In the modern world, the main goal of teaching foreign languages is the formation of cultural and communicative competence.
It is generally accepted today that in connection with the changes taking place in our country, interest has increased in the study of foreign languages, in the culture and realities of those countries that are economic partners of our state and are focused on Kazakhstan's entry into the world educational, cultural and economic space.
It is generally accepted today that in connection with the changes taking place in our country, interest has increased in the study of foreign languages, in the culture and realities of those countries that are economic partners of our state and are focused on Kazakhstan's entry into the world educational, cultural and economic space. Reading original fiction in the target language contributes to the development of oral speech, enriches vocabulary, introduces the culture and literature of the country of the target language, develops analytical thinking. Therefore, home reading lessons are extremely necessary in the educational process. These lessons are indisputably valuable: firstly, because the student comes into contact with a modern living language, and not conditionally educational; secondly, there is an opportunity to express your opinion and assess the work, characters and situations. Home reading allows students, already at school, to become familiar with reading in a foreign language as a real speech activity. When characterizing the level of language proficiency achieved as a result of learning, the methodology widely uses the term competence, introduced into scientific use by the American Linguist N. Chomsky (b. 1928) to denote the inherent ability of a person to perform any activity (from the Latin competencies — capable). Initially, the term denoted the ability necessary to perform a certain, predominantly linguistic activity in the native language. A competent speaker (listener), according to N. Chomsky, must form (understand) an unlimited number of sentences according to models, and also have a judgment about the statement, i.e. see a formal similarity (difference) in two languages. With regard to teaching foreign languages, this concept was developed in detail within the framework of research conducted by the Council of Europe to establish the level of proficiency in a foreign language (Strasbourg, 1996), and is defined as the ability to perform any activity based on the knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in the course of training, work experience. In the literature of recent years, some attempts have been made to separate two concepts: competence and competence. Moreover, if competence is understood as the ability to perform any activity (including speech), then competence is a meaningful component of such an ability in the form of knowledge, skills, and abilities acquired in the course of training.
Thus, competence is a range of issues in which someone is well aware, has knowledge, experience. [1, c.56]
Currently, the goal of teaching foreign languages is the formation of communicative competence in the field of intercultural communication. This implies the ability of verbal interaction with representatives of another culture.
Intercultural communication is an adequate mutual understanding of two participants in a communicative act, belonging to different national cultures. That is why the goal of teaching foreign languages is, first of all, to ensure intercultural communication and mutual understanding between partners.
According to the new state standards for a foreign language, in addition to speech skills and language knowledge and skills, compensatory skills and educational and cognitive skills, the mandatory minimum of the content of basic educational programs includes socio-cultural knowledge and skills. The formation of socio-cultural knowledge and skills means expanding the volume of linguistic and regional and regional knowledge due to new topics and problems of speech communication, taking into account the specifics of the chosen profile; deepening knowledge about the country or countries of the target language, their science and culture, historical and modern realities, public figures, the place of these countries in world society, world culture, relations with our country; expanding the volume of linguistic and cultural knowledge, skills and abilities associated with the adequate use of language means and rules of speech and non-speech behavior in accordance with the norms adopted in the country of the target language.
The formation of a national-cultural component among students includes not only acquaintance with the history, traditions, outstanding people of the country of the target language, but first of all should provide knowledge that will be useful to the student directly in communication situations. One of the urgent problems in teaching a foreign language today is the need for a deeper study of the world of native speakers. Without an understanding of socio-economic systems, knowledge of social and political cultures, study of historical and cultural traditions that have shaped the way of thinking of those people with whom to interact, it is impossible to learn language as a means of communication. Mastering a foreign language as a means of international communication is impossible without knowledge of the socio-cultural characteristics of the country of the target language. There can be no culture of speech without the ability to use the styles of the language, without awareness of the etiquette of speech utterance. Understanding the features of different styles of language and styles of speech in their close relationship contributes to the effectiveness of communication. [2, c.89]
Communication competence is complex. It is a set of its constituent individual competencies: linguistic, sociolinguistic (speech), discursive, strategic, social, sociocultural, subject.
Communicative competence is the ability to carry out speech activity by means of the target language in accordance with the goals and situation of communication within the framework of a particular field of activity. It is based on a set of skills that allow you to participate in verbal communication in its productive and receptive forms.
