A PRACTICAL MODEL OF LANGUAGE COMPETENCES ACQUISITION IN TEACHING BULGAIAN TO FOREIGH STUDENTS

Abstract

Developing an overall methodological approach to teaching Bulgarian as a foreign language which is based on understanding of key competences such as overall knowledge, skills and relations, requires combining patterns that are well-established as well as new solutions. Foreign students at MU-Plovdiv, who study medical disciplines in English, need specific knowledge of Bulgarian language which is mainly in areas such as socializing, everyday life and  medical communication (at a basic level). The reason for this is that they complete their practical training in Bulgarian hospitals where they have to communicate with patients and medical personnel of Bulgarian origin.

At the beginning stage of Bulgarian language acquisition (A1 level) teaching ‘practical grammar’ is carried out through arranging language input in specific texts which establish the lexical minimum. The successful combination of a certain lexical topic connected with the students’ social experience and their needs to adapt in a foreign language circumstances with particular grammar input allows the natural acquisition of patterns which are quite specific for Bulgarian language and their application in immediate communication.

The aim of this article is to present a teaching unit which combines a specific lexical topic ‘Weather and seasons‘ with the corresponding grammar input. This topic is part of the content in the course book ‘Bulgarian for foreigners’, part 2.(2019). The complex implementation of various methods and approaches in this unit allows certain competences to be successfully developed. The grammar patterns and specific lexis, if acquired, ensure the communicative patterns in the classroom to be transferred into real life environment.

Different lesson components are also discussed in the article – sample dialogues, grammar rules and tables, exercises and dictionary. The creation and selection of tasks are connected not only with the grammatical and lexical topic of the unit, but also with the typical mistakes foreign students  tend to make while acquiring Bulgarian language – phonetical, grammar, lexical and spelling. The communicative approach has priority and is applied through complex tasks that immediately follow the presented lexical units and grammatical categories. The most used communicative tasks are dialogue - supplementing, creating, reproducing; story, explanation, description. There are also exercises of a situational nature. The aim of the complex tasks proposed is also error prevention.

Sharing certain efficient approaches and tasks and taking into consideration the language peculiarities, which hinder the students, we offer an approved model of a lesson unit in teaching Bulgarian as a foreign language. The practical experience which has been gained from the approbation could be of great use in the field of teaching foreign students.