FORMATION OF "SOFT" SKILLS IN THE UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL SPACE

WHILE TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

FORMAÇÃO DE “SOFT SKILLS” NO ESPAÇO EDUCACIONAL DA UNIVERSIDADE

AO ENSINAR LÍNGUAS ESTRANGEIRAS

FORMACIÓN DE “SOFT SKILLS” EN EL ESPACIO DE UNIVERSIDAD EDUCATIVA

MIENTRAS SE ENSEÑA IDIOMAS EXTRANJEROS

Albina Vladimirovna GRIDASOVA

Margarita Artemovna GRINKO

Nina Vasillevna PAPERNAYA

Elena Alexandrovna SOBOLEVA

Anna Ivanovna EMELYANOVA

ABSTRACT: The article analyzes the appropriate methodological approaches in which the

ideas of forming and developing of flexible skills can be applied in seminars and tutorials in

disciplines such as "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional sphere",

"Business foreign language" implemented at the university. The formation and development of

flexible skills in such disciplines on the one hand, as an independent learning goal, involves the

development of a range of skills necessary for the implementation of various types of activities,

and on the other hand, as a means of developing foreign-language communicative competence,

increasing the students’ level of foreign-language socialization. Technologies for the

development of critical thinking and problem-based learning, project activities, learning in

collaboration, case studies, a rotational model of mixed learning can be applied for the

formation and development of flexible skills at the university.

KEYWORDS: Soft skills. Hard skills. Professional competencies. Critical thinking. Project

activities.

RESUMO: O artigo analisa as abordagens metodológicas adequadas nas quais as ideias de

formação e desenvolvimento de competências flexíveis podem ser aplicadas em seminários e

tutoriais em disciplinas como "Língua estrangeira", "Língua estrangeira na esfera

profissional", "Língua estrangeira empresarial" implementadas na Universidade. A formação

e desenvolvimento de competências flexíveis em tais disciplinas, por um lado, como um objetivo

de aprendizagem independente, envolve o desenvolvimento de uma gama de habilidades

Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Armavir - Russia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3364-

6265. E-mail: gridasova_1879@mail.ru

Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Armavir - Russia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0210-

0825. E-mail: margaritagrinko@mail.ru

Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Armavir - Russia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2863-

3566. E-mail: diversity777@mail.ru

Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Armavir - Russia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6311-

1539. E-mail: el_al_soboleva@mail.ru

Armavir State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Armavir - Russia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/000-0002-0553-

6707. E-mail: avtoannie@mail.ru

necessárias para a implementação de vários tipos de atividades e, por outro lado, como um

meio de desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa em língua estrangeira, aumenta o nível

de socialização em língua estrangeira nos alunos. Tecnologias para o desenvolvimento do

pensamento crítico e da aprendizagem baseada em problemas, atividades de projeto,

aprendizagem em colaboração, estudos de caso, um modelo rotativo de aprendizagem mista

pode ser aplicado para a formação e desenvolvimento de habilidades flexíveis na universidade.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Soft skills. Habilidades técnicas. Competências profissionais.

Pensamento crítico. Atividades do projeto.

RESUMEN: El artículo analiza los enfoques metodológicos apropiados en los que las ideas

de formación y desarrollo de habilidades flexibles se pueden aplicar en seminarios y tutoriales

en disciplinas como "Lengua extranjera", "Lengua extranjera en el ámbito profesional",

"Lengua extranjera de negocios" implementando en la Universidad. La formación y el

desarrollo de habilidades flexibles en tales disciplinas, por un lado, como objetivo de

aprendizaje independiente, implica el desarrollo de una gama de habilidades necesarias para

la implementación de varios tipos de actividades y, por otro lado, como un medio para

desarrollar competencia comunicativa en lenguas extranjeras, aumentando el nivel de

socialización de los estudiantes en lenguas extranjeras. Tecnologías para el desarrollo del

pensamiento crítico y el aprendizaje basado en problemas, actividades de proyectos,

aprendizaje en colaboración, estudios de casos, modelo rotacional de aprendizaje mixto. Se

puede aplicar para la formación y desarrollo de habilidades flexibles en la universidad.

PALABRAS CLAVE: Habilidades interpersonales. Habilidades duras. Competencias

profesionales. Pensamiento crítico. Actividades del proyecto.

Introduction

Today, we all live in a turbulent world, which is commonly called VUCA - the world,

according to the abbreviation of its characteristics: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity,

Ambiguity. There is a change in the vocational education paradigm and the formation of a new

educational one, which will contribute to the transition of the society to a new social and

economic organization. The transition to integrated education will allow us to fully reveal not

only the individual potential of each person but also the collective potential of humanity.

In this regard, the role of mentors who supervise the participation of bachelors, masters,

and postgraduates in real projects will increase. By analyzing the leading practices of countries

where soft skills are formed and evaluated both within hard skills and separately, it is proposed

to distinguish the zones "Future Skills" and "Heritage".

With the progress development in all spheres of life, the priorities for the formation of

professional competencies, knowledge, skills and abilities of future graduates, which are

necessary for students nowadays, are also changing. Today, graduates who are ready not only

to adapt to a dynamic society but also are capable of constant self-education, the ability to

quickly change from one type of activity to another and combine various labor functions, are

especially in demand. The acquired knowledge and professional qualities necessary in the labor

activity are usually referred to by the term "competence". Today, the concepts of "skill" and

"competence" are synonymous. In modern theory and practice, competence refers to the

abilities, knowledge, skills of a specialist, thanks to which he solves any tasks or achieves the

desired results. Thus, a competence is a set of formed skills.

