CHAPTER 1. FORMATION OF SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
1.1.Sociocultural competence as a component of communicative competence
Sociocultural competence-a component of communicative competence; a set of knowledge about the realities of the country of the language being studied, national and cultural features of social and speech behavior of native speakers; the ability to apply this knowledge in communication practice and observe specific customs, etiquette, rules and behavioral stereotypes.
Components of socio-cultural competence:
* socio-cultural knowledge (possession of information about the country of the language being studied, spiritual values, customs and cultural traditions, features of the national mentality)
* communication experience (choosing the appropriate communication style, correct interpretation of foreign language culture phenomena)
* emotionally involved attitude to the facts of foreign culture (including the ability to resolve conflicts that arise during communication)
* knowledge of the ways of using the language, correct use of socially marked language units
The formation of socio-cultural competence occurs as a result of:
* expanding the volume of linguistic and regional knowledge due to new topics and issues of speech communication
* getting extensive knowledge about the country or countries of the language being studied, their science and culture, historical and modern realities, public figures, the place of these countries in the world community and the world cultural space
* acquisition of skills and abilities related to the adequate use of language tools and rules of speech and non-speech behavior in accordance with the norms adopted in the country of the language being studied
Teaching a foreign language involves the formation of students' foreign language communicative competence.
According to I. L. BIM, communicative competence is the ability and readiness to carry out foreign-language interpersonal and intercultural communication with native speakers [3]. Communicative competence as a multidimensional phenomenon consists of several competencies.
Thus, I. L. BIM distinguishes between language, speech, socio-cultural, compensatory and educational competencies [3]. According to V. V. Safonova, foreign language communicative competence consists of language, speech and socio-cultural competence.
Let's define the concepts of "competence" and "socio-cultural competence".
Ushakov gives the following definition: competence is a complex that links together knowledge, skills and actions, i.e. the ability to mobilize knowledge/skills in a specific situation. Thus, competence is something other than just knowledge and skills, although competence manifests itself in knowledge and skills. Competence is the ability to establish and implement the relationship between" knowledge-ability " and the situation. The main thing in competence is not to "know" or "be able", but to mobilize this or that knowledge or skill at the right moment [20].
According to the new dictionary of methodological terms, socio-cultural competence is the knowledge of the rules and social norms of behavior of native speakers, traditions, history, culture and social system of the country of the language being studied [24].
Sociocultural competence is one of the components of communicative competence. According to V. V. Safonova's socio-cultural competence includes a set of the following components: a linguo-cultural component (lexical units with national-cultural semantics and the ability to apply them in situations of intercultural communication), a sociolinguistic component (language features of social strata, representatives of different generations, genders, social groups, dialects), a socio-psychological component (national – specific behaviors using the communication technology adopted in the culture), cultural component (social-cultural, historical-cultural, ethno-cultural background) [16].
P. V. Sysoyev considers that sociocultural competence consists of :
a) sociocultural knowledge (information about the target language country, spiritual values, cultural traditions, including representatives of different ethnic groups, the peculiarities of national mentality behavior);
b) experience (the choice of acceptable style of communication, correct interpretation of the phenomena of the foreign culture);
C) personal attitude to cultural facts (including the ability to overcome and resolve sociocultural conflicts when communicating);
d) knowledge of the ways of using the language (correct use of national-marked language units in speech in various spheres of intercultural communication, sensitivity to similarities and differences between native and foreign socio-cultural fields) [18].
G. D. Tomakhin believes that language acquisition is inextricably linked to the mastery of national culture, which involves not only the assimilation of cultural knowledge (cultural facts), but also the formation of the ability and willingness to understand the mentality of the native speakers, as well as the peculiarities of communicative behavior of the people of this country [22].
According to the requirements of the Federal state educational standard of secondary (full) General education in a foreign language by the end of training, students must:
- have formed a communicative foreign language competence necessary for successful socialization;
- possess knowledge of the socio-cultural specifics of the country / countries of the language being studied and be able to build their speech and non-speech behavior adequately to this specificity;
- be able to identify common and different things in the culture of the native country and the country / countries of the language being studied [23].
