Irina V. Totskaya

The article is devoted to the issue of lifelong learning as one of the system-forming factors of the educational system – both at the level of an individual country and within the global educational community. Lifelong learning is a domain that constitutes a significant part of the educational system and, at the same time, has its own regulatory mechanisms and features specific to adult education. As a fundamental principle of modern educational policy, lifelong learning has undergone considerable transformations under the influence of globalisation processes, scientific and technological progress, and evolving socioeconomic realities. Today, continuous education is recognised as one of the most important components of every individual’s education – a necessity driven by globalisation and modern technologies. On the other hand, lifelong learning is a dynamic and evolving field which potential has a decisive impact on achieving the goals of sustainable development in education in the 21st century. The relevance of research in the field of lifelong learning in Asian countries stems from the fact that, as a significant cluster of the global economy, the region is actively exploring the potential, mechanisms, and prospects for developing educational models in the area of lifelong learning. The authors’ aim in this study is to analyse the accumulated experience in lifelong learning in China and several countries of the Asian region, to identify the key characteristics, driving forces, achievements, and challenges inherent to this model, to assess its advantages and disadvantages as well as to examine its impact on professional development and adaptation to the rapidly changing conditions of the global labour market. Using combined methods of analysis and comparison, as well as the relational method of paired cooccurrence of keywords, the authors examine the work of internationally oriented organisations (ASEM and PASCAL), which foundational documents have served as de facto regulators in the field of lifelong learning in several countries in Asia and Europe. Based on an analysis of intergovernmental, national, and regional policies in this area, the authors present their conclusions on the current state of lifelong learning in the region. The article also identifies the dominant aspects in the development of lifelong learning in China as well as in several other countries in the region. The authors analyse the particularly interesting phenomenon of “learning cities” from the perspective of adult learning methodologies. The unique characteristics of the region – including the use of cultural heritage to foster national identity and develop a harmonious personality, rooted in the collectivist philosophy of the countries involved – make this research valuable in terms of its theoretical significance and the prospects for practical application.

Over the past three decades, the relevance and prospects of using chatbots in foreign languages learning have increased significantly, having turned this topic into one of the most debated among researchers, developers of artificial intelligence, students and teachers. A lot of work is done by a teacher to recreate the language environment in the classroom – there are effective methods of pair and group work, didactic materials aimed at intensifying the development of language skills. The studies conducted so far give a fairly complete picture of the sociolinguistic, didactic, psychological aspects of chatbots in language education, reveal their cognitive potential. Online chatbots can become a means of language practice for the learner in any convenient situation, given that they are compatible with any operating system of smartphones, tablets, laptops. In the last decade, chatbots have been increasingly used as aides in language learning due to their easy adaptability to specific requests (for example, aspect study – vocabulary, grammar, speaking and writing), for solving complex tasks – the study of an entire topic with all didactic units, and linguistic flexibility – the study of the first, the second or subsequent language. This article aims to show not only the positive impact of artificial intelligence on the effectiveness of a foreign language learning, but also to point out the positions insufficiently developed by the creators of chatbots. Another goal is to find out whether chatbots with artificial intelligence are equally effective in studying different didactic units of a language, to identify possible pedagogical, social and technological opportunities provided by chatbots. Comparative analysis of the chatbots use in the student’s and teacher’s environment, opportunities and obstacles for the chatbots implementation in language teaching were used as research methods. As a result of the study, the experience of domestic and foreign researchers regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using chatbots in language education is analyzed. The article discusses the aspect of psychological readiness for communication among trainees (based on the theory of social presence) and how chatbots help or complicate this process. The article may be of practical interest to researchers of this issue.