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Tatiana Pavlovna Sazukina,
PhD of Philology Science, assistant professor of the Dept. of English professional of the Odessa National Maritime University. Сазикта Тетяна naeMieHa,
кандидат фiлологiчних наук, доцент кафедри професшног англшськог мови Одеського нащонального морського утверситету. Сазыкина Татьяна Павловна,
кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры профессионального английского языка Одесского национального морского университета.
CASE STUDIES METHOD IN TEACHING THE PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE AT HIGHER SCHOOL
Abstract. The article is dedicated to the analysis of the application of the case studies method, which for a rather long period of time has been used for teaching business, managers, lawyers, doctors and in the sphere of social sciences, for teaching the professional English language, with the aim of defining to what extent students use the material learned previously, in real situations. On the grounds of analysis of theoretical sources and pedagogical practices, the author offers a direction for searching the most efficient approaches and ways of solving the question of developing the problematic active basis for teaching the professional English language in the context of the case studies method implementation.
Keywords: English language, higher school, innovation training methods, case studies method, problematic active grounds of training.
МЕТОД КЕЙС СТАД1З У ВИКЛАДАНН1 ПРОФЕСШНО1 АНГЛШСЬКО! МОВИ У ВИЩ1Й ШКОЛ1
Анотащя. Стаття присвячена аналiзу використання методу кейс стадiз, який вже протягом доволi довгого часу використовуеться при навчанш 6i3-несу, менеджерiв, юриспв, медиюв та у сферi сощальних наук, для навчання професшнш англшськш мовi з метою визначення, наскшьки студенти вико-ристовують пройдений матерiал у реальних ситуащях. Автор, на базi анал^ зу теоретичних джерел та педагопчно! практики, пропонуе напрям пошуку найбшьш продуктивних пiдходiв та способiв виршення питання розвитку проблемно^ево! основи навчання професшнш англшськш мовi в контекст впровадження кейс-методу.
K^40Bi слова: англшська мова, вища школа, шновацшш методи навчання, метод кейс стадiз, проблемно^ева основа навчання.
МЕТОД КЕЙС СТАДИЗ В ПРЕПОДАВАНИИ ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА В ВЫСШЕЙ ШКОЛЕ
Аннотация. Статья посвящена анализу использования метода кейс ста-диз, который уже довольно долгое время используется при обучении бизнесу, менеджменту, юриспруденции, медицине и в сфере социальных наук, для обучения профессиональному английскому языку с целью определить, насколько студенты используют изученный материал в реальных ситуациях. Автор, на базе анализатеоретических источников и педагогической практики, предлагает направление поиска наиболее продуктивных подходов и способов решения вопроса развития проблемно-деятельностной основы обучения профессиональному английскому языку в контексте внедрения кейс-метода.
Ключевые слова: английский язык, высшая школа, инновационные методы обучения, метод кейс стадиз, проблемно-деятельностная основа обучения.
Formulation of the problem. The
most topical problem of modern methods of foreign languages teaching is directing the process of training to the active creative intellectual work of students in the context of developing their analytical constructive skills, formation of their methodical competence, which is possible due to the situational or case method. Many researchers-methodologists define the case method as an innovative method of training students at higher schools, which comprises all specific features of the subject "Professional Foreign Language" and forms the necessary knowledge, skills and activities. The case method is directed to the solution of a definite specific problem, but this problem is not presented ready-made, it is formulated by the teacher depending on the real training situation. The current problem is defined during the teaching process of a special aspect of a professional foreign language (gram-
mar, lexical training or communication) training process.
Analysis of recent research and publications is made by Y. P. Surmin [1], D. L. Rogers [2], D. Brown [3], J. C. Richards, Thomas S. C. Farrell [4], R. Benbunan-Fich, S. R. Hiltz [5], N. V. Akinfieva [6], O. V. Bobienko [7] and others, showed the problems facing the case studies method implementation in the process of teaching higher school students. There is described the origins of the case method as it appeared in business and economics training. Later on it was modified for humanitarian training, though many elements of the case studies had been used in language teaching as situ-ational exercises. At present, there are numerous controversies between the necessity of implementation of innovative methods of training and the absence of elaborations concerning the case studies method. Some of them are as follows: 1) lack of theoretical
works concerning the use of the case studies method in teaching English; 2) absence of theoretical grounding and description of the process of building-up a training methodical case with the necessary element, such as algorithm, integrating the context of this process and its psychological and pedagogical aspect.
The above described controversies make it possibleto formulate and frame out the context of the problem under analysis, namely the necessity of theoretical grounding and practical implementation of the case studies method into the training process of building up the methodological competence of the professional English language teachers and gaining practical skills by their students. There should be studied the hypothesis that the process of formation of the methodological competence of the English language teachers and, correspondingly, acquisition of the practical skills by the students will be more efficient provided the case studies method is implemented and directed to the development of the analytical-constructive and organizational skills and abilities.
