Aims and Content of F.L.Teaching in secondary schools

Outline

1) Practical, cultural, educational and developmental aims of FLT in secondary schools. Their interrelation and interdependence.

2) Content of FLTeaching in secondary schools.

Aims of teaching are determined by the requirements of secondary school syllabus to the final level of knowledge, skills and habits the pupils are to acquire (to get, to assimilate) as a result of learning a F.L. at school.

Aims of F.L.teaching are influenced by the tasks of all-round development of a personality and up-bringing of children as well as by requirements of the syllabus of a certain type of school.

****************

Aims of teaching a F.L. are determined by the following conditions:

-a type school (special schools);

- specific character of the subject taught;

- social interest;

-personal needs of people.

There are 4 aims of F.L.teaching. They are:

· Practical;

· Educational;

· Cultural;

· Developmental.

The idea the Practical aim is to provide a sufficient level of knowledge and speech habits and skills (in Sp.,R.,Wr., LC) as well as some experience of independent work so that to enable schoolleavers to go on with their studies on their own.

According to the syllabus, practical command of a F.L. is specified in 2 aspects:

1) to teach a foreign language as a means of communication within the limits of the situations determined by the syllabus;

2) to read plain texts without a dictionary and more difficult ones – with the help of a dictionary.

Cultural aims make a substantional contribution:

· to the developing pupils’ linguistic outlook, as they get acquainted with some phenomena which are not typical of their mother-tongue (e.g. tenses, articles….);

· to developing the pupils’ communicative abilities;

· to widening the pupils’ communicative vision of the world, as it makes them acquainted with the life, customs and traditions of the people whose language they study;

· it also implies developing the pupils’ intellect, his voluntary and involuntary memory, his imaginative abilities, logical thinking, etc.

The cultural aim is realized within:

· critical, patient and creative attitudes to yourself and others, to a new culture, event, knowledge;

· the development of different character traits, outlooks, beliefs, moral-esthetic and emotional experience, different kinds of motivation and the abilities to use them to contribute successfully into the process of real and pedagogical communication;

· the development of the awareness of the new activities, new people civilizations;

· the development of the desire to cooperate and socialize;

· the keeping up cultural traditions of your own country and understanding and respect others’; to compare different cultures, to express a personal point of view on other cultures, problems as well as to use the knowledge, got from learning other subjects.

It is important to point out and note down that cultural aims are realized within the process of achieving practical aims.

Educational aim promotes formation of such features of character as diligence and abilities for independent work, persistence, concentration, inquisitiveness.

Educational aims are also realized within the process of achieving practical aims and presuppose to contribute to: -all-round development of a personality;

-widening the pupils; world outlook;

-moral education.

Educational aims can be achieved by means of:

· selection of language material;

· correct organization and conduction of a F.L. lesson and effective combination of its main components;

· choice of visual aids;

· the teacher’s manners and appearance;

· teaching the pupils to work with books on their own, e.g. independently.

*****************

The main idea of the Developmental aim is how to teach a learner:

· to develop his creativity, intellectual and cognitive abilities;

· to develop different types of memory (visual/audio, short/long-termed, voluntary/involuntary), attention, skills, necessary for creative activities;

· to develop mechanisms of anticipation, predicting, guessing, etc.;

· to develop the learners’ initiative, logical thinking. The abilities to start, to go on and to finish their communication.

Developmental aims develop creativity, intellectual and cognitive abilities of a person. The are achieved by means of different problem-solving tasks, guessing games, etc

The content of teaching a F.L.

Common European Framework of Reference, a document, where the foundations for an international comparison of objectives and qualifications relating to language learning and teaching are laid. The framework of reference describes what a language user can do in languages at a certain proficiency level.

Language Portfolio for adults outlines which proficiency level a learner has reached and which plans he has to extend his language competences in the future.

Portfolios have been worked out for 3 groups of learners:

1) young children (8-12) –A1 level;

2) adolescents (12-16) – A2 level;

3) young adults (16+) – B1-B2 levels.

The Portfolio promotes the insight into each own learning process so that an individual learner can design an efficient learning strategy.

Methodological principles of communicatively-oriented teaching :

· language as a means of communication;

· learner-based learning of a F.L.;

· integrative approach in teaching;

· using different types of activities, regimes and tasks;

· a teacher in the classroom is manager, motivator, stimulator, adviser, analyzer, negotiator, researcher, material designer, facilitator;

· a pupil is responsible for his studies:

a) he must find out the ways of learning, effective for him/her, cooperate with other pupils and learn from them;

b) pupils are active participants of communication, they should show their knowledge and interests in problem solving tasks and also initiate different speech activities;

c) they participate in the choice of texts, exercises, methods of teaching and evaluation of them;

d) should be able to enlarge their knowledge independently using different literature and reference books;

e) should be able to overcome difficulties and to talk about them with a teacher;

f) should be able to evaluate their own and their friends’ achievements in learning a F.L.

