Volkova V.V. Active approaches to teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business through foreign-language culture

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Педагогические науки/2. Проблемы подготовки специалистов

Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences Volkova V.V.

Zaporizhzhia National University, Ukraine

Active approaches to teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business through foreign-language culture

Nowadays the problem of teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business is of crucial importance as new society requirements to education and personality development, new conditions of work have changed the attitude to the process of teaching foreign languages. In the business world, mastery in foreign languages is increasingly important for those who are eager to remain competitive at an international level. The global market requires companies’ staff to have knowledge and skills in order to communicate effectively to clients, business partners and fellow employees in different countries in their own languages considering their cultural peculiarities.

According to a recent Eurobarometer study, 40 % of recruiters in the industry sector highlighted the importance of language skills for future higher education graduates [1; 13]. The study of language skills importance carried out among large multinational corporations shows that senior management positions in international business require at least a very high level of English. For key positions within sales and marketing, fluency and negotiation skills in several languages are generally highly rated. For positions within production, logistics, economy and finance, there are generally no language requirements beyond English. However, the report shows that the knowledge of more than one language is often seen as a demonstration of cultural openness and adaptability [2]. Companies who are looking for language skills prefer graduates with the ability to apply those skills to a variety of different work situations. They are also looking for good communicators and for people with cultural competence, ability to work in multilingual and multicultural teams, flexibility and tolerance [1].

To train students with majors in management, marketing and international economics, who will be able to meet the above high requirements, we integrated the active language learning and subject learning approaches with the culture-oriented approach to teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business. The Department of Business Communication at Zaporizhzhia National University uses the materials and assignments aimed at development of different aspects of the students’ professional socio-cultural competence.

Due to scarcity of academic hours for foreign languages for special purposes and business on the curriculum (mostly, it is 2 hours per week), there is no possibility to attend to learning a foreign language culture. Therefore, the use of active approaches to teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business through foreign-language culture provides opportunities for development of the students’ professional socio-cultural competence.

Active approach involves the students in locating and using relevant information through foreign-language culture, and promotes personal responsibility, initiative, independence, reflection, self-evaluation, self-confidence and co-operation.

Let us consider some examples of active approaches. Brainstorming is s a method used with a group to generate a large number of ideas quickly. It actively engages students in the learning process and encourages full participation as one person’s ideas spark off ideas for another [3]. Brainstorming is a valuable activity because it is unlikely that if students worked alone that they would come up with the same volume of ideas. The instructor needs to preselect the topic or issue and facilitate the session, limiting it in time to between 5-10 minutes. Brainstorming can be used to introduce a new topic or revise a topic. For example, for a new topic introduction the students can brainstorm common national stereotypes. The aim of this activity is to give the students understanding that stereotypes and the national practice of business communication are quite opposite things. The brainstorming helps transition fro stereotypes to the characteristic features of behavior in business.

Another approach used in teaching foreign languages for special purposes and business is a questionnaire in a foreign language, which is a set of questions concerning a foreign language culture. The students are able to assess their knowledge of foreign culture. The questionnaire encourages them to give their views by commenting well-known country-specific quotes, jokes and stereotypes.

One of the most effective approaches is case study. Case study is a scenario, real or imaginary, which describes an event, situation, experience, etc. which students are required to read, assimilate, analyze, devise and answer questions based on the case study. Case studies in foreign languages for special purposes and business are designed to learn the peculiarities of business communication (negotiations, business meetings, communication with clients, etc.).

Finally mention should be made of active approaches outcomes. On the one hand, the above approaches assist in teaching intercultural communication in a unobtrusive way; on the other hand, they teach foreign languages for special purposes and business through foreign-language culture.

References:

1. Languages for Jobs: Providing multilingual communication skills for the labour market. Report from the thematic working group "Languages for Jobs", European Strategic Framework for Education and Training (ET 2020) http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/languages/library/documents/languages-for-jobs-report_en.pdf

2. Hervé Didiot-Cook, Valérie Gauthier, Koen Scheirlinckx (2000) Language needs in business, a survey of European multinational companies. CEMS Inter-faculty Group for Languages Joint Study Project

http://www.hec.edu/var/fre/storage/original/application/7ca31409fee3f05c77b4a3d9286927d2.pdf

3. Active learning & teaching methodologies https://www.ppgia.pucpr.br/~jamhour/Download/pub/active%20methodology_0.pdf