engleski

Axiological Aspects of Foreign Language Teaching

Foreign languages have been taught for various reasons and it has been done in different ways, but to a greater or lesser extent the original aim of learning a foreign language has been mastering the language. The process of foreign language learning can be reduced to a new way of expressing of the already familiar content. However, thanks to multimedia contents and the development of didactics of foreign language teaching, the process of foreign language learning has recently been turning into an encounter with a different culture and a different value system. Modern textbooks used even for foreign language teaching to young learners provide them with illustrations of cultural and value features from the countries whose languages are taught starting from coats of arms and flags, followed by famous buildings, food dishes, modes of interaction to explanations of different habits. According to the dominant, current trends, the prevailing opinion is that the inclusion of values systems into foreign language classes can have positive effects. All this is a result of multiculturalism and mobility, and the authors of this paper can accept and follow these trends. Foreign language lessons can become places where values and cultural characteristics of other and different nations are adopted, where the student can exit the framework of their own nationality, where they can overcome the fear of towards other nations and where they can overcome the established stereotypes. In doing so one should keep in mind one’s own priority values. They could be even emphasized and reinforced through comparison with examples of values present in cultures who speak the foreign languages being taught to the students. Students should be helped to understand the deep and serious implications for the functioning of the system of values, as well as to be encouraged to be open and critical towards them. Due to the immense importance of the acquisition of values during primary school education and because of the fact that the teaching of foreign languages, especially intercultural activities are very suitable for the adoption of the same, the authors of this paper have conducted a survey among Croatian primary school foreign language teachers to find out the extent to which teachers themselves are aware of the importance of certain values and to what extent they are aware of the values that can be passed on through foreign language teaching and intercultural contents Unfortunately, the results of our study have shown that teachers are still not sufficiently aware of all the values that can be mediated through the teaching of foreign languages and intercultural contents, especially when it comes to openness and criticism.

axiological aspects ; foreign language teaching ; intercultural activities

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