A didactic model providing plurilingual training in multidisciplinary university

Current trends in higher education suggest a gradual transition from a monolingual education system to a multilingual one. Nowadays, there is a need for professionals who speak English as well as other foreign languages and are able to cooperate with representatives of other cultures to find better solutions to industrial tasks. The research aims at elaborating a didactic model for the development of plurilingual competence among students of a multidisciplinary university. Research methods: literature analysis in the field of psychological studies and didactics, modeling, observation, pedagogical experiment. The configuration of the plurilingual competence structure is determined by introducing two sub-competences (professionally-oriented linguistic competence in English and common linguistic competence in the second foreign language – Spanish). The model structure with detailed characteristics of the component composition is described in detail. Methodological component contains the following approaches (competence, cognitive, interdisciplinary and activity theory based approaches) and didactic principles (of integration, basic learning strategies, flexible skills content organization, situational afferentation and reverse afferentation principles, homogeneous skills reduced interference principle, iteration and language structure based organization principle). Content component represented with a further description of the procedural and content aspects. An iteration and language structure based system of exercises has been developed. A general diagnostic framework for competence assessment and measurement has been introduced. The relationships between the components of the model are indicated. Conclusions are made about the applicability of the model in the environment of a multidisciplinary university.