A number of researchers on the problem of implementing a socio cultural component in the content of foreign language teaching have come to the following conclusions:
G. V. Rogova believes that the content of teaching foreign languages should include speech material of different levels, including texts for reading, which should contain country-specific knowledge of the geography, history, and social life of the country of the language being studied [15].
I. L. BIM speaks about the need to include elements of language culture in the content of training, folk-historical information in relation to the situation of communication. Within this approach, we are talking about the need to saturate the subject content of speech with country-specific material with a focus on the dialogue of cultures [3].
In the approach of O. M. Osiyanova, the socio-cultural component is represented by the skills and abilities of speech and non-speech behavior and language knowledge, including biequivalent and background vocabulary, as well as knowledge of national culture. Biequivalent vocabulary requires special attention of the teacher, since these words are strictly untranslatable and their meaning is revealed by interpretation. (For example, the arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel tower). The background vocabulary corresponds to the names of national cultural items, historical facts, names of national heroes, and so on. (for example, Marianne, Fronda, etc.) [13].
Thus, without the development of socio-cultural competence, it is impossible to speak a foreign language, since language learning is associated with the assimilation of the country's culture. When acquiring knowledge about culture, students should be able to operate with selected language material and local knowledge.
The Concept of sociocultural competence and the relevance of its formation
Since the beginning of the XX century, there have been changes in the theory and practice of teaching foreign languages, in particular, with the activation of the search for new approaches to teaching and learning the language. This was manifested both in the selection of language material and in the revision of the goals and objectives of training, among which the leading role is beginning to play learning to communicate in a foreign language in the context of a dialogue of cultures [4].
The modern stage of linguistics development is characterized by increased attention to language as a special knowledge of the world. This contributes to the integration into a single research block of such scientific disciplines as methodology, linguistics, cultural studies, the object of study of which is intercultural communication and the conditions and patterns of the formation of a "secondary language personality" [5].
With a language that can describe everything, we learn about the structure of consciousness. Therefore, it is in the language that gaps in the knowledge of a foreign country and its culture always appear. As a rule, due to limited time, school students are deprived of the opportunity to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of culture, traditions, customs and social norms of the country of the language being studied. It is not surprising that students can barely understand native speakers when they leave school, and their speech is riddled with both grammatical and behavioral errors. Learning a foreign language while simultaneously learning the culture of that language will help you avoid this [1].
The development of socio-cultural competence plays a special role in the modern world, where inter-ethnic relations are often aggravated, where Patriotic and international education are of great importance. Socio-cultural competence involves the willingness and ability to live and interact in today's multicultural world. Learning a foreign language gives great opportunities to teach children to be kind, tolerant, respect other people, live in peace and friendship with all Nations. The formation of socio-cultural competence of students plays a huge role in the education of internationalists and patriots of their country. When a child knows, values and respects the culture, customs, traditions, language of other countries and peoples, when he can proudly present the culture and traditions of his people or the region where he lives, there can be no question of hostility, competition or superiority [7].
According to G. D. Tomakhin, socio-cultural competence implies familiarity of the student with the national-cultural specifics of speech behavior and the ability to use those elements of the socio-cultural context that are relevant for the generation and perception of speech from the point of view of native speakers: customs, rules, norms, social conventions, rituals, social stereotypes, country knowledge, and others [21].
Socio-cultural competence involves:
* awareness that language is not only a means of knowledge and communication, but also a form of social memory, the "cultural code of the nation", the developed ability to compare the facts of language and the facts of reality;
* ability to see the cultural background behind each language unit;
* knowledge of the culture, history, traditions, customs of their people;
* ability to detect regionally significant lexemes and understand their role in the text [23].
According to V. V. Safonova, the formation of socio-cultural competence is inextricably linked with the main goals of education: practical, developmental and educational. And the educational task is the most significant, since its solution depends on the formation of a modern young person's feelings of patriotism and internationalism [16].
The content of socio-cultural competence refers not only to the process of mastering a practical foreign language as a means of communication. It is possible to speak a language as a means of communication, but not to be guided by the General cross-cultural context of foreign language communication, i.e. not to have formed knowledge about the history, culture, traditions of the country of the language being studied, ethno-cultural customs, rituals, symbols, and stereotypes. It is necessary to develop such abilities in schoolchildren that help coordinate their behavior in accordance with knowledge about the norms of behavior in another culture and avoid cross-cultural misunderstandings [8].
