The Importance of Social Competence in Teaching Foreign Languages

Abstract

The article is devoted to the theoretical aspect of formation of social- cultural competence, which is necessary in teaching foreign languages. Socio-cultural competence is the ability of a communicative communicating in a foreign language to communicate effectively with other cultures, to find the right way to communicate and to choose a sophisticated speech and behavioral strategy, to acquire social sciences and skills. The foreign language learning process is a two-way activity, as well as learning a foreign language as well as mastering the capabilities of the mother tongue and its characteristics. Therefore, every course on foreign language is an intercultural cross-cultural communication point. Formation of socio-cultural competence of future professionals involves the preparation of a multinational person. A cultural-linguistic person is a person who has a culture and linguistic potential. Such a person will also be able to acquire linguistic means not only for his own culture, but also for the realization of his communicative intentions, regardless of social context.The content of teaching, of course, contains teaching culture and spiritual heritage. Next comes formation of the social-cultural competence in the process of teaching foreign languages. Implementation of socio-cultural approach to teaching foreign languages leads to the activation of students in mastering the foreign language, ie the student acquires the national culture and values of other people. In this process, the knowledge about the country where the language is studied is strengthened.  

Keywords: teaching, linguistics, culture, values, a foreign language, intercultural relations, communicative competence, social-cultural competence.