Экономические науки/2. Финансы и банковское дело

Доцент Морозова Л.А.

Дальневосточный федеральный университет, Россия

Language teaching for communicative fluency

This paper deals with the intensification of teaching English as a foreign language in Higher School at various levels of proficiency. It contains a classification of different types of communicative fluency activities which help to develop students’ speech ability.

Since foreign language teaching should help students achieve some kind of communication skill in the foreign language, all situations in which real communication occurs naturally have to be taken advantage of and many more suitable ones have to be created. Students do not want to discuss trivia; the interest which is aroused by the structure of the activity may be reduced or increased by the topic. When people have to work together in a group it is advisable that they get to know each other a little at the beginning. Once they have talked to each other in an introductory exercise they will be less reluctant to cooperate in further activities. One important use of warming-up exercises is with new classes at the beginning of a course. One of the pre-requisites of cooperation is knowing the other people’s names. A second one is having some idea of what individual members of the group are interested in. If you join the activity and let the class know something about yourself, the students are more likely to accept you as a person and not just as a teacher. A second use of warming-up activities lies in getting students into the right mood before starting on some new project or task and in providing relief after a period of intense effort and concentration or in rounding off the lesson with a smile.

Many of the activities are concerned with the learners themselves. Their feelings and ideas are the focal point of these exercises, around which a lot of their foreign language activity revolves.

For learners who are studying English in a non-English-speaking setting it is very important to experience real communicative situations in which they learn to express their own views and attitudes, and in which they are taken seriously as people.

Furthermore, learning a foreign language is not just a matter of memorising a different set of names for the things around us; it is also an educational experience. Since our language is closely linked with our personality and culture, use the process of talking about the students’ likes and dislikes. Learning to do this may bring about a greater awareness of their values and aims in life.

The process of learning is more effective if the learners are actively involved in this process. The degree of learner activity depends, among other things, on the type of material they are working on. The students’ curiosity can be aroused by texts or pictures containing discrepancies or mistakes, or by missing or muddled information, and this curiosity leads to the wish to find out, to put right or to complete. Learner activity in a more literal sense of the word can also imply doing and making things. Such activities force the students to read, to write and to talk in the foreign language as well as let them “play”.

Activities for practicing a foreign language have left the narrow path of purely structural and lexical training and have expanded into the fields of values education and personally building. The impact of foreign language learning on the shaping of the learner’s personality is slowly being recognised. That is why foreign language teaching – just like many other subjects – play an important part in education towards cooperation and empathy.

As teachers we would like our students to be sensitive towards the feelings of others and share their worries and joys. A lot of teaching/learning situations, however, never get beyond a rational and fact-oriented stage. That is why it seems important to provide at least a few instances focusing on the sharing of feelings and ideas. Some activities demonstrate to the learners that cooperation is necessary, other activities focus on the participants’ personalities and help build an atmosphere of mutual understanding.

Quite an important factor in education towards cooperation is the teacher’s attitude. If he/she favours a cooperative style of teaching generally and does not shy away from the greater workload connected with group work or projects, then the conditions for learning to cooperate are good. The atmosphere within a class or a group can largely be determined by the teacher, who – quite often without being aware of it – sets the tone by choosing certain types of exercises and topics.

So the main task of foreign language teaching/learning is communicative fluency as the final task of a foreign language communicative ability is determined as a capacity to control such ability under the circumstances of communicative task decision of intercourse.

If the activities material organize hierarchically, you should take into account the peculiarities of foreign language teaching of speaking as a process, consisting of three different stages:

1) putting language material into students memory;

2) working-out practical skills and a communicative ability to operate with this language material;

3) developing this communicative ability in order to use this language material in real communicative behavior or imitation of it. According to these stages the following types of activities can be used: l) elementary-training exercises:

a) Find English equivalents in the text to the following words or word combinations: 1) переедать, 2) алкогольные напитки, 3) штраф, 4) за рулём автомобиля, 5) медицинские расходы, 6) нелегальные наркотики, 7) старшеклассник, 8) вредить, 9) подросток.

or Give Russian equivalents to the following words or phrases: 1) an appetizer, 2) an entrée, 3) a side dish, 4) festive, 5) a church, 6) leisurely meal, 7) brunch.

b) Unscramble the words from the text: 1) ganeor (orange), 2) rovaic (caviar), 3) cirbocol (broccoli), 4) kimpnup (pumpkin ).

