Suchergebnisse

The article addresses the CEFR extended set of language proficiency descriptors. The author points out that education, as well as the language, make an integral part of national culture and reflect the problems existing in society including the problems in communication and social interaction. In the early 21st century the process of communication became largely monolingual with English as the global lingua franca. The Bologna process contributed to building the European education environment based on the principle of multilinguism, which implies that representatives of different ethnic groups with different mother tongues communicate in the same language within a single social group. In 2001, in order to synchronize the national curricula, the Council of Europe adopted CEFR - Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment which presents descriptors of the six levels of language proficiency. Ten years later it became evident that the descriptors needed to be revised. While economies were converging, cultures began to diverge. Globalization made Europeans realize the value of every single ethnic culture. That led to the idea of plurolinguism which argues that an individual can communicate in a variety of languages using a variety of language forms known to them. The process of communication thus calls for mediation activities that facilitates communication if the interlocutors are unable to understand each other directly. That means that the aim of language learning changes from perfecting a certain foreign language to building plurilingual and pluricultural competences.

The article considers new tasks of universities and faculties training students of international relations. The author analyzes the essence of the concept "paradigm" in education because paradigm serves as the basis of the educational process in universities. The content of professional education depends on the aims of professional education of specialists in international relations. The process of globalization, global changes, challenges and threats bring about the necessity to study specific features of international cooperation in ecology, psychology of conflict, psychology of leadership, etc. In the age of globalization, national economies are converging while national cultures are diverging. Representatives of different nations realize the importance of preserving cultural identity. It is of vital importance to instil tolerance in future specialists in international relations and prepare them for cross-cultural communication. At the same time, it is necessary that they should not only enjoy individual freedom and national cultural identity, but realize their own responsibility to the state. In the modern world, the axiological and educational functions of professional training are growing. At the same time, it is crucial to let the students build a number of professionally relevant competences that will make it possible for them to effectively perform their professional functions. It is the competence-based approach that makes the basis of Federal state education standards, including education standards for faculties of international relations. Another direction that needs developing is training and retraining lecturers for universities specializing in international relations. Foreign language training of lecturers in basic subjects will make it possible for the, to give lectures in foreign languages, particularly in English, which, in its turn, will help to make Russia's universities more competitive.

The article addresses the theory of professional language training of students majoring in international relations. Showing the essence of competence-based professional education, the author offers definitions of content and purpose of language training and analyses its specific functions and properties.

The article addresses the sociopolitical and linguistic problems in choosing contact languages for communication in the post-Soviet space. The author analyses the factors that determine the status of a contact language and its impact on the choice of partners in political, economic and cultural spheres.