Motivational aspect of learning a foreign language in universities with special conditions of study in martial law

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Motivational aspect of learning a foreign language in universities with special conditions of study in martial law

Bunechko Artur

Teacher of the Language Department

of the Kyiv Institute of the National Guard of Ukraine

Abstract

The article deals with some ways of increasing motivation to learn a foreign language among students of non-linguistic faculties of a higher educational institution with special conditions of study in martial law. The definition of motivation as a psychological and pedagogical phenomenon is given. Possible ways to increase motivation to learn a foreign language and ways to improve the motivational aspect of language skills development during wartime are described. The main methods of increasing the motivation of cadets during foreign language learning are determined. The possibilities for further research are indicated.

Keywords: communicative competence in foreign languages; motivational aspect; learning foreign languages; future officers, organization of training; military field training, motivation; language learning.

Бунечко Артур Миколайович

Викладач мовного відділу Київського інституту Національної гвардії України

Мотиваційний аспект вивчення іноземної мови у закладах вищої освіти з особливими умовами навчання під час воєнного стану

Анотація

foreign language learning motivational

Зміна пріоритетів щодо важливості знань у різних сферах навчального процесу та посилений психологічний вплив на учасників навчального процесу послабили вплив внутрішніх та зовнішніх мотиваційних чинників курсантів щодо вивчення іноземної мови.

Враховуючи втрату внутрішньої мотивації здобувачами вищої освіти, задля відновлення інтересу вивчення іноземної мови на немовних військових факультетах викладачі адаптували тематику, форми та методи навчання. Це дало новий поштовх до вивчення іноземної мови та відновлення внутрішніх мотивуючих чинників курсантів.

У статті розглядаються деякі шляхи підвищення мотивації до вивчення іноземної мови здобувачами вищої освіти немовних факультетів у вищому навчальному закладі зі спеціальними умовами навчання в умовах воєнного стану. Окреслено основні особливості навчального процесу в закладах вищої освіти зі спеціальними умовами навчання, а також відмінності навчального процесу в порівнянні з іншими закладами вищої освіти. Надано визначення мотивації, як психолого-педагогічного явища відповідно до останніх наукових досліджень з цієї теми. Наведено основні види мотивації, їх класифікація та вплив на навчальний процес. Запропоновано основні характерні риси змін мотиваційного аспекту вивчення іноземної мови в умовах воєнного часу. Описано можливі шляхи підвищення мотивації вивчення іноземної мови курсантами вищих навчальних закладів з особливими умовами навчання та шляхи вдосконалення мотиваційного аспекту щодо розвитку мовленнєвих навичок майбутніх спеціалістів. Визначено ключові проблеми підвищення мотивації курсантів під час проведення занять з іноземної мови та основні способи їх вирішення в процесі викладання іноземної мови. Окреслено шляхи та напрям подальшого дослідження.

Ключові слова: іншомовна комунікативна компетентність; мотиваційний аспект; вивчення іноземної мови; майбутні офіцери; організація навчання; навчання в умовах воєнного стану.

Formulation of the problem

The general globalization and the shift of the Ukrainian informational space to the Western Societies, the reform of the National Guard of Ukraine in accordance with NATO standards and the general European orientation of the Ukrainian society require the training of highly qualified military specialists, which are capable not only of performing tasks to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also of international cooperation and quality communication in the international environment. Today, Ukraine continues to fight against the Russian Federation and, given the military power of the warring states, must count on the support of its Western partners, which requires military specialists who are able to communicate in English. The formation of appropriate skills in future officers is one of the most important tasks in the educational process of a modern higher military educational institution. Motivation plays an extremely important role in learning a foreign language.

O. Tarnopolsky recognizes that the development of strong learning motivation is an important task for the teacher [10, 8]. In his opinion, success in language learning should be seen as "arising solely from the level of development of positive learning motivation in students and their effective learning strategies" [10, 9]. According to him, the teacher should "have a good idea of the diverse interests of the students in the group, their own goals in learning a foreign language and what they consider their individual needs in this learning" [10, 41].