At the beginning of the XXI century, the goal of teaching foreign languages can no longer be the transfer of linguistic knowledge, skills, or even the encyclopedic development of country-specific information, which is limited, first of all, to the sum of geographical and historical concepts and phenomena. Central to the pedagogical process should be the development of skills to participate in intercultural communication, which is especially important now when mixing of peoples, languages, cultures reached an unprecedented scale and as always there was a problem of education of tolerance to other cultures, the revival of interest and respect to them, overcoming my feelings of irritation from redundancy, failure or just the otherness of other cultures. This is what caused the General attention to the issues of intercultural communication [19].
Thus, learning to communicate in a foreign language implies the acquisition of socio-cultural knowledge and skills, without which there is no language acquisition. For successful communication, it is necessary to possess the language means of the interlocutor (phonetic, lexical, grammatical skills) and General meaningful knowledge about the world.
Conclusion: learning to communicate in a foreign language implies the possession of socio-cultural knowledge, language material (background and bioequivalent vocabulary). The content of socio-cultural competence refers not only to the process of mastering a foreign language as a means of communication, but also to the ability to apply it in accordance with knowledge of the norms of behavior in another culture.
The problem of teaching a foreign language at school is currently relevant. It is known that the purpose of teaching a foreign language is to form a communicative competence that includes both linguistic and socio-cultural competence, because without knowledge of the socio-cultural background, it is impossible to form a communicative competence, even within limited limits. Learning a foreign language is designed to form a person who is able and willing to participate in cross-cultural communication. But such a person can not be formed without knowledge of the socio-cultural features of the country, the language of which children learn.
The formation of socio-cultural competence is inextricably linked with the main goals of education: practical, developmental and educational. And the educational task is the most significant, since the solution of this task depends on the formation of a modern young person's sense of patriotism and a sense of internationalism. By learning English, we create a culture of peace in the human mind. We study and compare language phenomena, customs, traditions, art, and lifestyle of peoples. The study of the culture of German-speaking countries and their native country is of great importance for the formation of socio-cultural competence.
The specificity of language functioning as a foreign language is that its communicative function provides cross-cultural communication. The interdisciplinary nature of the content of the subject “foreign language " has favorable opportunities for creating a sufficiently broad socio-cultural educational space, while the use of a socio-cultural approach in language education allows us to reveal all the components of the concept of functional socio-cultural literacy in a new, deeper and meaningful way. Socio-cultural competence can also be achieved through other disciplines, and such sources of socio-cultural information as literature, mass media, the Internet, and films can serve as a significant complement to the development of socio-cultural competence.
Knowledge of the culture of the country of the language being studied is not an end in itself, but only an occasion (means) for a deeper understanding and understanding of their native culture. The main thing in the process of learning is not only the accumulation of information about the country, but also the knowledge of people, their peers, their way of thinking, behavior, and attitude to universal values.
Each academic subject contributes to the creation of a holistic view of the world for students, but from a certain angle. The subject "foreign language" due to its specificity, as a means of communication and knowledge, plays a special role in the formation of a fairly complete picture of the world for schoolchildren, it is both a linguistic and socio-cultural picture of the world. The specificity of the subject " foreign language” is that the leading components of the content of teaching a foreign language are not the basics of science, but the ways of their activities: teaching different types of speech activity: reading, writing, listening, speaking. Another feature of teaching a foreign language is that the teaching of speech activity is possible only in communication (oral or written). Students who master socio-cultural literacy face a number of quite complex tasks, and it is very important in psychological and pedagogical terms that these tasks become personally significant for them.
During the entire period of language training, a communicative competence is formed, which consists of:
* LINGUISTIC
• SOCIOLINGUISTIC
* DEBATABLE
• STRATEGIC
• SOCIAL
Socio-CULTURAL-knowledge about the national and cultural features of the country of the language being studied, the culture of speech behavior.
