables conducting foreign language activity. The language teaching as a value involves considering three axiological units:
- language teaching as a state value;
- language teaching as a social value;
- language teaching as a personal value
as "one can define education from the point of view of individual development, or one can see education in social terms, i.e. learning that takes place outside formal education, and recently some governments outside the world have chosen to see education as in economic, or at least economic efficiency terms" [4, p.2].
Thus, the result of language teaching is also determined on three levels:
- individual-personal,
- public-state, general civilization.
The individual-personal level emphasizes the knowledge, skills and abilities that each student acquires during the educational process. In this sense, the result, as a rule, is assessed directly from the point of view of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of language / language proficiency as a means of communication. In this context. The language proficiency is understood as follows: to know a foreign language means to be able to speak, read, write, listen in a target language, and the main criterion of the language proficiency is the mutual understanding among the partners of communication but not language accuracy [6]. One of the basic conditions for language proficiency is the student's perceived feeling that they can use his speech and language experience freely and without fear [3]. Foreign language proficiency is a multidimensional concept which includes, firstly, the knowledge of the so-called objective communication parameters and the ability to these parameters in speech, that is to be able to cope with the situations of communication with the help of linguistic means. This also includes the knowledge of social interrelations and the conditions for their implementation which are necessary for individual communication program. Second, the basis of language proficiency is the desire and ability of a person to analyze and assess communication situations, make an adequate decision on speech behaviour and monitor their speech actions and the actions of their communication partners. These skills are based on the knowledge of alternatives of speech behaviour including a set of various parameters that are necessary and sufficient for analyzing the situation of communication and all its deterministic factors. Third, the ability to assess personal communication potential and to use the variants of behaviour whose adequate selection enables making the communication efficient are essential features of a foreign language proficiency. Fourth, discussing the essence of the notion of "language proficiency", the ability of a person to use their own speech and to understand the paralinguistic and extra-linguistic elements of verbal communication when decoding the utterances of others should be mentioned. All the components of the notion of "language proficiency" can be reduced to the general and communicative competence. The general competence determines the cognitive activity of a person, their ability to deal with a foreign linguistic and ethnic culture and learn it [7]. This type of competence comprises:
declarative knowledge: knowledge of the world; knowledge from various fields: knowledge inherent in a particular culture and / or of a universal character (an individual picture of the world); knowledge of the specifics of the target language system;
- individual psychological characteristics of a person, allowing them to speak with some degree of success (for example, character traits, temperament, willingness and desire to communicate with a native speaker, attention to the partner in communication and the subject of communication, etc.);
- skills and abilities that help students master a foreign language efficiently (the ability to learn: to work with a dictionary, reference literature, and so on).
- Intercultural communicative competence is [4] :
- the ability of a person to understand and generate foreign language statements in a variety of socially determined situations taking into account the linguistic and social rules followed by native speakers. In a generalized form, communicative competence is known as the knowledge of the system of the language being studied and the skills of using linguistic (phonetic, lexical and grammatical) means of communication, i.e. the linguistic component of communicative competence;
- knowledge, skills and abilities that enable understanding and generating foreign language statements in accordance with a specific situation of communication, a speech task and communicative intention, i.e. the pragmatic component of communicative competence;
- knowledge, skills and abilities that enable verbal and non-verbal communication with native speakers in accordance with the national and cultural characteristics of another language society, i.e. the social and linguistic component of communicative competence.
Thus, considering all the components of the notion of "language proficiency", the following can be stated - the result of teaching a foreign language to students cannot and should not be reduced only to mastering linguistic competence or to using various forms and methods of speech activities (written / oral, paralinguistic / extralinguistic). The object of teaching and learning a foreign language
is a set of knowledge, skills and abilities mentioned above, and one of the results of teaching and learning is a certain level of language proficiency. The web of knowledge, skills and abilities as a result of language teaching is a part of the universal human capacity to speech communication but it also has its own specificity which firstly lies in the fact that while learning a foreign language, a learner acquires new forms of expression that have their national and cultural characteristics. Secondly, the basis for mastering any language is known as the universal ability to discourse, but this universality has a partial character. A certain set of discursive knowledge, skills and abilities as a result of interpersonal communication absorbed by a person has different cultural specificities, since any discourse is built according to the laws of a particular linguistic society. Thirdly, by mastering the language, a person assimilates (should assimilate if the intercultural communication is mentioned) a complex of certain extralinguistic, social and cultural knowledge, skills and abilities that are characteristic for a certain language, ethnic and social and environment. Along with the linguistic knowledge, skills and abilities mentioned above, mastering this extralinguistic complex is of particular importance for the adequate understanding and generating utterances in a foreign language.
Conclusions. The role of language teaching can hardly be overemphasized. However, along with the positive processes which bring the peoples of the world together, global problems (ethnic and religious conflicts, environmental problems, and so on) arise and affect the modern world negatively. These problems are vitally important for all mankind and require consolidating mutual efforts for their solving. In this context, education is of great importance and language teaching is especially significant as skills and abilities to conduct a dialogue and negotiation, search for issues that can unite people, a consistent desire for democracy should become the integral and content aspects of education in general, and of language teaching in particular. Hence, language teaching as a result of the general civilization development emphasizes the necessity of creating a new worldview, a willingness and ability to live and work in a changing world with its environmental and information problems so that various forms of communication among the bearers of different foreign language ethnic cultures be successfully implemented, the information obtained during the process of communication be processed, necessary decisions be made. Expecting and planning such results in the sphere of language teaching and their practical implementation achievement result from the fact that it is language that is a means of adequate interaction among the members of different linguistic societies and, consequently, with the appropriate educational technology, is a means of implementing social transformations n at the general civilizational level in a peaceful way.
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