Abstract:

The main goal of tertiary education is preparation of independent and socially active specialists who are capable of rapid adaptation in modern society. This regards also international students who get an education in a foreign language. In order to adjust them quicker to the country of the studied language and to get rid of a "cultural shock", speech skills in foreign speech etiquette should be developed.
The paper refers to the twin challenge faced by a teacher at work: on the one hand, he/she must teach students different types of speech activity, which means explanation of the laws of constructing and using communicative units, as well as training the ability to produce statements and reproduce collocations; on the other hand, the teacher should encourage students to use newly formed or reproduced speech units in full accordance with their linguistic and cultural status, and speech etiquette of native speakers. While studying the material the paper’s author have chosen general research methods: theoretical methods (study of scientific and methodological literature, analysis and synthesis), empirical methods (linguistic observation, focused observation of the learning environment).
In respect to foreign languages speech etiquette is a system of linguistic means in which etiquette relations manifest themselves. It was found that the elements of this system may be implemented at different linguistic levels: vocabulary and phraseology; grammar; stylistics; intonation; orthoepy; organizational-communicative level, etc.
In addition, during the research the author of the paper has highlighted the following points to be considered in the process of teaching speech etiquette of a foreign language:
- At the initial stage of language acquisition the number of etiquette formulae is minimized. Therefore, it is necessary to divide the material into topics that are usually included into beginners’ level.
- It is important to demonstrate the social differentiation of speech etiquette phenomena. The differentiation depends on social roles of communication participants because many specialized linguistic units and general manifestation of speech etiquette are distinguished by their consistent affiliation to one or another social group.
- The command of speech etiquette is to be automatic. Automatic skills are produced in the process of constant verbal practice with the use of typical forms of verbal behavior. For this purpose, the most efficient way is so called “role-playing”: we invent the situation in which role-playing makes possible to experience it according to certain rules of the society of native speakers.
- Verbal etiquette actions (facial expressions, gestures, postures of communicants).
- One cannot ignore nonverbal communicative behavior which accompanies speech etiquette actions (facial expressions, gestures, postures of communicants).
Therefore, mastering speech etiquette of a foreign language is a necessary condition for socialization of the prospective specialist. In this regard, it becomes more and more relevant to include development of etiquette communicative skills into the foreign language teaching process. It should result in acquisition of skills to take into account the social specifics of stereotypes and formulae and their reflexive use.

Keywords:

Foreign language teaching, speech etiquette, cultural shock, verbal communicative behavior.