Comparative analysis of the content of the formation of bachelor’s professional competence in english philology at the universities of Switzerland and Ukraine

Abstract

The relevance of competence development meets the goals of the European Educational Area and is central to the specialists’ training in Ukrainian universities. Today, the requirements for competencies continue to change due to the development and impact of technology on all spheres of activity and life. Switzerland arouses scientific interest as a country that quickly adapts its education to global changes and new technologies and applies innovations. The Swiss Centres for Support of Innovation in Education provide synergies between applied research, competence development and organisations’ enhancement in the education sector. Particular attention should be paid to the problem of training philologists in the English language and literature based on a competency-based approach at the undergraduate level in Swiss and Ukrainian universities since no comparative study on this issue has been conducted.
In our study, the concept of «competence» is considered as a system consisting of knowledge in the field of theory, practical skills and personal characteristics, which ensures the ability of a person to perform professional tasks effectively; an integrative element of personality, which arises through the interaction of various competencies that are formed and improved during the acquisition of theoretical and practical experience.
Based on the content analysis of the disciplines in linguistics (English linguistics) in the compulsory component, the elements of the professional competence of bachelors in English philology studying at the universities of Switzerland are allocated. English-language communicative competence is defined as the ability and readiness of students to communicate effectively in English. It consists of three main competencies: linguistic, socio-cultural and professional. It is established that English-language communicative competence is developed during the study of all disciplines mastered by a bachelor in English philology of linguistics orientation at the universities of Switzerland and Ukraine.