Vyučovanie predmetu Komunikačné zručnosti v slovenčine pre zubársku prax I. adresnými metodickými postupmi

Topic of this paper provides a summary of experiences (best practices) acquired from introduction of a new compulsory-elective subject named “Communication Skills for Dental Practice 1” which is designed for foreign students studying at Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice, Slovakia. Main focus is set on courses specifications dedicated to improve conversational skill. Syllabus of a course focused on conversational skills shall respect a specific language level of targeted student’s group and it needs to have a clear thematic focus. In this case it is the dental practice. There is no universal model for a design for this type of a course. An initial set of experiences were acquired with students of language level A.1.2 and B.1.1 (CEFR classification) in academic year 2016/2017. Positive feedback and increased demand for the course motivated a development of the course content for two different language levels. This paper shows some specific examples of selected methodical solutions for identic themes in two variants – for language levels A1.2 and B2. Content of this paper summarizes methodical principles and tools successfully applied and resulting in increasing students’ motivation as well as improving teaching efficiency. It is enriched with examples of positive experiences with methods that have not been applied yet in existing compulsory subjects, focused on Slovak language as a foreign language, studied at UPJS in Kosice. The paper provides some weak points too, e.g. evaluation of conversational exercises - a target language level definition has not been standardized, thus individual progress is evaluated.