The Digital and Communication Competences of Foreign Language Teachers in Poland

Abstract

Language education is directly related to the phenomenon of communication competence.This is important since the knowledge of foreign languages is intended to develop communicationactivities that are implemented in their nature. Communication competence is, however, a muchbroader concept, and in the context of language education, it not only refers to recipients (pupils)but also to broadcasters (teachers). This article presents the relationship between teachers’ activityin the field of mass media, their communication competence and social media. The purpose of thisstudy is also to indicate the correlations between the opinions of teachers surveyed and the featuresof communication competence of students, as well as to assess the level of teachers’ competences.The methods used in this study included a questionnaire and interviews. A set of closed, open andmixed questions, as well as an in-depth interview based on a traditional questionnaire is included. Itis difficult to prove the correlation between teachers’ communication and media competences andthe effects of their work. Nevertheless, the high self-assessment of teachers’ competences seems tobe related to the growing trend of English language skills in Polish society.