TARGET DIMENSIONS OF BULGARIAN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN CHINA: LANGUAGE SKILLS, GENERAL KNOWLEDGE AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Abstract

Teaching Bulgarian language and literature in China has a history of nearly 60 years. During this period, the discussion about the concept and methodology of foreign language teaching has never stopped, which concerns the orientation of language teaching – language skills, general knowledge or interdisciplinary competence. Following the trend for reforming the curriculum, teaching Bulgarian at Beijing Foreign Studies University applies the new concept of teaching within the development of the curriculum and the new teaching methods in order to achieve new goals and requirements. To a great extent, the structural reform of Bulgarian language teaching reflects the evolution of the concept of foreign language education. From 1961 to the 2000s, the main features of the curriculum were generality and skill-based, which focused greatly on basic and linguistic skills, as well as on the grammatical knowledge and the general knowledge related to Bulgaria and the Bulgarian language. From the beginning of the 21st century, even though language skills courses still account for a large proportion of the curriculum, the types of courses have been gradually diversified, reflecting the transition from language skill-based to knowledge-oriented, and then to cross-cultural ability-oriented. By achieving the transition, Bulgarian language teaching in China currently is realized in three target dimensions – language skills, general knowledge and interdisciplinary.