Методика преподавания языка | Филологический аспект: Методика преподавания языка и литературы Методика преподавания языка и литературы №01 (12) Январь 2022-Февраль 2022

Возможности организации информирования в процессе обучения курсантов иностранным языкам

Шашкова Валентина Николаевна
канд. филол. наук, доцент, профессор кафедры иностранных и русского языков, Орловский юридический институт МВД России имени В.В. Лукьянова, Россия, г. Орёл, valentina.shash@mail.ru

Аннотация: Статья рассматривает отдельные возможности использования информирования на практических занятиях по иностранному языку. Информирование рассматривается в двух значениях: как целевой компонент высказывания и как вид речевого воздействия на собеседника с целью введения его в курс дела относительно инноваций в профессиональной сфере деятельности. В последнем значении информирование может быть использовано в рамках индивидуальной работы, парной работы и групповой работы. Отдельные виды деятельности отражены в статье в качестве иллюстрации заданий, нацеленных на информирование обучающихся и дальнейший перевод информации во внутренние регуляторы действий.
Ключевые слова: информирование, языковая подготовка, иноязычная профессиональная коммуникативная компетенция, профессионально ориентированные тексты.

Shashkova Valentina Nikolaevna
Cand. Sci. (Philology), associate professor, professor of the Chair of foreign and Russian languages, Orel Law Institute of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation named after V.V. Lukyanov, Russia, Orel

Abstract: The article considers individual possibilities of resorting to creating awareness in practical classes in a foreign language. Creating awareness is regarded in two meanings: as a communicative target of the utterance and as a type of communicative impact on the interlocutor in order to bring him/her up-to-date on innovations in the professional field of activity. In the latter sense, creating awareness can be used within the framework of individual work, paired activities and group work. Certain types of activities are reflected in the article as an illustration of tasks aimed at informing language learners and further transferring information into internal regulators of actions.
Keywords: creating awareness, language training, foreign language professional communicative competence, professionally oriented texts.

The modern era, the era of the digital economy, requires the restructuring of the entire way of life based on digital technologies and digital skills of people. Digital transformation is a process of transition to digital economy, which includes not only the transition to new technologies, but also a gradual restructuring of the usual management principles, a change in approaches to human resource management. In such a broad context, the question arises about the possibilities of introducing elements of digital transformation and other professionally related innovations into the language training of cadets of educational organizations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

The goal of teaching foreign languages ​​in educational institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia is to achieve a level sufficient for the practical use of a foreign language in future professional activities. N.D. Galskova claims that “the content of training and its organization reflects the necessary information that constitutes an indicative basis (specific vocabulary, language and speech clichés, grammar material)” [1, p. 67]. Of course, the discipline “Foreign Language” is peripheral in mastering the profession. For a future specialist, the focus of attention when learning a foreign language is professionally significant information, a professionally oriented text that gives directions for improving activities in law enforcement agencies based on the experience of other countries or the Russian Federation. Starting from the 2nd module of the curriculum, the text, printed or sound, selected to work on the development of various aspects of foreign language professional communicative competence, should be professionally oriented. Profiling in the language training of cadets and trainees through the inclusion of professional texts in the educational process allows us to simultaneously emphasize the importance of innovations for the professional activities of police officers.

Pedagogical discourse in the legal sphere of communication is realized in practical application through educational and / or legal texts written in a specialized sublanguage, which are special-purpose texts that differ from other types of texts in their internal textual properties and external parameters of their functioning. Since the informational basis of any communicative act is a message in a text form, the selection or creation of textual material in English is an integral part of the educational process. Creating awareness of innovations in the sphere of professional activities is conducive to the development of foreign professional communicative competence.

Creating awareness is understood in the article in two senses: firstly, it is the main communicative intention of the texts of pedagogical discourse; secondly, it is a kind of communicative impact on the interlocutor in order to bring him up to date on the state of affairs in a certain area of ​​communication. Under the conditions of pedagogical discourse, a typical tuple of verbal communication is realized by the teacher as the addresser and by the cadet as the addressee.

Among the forms of work with information which meet the requirements of the curriculum of the discipline “Foreign Language”, you can use the individual work of the cadet to search for certain information, group work to discuss topical issues of the content of the topic, as well as pair work, the optimal scope of which is work at improving language skills.

Work with texts of the professional subject matter concerns not only the development and introduction of new technologies in the work of law enforcement agencies, but also the adoption of new laws and even changes in the principles of work of government bodies. Let us specifically clarify that the information itself is essential for us in this case. Whether this information is presented in the form of a text in Russian with the task to present a summary in English, or it is presented in English with the task to formulate an evaluative statement, or the cadets work with the language aspects of the statement, is determined by the specific tasks of the class and the level of preparation of the group.

