Актуальные проблемы развития полиязычного образования в условиях поликультурной среды

Problem Setting

The subject of the article is the problem of polilingual education development in a multicultural environment.

Globalization during the period of its domination as a leading factor determining the vectors of the world development and making it more and more interdependent and integrated primarily in the system of the world economy, has significantly increased its influence on all the aspects of social and political life of states, intensifying humanitarian and cultural interaction, thus, making significant adjustments in the long-term prospects of the development of the world community [9].

As it is known, polylingual education is inseparably connected with the implementation of the Bologna process [3], correlation and unification of curricula with the European standards of education. The main mechanism of practical implementation should be the principle of “double entry of knowledge”: language education through the study of proper language disciplines and the teaching of separate, for example, mathematical and natural science disciplines in a foreign language, social and humanitarian disciplines in Kazakh or Russian [21].

Due to creative rethinking and development of mechanisms for adaptation of the existing domestic and foreign experience in the field of language education, in which the most developed and effective method of teaching Russian as a nonnative language and the three main European languages (German, French and English) as foreign languages is considered, it is possible to create level models, define intercultural and communicative, professionally oriented language competences, international standards for language learning, monitor polylingualism [2].

What is polycultural environment? According to M. Condratus-Bacescu, during the period of European enlargement, orientation in the international environment is definitely vital not only for its members but also for other people. Many of them meet the differences of national cultures not only as tourists but also in everyday professional life, because the fast process of internationalisation and overall globalisation brings requirements for inevitable integration of cultures and cooperation within the framework of multinational organizations. Multicultural environment retains workers from a variety of cultural backgrounds. The work in such environment differs in the va- rious approaches to time, information, planning, decision making, relationships, communication style, power, resolving conflict, developing leadership and motivation [4].

Review of publications and literature

In The Strategy 2050, the first President of RK N. Nazarbayev emphasized that modernization of education in the Republic of Kazakhstan shall go on the way of developing innovative education. It means that we need quite a new innovative education if we want to achieve in future modern, creative and competitive youth. The task is paramount, comparable to the transition from the raw economy to the innovative one. The essence of innovative education can be expressed by the phrase: “Not to catch up with the past but to create the future”. The main mission of innovative education is training a competent, aware and moral person [6, 10, 15].

The availability of the competitive graduates of the Kazakhstan educational institutions nowadays is caused due to the high level of the plan set before the National Education in 2006. First of all, because of the implementation of the cultural project “The Unity of Languages” [18]. This idea is based on a simple formula: development of the state language, maintenance of the Russian language and study of English.

At the XXIV session of Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan, the head of state noted that “knowledge of at least three languages is important for the future of children of Kazakhstan” [20].

For today this concept has found the reflection in “the State program of functioning and development of languages 2001–2010 and 2011–2020” [12, 17].

As it is known, remaining the polyethnic and poly-confessional state, Kazakhstan experiences difficult and contradictory period of its development [7]. If the program of development of a state language successfully develops in the southern and western regions of the country, in the northern and northeastern regions, the development of the state language still causes certain difficulties [19].

This is determined by the historical, geographical and other background. The state program “Serpin” [5] is intended to promote improvement and stabilization of the language situation in these regions. It is not a secret that the majority of the region's population speaks Russian and English better than the state language [1].

In the concept of the language policy of Kazakhstan, a large place is given to the role of the Russian language as the main source of information and means of communication [8]. Such as the prestige of education received in Russia, the main source of knowledge in science and technology. In this regard, it would be useful to add that the problem of polylingualism as such is not so critical in Kazakhstan.

Globalization today requires a multilingual professional who can be active in a multinational and multicultural environment. In this regard it is clear that a person who has a developed sense of understanding and respect for other cultures, who can live in peace and harmony with people of different races and religious beliefs.