c) Odd one out: 1) butcher, chemist, clerk, photographer, mother. 2) street, traffic lights, car, helicopter, market, train. 3) bakery, café, cinema, grocery, supermarket, greengrocery.

d) Match the words with the opposite meanings:

1) generous, 2) hard-working, 3) exciting, 4) deep, 5) quiet, 6) ugly, 7) tidy, 8) careful.

a) mean, b) boring, c) lazy, d) careless, e) shallow, f) attractive, g) untidy, h) noisy.

e) Match the words with the appropriate definitions:

1) change, 2) dangerous, 3) wet, 4) windy, 5) serious, 6) exciting.

a) covered with water, b) not save, c) sincere, not a joke, d) with a lot of air moving, e) something that is different from before, f) not boring.

f) put the words in the categories;

Clothing/ Sports/ Workplace/ Adjectives of Personality/ Food/ Jobs/ Parts of the Body/ Adjectives of Appearance

1) coat, 2) carrot, 3) coach, 4) arm, 5) basketball, 6) beautiful, 7) friendly, 8) bank, 9) restaurant, 10) intelligent, 11) ugly, 12) soccer, 13) head, 14) lawyer, 15) cookie, 16) T-shirt.

g) Match the words with the pictures:

1) с a sports coat 2) _____ a tie 3) _____ suspenders4) _____ a briefcase with handles 5) _____ a sweatshirt 6) _____ leggings 7) _____ socks 8) _____ tennis shoes 9) _____ a sweater 10) _____ boots 11) _____ a belt 12) _____ a handbag 13) _____ pants 14) _____ a top 15) _____ a polo shirt 16) _____ a business suit 17) _____ a miniskirt 18) _____ a turtleneck 19) _____ a vest 20) _____ a pantsuit

ll) pre-communicative exercises:

a) Complete each sentence with one of the words in parentheses:

1) R.S.V.P. on a party invitation means that you should a) phone the host or hostess to respond b) come in time c) bring your own wine.

2) If you and your friend go out for dinner Dutch treat, a) you eat Dutch food b) you each pay for your own meal c) the meal is free.

b) Match the verbs with the appropriate nouns:

Verbs: boil, dial, dig, feed, pour, record, rent, tear, tidy, water

Nouns: a hole, a TV program, a video, some water, some coffee, the dog, the number, the plants, the room, your jeans.

c) What’s wrong? In each sentence there is one mistake. Find it and correct:

1) He looked me after for much time. 2) You need the courage to do such thing.

d) Give opposite to the following words: 1) war, friend, female, joy, niece, bride. 2) remember, lose, fail, ask, increase, stay.

e) Put the words below into the following text: a) about, b) have, c) another, d) much, e) them f) by, g) to ask, h) can, i) politics, j) still.

You -1- “break the ice” with strangers -2- talking -3- the weather: “Shame about the weather.” “Is it -4- raining?” or “Bit chilly today, don’t you think?” “When you -5- broken the ice like this, you can then go on to ask the person you are talking to how -6- money they earn. -7- good topic for conversation is work. However, people do not like talking about -8- except in general way, and you should avoid asking -9- what political party they vote for. On first meeting someone, it is also not appropriate -10- about their age or how much they weigh.

f) Think of the adjectives to the nouns from the text: 1) weather, conversation, stranger, person, weight.

g) Choose the correct answer to the following:

1) People you do tips in the U.S. a) policemen, b) firemen, c) delivery people, d) customs officials.

2) When bus drivers serve as guided tours-give them a) 1$, b) 5$, c) 10$, d) 2$.

h) Brainstorm round a word. You can use such exercises as vocabulary review and enrichment.

lll) communicative exercises. On this stage speech activities should be more complex. From lesson to lesson the constant increase of language creative students’ initiative is carried out. Information and opinion-gap exercises have to have some worth talking about. In this type of activities a problem approach in teaching is used. The problem tasks themselves range from imaginary to the more realistic. The latter provide situations which learners might conceivably have to face outside the classroom. Most of the problem-solving tasks require pair or group work throughout:

a) information gap exercise force the participants to exchange information in order to find a solution themselves:

1) Put the pictures into a logical order to make scrambled eggs. Then write the recipe using the adverbs: first, second, then, after that, and finally.

b) opinion gap exercises are created by exercises incorporating controversial texts or ideas, which require the participants to describe and perhaps defend their views on these ideas.

1) Think about how important you consider each quality, rearrange the list in order of importance, start with the most important.

Reliability, being a good listener, strength, honesty, intelligence, generosity, caution, being funny, stubbornness, helpfulness.

c) Another type of opinion gap activity can be organized by letting the participants share their feelings about an experience they have in common.