Individual work is best suited for self-study and has the goal of consolidating and improving the knowledge, skills, and abilities gained.  As part of individual work you can organize and search for information and work with informative texts in terms of expressing personal opinions on the issues at hand. The cadet-centered approach in the teaching of a foreign language is carried out with the help of new information technologies and Internet resources that allow teachers to take into account the ability of students, their level of mastering the language. The means of taking into account the individual characteristics of cadets are materials for various didactic purposes, various genres of texts, variable topics that allow for a differentiated approach to cadets. Thus, texts of articles of professional content are sent to students to read during self-study, and in practical classes in the classroom they are offered types of work aimed at the formation and functioning of integrated language skills, as well as at the development of verbal skills.

At the first stage of the practical class you can discuss with students the topic of the article in general, without touching the details. At the next stage they are offered a number of tasks for recognition and consolidation of new vocabulary: 

- match words with definitions and make sentences with these words;

- give synonyms / antonyms / hyperonyms for the suggested words from the text;

- explain the meanings of the words and phrases in bold;

- review the words and phrases in the box, use them to fill in the gaps in the sentences;

- form words of different parts of speech from the proposed lexemes; 

- explain in your own words the meanings of the following terms.

Among the basic skills of any graduate, worked out in the process of his language training, is working with texts. This implies the ability to determine the semantic milestones of the text, highlight the main and secondary information, determine the compositional and thesis-argumentative structure of the text, cover the topic given in the source text by searching and studying other information sources, etc. Various options for working on checking understanding in this regard contribute assimilation of factual information. Such tasks as a multiple matching format or a  gap-fill format, after the formation of a general algorithm of actions, can be given as individual work to cadets with the obligatory organization of control over the results of the task in a practical class.

The basis of the theoretical support for the process of developing the discursive competence of cadets is the thesis of the selectivity of language means used in texts related to a certain area of ​​communication. For groups with a high level of language proficiency, it is possible to offer not just informative texts, but to provide several versions of the same item of news in different genres and types of discourse and ask cadets to identify the type of discourse and the genre. To consolidate this work, it is reasonable to offer an item of the news in Russian and ask to present it in 3-4 specified genres: an article in a magazine, a message in the news feed, an advert, an information board message.

Paired activity is mainly used to do language exercises and conditional speech exercises. In practice, paired activity is widely used to drill the language material, when students are offered tasks for substitution, filling in the gaps, transformation exercises, etc. All these tasks can be offered to comprehend the language form of a new lexical material.

Group work is used, as a rule, when performing speech exercises and tasks for the joint search for information and the group resolution of a problem situation. In practical classes, the following activities are used to help form and develop speaking skills: description of phenomena, objects, people; role-playing games; case studies [2; 3]; academic discussions [4]. So, tasks can be typical: act out the situation of stopping the vehicle in order to check the driver’s documents; interrogate a witness of the robbery; act out a situation in which you as a district commissioner draw up apartment cards and talk with residents. The main requirement for such assignments is that they should relate to the field of professional activity, should include variable implementation scenarios, as well as a mandatory analysis of both the chosen communicative strategy and the tactics that form it, and an assessment of the adequacy of the language means used to realize the communicative macro-goal in every case. Another format for working with informative texts involves a brief news report of professionally oriented information in the form of a brainstorming session. For example, after the presentation of news reports by cadets, it is proposed to categorize them according to the thematic principle. Thus, listening to a message and checking the level of understanding are realized, on the one hand, as well as the formation of the skill of using logical operations in solving intellectual and cognitive problems. This type of task has a huge didactic potential in relation to working with cadets and teaching them a foreign language.

Thus, even a quick overview of the possibilities of introducing texts saturated with professionally oriented information into the process of language training of cadets of educational establishments of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation allows us to draw conclusions about the advisability of involving different ways of creating their awareness of the innovations in the professional sphere and work with this communicative intentions as part of the development of various types of speech activity and work on vocabulary. The introduction of modules of professional information into the educational process, subject to the development of appropriate skills, not only makes the educational process professionally oriented, but also helps increase the motivation of students, thereby adapting them to the perception and dissemination of professionally significant information in English.

1. Galskova N.D., Gez N.I. The theory of teaching foreign languages. Linguodidactics and methodology: teaching aids for students acquiring the specialty “Theory and methodology of teaching foreign languages and cultures”. 6th edition. Moscow: Academia, 2009. 336 p.
2. Martynova E.V. The method of situational analysis in the classroom in a foreign language // Proceedings of the Russian University of Economics named after G.V. Plekhanov: Electronic scientific journal. Moscow, 2016. № 1 (23). Pp. 178-184.
3. Shashkova V.N. Selected aspects of using case method in the educational process // Science. Research. Practice: themed collection of papers from international conferences by HNRI “National development”. Saint Petersburg, 2019. Pp. 98-100.
4. Shashkova V.N. Using “Academic Discussion” technology in practical English classes with officer cadets and student officers in educational organisations of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia // Pedagogy. Theory & Practice. Tambov, 2021. Volume 6. Issue 3. P. 376-381.