Журнал «Психология образования в поликультурном пространстве»

THE FORMATION OF GENERAL CULTURAL COMPETENCIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AT A HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

Author: Kareva N.V., Dulepova Yu.V., Archipenko M.V.

The article highlights that in the new circumstances of professional activity it is not enough to grasp only subject knowledge for a graduate. You must be a competent, competitive specialist to realize oneself both in the personal-professional and the social direction. The authors believe that the process of higher education should be focused on the formation of general cultural competencies because they define the human ability to pattern its behaviour in the public life and in the professional sphere. In the article it is stressed that the formation of these competencies is of great importance in the structure of students’ vocational training. The formation of general cultural competencies is a fairly long process requiring not only activity on the part of the teacher, wishing to transfer knowledge but the activity on the part of the learner seeking knowledge. It is noted that the formation of general cultural competencies holds a special place in the structure of students’ training and it is possible only if the learning process is organized in accordance with general pedagogical principles of learning such as the competence approach, the continuity of education, the consistency, the humanistic approach to education. Within the framework of the foreign language training a teacher should take into account general methodological principles, such as: the principle of communication, of interconnected learning to the speech activity types, the realization of personal professional development, the authenticity principle, the principle of educational process intensification, the problematic principle. With the aim of forming general cultural competencies it is necessary to involve students in various activities, aimed at developing the personality and their preparation for the future independent life. In this respect the education process is of great importance as an integral element of the educational process. The educational influence on the learner with a view to create general cultural competencies at the higher education institution must be complex. The content of training programs such as «Foreign Language», «Methods of teaching», the use of various interaction forms between a teacher and a student in the classroom and in the extracurricular work are aimed at the solution of this problem. There are a number of methods of organizing productive joint activities for teachers and students that contribute to the successful formation of general cultural competencies. To emphasize psycho-pedagogical conditions is of great importance. These conditions are considered by the authors as the circumstances purposefully created by the educational process participants to ensure the optimal use of their abilities for successful formation of students’ general cultural competencies at the higher military school. The criteria of general cultural competencies development are highlighted in the article. Selected criteria and indicators are of generic character, however, theу are specific to assess the level of students’ general cultural competencies at the foreign language classes.