Modern methods of teaching foreign languages in vocational colleges

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College «Universum» Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University

MODERN METHODS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN VOCATIONAL COLLEGES

Dana Sopova, Lecturer, Ph.D. in Pedagogy

Larysa Rusnak, Lecturer

Nadiya Koloskova, Lecturer

Kyiv

Abstract

college teaching educational professional

The article carries out a theoretical analysis of the methodology of teaching a foreign language in the educational process of a professional pre-higher education institution (college). The importance of learning foreign languages during the educational process in college is substantiated; the importance of knowledge of a foreign language as an important component of the formation of future specialists is emphasized. The fact that the study of foreign languages should have a professional and communicative character was considered. It has been proven that foreign language in modern college is a continuation of school education, and this discipline is based on knowledge, abilities and skills acquired by students at school. Attention is focused on the fact that students studying in the first year of college have little or no motivation to learn a foreign language. It is noted that modern professional colleges should train specialists of a new type who can successfully function in the conditions of implementation of innovative technologies.

Keywords: college, students, modern methods of teaching foreign languages, specialists of a non-philological profile.

Introduction

In the context of reforming the national education system and the further orientation of domestic educational practices to European standards, the need to modernize the content and structure of professional training of specialists in colleges is acute. The main principles of changes are published in the Law of Ukraine "On Professional (Vocational and Technical) Education", in the Strategy for the Development of Higher Education in Ukraine for 2021-2031. In connection with the changes taking place in our country, the need for specialists with a high level of competence, in particular in the field of foreign language skills, has increased. The modern generation of specialists should not only be able to read and translate professional foreign literature, but also "be capable of intercultural professional communication in a foreign language environment" [1]. That is why the function of modern methods of learning a foreign language is gaining more and more importance precisely as a means of forming a professional orientation, which will give an opportunity to get acquainted with the achievements of science and technology in the relevant field abroad, establish contacts with international partners and work in foreign companies and organizations.

Problem statement

As a result of the analysis of scientific works, it was established that insufficient attention is paid to the methods of teaching a foreign language in vocational colleges.

The purpose of the article: to carry out a theoretical analysis of foreign language teaching methods for students of non-linguistic specialties; to reveal the peculiarities of foreign language learning among students of professional colleges.

Background

The analysis of scientific literature shows that a foreign language as a subject in the system of professional preliminary education is revealed by researchers from different positions, such as: theories of speech activity and communication (V.Humboldt, L.Vyhotskyy, O.Leontyev); problems of learning a foreign language in higher education as a means of communication (I.Bim, N.Hez, Zymnya), problems of formation of communication skills by means of a foreign language (L.Konoplyanyk, Y.Pasov, O.Safronenko), learning foreign languages with a special purpose (V.Bukhbinder, I.Berman, C.Kozak, R.Dzhonson, H.Stoun, Uoters), communicative approach in learning a foreign language (O.Klimova, M.Lyakhovitsky, S.Nikolayeva), the problem of learning a foreign language through the content of special disciplines (D.Brinton, D.Krendall, M.Snou, H.Taker, O.Tarnopolsky).

Methodology

For students of specialized institutions who master a certain specialty, which is not language training, one of the priority tasks is to learn to speak and understand the authentic language, to learn not to be afraid of the English language, not to be afraid of making a mistake. Accordingly, students must practically possess a foreign language at such a level that they are able to use it in the field of their profession, i.e. possess the specifics of professional terminology, namely, be able to read inscriptions on equipment and materials, their technical characteristics, device descriptions, operating instructions, i.e. use language for communication. Therefore, the need for communicative competence has arisen and the role of foreign language training of students in the modern professional environment has increased. According to the standard of the discipline "Foreign language" in a non-linguistic institution, the teaching of a foreign language should be communicatively and professionally oriented. The goal of the discipline is for students of technical specialties to acquire a high level of communicative competence, which makes it possible to use a foreign language practically in professional activities. The subject "English language" has a number of features. Another L.S. Vygotsky noted that mastering a foreign language is different from mastering one's native language.

If a child acquires his native language unconsciously and unintentionally, then he acquires a foreign language on the contrary, starting with awareness and full understanding of what it is and why it is needed. Therefore, it can be said that the development of the native language proceeds from the bottom up, and the development of a foreign language - from the top down [2]. It is obvious that learning a foreign language in a specialized institution is significantly different from learning a language. Comparing these two types of education, the founder of the methodology of teaching foreign languages in non-language institutions, J. Berman, came to the conclusion that in a language institution, language is learned as a means of communication and studied as a system of means of expression. And in a nonlanguage institution, language is studied only as a means of communication, which is realized in speech [3].

