Language Teaching and Intercultural Communication. Today's Challenges and Difficulties in Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages

Abstract

An important sub-objective of the Lisbon Strategy states that there is a need to improve foreign language teaching at all levels of education throughout Europe. Over the past two decades, countries in the world have become ever more interdependent and many existing borders have been erased. Multilingualism, or proficiency in more than one language, is internationally gaining positive support and is viewed as an educational goal by many countries. This has brought about a situation where foreign language teaching and learning has become more necessary than ever, not simply for linking with the rest of the world but above all for producing active citizens able to function in today’s ever-shrinking world. Good communication skills in foreign languages has never been so important and necessary. Such rapid and profound social changes have not only increased the number of foreign language teachers and students and brought about complex and intriguing problems related to quality in teaching and learning, but they have also deeply affected present-day teaching methods and approaches. In today’s world, if foreign language teaching is to be successful, it is important that teaching systems and programmes are continuously remodelled, keeping in mind the social changes that have occurred in recent years. Such changes compel us to adapt to new social, cultural and linguistic realities: young people’s language use, their way of doing things, their way of studying today is very different to what it was some years ago. These also present a vast array of qualms that have to be dealt with in the foreign language classroom, namely, assessment strategies, the correct use of technological resources, and mixed ability and multicultural classrooms. All this implies that in order to make students become autonomous learners, which is the ultimate goal in language teaching, what is presented in class has to be relevant and pertinent to the students’ everyday life experiences.