Innovation in Language Learning

Soft skills are undoubtedly important in the life of each individual and affect their success in personal and professional life. Several experts point out that soft skills are often more important than hard ones. The concept of soft skills covers a wide range of skills, personality traits, qualities and competencies. These are manifested in relation to oneself and other people and thanks to them one works effectively in various social situations [1]. There are several definitions of the term soft skills, and their classification also varies depending on the authors and the point of view they apply. In general, soft skills are divided into three categories based on their nature: personal skills (related to a person's relationship to oneself such as self-confidence, self-reflection, self-confidence, motivation); social skills (related to interpersonal relationships such as communication, empathy, teamwork); professional and situational skills that are non-relational competencies indirectly affecting the above-mentioned skills such as critical thinking, time management, problem solving. Other authors combine multiple skills into one whole (communication/collaboration; emotional self-regulation/well being) or they also mention digital literacy as a soft skill [2]. Family and school play a key role in developing soft skills. In the school environment, each subject offers opportunities to develop and strengthen selected soft skills, English language not excluding. In connection with the coronavirus pandemic, teaching has moved to online space. This change had an impact on all aspects of the teacher's and learner's work in the English class and also affected the development of soft skills in terms of their types, meaning and intensity. The aim of our article is to identify which soft skills have come to the forefront of teachers' interest as nature of online teaching primarily required them and enabled their development. Our interest also lies in identifying those skills that have remained unchanged compared to in-class teaching and which could not be developed more intensively during online teaching. To achieve our aim, a group interview will be set up to find out the perception of the importance of selected soft skills during online teaching among teachers of lower secondary education. Finally, examples of implementation of selected soft skills in practice will be presented.

References

[1] LIPPMAN, H. L. et al. 2015. Key “Soft Skills” that Foster Youth Workforce Success: Toward a Consensus across Fields. [online]. Dostupné na internete: https://esteemjourney.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Soft-Skills-Foster-Success.pdf

[2] MERCER, S. et al. 2019. Creating Empowered 21st Century Citizens. Available at: https://elt.oup.com/feature/global/    expert/global-skills?cc=sk&se;