THE ROLE OF EMPATHY IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND DEVELOPMENT OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE

The paper examines the way in which the current research within the field of methods of teaching foreign languages has discussed the topic of the importance of empathy in the process of foreign language acquisition. It points to the aspect and volume of the analyzed papers and their contribution to the research within this field. The aim of the paper is to cover as much as possible research on empathy and emphasize the importance of this type of affective aspects of personality in the field of learning and acquisition of foreign languages. It starts from the premise that it is necessary to know your own feelings in order to fully comprehend the thoughts and feelings of the person with whom you come into direct contact. The analysis shows a correlation between empathy and correct pronunciation, as well as a connection with the development of intercultural competence, which is highly influential in the process of acquiring foreign languages. The paper refers to the importance of the atmosphere in the classroom and the teacher's role in foreign language acquisition, as well as the influence of teachers on the development of certain forms of empathy and intercultural competence in students. It is necessary to encourage students and foster mutual understanding, respect, openness to the new and different. It can be concluded that there is a lack of research on the correlation between empathy and teaching foreign languages, which can be a subject of future research.