Increasing globalization has created a large need for people who can communicate in multiple languages. The uses of common languages are in areas such as politics, trade, tourism, international relations, technology, mass media, and science.
Engineers of tomorrow will need more than technical skills. They must be prepared to act in international environment. In the time of the full globalization of industry and trade, firms have become international organizations. Thus, they need specialists not only equipped with professional knowledge, but also with other qualities indispensable for proper operation in modern society. A graduate of today needs additional skills: must be able to establish contacts easily, have negotiation skills and be able to work in groups, be flexible and easily adapt to various conditions, and be prepared for acting on international labor market.
The role of foreign language becomes more important as technologies allow for increased international business. Business dealings are effective when you know your partner and the language he speaks.
A theory of language teaching and tradition in teaching English as a foreign language comes from ancient roots to present day trends. In the fifth century B. C. the early states of language were written down as a set of rules in ancient India. This was a grammar of Sanskrit which effects went far beyond the original intentions of the authors.
According to Howatt (1984) a thorough education consists not only of the acquisition of knowledge, but the physical, mental, emotional, moral and social development of the individual. [1] Language study and language teaching was to be promoted through the fields of philosophy, logic, rhetoric, sociology, and religion, among others, providing the framework for the main task of linguistic scholars. This was basically to study and understand the general principles upon which all languages are built and in doing so, teach them better. Some of those methodological and theoretical principles and ideas are still used in modern linguistics nowadays.
Developments in such fields as linguistics, psychology, anthropology and sociology have been the source of many methods and approaches which searched the most effective methods for students to study a new language. A central concept of this process was defined by Howatt as “the notion of a systematic set of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language and language learning”.
Henry Sweet was a key figure in establishing the applied linguistics tradition in language teaching. Applied linguists Jean Manesca, Heinrich Gottfried Ollendorff, Henry Sweet, Otto Jespersen and Harold Palmer worked on setting language teaching principles and approaches based on linguistic and psychological theories, but they left many of the specific practical details for others to devise. [2]
The search for innovations in teaching languages preoccupied teachers and applied linguistics throughout 20th century. Many countries have been putting enormous importance on foreign language learning, especially the English language.
There are many methods and technologies of teaching languages. Some have fallen into relative obscurity and others are widely used; still others have a small following, but offer useful insights. Those looking at the history of foreign-language education in the 20th century might be tempted to think that it is a history of failure. Older methods and approaches such as the grammar translation method or the direct method are dismissed and even ridiculed as newer methods and approaches are invented and promoted as the only and complete solution to the problem of the high failure rates of foreign language students. Most books on language teaching list the various methods that have been used in the past, often ending with the author's new method. But the authors generally give no credence to what was done before and do not explain how it relates to the new method. [3]
New efforts are aimed at improving foreign language education in the Russian Federation nowadays. There is the need to strengthen foreign language skills among the students of non-linguistic higher educational establishments. Knowledge of one or several foreign languages becomes an integral part of professional training. [4]
Higher education teachers are forced to encourage and subject communities to consider the role of creativity in students’ learning and their experiences of learning.Creativity is an integral part of modern foreign languages.
Languages are not always creative, but they have enormous potential to be so. They are used deliberately to create works of art, and for spontaneous communication. Learning a language may be a creative exercise because languages are so vast and complex, and each user needs to use and combine elements of knowledge in new ways constantly. The discipline of Foreign Languages carries these associations, and uses them, without necessarily truly promoting creativity. Language study also lends itself to creativity as it can be seen to embrace other disciplines with endless scope for doing so in new ways.
In relation to the discipline of foreign language teaching and learning, everything potentially embodies creativity. Language teaching is one of those very open and flexible areas where creative activities can be easily embedded in both the teaching activities as well as in the language curriculum. It is like having different ingredients to cook and being able to combine them differently each time in order to create as succulent a dish as one can manage to.
Thus, creativity lies in the ability to construct meaningful language from the building-blocks available and to express ideas using the resources available; but also, recognizing that the resources can be adapted and that the language learner can often be in control of resources, rather than subject to their limits and restrictions. On another level, creativity also means the scope to play with language and ideas for their own sake. [5]
To have better results we can use innovative technologies and media. They provide interaction with speakers of other languages, and improve foreign language teaching in the classroom. This is a way to increase access to information and entertainment in a foreign language. We need specific research on how technology can best be used to increase students' proficiency in other languages. The importance of the Internet and specialized databases for information retrieval is of special importance. There are television programs, films, computer games, and music videos and teachers try to develop successful strategies for integrating their students' informal foreign language exposure into classroom teaching. Access to information on the World Wide Web activate interaction and collaboration with speakers of other languages. The use of new information technologies, especially networked computers, has contributed to increased communication among foreign language teachers and students in many countries. Through e-mail, mailing lists, discussion groups, and chat rooms, the Internet has increased access to and communication in the foreign language with speakers. [4]
There are other notable methods which include the sole use of the foreign language in the classroom; a modular approach to teaching in which students are grouped according to proficiency level and project-oriented learning that emphasizes the use of authentic materials through technology and integrates learning about English-speaking countries with language and content learning.
