Using interactive methods in military English teaching

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

Using interactive methods in military English teaching

Serhiienko Tetiana

PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor, Associate professor of Foreign Languages and Military translation Department Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy, Ukraine

Neklesa Olena

English teacher of Foreign Languages and Military Translation Department Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy, Ukraine

Summary

Teaching English in the military system is at the same time a difficult and a rewarding job. The challenges English teachers encounters nowadays are mainly related to designing and/or adapting instructional models that would function efficiently within the specific framework of the military and social sphere. It analyses the communicatively oriented approach for the formation such competence. As the title implies the article describes the aims at presenting the practical effects of three such different models. Special attention is given to the interactive model, the situational model and the task-based model. Within this paper, the aim of the authors will be to investigate the role of the teacher and of the learners in these specific teaching approaches and to determine which is the best model to be used for military English teaching. This article is of interest to the teacher of English who start work in the military system.

Keywords: a Case-Method, a communicatively oriented approach, an interactive model, a situational model, a task-based model, language task.

The last years the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has intensified the international cooperation of the Armed Forces of various countries both within the framework of the alliance and under the auspices of the UN and other international organizations. And this, in turn, increased the need to ensure language communication between countries that are participants in multinational projects, and above all peacekeeping operations.

Difficult tasks that have to be solved in the course of international cooperation require a high-quality organization of language training of military personnel participating in their solution. That task is a primary for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in connection with the declaration of our country's course for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In the conditions of modern international relations, timely interaction of the military in a single global space, the professional competence of a specialist is formed in the military sphere. To ensure the functionality of all organizational structures and material and technical base and interoperability in the field of professional military activity, the North Atlantic Alliance adopted the STANAG (standardization agreement) system of standards, which regulates methods, procedures, conceptual apparatus and conditions for unification within joint armed forces. One of these standards is STANAG 6001 - an agreement that defines the levels of proficiency in the working languages of the alliance (English and French) and the requirements for their achievement [1].

Establishing linguistic mutual understanding and interoperability in the communicative sphere, is one of the main requirements for membership in the alliance. That is why the requirements of this standard formed the basis of the guiding documents on the organization of language training in the Armed Forces of Ukraine: "Basic principles of language training of personnel in the system of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine" [2] and "Roadmap for improving language training in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (for 2021 - 2025 years)" [3]. Thus, in the Road Map, in particular, it is emphasized that in order to ensure the proper interoperability of units of the Ukrainian army with units of NATO member states, "mastery of the personnel in English is of particular importance".

In other words, the main goal of learning a foreign language at non-linguistic military establishments is the formation of cadets' communicative competence, which allows for practical mastery of the language in professional and everyday life spheres by using a communicatively oriented approach for the formation of communicative competence. teaching english military

The essence of professionally oriented learning of a foreign language deals with its integration with special disciplines in order to obtain additional professional knowledge and the formation of professionally significant personality qualities. A foreign language acts as a means of increasing professional competence, personal and professional development and is a necessary condition for the successful professional activity of a specialist. The concept of professional communication should include terminology and a number of other language speech and professional aspects. Professional study of lexical and terminological features characteristic of the professional context of language use, which future officers are likely to encounter in real communication situations, is certainly a priority.

That is why, the question of using innovative methods of foreign language learning as personally directed learning and increase the motivation to study it is actual. And therefore, the issue of not only successful learning of the English language, but also the introduction of unique forms and methods of learning, namely interactive methods has always been and remains relevant [4].

The lexeme "interactive" comes from the English word "interact", where "inter" means mutual, and "act" means to act and indicates the ability to dialogue and interaction. The basis of interactive learning is constant and active interaction of all members of the learning process [5]. Interactive methods include the Case Method or Case-Studies, the Business Game Method, the "Brainstorming" method, the Problem Method, etc.

