Maryna Lapta, candidate of economic sciences Nyameshchuk Anna

Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University, Ukraine

PRIORITIES OF UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOLS ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT BASED ON MARKETING INNOVATIONS

System growth of services is a worldwide trend: according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the share of services in GDP in the United States in 2012 amounted to 79.7 , in the UK – 78.5 , in the EU – 72.8 , in Canada – 69.8 , in Australia – 68.9 , in the Russian Federation – 58.4 . In Ukraine the figure was 59.1 in 2012 [3]. Particularly rapidly developing in Ukraine is education market: in 2013 the volume of educational services totaled 301.8 billion, which is 33 higher than in 2010 (203.2 billion). The number of people employed in education sector increased from 1609.7 thousand in 2000 to 1672.9 thousand in 2012. Also a number of graduates from Higher Education Institutions of III-IV accreditation level is growing: from 240.3 thousand people in 2005 to 520.7 thousand, in 2013 [4].

The very rapidly developing segment of the education service market in Ukraine is language schools. The analysis of scientific literature suggests that the functioning of the subjects in this segment of the market is almost unexplored. But, according to the authors, the rapid dynamics of language schools make the relevance of the study. Every year new institutions come into the market, differentiated both by product offered and the algorithm of its granting. Thus, according to official city Internet portal in Dnipropetrovsk today there are about 80 language schools, which teach Ukrainian, Russian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Italian and other languages ​​[5]. The most well-known schools that have their own history in Ukraine, include: intensive courses of foreign languages ​​at DNU named by O. Gonchar, language training center at NMU, Valery Solovov’ school of English, international language school «Globus», international language school «Alliance Française», tutoring center «Logos», a network of English language schools «Green Forest». Most language schools because of their small size consider marketing activities too expensive and creation of marketing department in organization structure – inappropriate, thus marketing functions are executed by the school director or his deputy. But as competition in the market is increasing, effective marketing activities for language schools become extremely urgent.

As one of the founders of marketing, Philip Kotler, says «competitiveness of the enterprise in a services sector is defined by level of competitiveness of these services, whose improvement, marketing of an organization is widely used for – activities aimed at creating, maintaining or changing attitudes and / or behavior of target audiences towards a particular organization» [1, p. 584].

In the field of educational services basic tools of marketing are distribution channels and advertising media (tab. 1).

Table 1. Characteristics of the main tools of marketing used by language schools of Ukraine

Source: compiled by the authors’ own research.

Basic principles of creating a marketing strategy in education sector include customer orientation, systematic approach and self-organization. In accordance with the principles of self-organization, each consumer chooses a product that meets his specific needs and requirements depending on the services provided and the expected outcome (rapid training, business language, etc.) [2, p. 238]. It should be noted that the list of services provided by language schools of Ukraine is not only differentiated by a set of languages, both foreign and Ukrainian and Russian as a foreign language, by language levels, teachers, class schedules, but also provides additional services (preparation for the ZNO, translation services, carrying out international tests to determine the level of language, help with immigration and entering universities abroad). This differentiation is due to sector’s focus on social services (everyone is eligible to receive services), versatility of consumer demands, strengthening of non-price competition factors, value of cultural factors and features of customers’ life rhythm.

In order to meet the needs and tastes of customers, schools diversify their services at the main features listed in the tab. 2.

Table 2. Differentiation of schools on the list of services

Source: compiled by the authors’ own research.

The feature of the marketing activities of language schools is using tools that support and complement learning process, creating, in a way, appropriate lifestyle. Therefore, progressive language schools implement technologies of «total immersion» in the ambiance of language culture: decoration / interior design elements of the national country whose language is taught in school, listening to music, watching and discussion of films, thematic lectures about the culture of a country, joint trips abroad in order to practice the language in its medium, holding open classes. Most of these events are free for students which promotes services of a particular school. A popular trend is the involvement in the learning process of foreign teachers who are native speakers.

Marketing innovations in language schools are based on technical innovation, providing an atmosphere of comfort and quality of the learning process. Progressive schools use audio and video equipment, computers, media screens, online access to the Internet, the latest textbooks developed by genuine reputable schools / universities (particularly for English textbooks it is Cambridge, for French ones – Maison des Langues, etc.). Some schools organize their own hybrid libraries – a collection of fiction books, printed media and films, access to which is free for the students. Also one of competitive advantages of language schools is developing their own learning technologies (e.g., color schemes) and publishing their own textbooks.

Summarizing the above facts, we can say that the education market segment language school is growing very rapidly, aggravating the competition. Language schools inUkraine actively use a set of marketing, organizational and technical innovation for improvement of their competitiveness, with a special emphasis on technologies including «total immersion» in the language environment.

Thelist of references:

1. Котлер Ф. «Основы маркетинга»: Краткий курс / Ф. Котлер. – М.: Вильямc, 2007. – 656 с.

2. Маркетинг в отраслях и сферах деятельности: учеб. пособ. / под. ред. д-ра экон. наук, проф. Н. А. Нагатепьянца. – М.: Вузовский учебник, 2007. – 272 с.

3. The world factbook [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world-factbook/

4. Державна служба статистики України [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua

5. Дніпропетровський міський сайт [Електронний ресурс]. – Режим доступу: http://www.gorod.dp.ua