A student possesses communicative competence if, in conditions of direct or indirect contact, he successfully solves the problems of mutual understanding and interaction with native speakers of the target language in accordance with the norms and traditions of the culture of this language. From a psychological point of view, communicative competence is, first of all, the ability of a person to adequately organize his speech activity in its productive and receptive forms in a communication situation. [3, c.113]
The concept of communicative competence was proposed by the American Linguist D. Himes (1972), who argued that it is not enough to know only linguistic knowledge and rules for verbal communication. This also requires knowledge of “cultural and socially significant circumstances”. D. Himes considered communicative competence as an integrative education, which includes, along with linguistic and socio-cultural components. The units of communicative competence are: units of language and speech used by participants in communication in accordance with the content of the statement in various spheres and situations of communication. The required level of communicative competence is determined by the stage and purpose of training.
Linguistic competence is the mastering the knowledge about the language system, about the rules for the functioning of language units in speech and the ability, using this system, to understand other people's thoughts and express their own judgments in oral and written form. A student has linguistic competence if he has an understanding of the system of the language being studied and can use this system in practice. The quality of language competence in the target language is influenced not only by the degree of proficiency in it, but also by the level of competence of students in their native language.
Speech competence means knowing how to form and formulate thoughts using language, which provide the ability to organize and carry out a speech action (realize a communicative intention), as well as the ability to use such methods to understand the thoughts of other people and express their own judgments. It also means the ability to use language in a speech act. Some researchers also call this type of competence sociolinguistic, in an effort to emphasize the inherent ability of the owner of such competence to choose the necessary linguistic form and method of expression depending on the conditions of the speech act: the situation, communicative goals and the speaker's intentions.
Sociolinguistic competence reflects the socio-cultural conditions of language use (orientation to social norms of communication between different generations, genders, classes and social groups, the design of rituals). This competence has an impact on verbal communication between representatives of different cultures. [4, c.156]
Sociocultural competence implies knowledge by students of the national and cultural characteristics of the social and speech behavior of native speakers: their customs, etiquette, social stereotypes, history and culture, as well as ways of using this knowledge in the process of communication. The formation of such competence in language classes is carried out in the context of a dialogue of cultures, taking into account the differences in the socio-cultural perception of the world and ultimately contributes to the achievement of intercultural understanding between people and the formation of a “secondary linguistic personality”.
The content of sociocultural competence can be presented in the form of four components:
a) sociocultural knowledge (information about the country of the target language, spiritual values and cultural traditions, peculiarities of the national mentality;
b) communication experience (choice of an acceptable communication style, correct interpretation of the phenomena of a foreign language culture);
c) personal attitude to the facts of a foreign language culture (including the ability to overcome and resolve sociocultural conflicts during communication);
d) possession of the methods of using the language (the correct use of socially marked linguistic units in speech in various spheres of intercultural communication, sensitivity to the similarities and differences between native and foreign-language sociocultural phenomena). [5, c.66]
We can talk about the presence or absence of the language learner's abilities for intercultural communication. The presence of such abilities presupposes the formation of certain qualities of the student's personality, which include: openness, tolerance, willingness to communicate. Openness means freedom from prejudice towards representatives of another culture; tolerance is manifested in a tolerant attitude towards manifestations of the alien, unfamiliar to us in other cultures; willingness to communicate is expressed in the desire and ability to engage in active communication with representatives of a different socio-cultural community. The absence or insufficient formation of sociocultural competence is the cause of errors of a sociocultural nature and, as a consequence of such errors, discommunication, i.e., disruption of the course of foreign language communication.
Social competence is manifested in the desire and ability to enter into communication with other people, in the ability to navigate in a communication situation and build a statement in accordance with the speaker's communicative intention and the situation. This type of competence is also called pragmatic competence, wishing to emphasize the ability inherent in the language fluent to choose the most effective way of expressing thoughts, depending on the conditions of the communicative act and the goal.
So, teaching a natural, living language is possible only under the condition of using materials taken from the life of native speakers or compiled taking into account the peculiarities of their culture and mentality in accordance with the accepted speech norms. It seems that the development of such educational texts will make it possible to more effectively teach all types of speech activity, imitate immersion in the natural language environment in a foreign language lesson.
References:
- Selivanova N. A. Literary and regional approach to the selection of texts for home reading Foreign languages at school. — 2007.
- Selivanova N. A. Organization and methodology of home reading at the middle stage of teaching foreign languages in a secondary school in the context of new requirements for language education. — M., 2005.
- Solovova E. N. Methods of teaching foreign languages. — M., 2013.
- Shchukin A. N. Teaching foreign languages: Theory and practice. — M., 2012.
- Yazykova N. V. Problems of teaching foreign languages within the framework of an intercultural approach // Development of intercultural competence through the study of foreign languages: potential, methods, problems. — 2010.
