Socio-Cultural Competence of Students Learning Foreign Language Communication: Based on English and German Language Materials

This work is devoted to the theoretical foundations of the formation of socio-cultural competence of students of higher education institutions. In the context of economic, political, and legal convergence between Ukraine and Western partner countries, the importance of the level of education is clearly understood. Socio-cultural competence serves as a platform for interaction between different nationalities and peoples, fostering their comprehensive cooperation and the realization of ambitious plans. Therefore, socio-cultural competence is considered an attribute of high professionalism. The analysis of the views of various scientists regarding the definition of socio-cultural aspect and socio-cultural competence, as well as the definition of their structure, was carried out. Socio-cultural competence is at the intersection of country studies, linguistic and sociolinguistic competences. It was determined that the development of communication skills should be carried out through the prism of the cultural values of the people and speakers of the target language. The main methods of forming this competence among students are singled out. The article analyzes, systematizes, and summarizes scientific works, distinguishing the following 2 main stages of formation of socio-cultural competence: the stage of schematization and the stage of independent interpretation of socio-cultural phenomena. The process of developing sociocultural competence includes the following stages: linguistic, situational, and integrative. At these stages, the teacher should use a variety of game or creative tasks. It is emphasized that authentic materials play a decisive role in the formation of socio-cultural competence of students, because they are maximally enriched with natural lexical content, reflect the color and behavioral characteristics of a certain target nation.