Педагогические науки/ 2. Проблемы подготовки специалиста

Ніколаєнко О.В.,

Ушата Т.О.,

Чернігівській державний інститут економіки і управління

computerized Conditions of the students’ English language communication written competence forming

The changes of the international communication means have necessitated the level of specific foreign languages written communication competence increasing and due to it the graduating students’ competitiveness providing. The higher educational establishments of Ukraine (HEE) have responded to the modern society requirement, having set written communication teaching as one of the goals.

The researchers who have addressed the problem of foreign languages business written communication and written communication for specific purposes are A. Boiko, N. Gromova, Ye. Gurevych, O. Pinska, A. Shcherbak. The following foreign researchers, such as J. Flowerdew, V. K. Bhatia, M. Halliday, G. Кress С. Tribble, J. Swales, F. Hermanns, D. Brown, B. Burnette, S. Harris, W. Rivers, have investigated the problem of approaches to written communication teaching. And with it, despite of the research results of mentioned scientists the question of business written communication training at HEE is not still inquired and especially in the light of the increasing role of the students’ independent work in the environment of Bologna system with computer technologies using.

The carried out research makes us conclude that the specific materials being used in computer technologies in the process of SIW are: the students’ independent learning activity activation, mediated SIW regulation by lecturers, a student’s own management of SIW, feedback providing. The investigation of different approaches to the teaching of writing makes us choose a genre approach as one that regards written speech in social context and meets future specialists’ requirements.

The process of written speech teaching research on the basis of a genre approach and the investigation of students’ requirements allow us to define a set of characteristic features, which testify favourably this approach providing, and define the types of learning activity to form business written communication competence among the students. Thereto the presentation of language material by force of a prepared speech unit and learning terminological word-combinations fully in ‘prepared blocks’, as firm non-idioms, is a priority method of business written communication skills and habits forming. The analysis of the scientific research in the field of the component context of education content allows us to select minimal speech material, which is enough to provide foreign languages proficiency as the means of written communication. To select speech units you should take into account their ability to organize and support communication.

Following on Yu. Passov’s judgement, as the unit of selection we have taken ‘a statement’ [8, с. 147-148]. This term is opposed to a traditional ‘sentence’. A statement can be at the word-forming or word-combination level proved by a sentence or a text due to which the process of business written communication is making.

On the basis of theoretical research results there has been developed subsystem of drills to form business written communication competence which includes 4 groups of exercises: 1) to learn knowledge, to form habits and skills to know a genre and a content and an organizational structure of the text; 2) to form habits and skills to write business letters; 3) to upgrade habits and to develop skills to create business letters; 4) to form habits and skills to edit and upgrade written text.

On the first leg - a receptive one – it is included a group of exercises to form habits and skills to know a genre and a content and an organizational structure of the text and also to upgrade reading skills. The total goal of the group is to introduce students to authentic modes of business letters. It draws students’ attention to the understanding of communicative intentions of the authors and the analysis of letters’ structural integrity aspects.

On the second leg – a receptive and productive one – there is the second group of exercises which help to form habits and skills to write business letters. Among them there are receptive and productive and communicative exercises to insert certain words or phrases, to rearrange phrases or paragraphs of the letter, to expand or finish sentences, to rearrange words, to complete the text using separate sentences, to translate sentences with idioms and cliché, to correlate sentences or their parts from two different letters.

The goal of the third, productive, leg is to upgrade habits and to develop skills to create business letters. Exercises of this group can be divided into writing separate parts of the letter and writing letters on given educational situations with verbal and non-verbal patterns.

The fourth, final, leg is the level of self-regulation, which includes written by students letters checking, notably: sequence of written material; the presence of notional chains, structural and compositional aspect of the text; the conformity with a text style, a genre, spelling and punctuation; reduction of unnecessary elements; establishment of different letter’s parts connection and etc..

