The problems of specialists’ training

Irina Efimenko

Siberian State Automobile and Highway Academy, Russia

Sociocultural constituent of TU students’ language training

According to the new National Curriculum Russian universities should train highly skilled specialists who speak foreign languages well enough to be able to collaborate with international partners in the world market in various spheres of life. Developing students’ language competence declared by this document suggests that at technical universities languages should be taught taking into account both the graduate’s future professional activities and the sociocultural portrait of the target language country.

Researchers correctly regard linguistic and communicative competences as a compound that consists of interrelated parts, such as linguistic, sociolinguistic, pragmalinguistic, sociocultural, discourse and strategic competences (Sheils, 1995: 38).

It is obvious that communication between a Russian specialist and his foreign partner is effective if the former has achieved the sufficient level of communicative competence that implies the ability to communicate internationally in both everyday and professional situations employing linguistic means appropriate of particular communicative intentions (agreement / disagreement, description / statement, comparison / reasoning, etc.). At the same time, all sociocultural aspects, i.e. traditions, customs, business and social etiquette, etc. should be observed in the process of communication. Besides, the significant role belongs to the learners’ communicative abilities and skills in their native language that need to be developed in the process of university training.

Due to the social character of language and the challenges of modern society a foreign language can be defined as a means of international and intercultural communication the content of which has a multiple-aspect nature.

It should be noted that the main disadvantage of national university training until now was the fact that a graduate’s mental grasp was not wide enough for his or her successful professional activities. To a greater extent this can be referred to professionally important intercultural situations that involve developing international business contacts and new technologies, creating joint ventures, intensifying professional activities in close contact with foreign colleagues.

The success of business contacts with representatives of a different cultural environment is caused by a number of factors. The most important of them apart from the natural character of communication is the ability to create the atmosphere of psychological comfort, friendliness, openness, to establish and develop good personal relationships with foreign partners. Without taking into account the above-mentioned points it is impossible to maintain contacts and create favourable conditions for successful cooperation with foreign partners.

National culture is primarily acquired through the language as the national language plays a leading role in developing social institutions united by common culture.
Sociocultural continuum objectively affects the development of language awareness and determines some differences in the behavior of the speakers of different languages. Linguistic areas of different cultural communities reflect folk traditions and customs, cultural and moral values and cultural heritage, everyday practices, etc. Language behaviour that distinguishes linguistic identities of different ethnic communities is also manifested in non-verbal communication although non-verbal communication components contain more common features than differences.

Cultural and national stereotypes of native speakers’ language behavior in all languages are associated with diverse worldview perception and reflection that serves as a base for developing personal identity. In the native language environment a person attains the ‘correct’ way of thinking and expressing his or her emotions appropriate of the given society and hence the "correct" way of conduct. In some cases, it causes the person’s underestimation of another community with its own moral and cultural values unique for the speakers of the language. Thankfully, the most part of the civilized world is implicitly multicultural and appreciates the social and cultural impact of the speakers of other languages. It gives an opportunity to identify a number of characteristic cultural parameters that affect language behavior regardless of the sphere of its socialization (Cushner, Brisein, 1995: 19).

Effective communication is possible only in case of the communicating partners’ equivalent knowledge and thereupon their ability to realize and accept the elements of a foreign language culture which are not similar to those of their own culture.

Communication experience shows that the best way to teach how to achieve mutual understanding is by means of exchanging ideas while problem-solving, disputing, conferencing that form the methodological portfolio of foreign language teachers at the Siberian State Automobile and Highway Academy.

Tolerant, reasonable and benevolent atmosphere of language teaching positively affects bringing up cultural subjects during foreign language classes. If some problems in understanding the elements of foreign language culture arise, a learner should be able to use certain concepts and categories that require the acquisition of appropriate vocabulary, special vocabulary of generally accepted terms as well as the skill in handling linguistic means to implement his or her communicative intention (evaluation, reasoning, comparison, etc.).

On the basis of the sociocultural constituent of developing a linguistic identity the learner acquires the pragmatic competence, i.e. he or she masters the principles and rules of communicative interaction, its strategies and tactics, the flexible system of language behaviour (Formanovskaya, 1998: 171).

According to the prescriptions of the suggested foreign language syllabus (Exemplary foreign language syllabus of discipline "Foreign language" of the Federal state educational standard of the second generation, 2000) a linguistic identity should have the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

- a good command of language, its grammatical and lexical norms;

- language proficiency at textual and stylistic levels;

- awareness of social standards of using speech patterns for communication (theme, style, genre);

- ability to create complex (official, publicistic, scientific) texts;

- skills of gaining speaker’s and listener’s statuses, social and psychological skills of partnership in communication;

- awareness of pragmatic communicative standards in the context of various communicative intentions.

Thus, a developed linguistic identity should acquire linguistic, communicative and pragmatic competences at the level sufficient for maintaining a cross-cultural business dialogue.

References:

1. Sheils, J., (1995), Communication in the modern language classroom. Council for Cultural Cooperation, Strasbourg: Council of Europe Press, 350 p.

2. Cushner, K., Brisein R. W., (1995), Interecultural Interactions, [in:] Cross-Cultural Research in Methodology, Vol.9, L - New Delhi, pp. 12-27.

3. Formanovskaya, N. I., (1998), Communicative and pragmatic aspects of interaction items, Moscow: Russian Language Institute named after Pushkin, 292 p.

4. Exemplary foreign language syllabus of discipline "Foreign language" of the Federal state educational standard of the second generation, (2000), The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Moscow: Moscow State Pedagogical University, 23 p.