FACILITATION IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES AS A METHOD FOR BOOSTING LEARNING PRODUCTIVITY

Abstract

This article addresses a key issue in contemporary educational science: implementing an innovative approach to foreign language teaching that includes the teacher’s facilitative role. The relevance of this topic stems from current requirements for language education in Ukraine. According to the State Standard of Secondary Education, graduates must be able to communicate in foreign languages, which supports their spiritual, cultural, and national self-expression, enriches their emotional experience, aids in creative selfrealization, shapes value orientations, and fosters intercultural dialogue. Therefore, the foreign language teacher’s personality plays a crucial role in developing students’ foreign language competence. Referring to the research of respected foreign and domestic scholars, the authors analyze the concept of «facilitation», highlighting its core characteristic: the teacher's involvement in a language-based (emotional) interaction with students during the learning process. The article outlines facilitative principles, including learner-centered education, trust, acceptance and encouragement, empathy, congruence, emotional balance, a non-competitive environment, active listening, proactivity, partnership, nonviolent communication, effective behavior management, and dialogue, each described in terms of the professional competencies of a foreign language teacher. The authors convincingly argue for the role of the teacher-facilitator, who teaches foreign languages by enabling students to think critically and independently, express their ideas, and justify their views and decisions. The publication emphasizes that language interaction resulting from facilitative activities in foreign language education fosters the development of both speaking and thinking skills, indicating the formation of foreign language communicative competence in secondary school students. This article will be useful for teachers working within the New Ukrainian School, who actively implement educational innovations in foreign language lessons, and for instructors in pedagogical institutions who train future foreign language teachers.