PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE (IN THE CONTEXT OF DISTANCE LEARNING)

The paper describes the experience of implementing project-based learning in the course of teaching bachelors a foreign language. The appropriateness of its application is due to the lack of traditional areas, forms, and technologies for the training of future specialists in compelled conditions of distance learning. The implementation of this pedagogical technology aims to stimulate cognitive interest and enhance students' communicative abilities in the process of developing their intercultural competence. A survey of teachers and students was conducted to identify the difficulties encountered in the course of distance learning. The paper describes an example of the implementation of an orientation project that was carried out in three stages: preparatory, technological, and final. A detailed description of all stages of the project activity is given; the forms of intermediate and final reporting are presented. As a result of the implementation of project-based learning, students created a video about the British Museum. The criteria for evaluating project activities are described; a mechanism for its evaluation is presented. The following criteria were selected to evaluate pedagogical activity: knowledge of the basic facts on the problem under consideration and the ability to use them when presenting the project; knowledge of a foreign language within the framework of a given topic (lexical, grammatical, phonetic aspects); participation in group discussions, as well as the independence of judgments and conclusions; ability to analyze and generalize the studied material; quality of performance. The results of monitoring the level of students' awareness within the framework of cultural studies are presented before the start of the described project-based activity and on its completion. Conclusions are drawn about the effectiveness of using the applied pedagogical technology to promote the cognitive interest of students, maintaining communicative skills at the right level in the process of intercultural competence development in compelled conditions of distance learning.