Despite the fact that the changes have affected all levels of education, including

additional ones, the teacher role remains the main one, contributing to the development of the

students’ skills of the 21st century. Today, there is a transition to an integrated model, which

includes designing, solving cases, and internships, involving the use of simulators (simulators,

models etc.). As an important result, along with the professional competencies, the development

of students' abilities for communication, leadership, cooperation, diplomacy, building

relationships, the formation of team, public, "intellectual" skills, the ability to present their

ideas, make decisions, creatively solve open problems, including social ones is considered.

Among the competencies, a special place is given to soft skills, the concept of which

has become an integral part of the global labor market in various fields over the last few

decades. By definition, soft skills are a set of skills or competencies that could be meta-subject

or common to various types of activities, and include some of the main features of cognitive

and, in general, intellectual activity, emotional intelligence, self-management and productive

interaction with other people, complex multi-level problem solving, critical thinking, creativity,

judgment and decision-making, negotiation skills, cognitive flexibility, effective job search

(GIZATULLINA; SHATUNOVA, 2019, p. 14).

Professional skills and the demand for them are accompanied by the following

competencies: critical thinking, communication skills, teamwork.

It is not enough for a modern professional to be "smart". They must have the social and

cognitive skills that will allow them to achieve success in their career: a combination of

personality traits, social qualities, communication skills, personal habits, friendliness, and

optimism.

The appearance of the term "soft skills" is one of the signs of new social requirements

for personal development and personal qualities of the future specialist in the modern world.

The term “soft skills” was formed by analogy with the computer term software. Scientists have

not accepted a single interpretation of its meaning, although the literal translation of the term

from English means s "soft" or "flexible" skills, i.e., skills that do not belong to the professional

group. In the Cambridge Dictionary (n.d.), the concept of "soft skills" is considered as people's

abilities to communicate with each other and work well together, for example, to carry out

productive communication activities. But even this definition is rather inaccurate. Thus, today

there is no universal definition of the concept of "soft skills". Each researcher interprets this

concept through their own perception and sphere of scientific interests.

The formation and development of flexible skills in such disciplines as "Foreign

language", "Foreign language in the professional sphere", "Business foreign language" at the

university, on the one hand, as an independent learning goal, involves the development of a

range of skills necessary for the implementation of various types of activities, and on the other

hand, as a means of developing foreign-language communicative competence, increases the

students level of foreign-language socialization.

Technologies for the development of critical thinking and problem-based learning, such

as project activities, learning in collaboration, case studies, and a rotational model of mixed

learning, can be applied for the formation and development of flexible skills in seminars and

tutorials in the disciplines of "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional sphere",

"Business foreign language" at the university.

Project activity has a great potential for the development of soft skills, in the process of

which not only educational but also social management tasks are solved. In our opinion, the

definition of "soft skills" as a set of non-specialized, "flexible skills", "cross-cutting" skills,

qualities, and attributes of the individual that contribute to successful participation in the labor

process and positively affect career and labor productivity can be considered universal

(LIPPMAN et al., 2015).

The organization of research activity helps to ensure students cognitive activity,

involves them in solving of complex, problematic issues, updating knowledge, developing

analytical skills, the ability to draw conclusions, stimulates creative activity, and emotional

perception. This research activity teaches solving independent non-standard problems, thus

contributes to the development of soft skills. The project activity as the most effective form of

work in foreign language seminars and tutorials was chosen by the teachers of Federal State

Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education (FBSU HE) "Armavir State Pedagogical

University" ("ASPU"), by the Department of Foreign Languages. The features of this activity

are the following: direct interaction between students, their joint coordinated activities, the

ability to plan, generate ideas, interact with different audiences, and to present their own

developments.

Methods

In this regard, one of the urgent research tasks is to determine the appropriate

methodological approaches in which the ideas of forming and developing of flexible skills can

be applied in seminars and tutorials in such disciplines as "Foreign language", "Foreign

language in the professional sphere", "Business foreign language" and most effectively

implemented at the university. Today, in the process of globalization, there is a widespread use

of foreign languages for international communication, the growth of international tourism, and

the expansion of the use of information and communication and digital technologies.

Globalization also has an impact on modern higher education, which is characterized by

integration processes and standardization.

Russia's entry into the Bologna process has radically changed the structure of all higher

education and continues to this day, requiring the solution of a great number of issues related

to the development of new educational programs for three-level training: bachelor's (4 years),

master's (2 years) and postgraduate (4 years).

The structure and content of all university undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate

programs are developed in accordance with the federal state educational standards of the

Russian Federation. In these programs, the main learning results aimed at developing students'

universal, general, and professional competencies.

General professional and professional competencies are selected in accordance with the

direction of preparation of each individual educational program and include the development

of universal, highly specialized, and scientific skills, as well as skills that can be defined as

professional skills (hard skills) (VETOSHKINA; POLYANOK, 2017). The term “hard skills”

was formed by analogy with the computer term hardware (GALAZHINSKY, 2017).

The task of the Russian higher education system is to form students not only special

competencies ("hard skills") but also to develop "soft skills" (ROBINSON, 2011).

