Folk proverbs in communication culture courses: broadening the philosophical and axiological context of learning

Abstract

Higher education in Ukraine is focused not only on the formation of specific competencies of future specialists, but also on the development of communicative competence, which in necessary for a modern specialist in any professional activity. Therefore, the improvement of training courses on the culture of communication is an actual pedagogical task. Improvement may consist in expanding the philosophical and axiological context of these courses. Such a context creates conditions not only for learning, but also for educating specialists of new generation. To this end, a methodology was developed and tested to introduce folk proverbs with relevant sentences into the courses on the culture of communication. In addition to the practical feasibility of this pedagogical initiative, it also sees a socio-philosophical content. This content is revealed through the understanding of the functions of proverbs in the communicative space of culture in the discourse of the paradigm of theatricality of being. Studies show that in the “theater” of being, folk proverbs are actualized in two aspects: 1) ontological, as “scenarios” of possible life situations and their consequences, which were interpreted popular wisdom; 2) dramaturgical, as “remarks”, capable of filling the “dialogue”/communication with a certain meaning, as a language artistic gesture. Both of these aspects imply an axiological aspect, since they create conditions for the transmission and consolidation of certain values inherent in the national culture. Combining all these aspects in the practice of introducing Ukrainian proverbs into communication culture courses contributes to the formation of additional competence among students - the ability to actualize cultural heritage in the modern conditions of social activity. Expansion (in perspective) of this practice through familiarizing students with similar proverbs of other nations will create the foundation for more effective inter-ethnic, intercultural communications.