The Concept of English Philologists’ Training at Swiss Universities

Abstract

Abstract The issue of plurilingual approach usage to the study of foreign languages has been made actual on case study of Swiss universities. Basic concepts of English philologists’ formation at Swiss universities have been determined. These components have been analyzed with relation to their relevance to the prospective philologist in English Linguistics and Literature. The attention has been focused on the effectiveness of Swisss higher education up to the indicator “skills” (Global Information Technological Report 2014, Networked Readinnes Index, NRI) according to the World Economic Forum on the development of information technologies in different countries. The emphasis has been made on mutual interaction between sectors of secondary and higher education, that contributes to the quality improvement of education in the country. Some steps in the process of modernization in primary and secondary education have been indicated, such as the usage of the Swiss version of the European Language Portfolio; development of “Profession-related Language Competence Profile for Foreign Language Teachers at Lower Secondary Schools”, “The Passepartout Language Teacher Profile”. Attention is paid to the following changes of teachers’ training: its belonging to tertiary study; mandatory practice-teach for English teachers in English-speaking countries, the required level of command of English language as admission to study in Bachelor and Master programs; capability to work in other linguistic regions, which in turn causes the requirements on quality assurance of particular region language proficiency according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).