The presence of andragogical competencies in graduate study programmes of foreign languages

Abstract

The development of the quality of adult education is directly connected with andragogical competencies of teachers. As andragogical institutions offer more foreign language learning programmes, foreign language teachers have an integral role in adult education and their competencies for working with adult learners are extremely important. However, it is disputable how foreign language teachers gain the mentioned competencies during their initial education. According to that, the first part of the paper analyses the presence of andragogical competencies in graduate study programme curriculums of English Language and Literature, German Language and Literature and Italian Language and Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka. Based on the results of the analysis, the second part of the paper will provide guidelines and recommendations for including andragogical competencies into initial educational curriculums for foreign language teachers. Furthermore, as an example of good practice, the paper will present the programme designed for the students (future teachers) of English, German and Italian language and literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka with the purpose of developing andragogical competencies. Keywords: Andragogical competencies, analysis of curriculums of graduate foreign language study programmes, foreign language students, project/programme for gaining andragogical competencies.