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FORMATION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE AS A COMPONENT OF SPIRITUAL AND INTELLECTUAL EDUCATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS

The article deals with the issue of correlation between the processes of forming foreign language communicative competence of higher education students and their spiritual and intellectual learning. It is established that they are in meronymic and dialectical interaction.
Keywords: spiritual and intellectual learning, higher education students, foreign language communicative competence, formation.

Zeniakin O. S.
PhD student of the third (educational and scientific) level of higher education,
H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

10.34142//2708-4809.SIUTY.2022.80

At the present stage of civilizational development, in the context of globalization in all spheres of public life, the need to intensify the spiritual and intellectual development of future generations of specialists in all fields is becoming increasingly important. In this context, the formation of a specialist’s foreign language communicative competence is of great importance, since today, in the context of multiculturalism, knowledge of a foreign language significantly increases professional potential and becomes one of the aspects of the future specialist’s professional competence.

It is known that human language is a material form of cognitive constructs – sentences that are organized into complete expressions, sentences with the help of words. Language is, of course, the main means of intersubjective interaction. In this paper, we will focus on the formation of foreign language communicative competence of higher education students in the framework of spiritual and intellectual learning.

The purpose of the article is to consider the issue of correlation between the processes of forming higher education students’ foreign language communicative competence and their spiritual and intellectual learning in their meronymic and dialectical interaction.

A review of the scientific literature shows that there is no clear consensus on the definition of foreign language communicative competence. In particular, it is characterized: 1) as a communicator’s readiness to communicate with representatives of other languages and cultures [6, p. 272]; 2) as a person’s communicative experience, which is necessary for adequate reception and interpretation of the interlocutor’s position, as well as for the production of own ideas in a foreign language [3, p. 160].

We interpret this phenomenon as a set of knowledge, skills and abilities to use a foreign language to achieve effective communication, since in the process of mastering a foreign language, a higher education student learns not only the rules, but also the specifics of the communicative category of contact between persons using a particular language. That is why the degree of foreign language communicative competence is extremely important, which we consider appropriate to divide into three stages: a) initial; b) intermediate; c) fluency. It is the latter stage that signals that the formation of competence has been successful and the future specialist is ready to perform his/her duties using a foreign language, in particular, to contact foreign colleagues to exchange experience and implement the strategy of “lifelong learning”.

In the modern explanatory dictionary of the Ukrainian language, “formation” is interpreted as giving a certain object completeness and stability [1]. We tend to consider formation as a process of qualitative and quantitative changes in a certain amount of knowledge, skills and abilities, which are eventually formalized in the form of a certain competence. Formation is the cornerstone of learning, because at the initial stage of education there is a lack of knowledge, skills and abilities that determine the driving forces of learning, which should ensure that the needs of the individual are met. When we talk about the formation of foreign language communicative competence of higher education students, we mean that this is a very complex and multifaceted process, since foreign language communicative competence itself is a complex phenomenon.

Domestic experts agree that spiritual and intellectual upbringing and training is extremely important for a specialist of the twenty-first century, as it is part of the process of forming a harmoniously developed personality [2]. We are inclined to support our colleagues in understanding this concept as a cornerstone of “human-dimensional” education. Usually, spiritual training and education is combined with moral training and education, which can be characterized by O. Dubanesiuk as the formation of a high culture of morality, faith in a higher idea, which is carried out by transferring and processing the intellectual experience of past generations by students [4].

Nevertheless, the question arises: what is the relationship between spiritual and intellectual learning and the formation of foreign language communicative competence of higher education students? From a philosophical point of view, educational and cognitive, intellectual activity is part of the spiritual production of society. Mastery of a foreign language involves the subject of educational activity performing special cognitive operations to transfer the entire volume of meanings in the native language into a foreign language. This is achieved mainly through the study of grammar, the rules of phrasing, which are sometimes formed in a much different way than in the learner’s native language. Here is a simple, but, in our opinion, very eloquent example: from a person’s speech, one can draw a conclusion about his or her value orientations, moral and spiritual guidelines, and the level of erudition, which is precisely what is achieved in the process of intellectual learning.

It is known that foreign languages reflect the ethnospecific worldviews of the peoples who speak them. A worldview, by definition, is a concept that encompasses the spiritual and cultural environment of the people who use it. Sometimes there is a situation when the learner’s worldview does not include certain specific concepts that exist in the society that uses the foreign language. Such concepts are called lacunae [5, p. 106].

Thus, by mastering a foreign language, a learner not only increases his/her erudition, but also his/her culture, since through language he/she learns the world of another culture, begins to understand the gaps (cf. “The East is a delicate thing”), specific features of a foreign-speaking society, which will allow him/her to organize effective communication in the future and avoid cultural incongruity. According to the well-known theory of linguistic relativity by Sepir-Whorf, language leaves an imprint on the way of thinking and activity of the person who uses it. This explains the clear organization of societies dominated by analytical languages (e.g., Germanic languages: German, English, Swedish, etc.) and the greater creative potential and “creative disorder” of societies dominated by synthetic languages (e.g., Slavic languages). In other words, language learning enriches the intellectual and spiritual “baggage” of the student.

Thus, it can be concluded that the formation of foreign language communicative competence of higher education students is part of spiritual and intellectual learning, since, firstly, it requires certain cognitive efforts from the student (narrow understanding of the concept of “intellectual learning”), and, secondly, it allows them to expand their own culture through language, to elevate their spirituality through the study of positive moral and spiritual guidelines of a foreign-speaking society (cf. stereotypical “English politeness”, “German punctuality”, “Arab respect for the elderly”, etc.).

The formation of foreign language communicative competence of higher education students is in meronymic and dialectical interaction with spiritual and intellectual learning, being part of it and sometimes going beyond it. In our opinion, our idea is summarized most eloquently, clearly and concisely in the maxim of W. von Humboldt: “Language is the ‘spirit’ of the people”. We see the prospects of our research in a deeper analysis of foreign language communicative competence and its components. In addition, we consider it expedient to compare the interpretation of foreign language communicative competence by domestic specialists and foreign specialists who are representatives of countries where education is traditionally at a high level and produces specialists who are highly demanded in the labor market, for example, in Germany.

List of references

1. Academic Explanatory Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language (b.d.). URL: http://sum.in.ua/s/formuvaty (accessed on 7.11.2022).
2. Spiritual and intellectual education and training of youth in the XXI century: international collection of articles / edited by V. P. Babych, L. S. Rybalko. Kharkiv: VNNOT, 2019. 470 с.
3. Bidiuk N. Information and communication technologies in modern education: experience, problems, prospects: a collection of scientific papers of the III International Scientific and Practical Conference (November 12-14, 2012). 2012. С. 158-160.
4. Spiritual and moral education of student youth. Innovative approaches to the education of student youth in higher education institutions: materials. International scientific and practical conference, Zhytomyr, May 22-23, 2014. Zhytomyr, 2014. С. 78-87.
5. Zuenko T. Study of the concept of “lacuna” in linguistics. Scientific Notes of the National University of Ostroh Academy. 2015. № 55. С. 105-107.
6. Ivanchuk H. Foreign language communicative competence as a component of the professional competence of the future foreign language teacher. Pedagogical Sciences: Theory, History, Innovative Technologies. 2016. № 4 (51). С. 267-274.