Figure 1 – Skill development pyramid

Source: Devised by the authors

Initially, the usage of terms "hard skills" and “soft skills” was limited by economics and

management, but recently these lexical units are increasingly found in the context of discussing

various issues of professional education (T. A. Yarkova, I. I. Cherkasova, E. S. Bogdan, E. V.

Galazhinsky, E. E. Dugai, L. A. Gushchina, A. K. Klyuev, A. A. Yashin) (IVONINA;

CHULANOVA; DAVLETSHINA, 2017; BOGDAN, 2017; DUGAI; GUSHCHINA, 2012;

Collins Dictionary, n.d.). Universal competencies are the same for all areas of bachelor's,

master's, and postgraduate studies in higher education institutions and include the ability of

thinking critically, evaluating modern scientific achievements, conducting research in

interdisciplinary fields, successfully adapting to work in Russian and foreign research teams,

communicating in an academic environment in Russian and foreign languages, as well as the

necessary skills for professional and scientific self-improvement. These competencies are

aimed at developing the so-called soft skills (VALEEVA, 2019), which become one of the most

important components for a successful future scientist career.

The combination of activity and communication approaches in the implementation of

communication and personal competencies related to non-professional skills increases the

effectiveness of future specialists. Soft skills can be divided into 4 groups: 1) basic

communication skills (the ability to convince, negotiate, argue, work in a team, the ability to

do business correspondence, make presentations, etc.); 2) intellectual thinking skills (search

and analysis of information, creative thinking, design skills, competent decision-making); 3)

self-management (the ability to manage emotions, behave correctly in stressful situations, plan

and set goals, use your time effectively, and control your emotional state); 4) foresight

management (knowledge of the skills of setting tasks, project management, motivation,

control).

All the groups mentioned above are applied to any field of knowledge. Teaching the

disciplines "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional sphere", "Business

foreign language" at the university become a source for all-around intellectually developed

person, providing an opportunity for students to communicate on any topic: everyday,

scientific, political, and professional, uniting the business and consumer cultures of different

countries. Teaching a foreign language includes linguistic competencies, but, at the same time,

sociolinguistic, intercultural, pragmatic and social ones occupy an equally important place.

While teaching a foreign language on the bases of the axiological approach, a fully developed

personality is formed (LEONTIEVA; KOTENKO, 2017, p. 155-156).

The main purpose of teaching the subject "Foreign language" at the first level (bachelor's

degree) is to develop students’ foreign language communicative competence, which allows

them to carry out business communication in oral and written forms in a foreign language(s).

The main tasks include: formation of knowledge and skills of carrying on every day and

business communication in oral and written forms in a foreign language(s), considering the

requirements for business oral and written communication; formation skills of pronouncing

norms, grammatical phenomena, syntactic structures, rules of word formation and word

compatibility and their usage in oral and written business communication in a foreign

language(s); development of skills and abilities of assimilation of lexical and phraseological

material in the process of working on coherent, semantic-complete texts; reading skills in order

to find the necessary information; formation of methods of making judgments in interpersonal

business communication in a foreign language, using adequate language forms and means;

development of oral and written communications skills in a foreign language(s); formation of

the ability to freely perceive, analyze, and critically evaluate oral and written business

information in a foreign language(s).

The main purpose of teaching the disciplines "Foreign language in professional

communication" and "Business foreign language" at the second level (master's degree) is the

ability to apply modern communication technologies in a foreign language(s), for academic and

professional interaction and the ability to project pedagogical activities based on special

scientific knowledge and research results.

The main tasks include: the study and practical usage of lexical, grammatical, and

phonetic units in the process of generating and perceiving foreign-language utterances; the

formation of skills for building holistic, coherent, and logical utterances (discourses) of

different functional styles in oral and written professionally significant communication based

on the understanding of various types of texts while reading and listening; formation of skills

to use the language for certain functional purposes, depending on the characteristics of social

and professional interaction: depending on the situation, the status of the communicators and

the addressee of speech and other factors related to the pragmatics of speech communication;

the formation of skills to use and transform language forms in accordance with the social and

cultural spheres of interaction in the field of professional communication.

The main goal of teaching the discipline "Foreign language" at the third level

(postgraduate study) is 1) the readiness to participate in the work of Russian and international

research teams to solve scientific and educational problems; 2) the readiness to use modern

methods and technologies of scientific communication in the state and foreign languages. The

main tasks include: expanding and deepening knowledge about the norms, the methods and

technologies of scientific communication, stylistic features of presenting the results of scientific

activity in oral and written form in the state and foreign languages; improving the skills of using

a foreign language as a means of professional communication for solving scientific and

scientific-educational tasks; improving the skills of following the basic norms adopted in

scientific communication in the state and foreign languages; improving the skills of prepared

monologue speech, as well as untrained monologue and dialogic speech in the situation of

official communication; improving the skills of analyzing scientific texts; improving the

knowledge of methods and technologies of scientific communication in the implementation of

professional activities in state and foreign languages.

