How to promote Active Citizenship through foreign language teaching?

Abstract

Nowadays the gap between policymakers and citizens is widening and there is a growing concern about social apathy, passive citizenship and declining social attitudes in a multicultural Europe and particularly in Bulgaria. In this context, the question that this paper addresses is if, and to what extent, the way we teach foreign language impacts Active Citizenship and what can be done to enhance Active Citizenship through language teaching? This paper is based on the conviction that true and lasting democracy can’t exist if the citizens don’t understand and appreciate democratic values. There is a popular assumption that young people in Bulgaria are passive, disinterested and alienated by the social problems in the country. In this context, it is more than pertinent to look for and find possible responses for enhancing Active Citizenship in formal learning and in particular in the field of language learning.
The paper looks into ways of promoting Active Citizenship through language at tertiary (university) level and examines practices at NBU although much of the assumptions may be valid for secondary education as well.