March 14-15, 2024 were the days of presentation of author multilingual subject programs in the field of “Foreign Languages” in the pre-schools, elementary schools, the middle and high school, the college of career education of Mkhitar Sebastatsi educational complex. The general program of open foreign language classes was drawn up in advance. Announcements in foreign languages taught at the educational complex were published on the foreign language pages of the educational complex website: English, Russian, French, Italian, Spanish, Georgian
The program included the summaries of projects implemented by foreign language teachers, the progress of ongoing projects, other types of educational open classes, which mainly revealed the authorship that is typical in the process of teaching foreign languages in our educational complex․
The open gathering of the “Foreign Languages” field of study showed that the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the schools and colleges of the educational complex develops a person who knows different languages, who is able to communicate and act in the modern multilingual and multicultural world, which is the goal of teaching foreign languages in public educational institutions.
Creating a favorable environment for students to communicate in foreign languages
Internet WiFi connection is available in all schools, educational centers, reading rooms of the educational complex, which makes it possible to carry out media education without being limited to any textbook teaching a foreign language.
Formation of communication skills and abilities in the application of acquired language knowledge starting from junior schools
The gathering was a unique platform for the teachers of our South School, Anna Ganjalyan (English) and Victoria Hovsepyan (Russian), to present the shadow theater-bus. Years of experience have proven that foreign language learners in junior schools become easier to communicate in a language if the teaching is based on well-known content. In this case, the content is the fairy tales of Hovhannes Tumanyan, well known to the learners, and the form is the language structures, words and expressions of the foreign language being taught.
Learners very often even guess the meaning of new words or phrases and use them appropriately.
Developing critical thinking, research and reasoned judgment
Nune Aydinyan’s students of Grades 11 and 12, presented the “Banned Books” project which was a successful example of critical thinking, research and reasoned judgment. They not only introduced the authors of the books, the contents of the books, but also explained why those books were banned for a long time, and now they are being reprinted in large circulations.
Development of innovative, creative and collaborative abilities of students
English teacher Irina Apoyan’s 10th graders presented the “Business and Advertisement” project, which in the best way testifies to the continuous development of students’ creative and cooperative abilities.
Encouraging intercultural awareness and respect for diversity
When teaching a third foreign language in the educational complex, the emphasis is not on in-depth knowledge of linguistic structures, grammatical phenomena, vocabulary and phrases of the given language, but on getting to know the culture of the language-speaking people, establishing friendly ties between the two countries. This year, the 15th anniversary of the establishment of “Armenian-Georgian public educational bridges” was celebrated in the educational complex. On March 14, the guest of the educational complex was Dominique Ves, Deputy Counselor for Culture and Cooperation of the French Embassy in Armenia. After visiting the Mother School of the educational complex, he participated in Karine Tevosyan’s “Happy Birthday, Great Charles Aznavour” open educational session.
Foreign language lessons with native speakers
In the training center of the educational complex, guest language experts regularly conduct training sessions in various foreign languages, which is also one of the author components of teaching foreign languages in the educational complex. On March 14, the representative of the Italian Embassy in Armenia, Bianca Grella, conducted a master class lesson with Mariam Sardaryan’s students learning Italian.
It was interesting that she gave the explanations in English so that everything could be understandable for the students.
The ability to present Armenian culture, historical and cultural monuments, sights in foreign languages and developing language skills is one of the important components of foreign language learning in the educational complex.
On March 15, in the upper house of the College, students studying the specialty “Organization of Tourism Services with Advanced Knowledge of Foreign Languages” presented the “Regions of Armenia” project in English (teacher: Armine Khachatryan) and Russian (teacher: Mariam Kalantaryan), and the “Our neighborhood” project in Spanish (teacher Bella Abrahamyan).
The open meeting of the “Foreign Languages” field of study was concluded with a round table discussion on March 15, in the attic room of the College.