Language education formation in the European institutions (the Slovak republic example)

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Volodymyr Vynnychenko Centralukrainian State Pedagogical University

Language education formation in the European institutions (the Slovak republic example)

Smirnova Lina Leonidivna - PhD, Associate Professor,

Chair Of Linguodidactics and Foreign Languages

Formulation and justification of the relevance of the problem

Nowadays due to migration and mobility, European societies are characterised and enriched by linguistic and cultural diversity. Against the background of contemporary societal and economic developments, the issues of education, which are associated with changes in the functioning of our society, require special attention. In particular, it is about revaluation of cultural values and the adaptation of youth and the working part of the society not only to the competitive basis of relations, both inside the country and abroad, but also to constructive cooperation with representatives of other countries, in particular the European Union.

Under such circumstances, intercultural principles, which include the process of abolishing stereotyped attitudes towards the present-day realities and the representatives of other cultures, building new relationships based on humanity, mutual understanding, tolerance, unity and mutual assistance, lead to the actualization of transnational education, stated in the Prague Communiquй back in 2001. At the state level, it is recognized that one of the important aspects of this process is promotion of excellence in language education, that is effective implementation of bilingual and plurilingual education at all levels of education and teaching English for Specific Purposes at universities.

Language education has become the key to provision of lifelong, contemporary quality language education, supports not only educational and professional success but personal development and a sense of self-worth, what jointly helps foster economic growth, democratic citizenship and social cohesion. Europe is multilingual and in order to fulfil its social and cultural aims, it seeks to provide education adapted to the needs of plurilingual citizens.

The development and practice of plurilingual education is one of the Council of Europe's most important priorities as well. Developing every individual's system of language and cultural identities and highlighting the social value of linguistic and cultural diversity lie at the core of ECML (European Centre for Modern Languages of the Council of Europe) work. Plurilingual education embraces all language learning, e.g. home language/s, language/s of schooling, foreign languages, and regional and minority languages [5].

Thus, among the complex of methodological problems of intercultural and plurilingual education in particular, the issue of bilingual education has become one of the most urgent areas of modern foreign languages education, in Slovakia as well.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. Scientists purposefully have been considering this scientific problem for quite a long time. American scholars W. Weinreich and E. Haugen were among the founders of the modern theory of the interaction of languages. Particular attention there deserves the works of scientists from those countries where multilingual education is a conditional necessity. Conceptual, theoretical and practical principles of bilingual education are described in the scientific papers of the Belgian scientists H. B. Birdsmor, Piet Van de Craen, A. Housen, M. Pierrard and many others. Issues of the implementation of immersion programs of teaching are devoted to the study of American scientists M. Anderson, G. Karin, N. Roads and others. In the context of our study, it is necessary to highlight the works of Canadian scholars J. Cummins, J. Lyon J. Frederikson, G. Fred on cultural and pedagogical aspects of bilingual education. Slovak scientists such as E. Poorova, M. Gondova, B. Menzlova and others have succeeded in the sphere of CLIL method as a constituent part of ESP and bilingual education. Within our educational space, the works of S.I. Shandruk, M.I. Tedeeva, Ya.V. Pozhenyuk, A.V. Shtifurak are devoted to the tendencies of the development of school-based foreign education in the member-countries of the Council of Europe and models of bilingual education.

In addition, it should be noted that the carried out studies do not determine the current and potential opportunities of bilingual education as a system-building factor of plurilingual education, in Slovakia in particular.

In this respect, the objective of the article is to consider nowadays tendencies of the development of language education in the European institutions.

The main material of the study. In our article bilingual education will be considered from the point of view of the system approach as a holistic object, which is a set of spatial, material, subject and intercultural factors, social component, and interpersonal relationships that interact with each other.

According to S. Shandruk, while considering intercultural concept, it should be stressed that the linguistic aspect is of fundamental importance, as not only knowledge of the most common foreign languages in Europe, but also emphasises the need to take into account the cultural differences of the people whose language is studied, the formation of respect for the language and the people [6].

Interculturality entails a number of underlying cognitive, affective and behavioural competences. These include knowledge (for example, knowledge about other cultural groups and their products and practices, and knowledge about the ways in which people of different cultures interact), attitudes (such as curiosity, openness, respect for otherness and empathy), skills of interpreting and relating (for example, interpreting a practice from another culture and relating it to practices within one's own culture), skills of discovery (such as the ability to search out and acquire new knowledge about a culture and its practices and products), and critical cultural awareness (that is, the ability to evaluate critically the practices and products of one's own and other cultures) [5].

