AROUSING NON-PHILOLOGICAL STUDENTSâ€(tm) INTEREST IN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Considering the degree of implication and the interest of non-philological students in learning foreign languages, they can be classified into several categories. From the categories found as best represented in the practice of teaching to economic students and not only, we identified that a valid target group for the approach of our current study would be the category proving not very much interest in, nor a propensity for, the foreign language, though quite interested in the other disciplines of specialty. The focus of the study is to find the most appropriate ways we, as teachers of languages to students at non-philological specialisations, can address the category aforementioned, as well as to identify more general and comprehensive aspects, of an administrational nature, that can effectively cause a mentality change beneficial to the typology indicated. We began with an overview of the typologies of students. We enumerated several reasons the target group may serve as arguments for their reluctance with respect to learning foreign languages with the same diligence and seriousness as any other of the specialization disciplines in their curricula. Then, we presented a series of factual exemplifications meant to dismantle their erroneously founded grounds. Next, we showed that the need of a shift in consideration of the foreign languages disciplines is becoming more and more evident and is felt to be most effective if performed at decisional levels. Traditionally, foreign languages have not been given the appropriate importance in the consideration, promotion and evaluation of academic disciplines at other specializations than the philological ones. Against the evidence of foreign languages having historically been allotted a rather secondary level of relevance, there is now a strong endeavour to raise awareness of their right place in the formation of the skills and competences necessary to a complete specialist, particularly in the economic fields nowadays. The study presents models of several beneficial changes that have occurred within the Faculty of Economics in Oradea, where the positive effects witnessed are proofs of the successful shift of an obsolete mentality. As several methods of practical class approach were merely overviewed in the final part of the study, extended analysis on such methods shall constitute the object of further research into the matter.