This article explores the practice of teaching English in the university through the activation of classes using modern technical teaching aids (MTTA.) The article attempts to update the teaching practice of the English language in the university through the activation of classes with the help of MTTA. The purpose of this article is to identify problems in the teaching of English in the university, the choice of a specific teaching practice, depending on the objectives and conditions and identify the main ways to solve them. The object of the research is the process of formation of students — professionally significant knowledge of the English language through the use of MТTA. The subject of the study is the practice of teaching English in high school through the activation of classes using MTТА.In accordance with the purpose and subject of the study, the following working hypothesis was formulated: the process of updating the practice of teaching English at a higher educational institution will be more successful if the complex and expedient use of MТTA with the realization of their didactic functions is practiced.
Keywords: vocational-oriented, language, modern technical teaching aids, practice, advantages, disadvantages, grammatical constructions, content and language integrated learning.
For 25 years of independence, Kazakhstan has firmly joined the ranks of the world community. With the entry of Kazakhstan into the arena of international cooperation, the strengthening of its international contacts, both with the countries of the West and the East, the problem of training competent specialists with intercultural communication skills acquires special significance. [1; 50]
The purpose of this article is to identify problems in the teaching of English in the university, the choice of a specific teaching practice depending on the objectives and conditions, and to identify the main ways to solve them through the activation of classes using modern technical teaching aids (MTTA).
Currently, updating the system of teaching English in the university is relevant and there is no doubt in domestic and foreign practice. The novelty lies in the attempt to update the practice of teaching English in the university through the activation of classes with the help of MTTA.
President N. Nazarbayev said the following in the program “Ruhani Zhangyru” in the section “On the National Consciousness in the XXI Century” and “The Cult of Knowledge”: “In the new reality, inner striving for renewal is the key principle of our development.” [2; 50]
After reviewing the content of the program “Ruhani Zhangyru”, studying the scientific work of modern innovators in the field of “Methods of teaching foreign language in the university” such as: Gromova O. А. “Audio-visual method and practice of its use”, Domashnev I. “Teaching methods English in a pedagogical university ", Rakhmanova M. V. " The main directions in the methodology of teaching foreign languages in the XX century», Miloradov S. A». Some problems of teaching English in high school”, Kamenskaya L. S. «Professional orientation of teaching foreign Thom language in a non-linguistic university as a methodical problem”, Zubov A. V., Zubova I. I. “Methods of applying information technologies in teaching foreign languages” and analyzing their views on the reforms of the higher education system in Kazakhstan, we’ve found that the current state teaching a foreign language in the university requires updating. “The technological revolution leads to the fact that in the coming decades, half of the existing professions will disappear. Not a single epoch knew such a speed of change in the professional image of the economy. And we entered this era. In such conditions, only a highly educated person who can relatively easily change a profession due to a high level of education can live successfully. [2; 40] When learning a foreign language in higher education, rapid obsolescence of programs can be traced; the mismatch of knowledge and skills acquired in the system of higher professional education with the conditions of market demand for specialists. Modern methods of teaching a foreign language at an institution of higher learning imply a rapid and qualitative expansion of vocational-oriented lexical units among students, whose speech must be decorated with the necessary grammatical structures and phraseological units. Language is an intermediary and, therefore, more attention should also be paid to the study of the spoken language that is used in everyday life. “Modern requirements for the level of professional training of a specialist in foreign language proficiency imply not only the ability to understand written and oral speech, as well as writing and speaking, but also the ability to operate effectively in a foreign language environment, which implies a significantly higher level of language, speech and non-linguistic training." [3; 91]
The object of the research is the process of formation in students of professionally significant knowledge of the English language through the use of MTTA.
The subject of the study is the practice of teaching English in high school through the activation of classes with the help of MTTA.
In accordance with the purpose and subject of the study, the following working hypothesis was formulated: the process of updating the practice of teaching English at the university will be more successful if the complex and expedient use of MTA is practiced with regard to the realization of their didactic functions.
Today, the following teaching methods are practiced:
− direct method;
− grammar-translational learning method;
− audiovisual and linguistic methods;
− communicative method.
The advantages of teaching the English language through the Direct Method are that the language skills of students are formed by the teacher, who is a native speaker of English, is fluent in the methodology of teaching foreign language to students of non-language specialties and is competent in psychology. Only English-language literature is used in the classes; thus students are artificially introduced into the world of the language they are studying. The disadvantages of the practical use of this method are that the direct method is used very rarely in institutions of higher education, partly due to the lack of real native speakers among teachers, and partly to the fact that the level of preparation of students after school is too low.
