DIDACTIC FOUNDATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION: SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL FORMATION

The article deals with the results of research activities of the scientific school (Institute of Language and Literature, Udmurt State University) “Foreign language and intercultural education” as a fundamental factor of developing the master program “Didactics of intercultural communication.” Currently, the interethnic peace and spiritual unity of Russia requires special attention from the society. A necessary condition is the creation of effective educational practices for younger generation's intercultural learning and education, as well as the productive use of knowledge-based and practice-oriented technologies in a multicultural educational environment. The novelty of the research lies in the issues mentioned above. The purpose of the article is to show the dynamics of the scientific theory development in the field of foreign language and intercultural education aimed at understanding differences between nations, which can become a resource in the international world. The main theoretical issues of the scientific school research activities specifying master's theses, monographs, educational programs, textbooks are described in the article. The methodological approaches for developing program-didactic foundations of modern foreign language and intercultural education are defined, the criteria for selecting culturally valuable content of teaching students belonging to different age groups are emphasized. On the basis of general didactic principles the author identifies the particular methodological principles for training students. Tested knowledge-intensive and practice-oriented pedagogical technologies (information-strategic and synergetic technologies including) are described in the text. The competences and methods for diagnosing dynamics of foreign language learners' competences formation at different stages of training have been defined. The types of professional activity, gained by the masters, studying according to the proposed program, and the prospects of improving professional training for modern specialists in intercultural communication are discussed in the article.