KEY LANGUAGE COMPETENCES IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS OF NON‑PHILOLOGICAL SPECIALTIES

Abstract

Annotation: This article examines key language competences that should be prioritized in teaching English to non‑philological students. It argues that instruction for this learner group must move beyond a narrow focus on grammar and vocabulary towards a competence‑oriented approach that integrates intercultural awareness, pragmatic communication, and language mediation. Drawing on contemporary views of competence as a holistic construct comprising knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values, the article conceptualizes these three dimensions as mutually reinforcing components of communicative competence. In the discussion, intercultural awareness is presented as learners’ ability to perceive, interpret, and appropriately manage cultural meanings in language use, supported through comparative cultural tasks and work with authentic materials. Pragmatic communication competence is described as the capacity to select context‑appropriate linguistic forms and interactional strategies, fostered through role‑plays, situational dialogues, and other communicative activities. Language mediation competence is outlined as learners’ ability to interpret, translate, reformulate, and relay meanings across languages and cultures, developed through tasks such as translation, summarizing, and paraphrasing. The article concludes that systematically embedding these competences into syllabi and classroom practice better prepares non‑philological students for participation in multilingual and multicultural communicative environments, and offers implications for language teachers and future empirical research.

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