According to R. Nurhiday, with sufficient motivation, "even people with minimal abilities can achieve longterm goals, and a suitable curriculum and good teaching will be sufficient to ensure success" [13, 96]. She believes that high levels of motivation can compensate for significant deficiencies in both language skills and learning conditions [13, 97].

It is almost impossible to learn a foreign language at a really high level without an internal desire to do it. Therefore, an integral element of successful and productive learning of English is the presence of intrinsic motivation of the learner, and one of the most important tasks of the teacher is to promote its activation and find effective ways to improve it [3, 92].

Given the specific conditions of the higher military educational institution, the introduction of martial law on the territory of Ukraine and the beginning of a large- scale war against Russia, which forced the institute to fully prepare for hostilities, the presence of a real threat to the life and health of the staff were factors that particularly affected the motivation of teachers and students.

The change in priorities regarding the importance of knowledge in various fields of the educational process and the strengthening of psychological influence on the participants of the educational process have weakened the influence of internal and external motivational factors of cadets to learn a foreign language. And although, according to K. Yesypovych's research, the teacher's personality, methods and approaches to teaching the subject are very important for the formation of positive or negative motivation to learn a foreign language, the study of students of higher educational institutions revealed a number of factors that significantly reduce the desire of cadets to learn a foreign language, even taking into account the mandatory study of the subject within their functional tasks. This is especially noticeable among students who previously had a strong intrinsic motivation to learn a foreign language and showed good results in the subject.

This study is aimed at solving the problem of forming positive motivation to learn a foreign language among university students in military educational institutions during military landing.

Review of recent research and publications. A number of theoretical and practical studies consider the problem of the motivational aspect of learning a foreign language. The issue of increasing motivation to learn a foreign language was studied by Y. Shvetchkova, O. Lakiychuk, O. Nypadymka and others.

The question of the peculiarities of learning foreign languages in military universities is devoted to the works of A. Bezditko, I. Kozka, O. Prosyanyk, Beatty, Brown, M. Martin.

Today, most studies devoted to the education of future officers are based on the general provisions of the theory of competence approach, put forward in the scientific works of I. Havrysh, S. Klepka, V Lunyachek, O. Pometun, O. Lokshyna, O. Liashenko, O. Ovcharuk, J. Raven, L. Rybalko, Z. Ryabova, O. Savchenko, T. Sorochan and others. Competence-based approach, according to V. Maslov and other researchers, is a scientific concept that serves as a basis for determining the purpose, content, methods and organization of training, diagnosing the level of readiness and suitability of an individual for real activities in the relevant work or in a particular field of knowledge.

The role of attitudes and motivation.is described in researches of Gardner, R.C as well as in researches of D. Schunk, Pintrich, &. Meece.

Description of the task

The purpose of the article is to analyze the essence of the motivational aspect of learning foreign languages for future officers of the National Guard of Ukraine and to determine the peculiarities of increasing motivation to learn foreign languages among students of a higher educational institution with special conditions.

Research methods: system analysis, generalization and systematization.

Presentation of the main material

Motivation plays an extremely important role in learning. It activates the behavior of the individual, the acquisition of knowledge, directs the activities of students to achieve specific goals, develops socially significant skills and qualities, increases academic performance and forms a sense of discipline.

Motivation is widely recognized by researchers as one of the most important factors influencing the pace and success of foreign language learning. P. Gardner defines motivation to learn a foreign language as "the degree to which a person works or strives to learn a language because of the desire to do so and the satisfaction derived from the activity" [17, p. 10].