1) Choose the eight most useful items and rank them in order of usefulness if you are stranded on a desert island somewhere in the Atlantic. All you have is the swim-suit and sandals you are wearing. There is food and water on the island but nothing else. Here is a list of things you may find useful.

A box of matches, a magnifying glass, an axe, a bottle of whisky, an atlas, some metal knitting-needles, a transistor or radio with batteries, a nylon tent, a camera, ointment for cuts and burns, a saucepan, a knife and a fork, 20 meters of nylon rope, a blanket, a watch, a towel, a pencil and paper.

d) Detailed proof to presented thesis in the text or in the exercise.

1) What can you do? If someone in your class is giving a party, everyone has been invited except you.

2) What can you do? You see somebody dumping rubbish in the countryside.

e) Completion of given micro text.

1) Complete the text, think of a list of criteria which you would use in your decision if you are selection committee and you have to have to decide who may rescued.

The Earth is doomed. All life is going to perish in two days due to radiation. A spaceship from another solar system lands and offers to rescue twelve people, who could start a new would on an empty planet very much like Earth.

f) Making up the story according to given key words and expressions.

1) It was raining on the night of November2, 1981, near Horton, England. Andrew Cuitajar…

Key words: drive, wear, stop, hit, stand, highway, coat, boots, road, ghost; old-fashioned, dangerous, wet, high, tall

h) Comments of the reading.

1) Read a copy of a letter and write two telegrams for it, one with 24 words, other with 12 words.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I tried to ring you earlier today, but couldn’t get through for some reason. Last night in the Youth Hostel someone stole my money, my passport, my credit card and my camera. The police wasn’t very hopeful about getting my things back. I tried to get some help from Uncle John and Auntie Ann but nobody answered the door bell and the phone. I don’t know where or how I’ll sleep tonight.

Please, please, could you send some money as quick as possible. I wish I had the money for a telegram. I’ve got very little food left.

Love, David

i) Problem-solving exercises. The language which is needed for problem-solving activities depends on the topic of each exercise, but in general students will have to make suggestions, give reasons, and accept, modify or reject suggestions and reasons given by others.

1) You are going to be given a list of 14 occupations. You have to rank them according to two criteria. First arrange them in order in which these jobs are regarded and paid for in our society. Secondly make a list in which you show how important you think each job should be.

Dentist, taxi driver, secretary, accountant, policeman, lawyer, university professor, manager, shop-assistant, banker, librarian, actor, journalist.

j) Story-telling exercises have the aim to get the students to produce longer connected texts. For this they will need imagination as well as some skill in the freeing language. Story-telling activities more than a limited number of patterns and structures and these activities are best used as general revision.

1) Tell your version of a story using descriptive sentences with this basic plot.

You are walking in a wood; describe what it is like. Then you come to some water; describe what it is like. What do you feel about this water and what do you do about it? Next you find a key. Describe it and say what you would do with it. At the end of the wood there is a barrier. What is it like? What is on the other side? What do you do about it?

k) Discussions. The main intention of these exercises is, of course, to get the students to talk and to stimulate their interest and imagination. Thus some discussions make the students think about their values and priorities, others help them learn something about themselves. You can also use discussion activities to improve the atmosphere in the class and help students cooperate better with each other.

1) You are optimistic. Discuss such statement: “It’s good for your health if you do some sports.” Your friend is pessimist. And he discusses his point of view: “But sports like boxing or car racing are dangerous.”

I would like to say about the teacher’s role. A lot of the activities will run themselves as soon as they get under way. The teacher then has to decide whether to join in the activity as an equal member (this may sometimes be unavoidable for pair work in class with an odd number of student) or remain in the background to help and observe. Whatever method is chosen, the teacher should be careful not to correct students’ errors too frequently. Being interrupted and corrected makes the students hesitant and insecure in their speech when they should really be practicing communication. The first essential requirement is a relaxed and friendly atmosphere in the group. Only then can the aims of these activities be achieved: cooperation and understanding.

Literature:

1. Н. А. Базаров. Обучение умению работать над иноязычными текстами. Иностранные языки в школе. М. : Просвещение, 1981, №2, с. 51-53.

2. Калытяк Л.А. Eating the American Way. Владивосток : Изд-во ТГЭУ, 2007, 260 с.

3. Калытяк Л.А. Shopping the American Way. Владивосток : Изд-во ДВГАЭУ, 2006, 153 с.