Figure 2 –The structure of communicative competence

Source: Devised by the authors

The development of communicative competence is an integral and the most important

part of teaching the disciplines "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional

sphere", "Business foreign language". The development of flexible skills should be considered,

on the one hand, as an independent goal of training, which involves the development of several

skills necessary for the implementation of various types of activities (research, organizational,

etc.), and on the other hand – as a means of developing foreign-language communicative

competence, increasing the level of students foreign-language socialization in foreign-

language. While teaching such disciplines as "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the

professional sphere", "Business foreign language", the following technologies are actively used

in the formation and development of flexible skills: the development of critical thinking,

problem-based learning, project activities, learning in cooperation, case study, web quest,

gamification.

The articles on the problems of "Formation of Soft Skills in Students", presented in the

collections of articles of the II All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "The Actual

Issues of Modern Foreign Language Education", the VII National Scientific and Practical

Conference "Thinking and Understanding in the Process of Teaching Foreign Languages in the

21st Century", the All-Russian scientific and practical conference "National Languages and

Cultures: Thinking and Understanding in The Context of Globalization", Regional and

University Round Tables "Education for the Modern World: a New Model of Skills",

"Formation and Development and Softs Kills for the Implementation of Project and Research

Activities in Teaching a Foreign Language"; Regional and University Competitions of

Scientific-research Projects in foreign languages, University Seminar "Technologies for the

Formation of Language Competence of Students of a Pedagogical University", gives us such

definitions as: "the role of soft skills", "soft skills in education", "innovative technologies for

the development of soft skills "language competence", "critical thinking", "cooperation", and

"emotional intelligence".

Thus, soft skills are flexible skills and abilities, allowing a person to build joint activities

successfully and productively with other people. The discipline "Foreign language" at the same

time acts as the significant resource for the student’s development of communicative universal

actions uniting with soft skills. It is the development of communicative competence, which,

itself, is one of the universal actions of the student according to the Federal State Educational

Standard of Main General Education, and at the same time, is an integral and even the most

important part of teaching the discipline "Foreign language". To the technologies and forms of

work in seminars and tutorials, we include the following: project activities, training in

cooperation, case studies, and a rotational model of mixed learning. The usage of these

technologies and forms helps the students in the acquisition of communicative competence in

foreign language classes. That’s why students are in a constant communication and interaction

with each other, trying to find compromises, form the ability to listen to the others’ opinions,

and come to a consensus, which means soft skills.

Results

In the context of the development of trends in higher education and the active search for

innovative forms of teaching foreign languages, focused on the student, a new image of the

teacher is being formed. Today, the teacher at ASPU is not only the head of the educational

process but also a consultant, educator, project manager, communicator, researcher, and an

innovator.

Based on the FSBEI HE "Armavir State Pedagogical University", a scientific and

educational laboratory "Theory and methodology of the development of ‘soft skills’ in the

modern scientific paradigm" was created. The objectives of the laboratory are: the development

of scientific-technical cooperation with educational, scientific, and project organizations; also,

cooperation with business communities to strengthen the integration processes of education,

science and production; the increase efficiency of research and innovation activities of the

University; the implementation of scientific projects of a theoretical and applied nature;

ensuring the integration of the results of scientific work in the educational process, to improve

the quality of the educational process, creating opportunities for talented young people to

participate in the research work of the University.

The objectives of the laboratory are to organize, conduct, and perform research and

educational works on a contractual basis; create intellectual property objects; held scientific

events: conferences, symposiums, seminars, etc.; carry on grant activities; provide scientific

metric indicators of the Laboratory; participate in the implementation of federal and regional

scientific programs, projects, in the development of scientific forecasts and scientific and

technical expertise; preparation and testing of educational and methodological materials

(training course programs) considering innovative technologies, including in the format of

advanced training and additional educational services. The main areas of Laboratory activity

are the following: "Formation and development of ‘soft skills’ of early and secondary school

age children"; "Development of students ‘soft skills’ in the GME, SPE and HE programs";

"Language competence, critical thinking, cooperation and emotional intelligence"; "Theories

and methods of development of social and behavioral skills”; "Multilingual and multicultural

communication"; "Theories and methods of cognitive skills development"; and “Cognition,

thinking and language in the aspect of their interaction".

Considering the strategic goals and objectives of the society and the state development,

the strengthening of Russia in the system of globalization, education, as the key to success in

achieving these goals, must be taken to a new level and followed the requirements of the modern

world in the students training. At Armavir State Pedagogical University, while teaching the

discipline "Foreign Language", the teachers focus on the development of project and research

activities. These activities improve the level of soft skills, develop information, and operational

literacy, oral communication, the ability to make decisions independently, work in a team, show

creativity and a positive attitude.

To project the optimal trajectory of soft skills development, a survey of 2nd-year

undergraduate students of ASPU was carried out. The test “Student self-assessment of soft skills

development” worked out by the teachers of the research and training laboratory. Theory and

Methodology of soft skills development in the modern scientific paradigm based on FSBEI HE

"Armavir St ate Pedagogical University" was used.

Table 1 - Testing “Student self-assessment of soft skills development”

No.

Statements

Has no soft

skills

Has

fragmentary

soft skills

Has not fully

soft skills

Has soft skills

When communicating with people, I pay attention not only to what they say

but also how they behave at the same time

It is difficult for me to coordinate the achievement of team goals and the

decision of personal interests.

It is difficult for me to predict the reaction of others to my words or actions.

When I am told that something is "impossible", I start looking for ways to get

over the limitations.

Others address me for real help in various life situations.

I consciously engage in professional social skills.

I compare my ideas about the interests and hobbies of others.

I train myself to develop my skills and competencies in oral and writing

forms.