The ability to apply knowledge about the national and cultural characteristics of the countries of the studied language consists of:
* Linguistic and cultural knowledge;
• Cross-cultural knowledge;
* Knowledge of the culture of the country of the language being studied .
The main goal in teaching a foreign language is the formation of communicative competence, where all other goals (educational, educational and developmental) are implemented in the process of achieving this main goal. Communicative competence in its modern sense provides for the formation of the ability to interact internationally.
What qualities (properties) of the student's personality should be formed in order for him to be able to participate in intercultural communication in a foreign language? Based on the above, it is possible to determine as an important task of training and DEVELOPMENT of the following personal qualities necessary for successful implementation of communication in intercultural communication situations, such as:
* Openness (freedom from prejudice towards people who are representatives of a different culture);
• Tolerance;
* Ability to hear and listen to the other person;
* The ability to see commonalities and features due to national factors;
* Ability to understand and accept differences in cultural behavior of the native language and the language of the country being studied;
* Readiness for practical use of a foreign language as a means of communication with native speakers;
* The need to learn a foreign language independently outside of school hours.
In order for students to properly comprehend the socio-cultural basics, certain requirements are necessary for the teacher:
* possession of the audio side of speech;
• the ability to correctly build and perceive foreign language speech by ear;
* possession of a vocabulary that allows students to learn to communicate within the topics and situations provided for by the standards of the IA;
* local knowledge and knowledge of the culture of the language being taught.
So, it should be emphasized that mastering a foreign language without getting acquainted with the culture of the country of the language being studied, with the mentality of people who speak this language, etc.can not be complete. That is, we need to master not only the language itself, but also the “image of the world” of those who speak it, since representatives of a different culture should not be psychologically “strangers”to us. The strengthening of the communicative aspect of foreign language teaching is reflected in the transformation of the goals of foreign language teaching and the content of training.
Taking into account the changed status of a foreign language as a means of communication and mutual understanding in the world community, the modern methodology emphasizes the need to strengthen the pragmatic aspects of language learning. This means that during training it will be important not only to achieve high-quality results in mastering foreign language communication, but also to find a real way out to a different culture and its speakers. It is not just about knowing the language, but about the ability to use it in real communication, i.e., about practical language proficiency and, consequently, about the development of “pragmatic cross-cultural competence”.
The state standard of foreign language proficiency States that the formation of communicative competence is inextricably linked with socio-cultural and country-specific knowledge, in other words, as if with "secondary socialization". Without knowledge of the socio-cultural background, it is impossible to form a communicative competence, even within limited limits.
Modern methodological research is based on a lingo-cultural approach to teaching a foreign language. However, there is a vocabulary component with cross-cultural, cross-cultural data concerning the various aspects of life in the country of studied language, its history, literature, science, art, and traditions, manners and customs.
The linguistic and cultural aspect contributes to the enrichment of the subject-content plan. Its more thorough selection and earlier use in school teaching of a foreign language is one of the reserves for increasing its activity. Culture in its various directions contributes to the formation of a person's personality. "Foreign language culture" is all that the process of mastering a foreign language can bring to students in educational, cognitive, developmental and educational aspects.
The following elements constitute the content of " foreign language culture” :
1) the body of knowledge about the target language, functions of language in society, about the culture of the country of the target language, about the most effective ways of mastering the language as means of communication, the ability to influence learning identity of students, all the authors call the conventional element – knowledge,
2) experience in speech and learning activities - learning and speech skills,
3) the ability to perform all speech functions necessary to meet their needs and the needs of society,
4) experience of emotional attitude to the process of mastering a foreign language culture to the teacher and friends as speech partners, to the language being studied as an educational subject, to the role of language in the life of society - experience directed at the system of values of the individual or otherwise - motivation.
The use of country-specific information in the learning process increases the cognitive activity of students, considers their communication capabilities, promotes their communication skills and abilities, as well as positive motivation, provides an incentive to work independently on the language and contributes to the solution of educational tasks.
The main goal of teaching a foreign language in secondary school is to develop the student's personality in an inseparable connection with the teaching of the culture of the country of the language being studied, contributing to the desire to participate in intercultural communication and independently improve in the acquired activities.