Due to this subsystem there was developed a set of exercises accordantly with four legs of educational activity taking into account principles of educational material selection. The criteria of educational material selection are following: at the text level – authentic character of the text, its professional and practical value, genre adequacy, social and cultural value; at the level of statement – the criterion of taking into consideration the communicative intentions of the author and the criterion of frequency of use.

The complex of exercises consists of two parts. Part I is to form habits and skills business writing taking into account general characteristics of business letters. Educational material of Part I is a complete set of typed different business texts and exercises, a text-book.

Part II is to form habits and skills to create business letters of different types. It consists of seven deductive units – modules, each of them teaches how to write business letters of a certain type. Part II is for independent extraclass work of two variants: a) using typed text-book, b) computer program use. Here are some examples of exercises of Part I:

Example I.

The goal: to learn knowledge how to define the sphere and situation of business written communication:

Activity: Read the following parts of letters. Identify the area of professional written communication. You may choose from these: trading, banking, taxation, education, accounting, medicine, tourism, insurance, hotel business, entrepreneurship, and advertising.

А

Dear Sirs,

I would be very grateful to your company if I only could use such a wonderful chance to have study practice in the USA where I might improve….

В

Dear Sirs,

We enclose your statement for the second quarter of the current year. We should be obliged if you arrange for this amount to be paid over as soon as possible.

C

Dear policyholder,

Your life insurance contract has been validly brought about on the basis of your application and the policy issued to you. We must, therefore, inform you that no rescission is possible in terms of your request that the policy be retroactively terminated with a full refund of premiums paid.

Examle II.

The goal: to form habits of:

¾ to use speech means, adequate to communication situation;

¾ to use stylistic, grammatical and punctuation means.

Activity: Finish the letters.

1. Dear Customer,

I am pleased to send you an advanced copy of our latest catalogue which contains full details of the most up-to-date office and information technology equipment

2. Dear Sirs,

I also have a lot of experience in the area of finance and accounting. Between 1988 and 1993 I worked in the auditing department of Schwartz and Kleinman

3. Hello, Teresa,

This is just a short note to remind you about Monday's visit from Chalked Asao of the Bahrain Investment Council. Please don’t forget to bring a comprehensive list of our client base

4. Dear Sir,

I would be grateful if you could send me your current corporate rates for single rooms with а bath. I would also appreciate some more information about

As it was said, being aimed at the forming habits and skills to create business letters of different types exercises of Part II were put into effect through computer program. Training and controlling computer program (TCCP) is the means of organization of independent work providing studying educational material of module “Business Correspondence” from the course of Business English.

TCCP is based on play educational activity and must consist of control and self-control components, inquiry component and correction component. It also must have the following characteristics: 1) exercises formed in a system and aimed at learning knowledge, forming habits and skills of business written communication; 2) a group of exercises arranged in order of students’ activity control abatement; 3) each group of exercises includes receptive, productive and receptive and productive and self-control legs; 4) feedback providing; 5) exercises are economy to minimize timetable; 6) computer-assisted scores calculation.

Due to computer program and the complex of exercises there can be developed a mode of students’ independent work organization including such legs as: pre-computerized, at which students are introduced with manual how to work with TCCP; a combined leg providing combined methods of teaching – doing exercises from typed text-book, home assignment, working with inquiry component; computerized, at which students are working with the program. The fourth leg can be both computerized and post-computerized. That is to write a business letter according to the educational situation or an answer on the letter of complaints in the mode of Microsoft Word and can be saved in a detached file to be checked by the lecturer.

TCCP implementation in the process of teaching Business English shows new perspectives to intensify educational activity at non-linguistic HEE. However we must state that computer program has no alternative to a typed text-book. TCCP using in isolation from a text-book cannot realize the goal to form students’ business written competence in full. It can be approached by integrated use of TCCP and typed text-books. TCCP implementation widens psychological and pedagogical opportunities of lecturers to control students’ independent cognitive work meeting independent work modern requirements aimed at a student as an active participant of educational process.

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