Modern communicative methods offer a wide introduction into the educational process of active non-standard methods and forms of work for better conscious assimilation of the material. In practice, such forms of work as individual, pair, group and team work have proven to be quite effective. The most effective forms of paired and group work: inside/ outside circles; brain storm; jigsaw reading;

think-pair-share; pair interviews and others [6]. In the process of performing these works, cadets learn to analyze, form and express their own opinions, make complex decisions. These forms of work contribute to the expansion of their knowledge and skills. Having analyzed the works of O.V. Zubenko, S.O. Medvedeva, we can highlight the following advantages of interactive learning: establishment of a friendly atmosphere and relationships between communication participants; getting learners the opportunity to be more independent and self-confident; getting the opportunity to overcome the fear of the language barrier; leveling the authoritarian position of the teacher; involvement in everyone's work; assistance to weaker participants in the process; constant and active use of previously acquired experience [5].

One of the interactive methods is the Case Method, known as the method of situational learning based on concrete examples. It's widely used in economics and business, medicine, political science, pedagogy, jurisprudence, etc. The importance of using interactive methods in education is undeniable, because, firstly, modern education requires the processing and assimilation of a large amount of educational material, and secondly, high demands are placed on future specialists who must be able to act clearly, quickly and correctly in specific situations [6].

A Case is a description of a specific situation, which is used as a pedagogical tool that helps students in the following areas: better and deeper learn the material on this topic; gives an opportunity to apply acquired theoretical knowledge in practice and check the correctness of one's own ideas or put forward hypotheses; increases the level of interest in the given topic; deepen knowledge of the topic; to develop the ability to analyze and think critically, the ability to make quick decisions, the ability to find other options for solving a problem, the ability to conduct a discussion and justify one's thoughts and actions; develop communication skills [7].

There is no single standard for Cases, so each teacher has freedom of action. Case situations can be different in size, shape, description of the situation, etc. Usually, various tables, figures, and images can be added to the case, which make it easier for students to perceive information and make case situations more clear. Among the main elements that must be presented in the situation, the following can be defined: the environment, that is, the place or places where the action takes place; the topic, i.e. what the situation is about; problematic issues that arise and need to be resolved; certain initial information on the situation; the method of solving the situation, that is, how to solve the problem: creatively, deductively, inductively; analysis of the situation, i.e. it is necessary to find a single solution (closed case) or several alternative solutions (open case); the time required to resolve the situation [8].

According to the interactive model, the entire learning process is based on the interaction between the teacher and the student. Based on the above, namely, that the development of communication skills is the primary basis of learning foreign languages, such interaction in the classroom is mandatory. Real communication here acts as an interaction between classmates and the teacher with the cadets and gives students the opportunity to learn the language directly in the process of communication and master active lexical and grammatical material during the speaking process itself, and not from the textbook. This approach somewhat shifts the focus from the teacher to the students - the teacher is not the central figure in the class, he acts as a manager who makes the language learning process as easy and comfortable as possible, and also helps students find their way when creating different communicative situations. Students should interact, namely: listen to each other, share information, and solve real problems of real life using target language material [9].

Practice demonstrates that the most effective and efficient interactive types of work are presentations, work in pairs, discussions, debates. In the context of studying under the syllabus "Foreign language of professional orientation", all these types of work should be oriented to the performance of certain military tasks, that is, to develop the communication skills of servicemen and to function in a real army environment during peacekeeping operations and international exercises as part of multinational and joint tactical groups. In our opinion, the use of case - situations that are extremely effective for provoking debates in English, the ways of solving which are multiple, will be successful in this situation. The exercise from Campaign - English for the Military [10] can be one of the specific examples. This exercise involves the reactivation of previously learned lexical and grammatical material. The training follows the scheme: students were offered a specific situation as close as possible to real (everyday) situations; a whole package of didactic, cognitive and handout material was provided, repeating and selecting which students had to analyze the problem that emerged individually, then through work in groups, as a result of discussion to come to a single decision regarding the variant of this problem (situation) and provide an appropriate report or suggest ways to solve it.

