“Cultures is the content of education” (Efim I. Passov’s revolutionary concept of foreign-language education)

This article discusses the concept of foreign-language education of E. Passov. The author divides this concept into two parts: the first represents a general new concept of education with culturological and personalistic orientation; while the second represents concretization of this concept in relation to teaching foreign languages. Analysis is conducted on the definitions of communication and situation introduced by E. Passov, which mediate V. S. Bibler’s concept of the “dialogue of cultures” and the new semiotically communicative practice of teaching foreign language. The author demonstrates that E. Passov offers fundamental restructuring of the paradigm foundations of education, orienting it towards the dialogue of cultures, individualization, communication, equal horizontal relations teacher – student relations. Instead of cognition and digestion of normative contents, the puts the desire and motivation to learning alongside spiritual becoming and competence of creative activity to the forefront of the educational process. The author analyzes the method and means of specification of the general foreign-language concept of education offered by E. Passov – modeling of culture, classification of communication situations and language meanings, techniques and technologies used in foreign-language education. Attention is given to the fact that E. Passov has a nontraditional perspective upon techniques and technology – as the competencies and abilities developed by a young person in the course of education

Communicative competence · Epistemology · Foreign language · Normative · Pedagogy · Sociology · Foreign Language Teaching Methods · Language, Communication, and Linguistic Studies · Philosophy · Psycholinguistics and Behavioral Studies · Psychology