ESTABLISHING A PROFICIENCY IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR FUTURE SPECIALISTS
Lina Smirnova (Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine)
Taking into consideration the problem of teaching English at non-philological faculties we normally put the question how we could do it effectively. Actually many internal and external factors influence how sufficiently students reach a new level in mastering a foreign language – from the way language is taught at the university to the student’s personality.
Nowadays the importance of personality has been reassessing and the issue has been addressed many times in various documents. For instance, in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment, one may read that the communicative activity of users/learners is affected not only by their knowledge, understanding and skills, but also by selfhood factors connected with their individual personalities, characterised by the attitudes, motivations, values, beliefs, cognitive styles and personality types which contribute to their personal identity [1, p. 105].
Nowadays in teaching English for future specialists we promote an intercultural approach for the development of the student’s whole personality together with his effective communication skills and competence as a result, cultural awareness, ability to work and adapt to multilingual and multicultural surrounding, as it is called the development of a sense of identity with the world. The task is so elaborate and difficult that “it must be left to teachers and the learners themselves to reintegrate the many parts into a healthily developing whole” [1, p. 1].
In this respect we have done a complete research relying on which we would stress the necessity to form among students such personality traits as openness, assertiveness, social responsibility and critical reflection, and the availability of relevant skills and professional skills that are productively integrated in future professional activities.
Openness is an individual property of a person who uses it to succeed in all sorts of activities, professional as well. Openness is authentic person’s disposition to new experiences, actions, attitudes, perception of the reality. It is the ability of future professionals to recognize the differences between cultures in the context of world perception and tolerance towards other cultures and the features of thier representatives.
We see assertiveness as a function of individual integrated structures associated with self-consciousness and self-respect, as a form of interpersonal behavior based on positive emotions, which helps to achieve life and professional goals without violating the rights of others.
In terms of socio-psychological explanation social responsibility consists of intrapersonal acts, mental states and individual awareness of how he is perceived and evaluated by others, how he understands others and what might be the consequences of different kinds of communication, cooperation, etc.
Critical reflection involves introspection, future specialist’s exploration of his inner world and social interaction upon the whole. Critical reflection correlates with the problem of professional self-consciousness [2, p. 31-38].
In an attempt to meet the demands we start with the aim of the course where we should definitely diversify the course to make it easier for the students to go abroad and perceive professional studies, to be a success in their career as well as we should diversify the course considering individual interests of the students.
Any current course of English for future specialists aims to achieve goals which are normally particularly significant for a student like clarifying the scope of communicative competence, taking onto consideration individual demands of students, formulating meaningful tasks for students etc. Nevertheless, the strategies a language teacher uses have a big impact on language learning at non-philological faculties.
For instance, offering an immersion experience (here we mean reaching multiple learning styles) helps future specialists connect the language learning not only to their everyday lives but also to their further professional interests. Here we may speak about short-term (like watching a film or some other professionally oriented video material in English or creating and performing presentations in English etc.) and long-term immersion experience (like working at the project based on interdisciplinary connections where learning English becomes more meaningful for students when ideas and concepts are connected through the different perspectives offered by various project goals).
Providing opportunities for inquiry and exploration is profound as well. Students get more excited about their learning English when they have the opportunity to inquire and explore into the field of their future specialization. The immersion experience will enable students to experientially explore future career directions and academic interests in terms of mobility.
Immersion experiences should:
- enhance and deepen the connections between practical skills in learning English and professional activities;
- encourage the application of skills to practical (including scholarly) challenges; support and enhance vocational discernment and exploration; promote a sense of personal responsibility in students in global and professional areas;
- experience collaborative, social learning and work environments including teamwork and problem solving; demonstrate the ability to reflect critically on practical achievements in English.
Our focusing on the development of modern student’s personality traits through strategies of professionally oriented training English allows for more meaningful understanding its goals among students, the application of knowledge and improved retention, which facilitates big picture thinking.
References:
- Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEFR)[https://ru.scribd.com/document/21499777/Common-European-Framework]
- Smirnova L. L. Sociocultural competence in the structure of training teachers of foreign language in Poland. – Manuscript.