Communicative language competence is the ability of a learner to use all of 4 competences: sociolinguistic;

linguistic;

pragmatic

and strategic with the purpose of communicative tasks in main domains (spheres of communication) - communicative (personal and public) and informative (educational and professional).

The communicative language competence

The linguistic

competence The pragmatic (speech)

(habits of) competence Sociolinguistic Strategic competence

Ph., Gr., Lex.) (skills of R,Wr,Sp,LC) competence ) (rules and norms, governing which “strategy”, ways

relations between different and techniques of learning

social groups; fundamental and teaching a FL to choose

rituals, customs and traditions to achieve best results

in the functioning of definite

communities and countries).

Content of FLT is based on definite principles:

· repetition of functions and notions;

· step-by-step complication of difficulties, that means that content of studying should correspond to different levels of teaching;

· motivation, which implies the choice of domains, situations and problems for communication, which are typical for pupils’ life and close to them;

· potential of learning a FL gives knowledge for further improvement and using it in the professional spheres.

Domains – spheres of communication (actions), areas of concern in which the social life is organized. There are 4 domains, taught in secondary schools:

· The personal domain is centered on home life within a family and friends;

· The public domain studies a person as a member of the general public;

· The professional (occupational) domain, where a person is engaged in his/her job or profession;

· The educational domain – a person is engaged in the organization of his/her learning.

Principles of Methods of Foreign Language Teaching

Outline.

1)The Notion of Principles of Teaching.

2)Fundamental Didactic Principles and Their Aspect in Methods of F.L.Teaching.

3)Principles Characteristics of Methods of F.L.Teaching

4)Methods in F.L.Teaching.

The term “principle” introduces the notion of the leading basis thesis (propositions), regulating the process of teaching and educating the young generation.

****************

The Fundamental didactic principles

· Conscious approach;

· Activity;

· Individualization

· Visualization;

· Systematic approach.

****************

Principles Specific for Methods of F.L.T.

General Methodological Principles:

• of involving the pupils in the act of communication.

· of differentiation in teaching approach

• of coping with the mother-tongue of the pupils
• of dominating role of exercises
• of complex approach to organization of the language and speech material
• of all possible intensification of the teaching procedure.

Special Methodological Principles:

1. Principle of Teaching on the Basis of Speech Patterns.

2. Principle of Combination of Language Drill and Speech Practice.

3. Principle of Interrelation of All Language Activities.

4. The Principle Approximation in a Foreign Language Activity.

5. The Principle of Oral Approach.

5 aspects of communication at a lesson (by prof. Passov):

1. “Learn to speak by speaking” (M.West);

2. There is a lot of difference between oral exercises and oral speech exercises. The latter being characterized by implying speech task (motive) and communication partner. Communicational task can be real and conditional;

3. Thinking-in-words activity is a major requisite of initiative in speech;

4. Communicative value of the material studied;

5. Speech character of a class-period, which is manifested:

· In setting a communicative task;

· In organizational form of a lesson (a short conversation at the beginning of a lesson, setting the class to work, etc);

· In the teacher’s conduct, speech conduct including (as a communication partner).

*****************

A “teaching method” may be defined as a way of a teacher’s activity (work) and a corresponding way of the pupil’s activity aimed at solving a particular teaching task.

*****************

Methods of teaching: a) demonstration;

b) explanation;

c) organizing speech practice (exercises).

Requirements to exercises:

1.Ex. should always be in key with the aim of the lesson. If we aim at teaching dialogue, all the ex-ses must be directed at developing dialogue skills;

2.Ex-ses must correspond to the stage of forming a habit, (no mish-mash);

3.Each ex-se must be repeated 6-7 times’

4.Before doing the ex-se a teacher must give a direction (instruction and example of how to do it), because there is hardly a better way of disclosing the mechanisms necessary for doing an ex-se.

5.Communicative character of ex-ses. Every lesson should be full of ex-ses. If they are but few, the lesson loses its effect, the pupils lack interest.

Methods of Foreign Language Teaching

Teacher’s ActivitiesLearner’s Activities

E demonstration comprehension S

V (acquaintance) E

A L

L F

U explanation understanding E

A V

T A

I organizing drill realization (drill) L

O U

N A

organizing speech realization T

practice I

O

N

A teacher should sensibly combine different methods with due regard for:

Objective factors:

§ Teaching aims (what skills and habits are to be formed) reflect the choice of ex-ses”;

· a body of pupils (level of mastering the language, whether they learned this phenomenon before their psychological peculiarities;

· Teaching plan (how many lessons per day);

· Material equipment of school (whether there are any mechanical aids, home-reading books, newspaper available).

Subjective factors: personality of a teacher, his personal characteristics (tempo of speech, mobility, liveliness, his devotion to this or that method), as well as age peculiarities of the pupils.

Lecture # 4

Date: 2015-02-16; view: 3845