Thus, bilingual education has a variant component and involves not only the compulsory parallel study of two and more foreign languages, but also the cultural heritage of the people, which simultaneously promotes the development of intercultural understanding and tolerance. Such education is intended to develop the communicative competence of learners as well, to improve their success through the expansion of both linguistic and social communication, to develop communicative and intercultural communication skills in order to ensure the successful adaptation and realization of a person, first of all adolescents, in society.

For instance, in official documents of Slovak Ministry of Education bilingual education is seen generally as one of the means of protecting European linguistic diversity and European multilingualism, which is a required ability of all Europeans to communicate in at least 3 languages, as stated in various European documents [8].

Thus, principles of plurilingual education are of especial importance background of European multilingualism. From the methodological point of view, one must strive to form a sense of linguistic liberty in classes, which reduces psychological tension and allows students to plunge into cultural space, in which foreign languages are an integral part.

Accordingly, teaching foreign languages should take place at the level of interdisciplinary integration, designed for the formation of communicative competence, which is understood by us as a synthesis of linguistic, subject and socio-cultural components. Based on the foregoing, we can set out the principles of the functioning of the bilingual environment, namely: - the principle of intercultural education directly, based on the dialogue and integration of different cultures and has the basis of the personal essence (internal awareness, internal culture, etc.); - the principle of openness of education, which is aimed at creating a humane environment for the educational process, for lifelong learning and the development of a free creative personality; - the principle of integrity, understood as the unity of cultures on the basis of peaceful cooperation; - the principle of attractiveness of education, which involves the adaptation of the material at its saturation, the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages through the use of top-notch techniques.

Obviously, the principles of bilingual approach through cultural openness and psychological attractiveness are also the principles of plurilingual one. The plurilingual approach emphasises the fact that as an individual person's experience of language in its cultural contexts expands, from the language of the home to that of society at large and then to the languages of other peoples, he or she does not keep these languages and cultures in strictly separated mental compartments, but rather builds up a communicative competence to which all knowledge and experience of language contributes and in which languages interrelate and interact [2].

Except for teaching English in accordance with the principles mentioned above, in European institutions of higher education there is also teaching English for specific purposes. ESP is as a linguistic discipline at universities, which is commonly applied in non-philological study programs; in social, natural, technical and other sciences.

Commission of the European Communities in 2006 emphasized that there has also been a recent trend towards competence-based education. In terms of language competence the framework for key competences for lifelong learning in Europe lists communication in languages (including the first language) alongside mathematics, science and technology, digital applications, interpersonal, intercultural and social competences.

According E. Poorova (2017), in Slovakia the ESP methodological approach has become very effective because of its appropriateness in non-philological study programs and its compliance with the change of a teaching paradigm at university focused on student centered teaching and learning and life-long learning. The scientist also states that, in teaching English for specific purposes at universities, content and language integrated learning (CLIL) is a very common methodological approach.

In teaching ESP at European universities, Slovak in particular, an interdisciplinary approach is one of the priorities for a design of a language teaching process, so it should be considered as a part of the whole study program aimed at fulfilment of a graduate profile specification [7].

Conclusions and prospects for future research directions

In the context of language education, in European countries, there is a widespread practice of implementing a variety of exchange programs and projects that are open to cooperation and are aimed at the implementation of mobility. By mobility, we mean individuals (children, adolescents or adults) moving from one environment to another for short or long periods of time. Mobility in language education is important as it provides students and teachers with opportunities to spend time studying, training or working in another country and to improve their language skills and develop their intercultural and professional competences. Competences developed and enhanced through mobility increase the individual's self-awareness, professional awareness and awareness of others. Each of these competences is particularly significant for the individuals' future personal, academic and professional development.

Considering language education formation in the European institutions bilingual education is a key clue for implementing ideas of humane, person-oriented learning, which involves intellectual and cultural development in the context of transnational education and lifelong education. The education system, or the educational process, oriented on the bilingual environment, helps to form the principles of plurilingual education, provides a person with an independent and responsible choice of future life priorities. In this respect ESP, as a brunch, is meaningful as it meets the requirements specified in the profiles of different study programs, which are also focused on student centred principles and life-long learning.

mobility language education slovak

Bibliography

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