Cultural-conceptual competence in the structure of communicative competence of an international specialist

Importance. Teaching foreign languages to international students is aimed at preparing them for professional intercultural communication. The purpose of the study is to consider cultural and conceptual competence as a key element of the communicative competence of an international student. Within the framework of the developed cultural-conceptual approach, linguacultural information is directly integrated into the language learning process. This prepares specialists for intercultural interaction. The foundation of this training is the development of cultural and conceptual competence as a key element of students' communicative competence. Materials and Methods. The study was conducted over three years during experimental training at MGIMO, with 344 students participating. The following methods were used: analysis of theoretical literature on the research problem; surveys and interviews with teachers and students; collection and analysis of educational materials; conducting diagnostic and final assessments; mathematical processing of experimental data; analysis and systematization of learning results. Results and Discussion. Cultural-conceptual competence, which represents a system of knowledge about the conceptual sphere of the country of the studied language and the ability to use this knowledge in intercultural communication, is considered a fundamental component of intercultural competence. The developed competence allows us to judge the mastery of the conceptual space of the German language and the understanding of the Germans’ value picture of the world, embodied in linguistic concepts. The content of cultural-conceptual competence is realized in the following blocks: 1) knowledge about the values of the people, its history, culture, economy, politics, mentality, presented in the content of the concepts studied; 2) skills: to analyze and critically rethink the received conceptual information; to compare new knowledge with the established conceptual sphere of the native language; adequately use knowledge and linguistic means of expression in the communication process; convey to the interlocutor one's own vision of the problem, using his or her conceptual apparatus and system of concepts. Conclusion. Developing cultural-conceptual competence prepares specialists to decipher foreign cultural meanings conveyed through conceptual systems, and to comprehend explicit and implicit information in messages. and also teach them to express their own arguments in the partner’s terminology in order to convince them and achieve results that meet the interests of the Russian Federation. The development of cultural and conceptual competence is the main goal of foreign language training for students of internationally focused faculties and a condition for their successful professional activity.