F. Rozhkova, who was one of the first to study the problem of teaching a foreign language in secondary vocational and technical schools (that's what vocational colleges were called in 1980-2000), considered mastery of a foreign language for qualified workers to be an integral part of their professional activity [4]. Sharing the opinions of Y. Berman and F. Rozhkova, it is worth highlighting some characteristic features of foreign language learning in vocational colleges. One of them is the sequential nature of training in professional institutions. Since English is a continuation of school education, this course already builds on the knowledge, skills and abilities students have acquired at school. According to the Pan-European Recommendations on Language Education, the recommended levels of foreign language proficiency that cover the European educational space, according to the goals of language learners, are as follows[5].

- introductory level - А1;

- medium - А2;

- boundary level - В1;

- "Independent user" level - В2;

- autonomous level - С1;

- "Global Mastery" level - С2.

Main results. In practice, as a result of the testing of students who have entered the vocational college, it is found that most of the entrants know a foreign language at the elementary level. The level of foreign language proficiency recommended by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for students entering the master's program is the "Independent user" level. In other words, students must have a high level of command of a foreign language in the process of obtaining the educational qualification level "junior bachelor" and "bachelor" in a professional institution of pre-higher education.

Therefore, the requirements for a modern specialist of a non-philological profile are extremely high, although absolutely justified. But already during the 1st year of study, you can see that students are not ready to communicate in a foreign language, do not know the elementary rules of grammar and do not have the necessary lexical minimum. The second feature of learning a foreign language in institutions of vocational pre-higher education is strict limitations of the educational process in time. Despite the fact that a foreign language is studied as a compulsory subject during the entire course of study at a professional institution of higher education, only 2 hours per week are allocated to it.

And in accordance with the purpose and general goals outlined in the typical educational program of specialized secondary education of educational institutions that train junior specialists on the basis of basic general secondary education, learning outcomes are defined that should contribute to the formation of key competencies of those who acquire the educational and qualification level of a professional junior bachelor's degree. One of these student competencies is communication in a foreign language. That is, the student must be able to communicate within the spheres, topics and situations defined by the current curriculum; understand by ear the content of authentic texts; read and understand authentic texts of different genres and types with different levels of understanding of the content; to communicate in writing in accordance with the assigned tasks; use, if necessary, non-verbal means of communication, provided there is a shortage of available language means; choose and apply appropriate communication strategies according to different needs [6].

Based on the above, a student of a professional institution must be a specialist who knows how to communicate in a foreign language within the scope of his specialty, but the number of classroom hours does not allow to achieve the desired result. That is, in order to improve communication skills, the student must work independently, but taking into account the specifics of the subject, such work will be ineffective, because you can learn to express your thoughts correctly only in the process of live communication, that is, in a group or in pairs. But it is important for students not only to be able to communicate, but also to master all the professional terminology necessary for a future specialist. And during the time allocated to study a foreign language in college, it is impossible to learn such a large number of terms and special concepts.

For a long time, all educational institutions of any accreditation level have been using such a method of teaching a foreign language for students of nonlinguistic specialties, which is based on reading and translating specialized educational texts, learning terminology and studying grammar. Yes, such a method will help to develop reading skills, to master professional terminology, but it will have a negative impact on students' communication skills. The only place where students of non-philology majors can show their knowledge of a foreign language is the classroom, and successful passing of the exam is an incentive to study it.

Therefore, the choice and use of rational teaching methods in foreign language classes is primarily the teacher's task, and his creative approach to them is also required. The next feature of the methods is the availability of educational material. Here it is important to note that the majority of students who study in the non-language department in specialized institutions may not have the ability to learn a foreign language or have insufficiently developed abilities, since their passion is other sciences, which explains their admission to a specialized institution. This obliges the teacher to follow the sequence of teaching a foreign language, starting with basic general knowledge of a foreign language and gradually moving to specialized material that is already known to students from professional disciplines; correctly select certain methods and techniques for the implementation of the learning process; develop abilities to learn a foreign language, increase motivation to study.

Another important feature can be considered really insufficient or almost absent motivation to learn a foreign language. Motivation is the driving force of human behavior, it is based on motives, i.e. specific desires, urges, reasons for the individual's actions, which determine his attitude to activities. That is why teachers face a very important task - to arouse students' interest in a foreign language, looking for effective ways to increase their motivation in the learning process.

To solve this problem, the teacher needs to take into account the following points: the creation of such needs and interests in students that will ensure the activity of cognitive activity, and the influence of motives on the mechanisms of formation of foreign language speech.

