PROFICIENCY INCREASE BY COLLABORATION WITHIN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE STUDY PROCESS

In the fields of science and education transnational cooperation has become particularly relevant for developing of contemporary conceptions in education and science. As the first step in such cooperation has been the Bologna process, started on June 19, 1999, when 29 Ministers of European countries signed the Bologna Declaration. The Bologna Declaration promotes education and cooperation being the fundamentals of a peaceful and a democratic society. The European dimension is characterized by student mobility and cooperation between educational institutions in European study programmes. The significance of communication and foreign language acquisition skills is gradually increasing (Bologna Declaration, 1999). A strategic goal for the European Union is to develop the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with a wider variety and better jobs and greater social cohesion. All citizens of European Union countries require foreign language skills, because these skills provide citizens with the opportunity to make use of the free movement to work or to study at one of the EU member states and as such they stimulate the development of a European labour market. As an EU member state, Latvia participates in this process. Improvements should be achieved in teacher education by implementing innovations in the study process.