The classic method of learning English is the Grammar-Translation method “Grammar-translational method of teaching”. The purpose of the grammatical-translational method involves the ability to read and translate with the help of grammatical rules. The disadvantages of this method include the fact that not enough attention is paid to the lexical part. The study of vocabulary is reduced to the mechanical learning of words. Reading and translation are done in a strict form. In addition, texts offered for reading usually refer to complex fiction; therefore, the student learns only the literary language. Once in the language environment, it will be very difficult for him to understand others, even with a good knowledge of the literary language.
Audiovisual method of teaching implies the illustration of speech with corresponding pictures, that is, students are shown videos, feature films and documentaries in English. In this case, two perceptual channels work simultaneously for the trainees: the visual and the auditory, resulting in associations in the students' head, which makes it possible to memorize the language better. Practical purpose of the methods is to master the living, spoken language. The disadvantages of this method include the lack of audio and multimedia equipment in the classrooms, which leads to the unsystematic application of this method, and as a result to the low quality of knowledge.
The communicative method practice implies greater student activity. The task of the teacher in this case is to involve everyone in the classroom in the conversation. The essence of the communicative method is to create real situations of communication. When recreating the dialogue, the student has the opportunity to put into practice all the knowledge gained. A very important advantage of the communicative method is that it has a huge variety of exercises: it uses role-playing games, dialogues, simulation of real communication. The disadvantage of such practice is the work of students of the same type, consisting in reading, writing, speaking, and listening to the speech (most often the teacher himself).
Due to the low level of knowledge of students of a basic foreign language, reading publications on their subject in foreign journals are difficult for them. The average first-year student cannot speak English. His vocabulary is minimal, and the available words he cannot correctly use in conversation. At best, the student uses the simplest syntactic constructions, while not avoiding any grammatical, phonetic or communicative mistakes. Experience shows that the greatest difficulty is the choice of a verb and its use in the necessary form of a temporary form. [3; 92] The teacher spends a tremendous effort and time for students to gain the necessary lexical minimum for translating texts of foreign publications. Expanding vocabulary, students are easily guided in the text, but to maintain a conversation with a foreign colleague causes difficulties and as a result the student develops a complex of uncertainty, he closes and does not go for a dialogue. Therefore, the main task of the «Communicative practice» is to remove the fear of communication. All of the above methods have been repeatedly discussed by scientific innovators, who are convinced that each of these methods and its shortcomings have a different degree of influence on the achievement of final goals.
Today, modern pedagogy suggests considering the Oxford and Cambridge approaches to language. These approaches to the language are united by the fact that most of the courses are based on a communicative technique integrated with some traditional elements of teaching. It involves the maximum immersion of the student in the language process, which is achieved by reducing the student's appeal to the native language to a minimum. The main goal of such practice is to teach a student to speak the language first, and then think in it. It is also important that mechanical reproducing exercises are also absent: their place is occupied by game situations, work with a partner, tasks for finding errors, comparisons and comparisons, connecting not only memory, but also logic, the ability to think analytically and figuratively. The global demand for studying languages, especially English, provides huge potential for content and language integrated learning (CLIL). For subject teachers, language is opportunity for formation of additional skills and gives great opportunities for career development. [4; 206]
Integration of language and the content of training are perceived by the European commission as «an excellent way of achievement progress in a foreign language». Thus, CLIL effectively increases number of students and trains them up with skills necessary for success in various professions. [4; 206]
The objectives of teaching foreign language (FL) to a higher education institution are dictated by state educational standards and, at the level of performance, are an immutable element of the system.
The purpose of the FL course in the system of preparing students for a higher educational institution is practical knowledge of the language as a means of communication in the professional sphere, which includes reading literature on the specialty and related fields of science; translation by specialty and a wide range of socially significant problems; participation in oral communication in the framework of themes and situations of a general nature determined by state standards; practical implementation of linguistic (systemic) knowledge, skills and abilities in the conditions of foreign language communication in oral (monologue, dialogue, polylogue, discussion) and writing (abstract, abstract, abstracts, messages, private letter, business letter, biography). [3; 92]
Studies of teaching methods have shown that all these problems are effectively solved if the development of various innovators is applied to enhance the traditional teaching practice, which can significantly improve the quality of teaching foreign (in particular English) language.
