I. Pshenichnova
Lipetsk
Learning foreign languages is becoming of great
importance now not only for international relations scholars, businessmen, human rights
activists, specialists in diplomacy but for every citizen of the country. The world is
entering the era of globalization. People of different national origins will have to
communicate with each other in order to keep peace and security. Unfortunately many people
do not realize that "big politics" starts with "little deeds". Even
acquiring the foreign language one can learn to be more tolerable to others, become
capable of accepting the right of others to think differently, appreciate the culture of
one's own land and the lands of other people.
We oppose foreign-language teaching (FLT) to foreign-language education
(FLE), which is different in its aim and content. FLT is aimed at developing communicative
skills and is focused on reaching pragmatic aims. Education, however, is aimed at teaching
practical skills and developing learner's abilities to help a student assimilate moral
values of the society and to live in conformity with the accepted principles, standards
and moral values, to develop tolerance and the readiness to understand others and self.
The aim of FLE is the development of student's personality by means of foreign-language
culture. FLE is not only a country-study approach to foreign language teaching but also a
sociocultural education of each individuality and thus the whole society. So teaching is
only one aspect, a pragmatic one, of education. However, education is practically the
transmission of culture. So FLE is the transmission of foreign-language culture. Foreign
-language culture (inoyazychnaya kultura)( by Pr. Passov E.I.)- a part of general
spiritual culture that student acquires by means of communicative language teaching in its
instructional (social), cognitive(cultural), upbringing(pedagogical) and
developing(psychological) aspects.
The cognition of the country's culture, where the target language is
spoken, is not the ultimate goal but a tool and a cause of deeper understanding and
comprehension of the native culture. Students learn about new country comparing the
knowledge that they have already gotten with recently acquired. The dialogue of cultures
should take place every lesson. Such cross-cultural comparing promotes unity and
development of understanding and positive attitude to another culture its people and
traditions. It welcomes student to have strong life position, share their view points,
thus stimulating student learn more about their own and other cultures.
I am a graduate of the Foreign Languages and Culture Department Lipetsk
State Pedagogical University. A recognized Russian scholar in the field Pr. Passov E.I. is
a president of the ELE Center. My diploma work is one of the units of the Textbook for
University Students that learn English. The chapter I am working on is "British,
American and Russian: Are we similar or different?" This textbook is going to be
published and be recommended to Russian Universities. Our center of FLE has a huge
experience of publishing English-language textbooks for schools in Russia (Kuzovlev V.P.,
Lapa N.M., Peregudova E.S. "Happy English"). There is a special section in the
textbooks, called "In You Own Culture" which is focused on teaching the students
to be able to tell about their native culture in the foreign language. More than that
there is a section "Link List" which is aimed at making the student realize the
peculiarities of their own culture and relate them to the foreign language culture.
In the unit I am working on I develop such issues as national identity,
stereotypes, national character, international conflicts, international security. Being an
exchange student in the US helped me to handle the work. I would be happy to present the
unit at the conference and show how "foreign languages and culture education through
the dialogue of cultures" approach works.