I work for the better conditions for myself in the negotiations by all possible

means.

10.

I offer several solutions to the problem at once.

11.

I pursue a long-term cooperation in the negotiations.

12.

I ask for specific help from others if I can't solve the problem alone.

13.

My actions allow others to better understand their interests and needs.

14.

I do more than what formal relationships require of me in order to gladden

surrounding people and thereby create a good mood for myself.

15.

People around me often emphasize my creative approach to solving

problems.

16.

I take part in projects to develop my skills and give me the opportunity to

express myself in the professional sphere.

17.

It is easy for me to consciously move from one meaningful topic of

communication to another.

18.

I formulate professional and career goals for myself.

19.

I check the truthfulness of new information in various ways.

20.

I deal with the consequences of my decisions independently.

21.

The people always receive support on professional issues from me.

22.

I actively participate in the common search for solutions to team problems.

23.

I practice exercises to develop a creative approach to solving problems from

various spheres.

24.

Most often, my mistakes in solving problems are related to the inflexibility

of views.

25.

I clearly understand my role in the team solution of the problem.

26.

I consciously expand the area of my professional knowledge into related

spheres.

27.

I use self-regulation techniques under high cognitive and emotional

pressure/in stressful situations.

28.

I use various approaches, including interdisciplinary ones, to analyze the

problem.

29.

I adapt quickly to changes in plans.

30.

The people around me confirm that I exactly understand their emotions and

states.

Source: Devised by the authors

Table 2 – "Levels of competence ownership and their significance"

Level

Meaning

100-90

Has fully soft skills

It involves a special high degree of

competence development. The

student with proper knowledge of the

competence shows it both in

standard and in new, complex

situations. The student helps other

people to demonstrate their

competence effectively.

80-70

Has not fully soft skills

The student successfully uses the

competence to solve standard work

tasks. In new, non-standard

situations, the competence is not

fully reflected. There are no

manifestations of the initial level of

competence development. The

student clearly understands the

essence of the competence,

demonstrates behavioral models

confirming it.

60-50

Has fragmentary soft skills

The student has a fragmentary

competence, in the form of

individual elements. Competence

manifests itself in simple or familiar

situations. Competence does not

manifest itself in unfamiliar,

complex situations.

от 40 и ниже

Has no soft skills

The student do not has the

competence. The student rarely

demonstrates the behavioral

manifestations and models

characteristic of the competence or

does not demonstrate at all, in

addition, the student demonstrates

negative behavioral models. The

student does not understand the

importance of competence, does not

try to apply and develop it.

Source: Devised by the authors

The results showed that most students are characterized by "not fully" proficient (70%)

in competencies such as tolerance, critical thinking, teamwork skills, creativity, emotional

intelligence, logical connections, cognitive flexibility, development of communication culture,

empathy, and professional self-determination.

Table 3 - Test results "Student self-assessment of soft skills development"

Test results

No.

Competencies

Tolerance

Critical thinking

Creativity

Teamwork skills (collaboration)

Logical connections decision making

Emotional intelligence

Cognitive flexibility of communication culture

development

Empathy

Professional self-determination

Source: Devised by the authors

Based on the data obtained, the main ways of solving problems for the development of

insufficiently formed soft skills were identified. In particular:

* The usage of a technological approach in the practice of teaching foreign languages

(technologies for the development of critical thinking, problem-based learning, project activity,

learning in collaboration, case study, web quest, gamification);

* The usage of the extracurricular activity (organization of Olympiads in foreign

languages, creative competitions, research projects, etc.);

* Experimenting with learning formats, in particular, using various models of blended

learning (STAKER; HORN, 2012), primarily the Rotation model, a variation of which is now

the well-known Flipped-Classroom model ("inverted classroom").

Figure 3 –Key competencies model (Soft skills)

Source: Devised by the authors

Teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages and methods of teaching, Institute of

Russian and Foreign Philology (IRFP) ASPU actively use extracurricular activities, including

annual Olympiads of various levels: the regional Olympiad in English "ALTERNATIVE-2021"

(among students of grades 9-11), the regional Olympiad in English "Perspective-2021" (among

students of grades 3-4), "Level Up-2021" (among students of grades 5-6), the regional

Olympiad in English "Armavir Achievement Test (AAT)" (among students of grades 7-8). The

students of the Institute of Russian and Foreign Philology were the expert’s assistants during

the Olympiads. The aim of students’ participation is the formation and development of

professional self-determination, self-realization, self-expression, foreign language

communicative competence and its components - speech, language, socio-cultural,

compensatory, educational and cognitive, organizing and conducting independent and objective

monitoring of the level of skills formation and abilities in various types of speech activity.

Soft

skills

Critical thinking

Empathy

Professional

self-

determination

Cognitive

flexibility

Teamwork skills

(collaboration)

Emotional

intelligence

Logical

connections

Creativity

Tolerance

Participation of ASPU students in annual regional and university research projects

competitions of foreign languages contributes to the formation of flexible learning skills in

cooperation; educates students in mutual assistance, desire and ability to empathize, improves

the overall culture of communication and social behavior in general; forms creativity and

activity while learning the subject. In general, the usage of project method allows both to

improve the communicative competence and to solve a number of important tasks, namely: 1)

increase motivation for the language you are learning; 2) teach students to apply the acquired

interdisciplinary knowledge and skills in practice while solving problems; 3) to navigate in the

information space; 4) develop a communicative culture, empathy, tolerance, critical and

creative thinking; teamwork skills; and 5) to master analytical skills, the ability to establish

causal relationships, predict the results and possible consequences of various solutions of the

problem.