Despite the high demand for specialists able to communicate in foreign languages in various fields, graduates of non-linguistic and technical universities experience certain difficulties in mastering a foreign language. One of the most obvious problems is low motivation to study the subject. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop motivation to learn a foreign language in those who do not learn the language. [18, c. 6]. The introduction of martial law on the territory of Ukraine and the beginning of a large-scale war against Russia, the preparation of the institute for hostilities, the presence of a real threat to the life and health of employees - these are the factors that particularly affected the motivation of teachers and students. During the Russian aggression, the importance of studying subjects directly related to future activities as a military man, as opposed to a professionally oriented foreign language, is quite obvious for a future officer, but given the close interaction of the Ukrainian military with foreign colleagues, the need for Ukrainian servicemen to acquire the ability to communicate in a foreign language at a high level, and even more so for future officers, is growing significantly. In the conditions of war, the ability to communicate becomes crucial, which brings us back to the question of motivating cadets to learn a foreign language.

Motive is the driving force of any activity. Intrinsic motivation to learn is when a student studies a subject because he/she is interested in it, enjoys the learning process and values his/her personal development. External motivations can be good grades, praise or punishment from parents or teachers, achieving other goals due to good knowledge of the subject (for example, getting a job abroad or in a prestigious international company), etc. In the context of military aggression, a new external motive is the ability and opportunity to lead one's subordinates to victory. The cadet's motivation to learn is influenced by many factors, in particular: interest, perception, desire, self-confidence, self-esteem, patience and perseverance, responsibility for subordinates on the battlefield and responsibility for one's own life. Research shows that motivated cadets are more likely to engage in challenging activities, actively participate in the learning process, and demonstrate increased efficiency, perseverance, and creativity [9].

Motivated behavior is the result of the interaction of two factors: personal and situational. The personal factor refers to the motivational attitudes of a person (needs, motives, guidelines, values), and the situational factor refers to the external conditions surrounding a person (behavior, attitudes, judgments, reactions of other people, physical conditions, etc.) It should be noted that in the case of external factors, it is not the objective parameters of the environment that are analyzed, but the assessment and interpretation of the contextual aspects of the person's behavior, that is, the subjective reflection of objective conditions and the meaning that he attaches to these conditions. A person acts according to the way he evaluates and interprets the surrounding reality. The role of motivational dispositions is not so much to directly determine behavior, but to participate in the formation of cognitive evaluation schemes by which a person interprets situations. His or her actions are the result of this interpretation.

Most psychologists agree that there are two types of motivation and two corresponding types of behavior: 1) extrinsic motivation, and hence extrinsically motivated behavior; 2) intrinsic motivation, and hence intrinsically motivated behavior. Extrinsic motivation is a term used to describe the determination of behavior in cases where the factors that initiate and regulate it are external to the person or external to the behavior. Once the factors that initiate and regulate the behavior become external, all motivation becomes external. For example, one boy began to do better in class after his parents promised him a new prestigious smartphone. Independent work, in this case, is an externally motivated behavior because the focus on grades and intensity (in this case, awareness) is determined by a factor external to learning: the expectation of the promised phone.

It is generally accepted that extrinsic motivation is largely dependent on rewards, incentives, punishments, or other forms of external stimulation that induce and control desired behavior or inhibit undesired behavior. Intrinsic motivation is a concept that describes a form of determination of behavior in which the initiating and regulating factors are in the personal "I" and are directly related to the content of the behavior itself. Thus, according to E. Deci, intrinsically motivated people have no other incentives than the activity itself. People engage in activities for its own sake, not for external rewards. Such activity is an end in itself, not a means to achieve another goal [4].

Intrinsic motivation of students to learn a foreign language can be increased by selecting interesting teaching materials, using unusual teaching methods, involving students in active classroom activities and inviting native speakers to participate.

Other ways to increase learners' motivation to learn are to provide timely feedback; to support learners emotionally; to give learners some autonomy in mastering the learning material, for example, by offering tasks of their choice, not setting strict time limits or allowing them to choose partners for a microgroup task; to provide access to all necessary learning materials; to increase learners' confidence in their abilities and that they can successfully complete the course; to create a situation where they will wonder if they are not.

All laws on motivation also apply in the military university, but with some changes in accordance with the peculiarities of the educational institution. Let's look at the peculiarities of a military higher education institution.

