MEDIATION AS A MODERN EDUCATIONAL STRATEGY FOR FORMING FOREIGN LANGUAGE SOCIO-CULTURAL COMPETENCE OF LEARNERS IN GENERAL SECONDARY EDUCATION

Abstract

The article analyzes the phenomenon of mediation as the newest educational strategy for Ukraine for forming foreign language socio-cultural competence in students of general secondary education institutions. This promising strategic educational direction requires comprehensive and thorough consideration, since the need for the development of mediative skills and deep understanding of intercultural features in different languages is currently urgent for our citizens under the conditions of wartime. Because of Russian aggression, many Ukrainian families are forced to go abroad to study, work and live, where they can face different challenges of intercultural communication and integration. The dialogue of cultures and civilizations determines the need for forming the mediative skills of students and teachers of foreign languages in Ukraine, thus forcing to create an appropriate system of tasks and assignments in modern foreign language textbooks in order to achieve this goal.

The need to inspect thoroughly previous approaches to teaching foreign languages in educational institutions is also evidenced by the data, obtained from the All-Ukrainian sociological survey of KMIS, which was made during December 2022 – January 2023 at the request of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. Its aim was the assessment of the level of foreign language proficiency among adult population of Ukraine. The Department of Teaching Foreign Languages of the Institute of Pedagogy of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine also conducted its anonymous online survey for foreign language teachers in different regions of Ukraine (in February – March 2024). Some data from both these researches are presented here to outline the prospects for possible further practical investigations.