Project activity is aimed at the formation of such key competencies as: scientific,

presentational, communicative, searching, informative, which contribute to the individual

development in the educational process. The teaching staff of the Department of FL and MT of

ASPU carries out the innovative approach to the students participation in research activity,

including annual international, all-Russian, national scientific and practical conferences,

regional and university round tables, the All-Russian festival "Science 0+", "Science Week of

ASPU", scientific seminars with publication of articles as the result of their research activity,

develops students' abilities for communication, leadership, diplomacy, building relationships;

the formation of team, public skills of creative thinking, the ability to present their ideas, make

decisions and creatively approach for the solution of open problems. Mastering these

competencies creates conditions for the manifestation of educational initiatives in all types of

activities, as well as for determining a person's educational trajectories based on healthy

competitive relations, forms innovative competence in order to maintain the stability, integrity

and effectiveness of language training, determines the success of future professional students’

activities, helping them successfully realize themselves in a rapidly changing world.

Project activity, involving a wide range of topics and the active use of ICT technologies,

clearly demonstrates the possibilities of implementing students’ individual educational routes.

The essence of the project methodology is to stimulate interest in certain problems, the solution

of which involves the certain knowledge and the practical application of existing and acquired

knowledge in practical activities. Modern education is influenced by the globalization processes

of integration, standardization and digitalization: in Russia, there is a tendency to include the

so-called "soft skills" in the professional training system at the same level as traditional and

distance learning.

Self-independent work in the distance learning system leads to the expansion of the

information field while the students are working on the project and the formed flexible learning

skills in cooperation foster in them such moral values as mutual assistance, desire and ability

to empathize; improve the general culture of communication and social behavior in general,

form creative abilities and activity in the development of the subject. These universal, meta-

subject skills are: creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, communication skills,

self-organization, cooperation, etc. They are the key competencies of the 21th century.

Discussion

In the domestic and foreign literature, various definitions of the concept of "soft skills"

are presented. In the theoretical developments of Russian and foreign researchers on this topic,

you can find the following content analysis of the definition of "soft skills": "people skills",

"non-professional skills", "skills for social progress", "life skills", as well as "soft

competencies", "soft skills" or "flexible skills". To concretize and more accurately describe the

selected concept, we would like to give a few modern definitions. From the point of view of the

specialist professionalism in any field, L. Abashkina (2010) believes that soft skills are "human

qualities, without which even the best professional will not be able to achieve a good result

[...]".

O. Sosnitskaya (n.d.) defines the concept of flexible skills as unified skills and personal

qualities that increase the efficiency of work and interaction with other people. If we consider

the category of motivation, O. Ivonina considers soft skills as

a social and labor characteristic of a set of knowledge, skills, and motivational

characteristics of an employee in the field of interaction between people, the

ability to competently manage their time, the ability to persuade, negotiate,

leadership, and emotional intelligence (IVONINA; CHULANOVA;

DAVLETSHINA, 2017, p. 90).

Batsunov (2018, p, 15) emphasizes that "[...] soft skills are unified skills and personal

qualities that increase the efficiency of work and interaction with other people: development

management, competent management of your time, the ability to convince [...]".

D. Golulman, by giving life examples, states that "[...] the effectiveness of a person in

professional activity directly depends on the level of soft skills development, which, in his

opinion, distinguish successful specialists from unsuccessful ones [...]" (GOLEMAN, 2009, p.

118; GOLEMAN; BOYATSIS; MCKEE, 2008, p. 61). E. Gaiduchenko, A. Marushev (n.d.)

define soft skills as skills that help "[...] to find a common language with other people, to

establish and maintain contacts with them, to be able to convey their thoughts".

Nowadays, education is being transformed into a connected ecosystem in which a

variety of educational elements will coexist, from large hubs to small centers. It can also include

online courses and forums, mobile apps and devices, additional reality apps, mass games, and

many other educational formats. There are three areas of the educational ecosystem. The first

one is global (online) educational platforms that will become the main providers of knowledge

and content. So far, online education exists in parallel with official full-time education, but in

higher educational institutions more and more, mixed (blended) educational programs are being

created, in which online and offline organically complement each other. With the introduction

of mixed forms of education, the emphasis in the work of teachers changes from the transfer of

knowledge to other goals (for example, cross-disciplinary and meta-skills, the development of

the emotional sphere).

The second one is the development of mobile educational platforms, which will simplify

the educational process outside institutes and universities and help integrate with education

taking place in various urban areas.

The third one is practice communities, a group of people who are united by a common

interest and support each other in improving and transferring skills in the field of their interests.

In 2016, at the International Economic Forum in Davos, a list of competencies that will

be in the most demand in 2020 was presented. The leading positions are occupied by such skills

as: the ability to solve complex problems, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork skills, and

emotional intelligence. Speaking about the skills needed in the future, P. Griffin (n.d.), founder

of the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills (ATC21S) research project and director

of the Assessment Research Center at Melbourne University, noted that "each country has a

different set of [skills], but it always has to do with the skills needed in the 21st century: critical

thinking, communication and collaboration skills, creativity, and digital behavioral skills".