Let's consider the main stages of conducting a lesson using case technology as part of a practical lesson on the topic "Observation post". Before the independent work of the cadets, the teacher revises the relevant material asking students on: map reading, coordinate system, SPOTREP or SITREP (reports about an event or current situation), respectively, with examples, fixing lexical units, listening to tracks. And already at the next stages, the cadets work with the SALUTE reporting form (report form about the event that needs to be reported). The information should be dosed, that enables the cadets to understand quickly the essence of the task. There should be all the necessary data to solve this problem: groups are formed as necessary (consolidated (crew/team) members in the group: post commander, observer, signalman, etc.), a description of the situation (case) with a graphic designation of the place of the event and the observation post on the map, illustration with a drawing the essence of the event, as well as setting the task of presenting a report (each group - observation post - has its own task). After that, there is a stage - finding a solution: regarding the use of certain lexical units and terminology (type of ammunition, insignia, nature of activity), as well as appropriate language phrases. It should be noted that this stage may include elements of tactical decision-making: regarding the nature of further actions, clarifying information about the event, the need to call for support, establishing interaction with other observation posts to clarify information. Under no circumstances should teacher help the cadets by answering their questions, the teacher passively observe. At this stage, in an extreme situation, "Brainstorming" can be used, which will help the cadets understand what is required from them. And, finally, the cadets form reports, control: in turn, the group commander reports according to a certain pattern about the event that his group observes; after one of the groups' reports, members of the other groups ask questions, clarify, ask to repeat in other words certain points and words, using the phonetic alphabet.

During reporting, the teacher makes notes about the cadets' participation, their language mistakes, trying to interfere as little as possible with the progress of the report. In the final part, the teacher sums up the work, involving the cadets who report what they learned during the class: enrichment of active vocabulary, acquiring practice of using the English language in professional activities. As a result, the teacher marks the best results, corrects wrong decisions.

Therefore, the case method, or the method of situational exercises, is considered an interactive method of learning, which makes it possible to bring the learning process closer to the real practical activities of specialists. It promotes the development of ingenuity, the ability to solve problems, develops the ability to analyze and diagnose problems, and communicate in a foreign language. The cadets are asked to discuss using military vocabulary, whereas grammatical aspects are optional to choose. This approach enriches students' vocabulary, develops the skills of paraphrasing, argumentation, defending one's point of view, convincing others of one's rightness, giving examples, etc.

In fact, two other methods that are actively employed in the interactive learning model are also widely used, and at a certain point in achieving goals and solving assigned tasks, they are intertwined and complement each other. We are talking about the situational method of learning and the method of problem tasks. Like any active learning methods, it encourages cadets to analyze the problem; problem solving; explaining the way to solve the problem and defending one's point of view. It involves three stages of language acquisition during the lesson: presentation (presentation of new material in the context of a certain situation), practice (performance of exercises under the guidance of the teacher), production (types of activities that do not involve teacher's control and assistance) [11].

However, their difference lies in their application during learning. Thus, in the situational method, grammatical structures are presented in the context of quite possible situations, and the lexical material should correspond as much as possible to the realities of the modern life of military personnel. It is especially relevant for situational training according to special textbooks for military personnel: Campaign, At Ease, Breakthrough and Tactical English for Land Forces in Peace Support Operations. The situations proposed by their authors and the contextual approach used by the teacher provide a real opportunity for cadets to immerse themselves in the original situations of a serviceman's life of in both combat and civilian contexts. That is, in this situation, the learning process is built as a process of imitating the activities of future commanders and comes as close as possible to their future professional activities, the specifics of which must also be taken into account.

Speaking about the most successful activities during foreign language classes, we can offer role-playing games, during which students solve the emerging problems of certain situations using linguistic means. The following example is an illustration of how you can use the vocabulary on the topic "Peacekeeping operation". There is an ongoing conflict in the imaginary Mediterranean Muslim country of Yanubia. Each cadet or group of cadets represents a certain delegation in NATO. NATO convenes a meeting, on the agenda of which there are various issues that need attention in order to solve them. Each Group leader is provided with information about the capabilities of a given country, and the sizes of the existing problem in this conflict: Evacuation of EU Citizens, Mediation in the Conflict, Humanitarian Aid, Council's Political Position, etc. with described capabilities of one or another country. They must make the most acceptable decision and justify it on each of the points. The purpose of this type of activity is to give cadets the opportunity to solve life situations with the help of active lexical and grammatical material, making the learning process contextually analyzed and meaningful. This develops fluency of speech and grammatical correctness, enables students to react rapidly in communicative situations, and makes the use of basic grammatical aspects automatic.