As a basis, when teaching by the communicative method, the majority of Kazakhstani universities use the Headway textbook, specially developed by London-based methodologists John and Liz Soarz. The advantages of this textbook include the developed “methodological package”, which includes a textbook, a book for students and for a teacher, audio cassettes, and can be mastered during approximately 120 academic hours. Differentiation by age groups and a multi-level approach enable the development of a separate human personality, affect its outlook, value system, self-identification, ability to think. British methods are aimed at developing four language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. In this case, great emphasis is placed on the use of audio, video and interactive resources. [5; 231]
Modern methods of practice English imply an increased use of the Internet. The Internet is an additional source of information to enhance vocational-oriented skills. The use of Internet resources is an excellent motivation for students when learning a foreign language (vocational-oriented). Due to the huge Internet base, university professors are developing a simplified teaching material, which is formed into an educational and methodical manual, an electronic educational and methodical manual. This study material motivates students to communicate, dialogue and increases the efficiency of perception of the subject.
Modern teaching aids greatly facilitate the acquisition of a foreign language through listening to sound recordings, watching movies and videos, using personal computers with special programs in the process of mastering the language being studied. MTTA help to firmly secure the material covered, to associate it with certain life situations. MTTA have a clear purpose and should be used in conjunction with printed educational visual aids. If MTTA are used very rarely, then each of its applications turns into an extraordinary event and excites emotions that hinder the perception and assimilation of educational material. The main advantage for a teacher when using MTTA in a class can be attributed to the fact that when the whole group works on computers, perform tasks using electronic textbooks and manuals, the teacher has the opportunity to work with the student individually and differentially. Improving the quality of education depends on the use of MTTA in the educational process. It must be remembered that the effectiveness of MTTA largely depends on how well they combine with the complex of other teaching aids used in the educational process. The need for technical teaching aids is also due to the considerable complication of the material being taught it is impossible to demonstrate a complex technical device only with verbal means and with the help of chalk and blackboard. Technical training tools allow you to go beyond the classroom; make visible what is impossible to see with the naked eye, imitate any situation.
When using MTTA it is necessary to remember about their shortcomings. For example, due to the lack of teaching aids corresponding to educational programs, the teacher must develop the lesson materials on the basis of personal experience. As a result, the material was chosen incorrectly, the color gamut, poor sound quality does not correspond to the “Health-saving technology”.
Due to a sudden power outage, the use of MTTA becomes impossible.
In order to use modern multimedia technologies, the teacher needs to systematically improve his methodological skills, qualifications through training courses, the use of e-curricula, tests, exercises. The experience of teaching a foreign language in higher education shows that students' academic progress, the quality of learning a school subject with skillful reasonable, scientifically based use in MTTA classes dramatically increases while reducing the time allotted for these purposes. Using MTTA in the classroom, we, teachers can trace instant feedback to the student. For example, a teacher can conduct an online survey at any stage of a practical lesson to find out the level of mastering the material being studied. Using materials from the Internet, students can use the links to the necessary material and argue their answers. For example, we practice such a model of the organization of the educational process as the “Knight's move”. Students receive a home task in the form of viewing certain video resources on “YouTube” on the topic of the next lesson, and then at the lesson organizes the practical consolidation of this material. When performing this type of task, students develop the ability to distinguish quality sources from unreliable ones. To introduce into the educational process of healthy competition, we apply gaming technology. For this, the teacher forms mini groups of students who receive homework in the form of creating a mini video clip on the topic: “Discuss the professionally-oriented problem” with their participation, that is, the teacher creates group collaboration. The main goal of students in this task is to use as many lexical units and grammatical structures as possible in their speech. In the next lesson, students provide their video material, which is discussed by other subgroups. As a result, in addition to positive emotions, students use interactive communication. The use of multimedia presentations in the classroom allows us to build a learning process based on the psychologically correct modes of attention, memory, mental activity, humanization of learning content and pedagogical interactions, reconstruction of learning and development from the standpoint of integrity.
Finally, it is possible to draw several conclusions from the above material about the practice of teaching English in high school through the activation of classes using MTTA. Problems in practice of English in the university were identified. The task of updating the system of teaching English in the university remains relevant today. The proposals of innovators in the field of teaching English in high school are relevant. We have attempted to update the practice of teaching the English language in the university through the revitalization of classes with the help of MTTA. The authors of the article are convinced that a comprehensive and systematic approach, the rational use of the virtually limitless possibilities of modern technical means in English lessons will undoubtedly form language competencies, develop creative thinking and striving for continuous improvement and self-education.
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