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Перспективы Науки и Образования
Международный электронный научный журнал ISSN 2307-2334 (Онлайн)
Адрес выпуска: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2022-2/22-03/ Дата публикации: 30.06.2022 УДК 372.881.11
Л. Н. Пономаренко, М. М. Суслопарова, М. Р. Ванягина, Н. И. Еремкина
Альтернативное оценивание как средство формирования иноязычной коммуникативной компетенции у магистрантов естественнонаучных специальностей
Современные требования рынка труда обуславливают необходимость качественной языковой подготовки студентов неязыковых факультетов, конкурентоспособность которых ставится в прямую зависимость от уровня владения иностранным языком. Практика преподавания иностранных языков показывает, что применение разнообразных технологий обучения иностранному языку требует другого подхода к оцениванию учебной деятельности студентов. В связи с этим цель исследования - выявить, какое влияние имеет использование альтернативного оценивания учебной деятельности магистрантов по иностранному языку на совершенствование их иноязычной коммуникативной компетенции.
В исследовании принимали участие 84 магистранта Вятского государственного университета, обучающихся по направлениям подготовки «Биология» и «Экология». В процессе исследования использовались следующие методы: теоретический анализ и обобщение научной литературы по проблеме исследования, наблюдение, экспериментальное обучение, анкетирование, анализ количественных и качественных результатов исследования. Для статистической обработки результатов был использован критерий Пирсона х2.
Авторами выделены следующие формы и методы альтернативного оценивания: электронное портфолио (iPortfolio), парная работа (We Create Activity), проект групповой работы (iLearn & Teach Project), технический отчет (Technical report), имитация собеседования (Mock job interview), которые приближены к реальным ситуациям профессиональной сферы будущих инженеров. Результаты эксперимента показали, что количество студентов с низким уровнем сформированности иноязычной коммуникативной компетенции уменьшилось с 40,5% до 17,9%, со средним уровнем увеличилось с 50% до 63,1%, с высоким уровнем увеличилось с 9,5% до 19%. Оценочное значение х2 статистики Пирсона 11,308 попадает в зону значимости различий в уровнях сформированности иноязычной коммуникативной компетенции.
Значимость проведенного исследования заключается в использованном подходе «оценивание как обучение» к решению проблемы формирования профессионально ориентированной коммуникативной компетенции. Такой подход обеспечил не только ориентацию студентов на профессиональные интересы, но и создал условия для самостоятельного получения знаний, повысил автономность студентов, что привело к осознанию необходимости овладения иностранным языком применительно к специфике профессиональной подготовки.
Ключевые слова: иноязычная коммуникативная компетенция, методы альтернативного оценивания, магистранты естественнонаучных специальностей
Ссылка для цитирования:
Пономаренко Л. Н., Суслопарова М. М., Ванягина М. Р., Еремкина Н. И. Альтернативное оценивание как средство формирования иноязычной коммуникативной компетенции у магистрантов естественнонаучных специальностей // Перспективы науки и образования. 2022. № 3 (57). С. 324-337. сМ: 10.32744^.2022.3.18
Perspectives of Science & Education
International Scientific Electronic Journal ISSN 2307-2334 (Online)
Available: https://pnojournal.wordpress.com/2022-2/22-03/ Accepted: 5 January 2021 Published: 30 June 2022
L. N. Ponomarenko, M. M. Susloparova, M. R. Vanyagina, N. I. Eremkina
Alternative assessment as a means of foreign language communicative competence formation in natural science undergraduates
Labour market modern requirements determine the need for high-quality language training for non-linguistic students, whose competitiveness is directly dependent on the level of foreign language proficiency. Teaching foreign languages shows that the use of various technologies requires a different approach to assessing students' learning activities. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to identify the impact of the use of alternative assessment of the students' educational activities on the improvement of their foreign language communicative competence.
The study involved 84 "Biology" and "Ecology" undergraduates of Vyatka State University. The following methods were used in the research: theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific literature on the research issue, observation, experimental training, questionnaire, analysis of quantitative and qualitative research results. Pearson's XA2 test was used for the result statistical processing.
The authors identified the following alternative assessment forms and methods: iPortfolio, We Create Activity, iLearn & Teach Project, Technical Report, Mock Job Interview. These forms and methods are approximated to the real situations of the professional sphere of future engineers. The results of the experiment showed that the number of students with a low level of foreign language communicative competence formation decreased from 40,5% to 17,9%, with an average level increased from 50% to 63,1%, with the high level increased from 9,5% to 19%. The estimated value of Pearson's x2 statistics 1 1.308 falls within the zone of the significance of differences in the levels of formation of foreign language communicative competence.
The significance of the study lies in the approach used "assessment as learning" to solve the problem of professionally oriented communicative competence formation. This approach ensured the student orientation to professional interests and created conditions for knowledge self-acquisition, increasing the student autonomy. In addition, it led to student awareness of the necessity to master a foreign language in relation to the professional training specifics.