In fact, in any of the three teaching methods, an important role is assigned to the teacher. It is the teacher who sets the conditions for accomplishing the task, guides the audience during task processing and gradually leads those who are studying to the right decision. Of course, the teacher's skills give the cadets the confidence that they complete the tasks independently, but it is the teacher who directs their work all the time and acts according to the scheme: preparing the material for the lesson (thinking about all possible situations and possible solutions to the given problem), setting the task - completing the task - assessment of task performance. At the first stage, the teacher must make sure that the students fully understand their task (they understand the instructions, correctly interpret words and phrases, know the translation of new lexemes, etc.). By "language task" we understand actions that we perform using active language material and that fall under the category of real life situations: working with documents, ordering goods and services, formal and personal correspondence, conducting briefings, terrain analysis and real opportunities, etc. At the next stage, the teacher helps students to complete the task using various means. And exactly at this stage that all the developments and tools that are in the teacher's arsenal should help and accompany the cadet in solving the tasks. And at the last stage, the teacher checks the students' achievements, paying special attention to productive skills (writing and speaking).

The results of the research, the purpose of which was to determine what is the main internal motivator in teaching English to cadets, allows us to make an assumption that it is the skill of the teacher in the skillful employment of the latest methods is more effective for students than just the methods themselves.

Exactly these methods allow you to keep a balance between what the teacher gives and the cadet takes in the classroom. These methods allow you to develop all four basic language skills evenly, but only with the help of a teacher, they are effective and contribute to the improvement of both receptive and productive abilities of those who learn.

References

1. NATO STANAG 6001 (2014). Rivni movlennyevoii kompetentsiyi (5-ta redaktsia), Bryussel'.

2. Nakaz Ministerstva oborony UkraTy (08.08.2019) Osnovni zasady movnoi pidhotovkі osobovoho skladu u systemi Ministerstva oborony UkraTy (524/z/84).

3. International scientific journal "Grail of Science" | № 25 (March, 2023)

4. Nakaz Ministra oborony Ukraiiny (01.03.2021). Dorozhnia karta vdoskonalennia movnoi pidhotovky u Zbromykh Sylakh Ukrainy (na 2021-2025 roky). Vyluchyno z: https://www.mil.gov.ua /content /education/ doroznya_karta_2021.pdf.

5. Pometun, O. I., Pyrozhenko, L. V. (2004) Suchasnyi urok. Interaktyvni tekhnolohni navcl'ian^a. Pometun, O. I. (red.) Nauk.-metod. posibn. (p. 192). Kyiv: Vyd-vo A.S.K.

6. Tarnopol's'kyi, O. B. (2019). Metodyka vykladannia inozemnykh mov ta yikh aspektiv u vyshchiy shkoli. Tarnopol's'kyi, O. B., Kabanovyi, M. R. (red.). Pidruchnyk (p. 7.). Dnipro: Universytet im. Al'freda Nobelia.

7. Tul's'ka, O. L. (2013). Vykorystannya metodiv sytuatyvnoho modelyuvannya u formuvanni profesiynoyi kul'tury maybutnikh ekolohiv. Naukovi zapysky Rivnens'koho derzhavnoho humanitarnoho universytetu, (7 (50)), 187-189.

8. Skrynnyk, Z. E. (2012). Provedennia indyvidual'noho zaniattia za metodom analizu konkretnykh navchal'nykh sytuatsii (case-study) (p. 145). L'viv: LIBS UBS NBU.

9. Surmyn, YU., Sydorenko, A. (2002). Sytuatsyonnyi analiz ili anatomiya keismetoda (p. 286). Kyev: Tsentr innovatsyi i razvitiya.

10. Scrivener, J. (2011), Learning teaching: the essential guide to English language teaching. Oxford: Macmillan Education.

11. Simon Mellor-Clark, Yvonne Baker de Altemirano (2009), Campaign - English for the Military (2), Oxford, Macmillan Publishers Limited, 113 p.

12. Parrott, M. (1993), Tasks for language teachers: a resource book for training and development. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press.

13. Міжнародний науковий журнал "Грааль науки" | № 25 (березень, 2023)

Размещено на Allbest.ru