Abstract
The paper focuses on education for sustainable development (ESD) as an integral part of the sustainable development program with its main principles defined by UNESCO. The key competencies that must be developed in accordance with ESD are outlined. Learning a foreign language is considered from the point of view of its contribution to the process of attaining ESD goals in general and developing soft skills in environmental engineering students in particular that is closely connected with students’ willingness to communicate (WTC) and integrated with their expectations. The research is done on learners’ beliefs and expectations concerning studying a foreign language at the beginning of the academic year in order to choose the most appropriate teaching strategies for developing soft skills, WTC in L2 within the framework of ESD.
Highlights
The issue of sustainable development and its role in the modern world has been of great interest recently
At the first year students improve their overall level of English and hone their communication skills, while at the second year they immerse themselves in the professional sphere of communication through reading authentic articles, writing reports, watching videos and preparing projects on the burning environmental issues
Taking into considaretion the survey results on students’ language learning beliefs and expectations at the preliminary stage, we can assume that the students wish to learn a foreign language
Summary
The issue of sustainable development and its role in the modern world has been of great interest recently. The concept was defined in 1987 by the Brundtland Commission as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” [1]. Elaine Nevin underlines that development is essential for satisfying human needs and improving the quality of life but it should not prevent the natural environment from meeting needs of present and future generations [2]. The term covers three interacting spheres such as society, environment and economy. It is closely connected with the notion “sustainability”. The main difference between them is that the latter is considered to be a long-term goal whereas the concept “sustainable development” includes various processes which may help to achieve sustainability (sustainable agriculture and forestry, production and consumption, good government, research and technology transfer etc.). Among them education is distinguished [3]
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