THE FORMATION OF THE INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE OF A TEACHER IN TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article deals with some aspects of the relevant problem of the current state of teaching foreign languages in the process of preparing future specialists for the participation in the intercultural dialogue. An attempt is made to describe the topicality of such a problem of teaching a foreign language as the development of intercultural competence as one of the components of foreign language competence of students of higher educational institutions. In the article we analyze the problem of intercultural education in modern society, research the relevance of learning a foreign language in this aspect and the necessity of the formation of a teacher’s sociocultural competence in teaching a foreign language. Such concepts as “intercultural communication”, “intercultural competence”, “sociocultural communication”, “sociocultural competence” are defined. It is mentioned that “the factors of sociability and tolerance, increase of professional qualification and retraining of employees, increase of their professional mobility gain special importance”. The means of intercultural communication are foreign languages, mastering of which leads to mutual understanding in any multicultural and multilingual space.The significance of forming the intercultural competence of future teachers is proved. Thus, only intercultural competence in its relation with foreign language communicative competence can be one of the indicators of the formation of foreign language competence of students of higher educational institutions. The intercultural component is a fundamentally new ontology of modern theory of teaching foreign languages, which naturally dictates the need to find new methodological solutions.