There should be systematized the main devices of training activities when the students work step-by-step. Programs for coping with such activities with concrete methods and ways of work, together with the store of additional special materials are expected to be elaborated. Informational basis of problem situations for teaching English is to be created as the ground for training-methodological cases. The most productive types of training-methodological cases need to be described and introduced into the training practice.
The aim of the article is to solve the problem formulated above. It is to find the most effective directions and means of building up the problematic active basis of teaching in the process of implementation of the casestudies method. The aim can be achieved due to the following factors: developing students' skills in determining objectives; independent working out the ways for the solution of the necessary tasks; activating and intensifying intellectual activities in the process of solution of the problem; determining the direction of the whole training process to the intensive organization of the students' thinking process; efficient realization of the students' creative activities formation process by means of developing their analytical constructive abilities.
The following tasks for the solution of the problem are expected to be solved: 1) to present the systematized description of the case studies method in teaching English; 2) to give systematized methods contents for developing the students' skills in learning English; 3) to analyze innovative teaching methods in connection with the case studies and find out their common features and differences.The subject of research is the case studies method in teaching foreign languages. The object of research is implementation of the case studies method in teaching the professional English language in practice and its theoretical grounds.
Presenting of the main material. Teaching a foreign language, teachers should bear in mind that many students are more inductive than deductive personalities, which means that they learn better from examples than from logical development starting with
basic principles. The use of case studies can therefore be a very effective classroom technique. Whether to use a simple scenario-type case or a complex detailed one depends on the teacher's course objectives.
Most case assignments require students to answer an open-ended question or develop a solution to an open-ended problem with multiple potential solutions. Requirements can range from a one-paragraph answer to a fully developed group action plan, proposal or decision. Most standard cases have these common elements:
• A decision-maker who is grappling with some question or problem that needs to be solved.
• A description of the problem's context (a law, an industry, a family, everyday situation).
• Supporting data, which can range from data tables to links to URLs, quoted statements or testimony, supporting documents, images, video, or audio [9].
Case assignments can be done individually or in teams so that the students can brainstorm solutions and share the work load. A major advantage of teaching with case studies is that the students are actively engaged in figuring out the principles by abstracting from the examples. This develops their skills in: 1) problem solving;
2) analytical tools, quantitative and/ or qualitative, depending on the case;
3) decision making in complex situations; 4) coping with ambiguities; 5) learning communication with people of various groups.
In the most straightforward application, the presentation of the case study in class establishes a framework
for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations. Teachers may choose to use several cases so that students can identify both the similarities and differences among the cases. An innovative approach to the case analysis might be to have students role-play the part of the people involved in the case. This not only actively engages students, but forces them to really understand the perspectives of the case characters. Videos or even field trips showing the venue in which the case is situated can help students to visualize the situation, which they need to analyze.
In order to motivate the students to complete the assignment before class as well as to stimulate attentiveness during the class, the teacher should grade the participation—quantity and especially quality—during the discussion of the case. This might be a simple check, check-plus, check-minus or zero. The teacher should involve as many students as possible. In order to engage all the students, the teacher can divide them into groups, give each group several minutes to discuss how to answer a question related to the case, and then ask a randomly selected person in each group to present the group's answer and reasoning.
Conclusions. Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case. The amount of emphasis placed on the use of the reading during the case discussion depends on the complexity of the concept or
method. If it is straightforward, the focus of the discussion can be placed on the use of the analytical results. If the method is more complex, the teacher may need to walk students through its application and the interpretation of the results. In order to start the discussion in class, the teacher can start with an easy, noncontroversial question that all the students should be able to answer readily. However, some of the best case discussions start by forcing the students to take a stand. Some teachers ask a student to do a formal "opening" of the case, outlining his or her entire analysis. Others may choose to guide the discussion with questions that move students from problem identification to solutions. A skilled teach-erdirects questions and discussion to keep the class on track and moving at a reasonable pace. Perspectives of further studies of the unsolved questions. Analysis of theoretical sources and pedagogical practices in teaching the English language makes it possible to determine the direction for investigation of the most efficient approaches and ways of solving the problem of development of the problematic active basis of teaching in the context of the case method implementation, namely: the necessity of development of the students' abilities to formulating an objective; their own abilities to cope with the process of working out professional tasks; activation and intensification of intellectual activities both of teachers and students; direction of the intact training process to the intensive thinking of the students; efficient realization of the students' creative activities formation process by means of developing their analytical constructive skills.
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