UPGRADING COMPETENCIES OF MASTER'S DEGREE STUDENTS THROUGH E-LEARNING IN BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The role of foreign language proficiency in modern society, where phenomena such as the Internet remove traditional barriers to human communication, has become increasingly important, which places ever higher demands on the results from foreign language teaching. The process of globalization has increasingly imposed the need for communicative competence and understanding of the culture of nations that use a foreign language, requires the development of not only language skills in learners, but also of critical thinking, soft skills and social responsibility. In this light, the paper aims to present the experience of one of the schools that are benchmark institutions of the higher educational system of Republic of Bulgaria – D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics – Svishtov in further development of foreign language competencies through master degree e-learning courses in business communications. It covers the evolution of the master’s degree in social science with business communications training in a foreign language over the past 20 years reaching peak level of over 2,500 students on annual basis and covering 100% of the master degree students. The foundations of distance learning of foreign languages at the observed Academy were laid in the period 2001 – 2003 with two pilot courses: "Business Communications in English" and "Business Communications in German". These courses were included and therefore require less in-class interaction and considerably more self-study. The study load for these modules is 2 classes per week, or a total of 28 classes per semester. The main conclusion of the study is that BCom business communication courses are a key element in the education of students in social sciences, based on the classic three pillars for a successful career - digital competence, foreign language skills and high competence in the subject areas studied in the bachelor's and master's degree programmes.