Learning content-area subjects through the medium of a foreign language has become an essential part of learning professional English. In some cases, a foreign language is used as the medium of instruction in non-language subjects. [6]
There is also a great number of online and self-study courses which help the learners of foreign languages very much.Hundreds of languages are available for self-study, from scores of publishers, for a range of costs, using a variety of methods. [7]
The course itself acts as a teacher and has to choose a methodology, just as classroom teachers do. Thus, teachers of foreign languages have additional support in their teaching activities.
We agree with the opinion that a contender for a methodology as central to the world of technology and language learning is that of blended learning (Motteram and Sharma, 2009). We see this methodology still being developed, but when handled it is the most likely candidate for a starting point for getting teachers to work with technology in their practice. It is still the case that most teachers work in physical classrooms and looking at ways that these spaces can be augmented with digital technologies is a very good starting point. There is an idea of the extended classroom is one of that allows learners to engage in material beyond the regular class period.
According to many researchers and practitioners, innovations, as any meaningful introduction of new elements for qualitative changes of educational situation, help to successfully prepare future specialists for cross cultural professional communication.
Dramatic development of such technologies as web-site educational portals, telecommunications and use of the Internet resources allows us to speak that they are the future of our education. Internet technologies provide wide possibilities for international and cross cultural communication. They are: e-mail, communication in blogs, Internet — conferences, and tele-bridges.
There is a great interest in the electronic or interactive whiteboard (IWB). The components of an IWB are comprised of a three-way system between data projector, computer and an electronic screen. The IWB allows the individual to interact with software at the front of a class rather than from the computer.
The potential for the IWB is based on its enormous capabilities because of the vast amount of features available. The IWB is well adapted to whole-class teaching, especially in the ability to foster demonstrations and presenting information in variety of ways making the lesson more appealing for the students. The IWB makes it much easier to incorporate a wide use of multimedia resources at lessons such as text, pictures, video, sound, diagram and on-line websites. [8]
The use of the informational technologies in teaching foreign languages helps to optimize and modernize the process of learning; use the possibilities of the information technologies unavailable during traditional learning process; use the possibilities of multimedia techniques; organize different forms of student’s activities on personal extraction and presentation their knowledge; realize principles of multilevel variations; personal orientation of the teaching process; develop the abilities of information analysis and research; stimulate student’s motivation in their learning; enhance their social and professional abilities; widen horizons of their knowledge; contribute the formation of their communicative abilities.
Creativity and reproduction are face to face on the line of communication perspective. “Reproduction embodies the traditional paradigm of education, privileging transmission and a conformist, passive reproduction of stereotyped forms”. [5]
We believe that the teacher should be responsible for the selection, organization and exploration of the materials and technologies which are brought to class. They must be creative, provocative, meaningful, allow for the active, critical exploration of both students and the teacher.
References:
1. Howatt, A.P. R. A History of English Language Teaching. Volume Glottodidactica, Issue 16.- 1986.- p.132–137.
2. Richards, Jack C.; Theodore S. Rodgers. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge UK: — 2001. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0–521–00843–3.
3. Language Education. Mode of access: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_education
4. Ivanchenko, T. U. About Some Problems in Foreign Language Teaching. Materials of VI International Scientific — Practical Conference “Scientific Thought of Information Century -2010”, Volume 8, Pedagogical Science, March 2010, Prague, p. 62–64.
5. M. A. Clarke, Creativity In Modern Foreign Languages Teaching And Learning /International and European Studies Division, School of Languages and Area Studies, University of Portsmouth, Park Building, King Henry I Street, Portsmouth. PO1 2DZ. Tel. (023) 92846134
6. Mode of access: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/creativity.htm
7. Ingrid Pufahl, Nancy C. Rhodes, and Donna Christian. What We Can Learn From Foreign Language Teaching In Other Countries, Center for Applied Linguistics. Mode of access: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/digest_pdfs/0106-pufahl.pdf
8. «Reviews of Language Self-Study Courses: Comparison, Problems, Ratings». Lang1234. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
9. Johnson, C. The Writings on the Board. Educational Computing and Technology, 9. — 2002, p.58–59
