DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL THINKING AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCY IN THE TRAINING OF EXPERTS FOR THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, TOURISM AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

Abstract

The article covers the issues related to the implementation of the competency approach in the training of future professionals in the hospitality industry, tourism and international business to make them fully equipped for professional activities by developing their critical thinking skills while forming the foreign language competency. Findings of the domestic and foreign research on the definition of critical thinking, determination of its role in professional activities, characteristics and main components show that it plays a crucial role in a wide range of domains, hence, has to be properly developed to enhance competitiveness of the graduates on the local and international labour markets. The role of a foreign language as a stimulating factor for the development of critical thinking skills is significant, and it is possible to make a conclusion that studying a foreign language is more beneficial in comparison with the mother tongue in these terms. Therefore, the goals of the curriculum should not be limited to but go beyond the linguistic factors for the development of critical thinking skills by analyzing reliable foreign sources of information and applying relevant teaching methods and techniques. There is a perfect match between particular critical thinking skills, teaching methods and techniques used in the foreign language classes and intended learning outcomes, which can be justified by the given examples of application of the specific critical thinking skills in educational and professional activities. These teaching methods and techniques include a wide range of activities, e. g. case studies, brainstorming sessions, discussion and debate, making individual and group presentations and projects, writing different types of essay and business correspondence, etc, which help not only develop students’ foreign language competency but improve their global skills like collaboration, creativity and critical thinking. All these activities, if managed properly and followed up by the appropriate feedback, can make a great contribution to enhancing internal drives of the students in regard to their self-actualization, which is crucial for development of critical thinking. Finally, a number of recommendations for the development of critical thinking skills while forming the foreign language competence for the effective training of experts in the hospitality industry, tourism and international business have been outlined. The main recommendations include active use of openended questions and limitation of the closed ones; regular brainstorming sessions; allocation of the sufficient amount of time for the activities involving critical thinking; motivating students to disagree, find counterarguments, reach a compromise and take unbiased decisions; and making critical thinking a part of the learning environment, not just an activity. Such an analysis of critical thinking and the peculiarities of its development might contribute to the more effective application of the teaching methods and techniques in the foreign language classes and boost both critical thinking skills and development of the foreign language competency.

Keywords

• foreign language competency
• critical thinking
• teaching methods and techniques
• interactive learning