Hamanyuk V. Theory and Practice of Foreign Languages Education in Germany in the Context of European Integration

The present dissertation highlights theoretical grounds and their practical implementation in the field of foreign languages education in the context of European integration. The research gives a thorough analysis of the historic development of pedagogical views related to foreign languages education in Germany. It gives not only a broad outline of issues concerning FRG's policy and regulation in the sphere of teaching foreign languages but also examines those notions and documentation serving as tools for their implementation. The thesis investigates both the problem of multilingualism in EU, its influence on the language policy in the system of high school education and the issues related to diversification of languages with the aim of adjusting the content of high school language education and changing priorities in language training. It gives a through account of EU activities and outlines a variety of initiatives and projects launched by other European institutions with a final goal to put into practice the existing concepts of multilingualism policy in the field of education and finding specific tools for its implementation. The dissertation provides a systemic analysis of foreign language teaching practices at all stages of foreign languages education in Germany with a subsequent exploration of specific features of organizing an effective teaching process. It offers basic suggestions taking into consideration social and political constituent of foreign language education in the context of European integration. The researcher defines the essence of such notions as "foreign languages education" and "lingual education" and their relevance for Germany in the context of historical development of teaching concepts and examines the basic approaches to modern foreign languages education and lingual education considering integration processes in EU and multilingual nature of society. The dissertation deals with the problem of multilingualism as a pedagogic category, systematizes the existing multilingual typologies in terms of their teaching aspect. The research paper elaborates such basic concepts of multilingualism didactics as requirements to teaching the native language, beneficial effects of using previous experience in learning foreign languages and didactic principles of multilingualism as a pedagogical category. The dissertation determines those elements of FRG's progressive experience in the field of foreign languages education that can be used in the system of education in Ukraine.