Skills of the XXI century are also called 4 C's: Creative thinking, Collaboration,

Communication, Critical thinking (KIURU; POPOVA, 2018; POPOVA, 2019). These four

skills, according to many experts, are the basis for the life success of an individual student and

the possibility of progressive development of the society.

The study of a foreign language involves a wide and diverse usage of interdisciplinary

relations, and is characterized by multilevel, multifunctional, humanitarian orientation, focus

on personal development and its social adaptation to the conditions of a rapidly changing

multicultural and multilingual world (CHECHEVA, 2018).

The linguist Antonella Sorace, in her works on the multilingualism and bilingualism

study, notes that speaking and reading in a foreign language contributes to the effective

development of a person's communicative competencies. She claims that bilingual learners

have improved language skills, a better understanding of other point of view, and excellent

mental flexibility in dealing with complex situations, compared to monolingual ones

(SORACE; LADD, 2004).

According to A. Sorace (n.d.), when applying for a job, employers should give

preference to multilingual candidates or those who speak at least one foreign language, because

employees with knowledge of a foreign language communicate better, cooperate successfully,

negotiate and come to a compromise.

In many foreign language educational programs, the training of flexible skills:

communication, teamwork, and presentation is paid much attention. We examine flexible skills

such as leadership and time-management.

During normal teamwork, there is a constant distribution of roles, and strong students

inevitably become leaders, which contributes to the formation of such a skill as leadership,

which develops students' confidence in negotiating, presentation, and communication skills, the

ability to navigate quickly in a large flow of information, to see, and choose the main and

suitable one.

Much attention is paid to the formation of time-management skills, which implies the

ability to set tasks and distribute working time. It is necessary, while learning foreign languages,

to help students learn how to manage their own time. The developed ability to competently

manage your time, quickly find the necessary information - this is one of the distinctive

indicators of a good specialist.

These types of soft skills development should be characterized by the usage of texts,

vocabulary, closely related to the field of future specialists’ activity in English, as well as

contain information about personal growth, motivation, for the implementation of the goals of

professional students’ education and personal growth. Undoubtedly, the sources of articles and

materials should correspond to the novelty and rely on modern data. Thus, we see that foreign

languages are a good platform for the development not only specialized knowledge but also the

soft skills that are in demand today.

The problems that can be found while training soft skills can be quite obvious: on the

one hand, the complexity of evaluating the results achieved, and on the other hand, the weak

level of interaction between the teacher and the students. Besides, there is a question about a

new form of certification of a future specialist, the level of formation of his flexible skills, both

in the educational programs overall, and in the individual disciplines in particular. A separate

question is if the teacher is willing to take responsibility for the formation of students’ flexible

skills, because, he/she must have them and understand how to achieve a particular result by any

effective methodological techniques.

Insufficient attention in English seminars and tutorials to the development of soft skills,

the practical skill of which still belongs to the hard skills group, can lead to many questions

related to the fact that this development is the personal responsibility of each student, although

a significant part of such skills is implicitly part of the general cultural and professional acquired

competencies of the student (YARKOVA, 2016).

Different professions have a variable ratio of hard skills and soft skills, which are

divided into three groups:

1. Professions in which hard skills prevail over soft skills: employees who have

professional skills, but do not know how to work in a team;

2. Professions in which both types of skills (hard and soft skills) are equally required:

these professionals require a set of professional skills, as well as sociability, organization,

patience, and goodwill;

3. Professions in which soft skills prevail: specialists who have professional skills, but

the ability to communicate, speak publicly, listen, win over the interlocutor are dominant

(BIKKULOVA, 2020).

Summing up the above-mentioned, we can note that soft skills are the competencies of

the future, and among two specialists, the more successful will be the one with more developed

competencies.

Conclusion

Nowadays, there are many models of "soft skills", but they have not only differences

but also similarities. Many researchers consider communication skills, decision-making, and

time management to be the main elements of the model. The influence of the formed "soft

skills" and "hard skills" and their continuous development for successful achievement of the set

goals, competent use of skills, knowledge and abilities in professional activity and for achieving

competitiveness in the labor market remains unquestionable. Unformed "soft skills" can destroy

the career of any specialist who perfectly possesses professional skills.

We have been examined the question of the discrepancy between the traditional way of

teaching and the needs and expectations of the modern generation of students and employers.

The analysis of studies on the soft skills formation while teaching foreign languages at the

university, the conditions for the soft skills formation associated with overcoming the main

contradictions of the traditional way of teaching allows us to make several conclusions. While

learning foreign languages, the individual nature of training prevails, rather than frontal forms

of work that hinder the development of communicative competencies. The most popular soft

skills that determine the professional success of a university graduate are given: communication

skills, teamwork, and critical thinking are among them.

During the analysis of various forms of classroom and extracurricular activities as an

effective tool for the formation of soft skills, such types of work as All-Russian, national,

international, regional, and university scientific and practical conferences, regional and

university scientific seminars carrying out at the All-Russian festival "Science 0+", round

tables, regional and university competitions of research projects in foreign languages, regional

Olympiads were revealed by the teachers of the research and training laboratory "Theory and

Methodology of the "soft skills" development in the modern scientific paradigm".

