ACTIVITY-ORIENTED LEARNING IN GERMANY AND UKRAINE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND METHODICAL ASPECTS

Abstract

The article is dedicated to describing the opportunities for foreign language learning that activity-oriented learning provides, as it ensures high mobility, flexibility, and adaptability of education in modern conditions. This is one of the conditions for forming students’ mobility in their future professional activities. Within our research, activity-oriented learning in German schools, the German model of “student activity-oriented learning”, and the implications of this research for education in Ukraine are studied. The contradictory development of economic relations in Ukraine justifies the necessity of reflecting on the historical experience of preparing students for foreign language communication, identifying priority areas of modern professional-pedagogical activity, and studying foreign practices in this field. Given the historically formed business and cultural ties between Ukraine and Germany and the various forms of business interaction between the two countries, evident examples of which are the high level of development of Ukrainian-German relations in the field of economics and German-Ukrainian projects for foreign language learning, particularly LATILL, the importance of a comparative analysis of the education systems of Germany and Ukraine increases. The analysis of the German education model is also due to Germany’s status as a highly developed economic country. During the research, one of the educational models applied in Western practice, particularly in Germany, was studied – activity-oriented learning for future professionals. This is one of the methods tested in German practice for teaching students decision-making skills and independent problem-solving, which plays an important role in the country’s economic development. Based on the German model, we developed an activity-oriented model for teaching foreign language reading to secondary school students. We conducted experimental research and analyzed its results. In particular, the significance of the activity-oriented approach in teaching foreign language reading was determined, and the initial level of skill formation was identified. The research revealed that to improve foreign language reading instruction, it is necessary to use new forms, methods, and technologies, integrate natural, economic, and humanitarian knowledge, and structure the material. Introducing a differentiated approach to selecting texts will also contribute to enhancing the effectiveness of foreign language reading instruction.