The motivation to study foreign languages in a vocational college can be increased with the help of modern methods of using role-playing games, which, in our opinion, involve students in interactive activities in class, provide an informal style of communication, and the opportunity to objectively evaluate their communicative abilities. This method of work increases the percentage of conversational practice in the system of practical classes. Motives cannot be formed from the outside in the process of learning a foreign language, one can only contribute to this process. Stimulating students with positive emotions is the most effective way to strengthen motivation. Therefore, teaching a foreign language to college students will be more effective if you focus on creating a positive emotional mood of students when they will have complete satisfaction from their activities in class. And this stimulation by positive emotions is the most effective way to increase motivation. "Guided by this, it is necessary that all educational materials, especially texts for reading offered to students, are interesting for them in their content, accessible and understandable, relevant and modern, contain new valuable information that corresponds to their intellectual and spiritual requests" from the review for the age of student youth, as well as professional vocabulary that can be used later in the process of learning a foreign language [7].

Accordingly, the teacher needs to have an idea about the quality methods of teaching a foreign language in order to be able to encourage students with the help of their emotions and feelings to work effectively; to be able to create a comfortable and at the same time interesting situation in the lesson, which will activate the student's activity and stimulate him to develop language skills.

Modern teaching methods include:

- creation of an atmosphere in which the student feels free and comfortable;

- stimulation of his interests, development of the desire to practically use a foreign language;

- encouraging the student in general, affecting his emotions and feelings;

- stimulation of his speaking and creative abilities;

- activation of the student, making him the main active person in the educational process;

- teaching the student to work on the language independently at the level of his physical, intellectual and emotional capabilities;

- prediction of various works in the classroom: individual, group, collective, stimulating the activity of students, their independence and creativity [1].

We would also like to point out, and we consider this one of the most painful features of the organization of the educational process in institutions of vocational pre-higher education, the large number of students in groups, which does not allow us to talk about the effectiveness of any methodology and, in general, about the effectiveness of education. To ensure the effectiveness of practical classes in a foreign language, the number of students in study groups should be 12-15 students.

Thus, with the end of basic foreign language training at the college, a new stage of training begins - introduction to the field of foreign language communication as a specialty. Another feature follows from this - the integration of philological and technical knowledge, the latter in turn give a foreign language objectivity and a professional orientation. Accordingly, a foreign language for professional direction in a professional college is a discipline that integrates the system of professional and philological knowledge, forms professional and foreign language communicative competence in students and is an integral part of the professional training of future specialists. In the process of such training, the student learns to use language and vocabulary as an effective means of obtaining the necessary information from the specialty.

After studying the discipline, they should know professionally oriented lexical and grammatical material that is used in various communicative situations and professional activities. Non-standard methods along with traditional teaching methods are effective for the implementation of the main tasks of the course of learning a foreign language in a professional direction in the process of professional training of junior bachelors. Experience shows that in the process of professional training of students, the most practical are individual, pair and group types of work in which students with the same and different levels of foreign language proficiency participate. The connection of educational materials used in foreign language classes with specialized disciplines is one of the most important aspects of the methodology of teaching a foreign language in a professional direction in a vocational college.

Therefore, the process of learning a foreign language in a professional direction should include well-chosen text material for reading and speaking, which should be related to the future professional activity of the student and form students' foreign language communicative competence [2].

Based on the practice of teaching work in a vocational college, it can be argued that modern vocational pre-university education should prepare specialists of a new level, new opportunities, capable of effective work in conditions of active implementation of the latest technologies. A promising direction in the teaching of foreign languages is the use of blended learning, i.e. the combination of distance learning with traditional full-time or part-time learning in different proportions, based on the capabilities of the educational institution, students, teachers, the availability of powerful communication lines, as well as the cost of Internet access, etc. Such training is also known in Ukraine as mixed.

Conclusions and prospects

The theoretical analysis of the research problem made it possible to draw the following conclusions: the features of modern methods of teaching a foreign language to students of vocational colleges were determined. This allows us to identify problematic issues and find ways to solve them. We agree with the opinion that due to the small number of hours allocated in the educational course and the insufficient level of school training in a foreign language, it is realistic to achieve only a minimum level of mastery of a foreign language. This proves the relevance of the raised problem - foreign language teaching of students of vocational colleges - and requires the search for new approaches to its solution.

References

1. Vadaska, S.V. (2018) Osoblyvosti vykladannya inozemnoyi movy profesiynoho spryamuvannya [Peculiarities of teaching a foreign language in a professional direction]. National Technical University of Ukraine "KPI", P. 37-46.