The ways of forming foreign students’ awareness of cross-cultural differences for providing their successful traning

Abstract

The article examines the foreign students’ awareness of the disagreements between their native culture and that of the country whose language they are learning. In particular, attention is paid to the necessity to encourage foreign students to form their awareness of the existing cross-cultural differences that might hinder successful communication with residents of the host country. The focus is on the intercultural abilities and skills formation required for the students to become effective users of a foreign language, sensitive to other cultures. The relevance of the article is determined by the challenge for foreign students to be adapted toUkraine’s socio-cultural conditions, which is a primary requirement of the ongoing globalization.

In the frameworks of teaching and learning foreign languages, special attention is paid to overcoming the problems arising in the sphere of intercultural communication, when the concepts of a host culture are interpreted by foreign students into their language. The article is also concentrated on the development of intercultural skills of students, which contribute to their becoming independent and effective users of modern foreign languages, sensitive to other cultures. Without adequate intercultural communication no success in international relations can be achieved. Any human interaction has a variety of aspects, including both ethical and business communication.

Nowadays there is an increased demand for students to have socio-cultural knowledge and intercultural skills rather than only professional competence. Awareness of other nations’ values, and norms of behavior is an obligatory component of socio-cultural competence. The language of communication is known to vary considerably depending on the context wherein it is used. Learners are to realize that speech activity is merely a part of the broader social context, which determines the overall meaning of utterances; in real life one being faced with varied situations that require flexibility of both language and verbal behavior.

In terms of the main goals of learning and teaching languages it is appropriate to identify personal, public, occupational, and educational domains. Meanwhile there appear numerous actual situations with simultaneous overlapping of all these areas. It is the personal domain that individualizes actions in other spheres. Practice has proved that the communicative potential of students, to a large extent, is affected by such factors as individual identity, personal values and motivation. We believe that the development of a sensitive intercultural personality must be regarded as an important educational goal.