This subject has its own research material, which is a purely linguistic discipline, since the subject of linguistics is the facts of the language, reflecting the features of the national culture, which is studied through the language, and for the selection, description, presentation of linguistics material, linguistic methods are used.
CHAPTER 2. PROBLEMS OF SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCE FORMATION
2.1 Socio-Cultural approach to teaching a foreign language
Attempts to change the content of school education so far have concerned the inclusion of certain topics in existing academic subjects or their exclusion. This trend did not affect the basic content of education, did not overcome the lag behind the fundamentally new living conditions of modern man.
The desire to respond to the challenge of modernity without changing the basis of content has led to the understanding of the need for a consistent transition to a personality-oriented, activity-based core of content based on the cultivation and formation of universal ways of mastering the world. This is consistent with the search for tools for building competencies [28; 29; 45; 73].
Competence is a psychological neoplasm of the personality caused by the interiorizatio n of theoretical and practical experience [37, 248].
Compete nce is derived from competence and is understood as a specific area of application of knowledge, skills, abilities and qualities that together help a person to act in various, including new situations [35, 5; 37, 248].
Modifying the mentioned concepts in the pedagogical context, they build a special terminological construction "educational competence" – the level of development of the student's personality associated with the qualitative development of the content of education.
The progressive development of international contacts and relations in politics, economy, culture and other areas determines the orientation of modern methods of teaching foreign languages to the real conditions of communication. Intercultural (social) competence is put forward as the goal of training, and the process of teaching a foreign language should be aimed at overcoming xenophobia and existing stereotypes, fostering tolerance towards representatives of other cultures [14; 33; 42].
According to the new state standards for a foreign language, the mandatory minimum content of basic educational programs, in addition to speech skills and language knowledge and skills, compensatory skills and educational and cognitive skills, includes socio-cultural knowledge and skills. The formation of socio cultural knowledge and skills means the expansion of the volume of linguistic and country studies knowledge due to new topics and issues of speech communication taking into account the specifics of the chosen profile; a better knowledge of the country or countries of the target language, their science and culture, historical and contemporary realities, public figures, the place of these countries in world society, world culture, relationships with our country; the expansion of linguistic and cultural knowledge, skills and abilities associated with adequate use of language means and rules of speech and non-speech behavior in accordance with norms accepted in the target language country [25].
It has long been known that special knowledge of the world, customs that are reflected in culture, are transmitted in the language and can become an obstacle when communicating with representatives of different peoples. And the difficulties lie in the difference not so much of objects and phenomena as of cultural concepts about these phenomena and objects, since the latter live and function in different, different worlds. Behind language and cultural equivalence lies conceptual equivalence, the equivalence of cultural representations. Therefore, the conclusion about the need to know in depth the specifics of the country of the language being studied and, thus, the need for a linguo-cultural approach as one of the main principles of teaching foreign languages has become generally recognized [19; 38, 682].
The use of country-specific information in the learning process increases the cognitive activity of students, considers their communication capabilities, has a positive effect on the formation of their communication skills and abilities, as well as positive motivation, provides an incentive to work independently on the language and contributes to the solution of educational tasks [5, 16; 13, 47; 36, 25].
The most widely linguo-cultural material is presented in R. K. minyar-Beloruchev, which includes the lexical background, national culture, and national realities. E. M. Vereshchagin and V. G. Kostomarov argue that all levels of the language are " culture-bearing ", that is, they have a country-specific plan, so the study of the cultural component of words is an important condition for successful acquisition of a foreign language [8, 20].
There is no doubt that the inclusion of a national-cultural component in the content of teaching a foreign language requires adequate means for its assimilation. One of them is Proverbs and sayings, the use of which helps the teacher to effectively solve practical, General, developmental and educational tasks. The inclusion of such material also creates additional opportunities to encourage and maintain motivation to learn a foreign language, expand the horizons of students [6, 99].
Of course, studying a foreign language is the carrier of culture, native language, however, linguistic material enriches his background knowledge, he learns the elements of foreign culture that will allow him to be involved in integrative processes in the world [7, 20].
So, based on the above, we should once again emphasize the fact that mastering a foreign language without getting acquainted with the culture of the country of the language being studied, with the mentality of people who speak this language, can not be complete.
