PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIAL OF SCHOOL ART SPACE IN THE FORMATION OF STUDENTS’ COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS: THE PRACTICE OF ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT IN COMPULSORY EDUCATION OF THE PR CHINA

Abstract

Under the contemporary conditions of globalization and the development of intercultural interaction, the issue of developing students’ communicative skills in the process of foreign language learning is becoming increasingly significant. One of the key challenges of modern English language teaching methodology remains the insufficient level of students’ natural and spontaneous foreign language communication beyond specially organized classroom situations. In this regard, the search for new approaches to creating a foreign-language educational environment capable of stimulating students’ constant speech activity is becoming increasingly relevant. In this context, particular attention should be paid to the experience of the People’s Republic of China, where modern schools actively integrate elements of art space into the system of students’ English-language communication. The purpose of the study is to determine the pedagogical potential of school art space in the formation of students’ communicative skills and to analyze the practice of using an English-language environment in the system of compulsory education in the PRC as a means of stimulating natural foreign-language communication. The study employed a set of interconnected research methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific sources (to systematize approaches to organizing art space and a foreign-language environment); the comparative pedagogical method (to compare the educational practices of the PRC and Ukraine); content analysis (to examine modern Chinese educational practices and the elements of visual and musical school space); the method of generalization and pedagogical interpretation (to identify the pedagogical potential of art space in the development of students’ communicative skills). The scientific novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive analysis of the pedagogical potential of school art space as a tool for stimulating students’ natural English-language communication in compulsory education institutions of the PRC. The paper systematizes modern practices of using the visual and musical space of Chinese schools in the formation of a foreign-language environment and identifies the prospects for adapting this experience to the conditions of the Ukrainian school system. Conclusions. It has been established that modern schools in the PRC actively use visual, musical, and functional elements of art space to create a permanent English-language presence within the school environment. The integration of the English language into systems of visual navigation, creative spaces, musical practices, thematic zones, and extracurricular activities contributes to reducing psychological communication barriers, increasing students’ motivation, and developing skills of natural speech interaction. The experience of the PRC has been identified as promising for the modernization of Ukrainian schools within the framework of implementing the concept of the New Ukrainian School.