Conception of giftedness is a key one for Academic lyceum. It is necessary to make a creative field for development of talent where a personality will have possibility to express and claim themselves. A foreign language has a lot of advantages to get it. The author shows that language activity should be divided into several stages. The authors offer an integrated language teaching methodology which favors the development of giftedness. Teaching research skills begin with project methods. Different students can have the same knowledge but their cognitive success is different according to their skills to operate with this knowledge.
Keywords: conception of giftedness, conditions for developing of students’ giftedness, complex methodology of foreign language teaching, teaching research skills, project works, interdisciplinary theme of the school year.
The national educational initiative «Our New School», within the framework of the key areas of general education development, sets the task of building a system for finding and supporting talented children, as well as their pedagogical support throughout the period of personality formation. «Gifted people are a precious resource of the nation. The progress of civilization directly depends on the activities of exceptionally gifted individuals» [1].
Creativity is inextricably linked with giftedness. The concept of giftedness is a key concept of the Academic Lyceum. For the development of giftedness, it is necessary to create a creative field in which a person will have the opportunity for self-realization and self-affirmation. Therefore, today there is an urgent problem of developing and applying in practice effective conditions for the development of students' giftedness.
A foreign language in terms of the development of giftedness has many inherent advantages both in content and in practical terms.
Experience shows that in order to improve the efficiency of mastering the material, it is advisable to divide foreign language classes into several stages. The Academic Lyceum has created and has been tested in practice for more than 15 years a comprehensive methodology for teaching a foreign language, which contributes to the development of giftedness [2, 4]. The components of the methodology are: the technology of creative workshops, the methodology of teaching in cooperation, the method of projects, teaching a foreign language using a computer [2].
The initial stage of work on the topic includes the creation of a linguistic situational atmosphere for the perception of the material, which can also be aimed at removing possible linguistic and stylistic difficulties in mastering the language.
Let's consider in more detail the methodology of teaching a foreign language that contributes to the development of giftedness. The first stage of training is a lesson in the technology of creative workshops, which lays the foundations of the material being studied. New material is presented using the method of «brainstorming», problem situations, the method of questions and answers, creative tasks; thus, students try to understand the material on their own. The second stage is a lesson with the use of teaching methods in cooperation. The purpose of the lesson is to consolidate the material covered, enrich and deepen. Types of work — paired, group, team work. The methodological techniques used are problem tasks (to find a solution), discussion, role–playing games, debates. Project lessons are the third stage in the teaching methodology. They take place in the form of lessons-seminars, conferences within the framework of the lesson, where the presentation and defense of projects takes place. The project serves as a form of control, since all types of speech activity are involved as a result of implementation and presentation. The methodology of the lesson-seminar can also be used in the lessons-workshops when working with information. Computer-assisted learning includes testing grammatical and lexical material, computer presentations of project work, and using the Internet to find the necessary information.
Teaching research skills begins with the application of project methodology. In our opinion, it is the novelty of the idea's development that is valuable, not its presentation.
The project methodology is used for the following purposes: a) motivation (to maintain interest in the subject, to diversify the educational process); b) creating conditions for the development of all types of foreign language speech activity in a complex (speaking skills, primarily unlearned, but spontaneous speech, writing, the use of computer technology); c) diagnostics of speech skills. Project work, quizzes, conferences in this methodology are forms of control, so already in elementary school children begin to work on projects.
One of the features of creating pedagogical and methodological conditions for the development of giftedness is interdisciplinary training. The essence of interdisciplinary training is that the teaching of all school disciplines in the Academic Lyceum should be subordinated to a specific theme of the year: «Interaction», «Development», «World/Person», «Form and content», «Information».
Teaching English using the involvement of students in research work helps to increase interest not only in the problems of research, but also directly to the English language itself, although in the process of working on the project, English serves as a communication tool. High results in English and such facts that an increasing number of students choose English as an exam, participate in English language Olympiads of different levels and achieve success, indicate that strategies for the development of giftedness in the process of learning a foreign language are chosen effectively.
References:
- Elizar’yeva I. A. Creating of integrated educational space for development of children giftedness: kinder garden — school — university. Materials of All-Russian conference 25–26 March 2010. Part III. Pedagogics of giftedness. Regional experience of realization]. Ed. by I. N. Tobolkina, T. B. Cherepanova. Tomsk, Tomsk CNTI Publ., 2010. 298 p. (in Russian).
- Razenkova T. P. Materials of International conference XXIII Dulzon readings “Comparative — historical and typological learning of languages and cultures. Teaching of foreign and national languages”. Tomsk, Izd-vo TGPU Publ., 2002, P. II, pp. 280–281 (in Russian).
- Richards J. C., Rodgers T. S. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2008.