Teachers use problem-based, heuristic, and research methods to involve students'

creative search activities in solving the new problems. The most effective methods of active

learning used by teachers are technologies for developing critical thinking and problem-based

learning, project activity, collaborative learning, case studies, a rotational model of mixed

learning, working in small groups, brainstorming, training quests, role-playing and business

games, and "inverted classes". In the process of training, students actively experiment and apply

"soft" skills in solving cases, participating in role-plays, debates, dramatizing situations, and

performing project work.

The approach to teaching and implementing soft skills development can be applied in

the integration of such disciplines as "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional

sphere", "Business foreign language" and non-formal education, paying attention to teaching

these discipline and curriculum. The occasional use of various modern educational and

interactive technologies can help in the implementation of effective communicative interaction

between students. It may be important for future specialists to develop an individual

development plan, which describes the development goals, the algorithm of actions and various

measures leading to the achievement of the goals in the form of the development of flexible

skills (PLATONOVA; MIKHINA, 2018; KARPOV, 2020). Every person today is experiencing

anxiety about how to be successful in a new fast-developing and changing world. New needs

in society and the economy show us that changes must also occur in educational approaches.

It was revealed that according to the Federal State Educational Standard for Higher

Education (3++), the main goal of training is the university students’ formation of a certain set

of competencies. After analyzing some titles, it can be argued that most soft skills are implicitly

included in the group of general cultural, general professional and professional competencies.

The formation of both general professional and general cultural competencies that are

included in the tasks of implementing of disciplines such as "Foreign language", "Foreign

language in the professional sphere", "Business foreign language", will contribute to the

development of flexible skills.

Summing up, we can affirm the formation of soft skills during professionally oriented

teaching of foreign languages at the university give the teachers opportunity to draw the

students attention to the role of personal, professional and interpersonal abilities for the

implementation of effective professional activities.

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How to reference this article

GRIDASOVA, A. V.; GRINKO, M. A.; PAPERNAYA, N. V.; SOBOLEVA, E. A.;

EMELYANOVA, A. I. Formation of "soft" skills in the university educational space while

teaching foreign languages. Rev. EntreLínguas, Araraquara, v. 7, n. esp. 4, e021101, Nov.

2021. e-ISSN: 2447-3529. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29051/el.v7iesp.4.15659

Submitted: 09/02/2021

Required revisions: 20/05/2021

Approved: 05/09/2021

Published: 10/11/2021

FORMAÇÃO DE “SOFT SKILLS” NO ESPAÇO EDUCACIONAL DA

UNIVERSIDADE AO ENSINAR LÍNGUAS ESTRANGEIRAS

FORMATION OF "SOFT" SKILLS IN THE UNIVERSITY EDUCATIONAL SPACE

WHILE TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES

FORMACIÓN DE “SOFT SKILLS” EN EL ESPACIO DE UNIVERSIDAD EDUCATIVA

MIENTRAS SE ENSEÑA IDIOMAS EXTRANJEROS

Albina Vladimirovna GRIDASOVA

Margarita Artemovna GRINKO

Nina Vasillevna PAPERNAYA

Elena Alexandrovna SOBOLEVA

Anna Ivanovna EMELYANOVA

RESUMO: O artigo analisa as abordagens metodológicas adequadas nas quais as ideias de

formação e desenvolvimento de competências flexíveis podem ser aplicadas em seminários e

tutoriais em disciplinas como "Língua estrangeira", "Língua estrangeira na esfera profissional",

"Língua estrangeira empresarial" implementadas na Universidade. A formação e

desenvolvimento de competências flexíveis em tais disciplinas, por um lado, como um objetivo

de aprendizagem independente, envolve o desenvolvimento de uma gama de habilidades

necessárias para a implementação de vários tipos de atividades e, por outro lado, como um meio

de desenvolvimento da competência comunicativa em língua estrangeira, aumenta o nível de

socialização em língua estrangeira nos alunos. Tecnologias para o desenvolvimento do

pensamento crítico e da aprendizagem baseada em problemas, atividades de projeto,

aprendizagem em colaboração, estudos de caso, um modelo rotativo de aprendizagem mista

pode ser aplicado para a formação e desenvolvimento de habilidades flexíveis na universidade.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Soft skills. Habilidades técnicas. Competências profissionais.

Pensamento crítico. Atividades do projeto.

ABSTRACT: The article analyzes the appropriate methodological approaches in which the

ideas of forming and developing of flexible skills can be applied in seminars and tutorials in

disciplines such as "Foreign language", "Foreign language in the professional sphere",

"Business foreign language" implemented at the university. The formation and development of

flexible skills in such disciplines on the one hand, as an independent learning goal, involves the

Universidade Pedagógica Estadual de Armavir (ASPU), Armavir - Rússia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-

3364-6265. E-mail: gridasova_1879@mail.ru

Universidade Pedagógica Estadual de Armavir (ASPU), Armavir - Rússia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-

0210-0825. E-mail: margaritagrinko@mail.ru

Universidade Pedagógica Estadual de Armavir (ASPU), Armavir - Rússia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-

2863-3566. E-mail: diversity777@mail.ru

Universidade Pedagógica Estadual de Armavir (ASPU), Armavir - Rússia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-

6311-1539. E-mail: el_al_soboleva@mail.ru

Universidade Pedagógica Estadual de Armavir (ASPU), Armavir - Rússia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/000-0002-

0553-6707. E-mail: avtoannie@mail.ru