Higher military educational institution (higher educational institution with special conditions of education) is a state higher educational institution that at certain levels of higher education trains cadets (students, trainees), deputies for further service as officers (sergeants, sergeants major) or commanders to meet the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the National Police, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, other military formations established in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, the central apparatus [20].

The staff of an educational institution is divided into permanent and temporary. The permanent staff of an educational institution includes the management (leadership), management units, main units (except for students), auxiliary units, as well as scientific and pedagogical (teaching) and research staff.

The variable composition of an educational institution includes people who study in this educational institution. According to their official status they are divided into graduate students, assistants, trainees, cadets and students.

The status of "doctoral student" is assigned to employees who study at an educational institution in order to obtain a doctoral degree.

The adjunct status is granted to civil servants who are studying at the adjunct department of an educational institution in order to obtain a doctoral degree.

The status of "student" is granted to employees who study in an educational institution.

The status of "cadet" is granted to servicemen who study in an educational institution and do not have the military rank of officer.

Civilians studying at the educational institution have the status of "students" [21].

Accordingly, the staff consists mainly of military personnel whose functional duties are to protect the state borders.

The educational process in the educational institution is carried out in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education", taking into account the normative legal acts of the state body to which the educational institution belongs [21].

It is prohibited to involve cadets (auditors, students), assistants, doctoral students during the educational process to perform work or participate in activities not related to the implementation of the training program, except as provided by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine [21].

In accordance with the legal documents regulating the activities of higher military educational institutions, students of higher educational institutions develop certain professional military skills, which is aimed at creating personnel capable of performing their duties not only as students of higher educational institutions, but also as military personnel. From the beginning of the war against Russia, the staff of the Institute were actively involved in solving problems aimed at deterring Russian aggression, which greatly influenced the motivation.

According to a study conducted by O.E. Mirshuk and R.V. Vasylchenko, Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine has significantly changed the worldview of the vast majority of cadets. Their attitude to the surrounding world and to their family has changed, which contributed to a significant change in their axiological requirements.

An important condition for a comfortable perception of the training process was the understanding that the cadet's family is safe in wartime.

The researchers analyzed the transformation of the cadets' attitude to the training of individual skills within the educational and professional program "Language and Communication", which showed a significant increase in attention to the skills that directly affect the endurance of cadets in combat conditions, their ability to manage subordinates as future officers, to make correct and balanced leadership decisions, which must be taken into account in the further organization of the educational process.

Summarizing the above, the basis of cadets' motivation during wartime is the need to learn how to successfully perform their duty to protect the homeland. The problem is that foreign language, according to the cadets, is not the necessary component that would meet this need. That is why the most appropriate solution to the problem of motivating cadets to learn a foreign language is to create a stable and understandable connection between learning a foreign language and performing military duty. Creating conditions in which the cadets will understand the need to learn a foreign language and its impact on the success of their tasks as future officers.

Based on the experience of the teaching staff, the foreign language program was adapted to the requirements of war to increase the motivation of cadets to learn a foreign language. The main topics were more aimed at improving professional (military) skills. Foreign languages were used in combination with other subjects in which the cadets were most interested. The interaction of the military departments with the Faculty of Languages and Language Training resulted in a significant improvement of the cadets' knowledge and their readiness to study. Particularly noteworthy are the practical binary courses, which increased the success of cadets both in learning a foreign language and in studying special subjects.

Conclusions

It can be concluded that the preservation of the motivational factor in the educational process is a necessary element for the effective mastering of the subject. In addition, the control of cadets' motivation is extremely important in conditions when they experience a significant negative psychological impact of external factors. The need to awaken the internal motivation of cadets through full involvement in the educational process and adaptation of the educational material to the real sphere of interests of cadets showed the best opportunities to influence the internal motivational factors.

Prospects for further research are related to the analysis of motivation in the study groups of higher military educational institutions that use the basic English curriculum and additional courses based on the adapted wartime foreign language curriculum for the formation of professional foreign language communicative competence.

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