PLURILINGUAL EDUCATION TODAY: A PERSPECTIVE OF TEACHING INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN GERMAN AFTER ENGLISH TO STUDENT INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS

Abstract

With plurilingual and pluricultural competences enjoying ever rising status reflected in the documents of Council of Europe, the processes of learning second or third foreign languages are in the focus of researchers’ scrutiny. Since German is most frequently taught after English (GaE) both in Europe and Ukraine, German language pedagogy promotes more effective intercultural learning of German. The paper aims to analyze approaches to teaching GaE offered by German applied linguists: structure of intercultural competence (ICC), objectives and methods of teaching ICC, with a special focus on the professional needs and ways to build ICC of student interpreters/translators. The critical analysis conducted provides evidence of a shift in teaching ICC as acquiring knowledge about “capital-letter” culture towards mastering pragmatics of intercultural interaction. The most common methods used to achieve this goal are teams of students. Professional needs, learning background and specifics of translators’ cognitive processes are considered to maximize ICC learning of student interpreters/translators. Since an interpreter / translator is viewed as a mediator between representatives of different cultures, the author formulates prerequisites of building their ICC in communicative activities simulating real-life intercultural encounters. The most accessible way of building ICC in Ukrainian schools of linguistics is a role-play. The author provides several examples of role plays, which appeared effective in her teaching practice, and calls for broadening the repertoire of methods employed.