If we adopt and reflect culture through the language, it will be quite possible to assume that language today is a social phenomenon. Multilingualism presupposes communicative skills such as the ability to listen to one's conversational partner, to engage in communication, and ultimately to have a better chance of developing a career. This policy is also grounded by the strategic objectives of the economy, which can only be promoted by highly educated people who can extract information in three languages. “We hope that this major study will receive all the attention that it merits from those who devise language syllabuses, and will provide ways of meeting some of the challenges thrown up by rapid change on our continent” [13]. In other words, the aim of language policy is the integration of Kazakhstan into the world community, which will determine the rise of culture, economy and science. In this aspect, the success of multicultural dialogue will depend on the level of multiculturalism of the participants of the dialogue.

Knowledge of Kazakh, Russian and foreign languages becomes an integral component of personal and professional activity of a person in modern society. All this in general causes the need for a large number of citizens who practically and professionally speak several languages and in this connection get a real chance to occupy a more prestigious position in society both socially and professionally [16].

Research Methodology

The work on the introduction of a polilingual education program was started in 2006 [11].

The first area of focus is dedicated to the normative and legal framework. According to the implementation of the requirements of the State compulsory standard of education at the university the knowledge of Kazakh, Russian and English languages is provided.

For example, in the educational program 6B04102 “Management”, the discipline Modern History of Kazakhstan is taught in the state language and assessed by a state exam. The discipline “Kazakh language” is taught for groups studying in Russian, and “Russian language” for groups studying in the state language. The disciplines “Information and Communication Technology” and “Professional English Language” are taught in English for each educational programme.

The second area of focus is dedicated to scientific research activity. In this area, the publications dedicated to the issues of polilingual problems were analyzed. According to the analyses more than forty articles was devoted to this problem. In the direction of “Methodological and educational-methodological support” educational complexes of disciplines were developed in English, about 20 manuals on taught disciplines were published [8].

In the area of training and professional development, language courses for teachers were organized in various formats. The courses were devoted to different specialties and different directions. For example: “Cross-border Electronic Business For the Developing Countries of 2018” sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and organized by Harbin University of Commerce, Seminar on “Agricultural and Livestock Products For the Belt and Road Countries of 2018”, Professional development course on “Consecutive translation and the use of CAT – tools in the translation process” and others. Thus, more than 40 teachers have the necessary language training to participate in a bilingual education programme.

Communicative competence in multicultural environment includes the proper use of verbal and non-verbal expressive linguistic messages – appellative (strive for impact on the others), informative, evaluative, and self-revealing ones. The implicit appeals in the process of communication are expressed in an indirect way by means of establishment of such emotional climate that makes the other people execute the untold wish – for example, if someone looks sad, we strive to make him/her glad [14].

On the basis of the available information on the work undertaken on the development of multilingual education the SWOT-analysis was made.

Outcomes

Strengths:

• 1.    Availability of faculty members who have received language training, including training in subjects to be read in English, Russian, Kazakh languages.

• 2.    Experience in developing polylingual programs in the bachelor's and master's degrees.

• 3.    Experience in preparing educational publications, educational and methodical sets of disciplines in English.

Weaknesses:

• 1.    Shortage of teaching staff with a high level of knowledge of Kazakh language (There is a practice of conducting classes in Kazakh groups in Russian, sometimes due to the lack of Kazakh language specialists). Insufficient knowledge of Kazakh among students and faculty.

• 2.    Insufficient number of special adapted academic literature for the students of this program, including terminological dictionaries by specialties.

• 3.    Insufficient study of experience of domestic and foreign countries on implementation of polylingual education.

Opportunities:

• 1.    To develop a methodology for explaining the advantages of a multilingual education program and a mechanism for selecting interested and trained students.

• 2.    To work out a procedure for developing adaptive learning periodicals and terminological dictionaries.

Risks:

• 1.    Decrease in competitiveness in the labor market.

• 2.    Low level of social adaptation.

Thus, we consider it proved that for the effective development of multilingual education a systematic approach is necessary. Moreover, this topic is an important factor in the attractiveness of the university for applicants. As the research has shown, for this purpose it is necessary to work out the procedure describing stages of selection of freshmen; it is necessary to form the required competences before introducing the three-language disciplines; and also it is necessary to work out the careful selection of educational programs for introduction of multilingual education.