Keywords: foreign language communicative competence, alternative assessment techniques, natural science undergraduates
For Reference:
Ponomarenko, L. N., Susloparova, M. M., Vanyagina, M. R., & Eremkina, N. I. (2022). Alternative assessment as a means of foreign language communicative competence formation in natural science undergraduates. Perspektivy nauki i obrazovania - Perspectives of Science and Education, 57 (3), 324337. doi: 10.32744/pse.2022.3.18
_Introduction
According to the UNESCO report Rethinking Education: Towards a global common good [20] we should recognize the diversity of alternative approaches to life and education. Such a view provides the opportunity to solve problems in our ever-changing world concerning contextual dimensions. Moreover, the language education policy of the Council of Europe declares the demand for new tools for language learning, teaching and assessment and recognition of the importance of taking into account the language contextual dimension of various education systems [8]. The language teaching system at the tertiary level is focused on the communicative and professional development of the future specialist.
In this regard, today any specialist's foreign language communicative competence is an important component of professional competence. Russian universities are faced with the task of high-quality language training of specialists capable of using a foreign language in their professional field. However, the current situation in universities shows that postgraduate students experience significant difficulties in mastering a foreign language aimed directly at professional use. Partly, this situation can be explained by the fact that a foreign language is studied at a university in the first and second years of undergraduate studies, then students do not have practice in mastering a foreign language. In addition, undergraduate students are aimed at mastering their future profession, therefore they are motivated for professional disciplines, where a foreign language is not included. At the same time, the master's program as the second stage of higher education implies a focus on research work, which is impossible without studying scientific literature in a foreign language, in particular, in English.
It should be noted that today there are no unambiguous, criteria-based methods for tracking and evaluating the levels of undergraduates' foreign language communicative competence in universities. Moreover, many technologies for teaching a foreign language have appeared to form students' foreign language communicative skills needed in a professional work situation. In this regard, the problem field of the technologies used in teaching a foreign language at a university, which contribute to the foreign language communicative competence improvement, has not been sufficiently studied.
The purpose of the article is to substantiate the necessity and possibility of using alternative assessment in the process of teaching a foreign language to natural science undergraduates.
Materials and Methods
The aim of our study was to identify how the alternative assessment of the undergraduates' foreign language educational activities impacts on the improvement of foreign language communicative competence in natural science undergraduates. The undergraduates of Vyatka State University (hereinafter referred to as VSU), who study "Biology" and "Ecology", took part in the research. The study was conducted by the Department of Foreign Languages for non-linguistic specialities.
To achieve this aim, the study addressed the following tasks: 1) to identify the alternative methods for assessing students' educational activities in the process of teaching a foreign language at a university; 2) to diagnose the initial level of foreign language communicative competence among the undergraduates studying in the field of study "Biology" and "Ecology" at VSU; 3) to conduct experimental training using alternative assessment of students' educational activities; 4) to analyze the obtained results using the methods of mathematical statistics.
To achieve the research objectives, the following methods were used: 1) theoretical analysis and generalization of pedagogical and methodical works on the problem of foreign language communicative competence formation; the use of alternative assessment in foreign language teaching, 2) experimental training, 3) observation, 4) close-ended questionnaire of the experimental group, 5) analysis and generalization of quantitative and qualitative research results.
During the study, we put forward a hypothesis that the use of alternative assessment methods will increase the level of undergraduates' foreign language communicative competence, as well as interest in the practical use of a foreign language for professional and academic purposes.
The study of the influence of alternative assessment methods while teaching a foreign language to natural science undergraduates on the level of their communicative competence was conducted from 2020 through 2021. 84 undergraduates took part in the experiment. The control group was not used in the experiment, since it was not possible to involve more students in the experiment.
The study included three stages, each of which had its own objectives. The task of the first stage (2020) was to identify the object, subject, aim, tasks, research methods, to analyze the psychological and pedagogical literature. The task of the second stage (20202021) is to carry out experimental training, the task of the third stage (2021) is to analyze and summarize the data obtained.
Literature Review
Numerous publications of recent years reflect innovative approaches and technologies to teaching professionally-oriented communication in a foreign language. A number of studies present the conditions and factors for the productive use of well-known technologies for teaching a foreign language in the educational process of a university. Thus, according to M. Teng flipped learning shifts students from passive to active learning and provides opportunities for increased academic success [26]. G. Reddan, B. McNally, J. Chipperfield claim that flipped classroom approach offers to have a great experience of constant and positive interactions with lecturers and peers, which in turn improves foreign language speaking skills [19]. The project-based learning (PBL) approach is increasingly being introduced into foreign language teaching. According to P. Chanpet, K. Chomsuwan, E. Murphy PBL is a highly complex and learner-centred approach suggesting formative assessment with ongoing feedback [5]. M. Sultana and S. Zaki consider that PBL can replace the traditional pedagogy and improve English teaching [25]. The study by O.G. Byrdina, E.A. Yurinova, S.G. Dolzhenko presents the content and technological support of the process of foreign language formation competence through CLIL in the conditions of a pedagogical
university. The experience of organizing tandem training of students by teachers from different scientific fields is presented [4]. The same researchers (O.G. Byrdina at al.) proposed and described the technology of active speaking CAST, aimed at the gradual formation of all components of foreign language communicative competence, where the focus is not on the language form, but on the process of speaking [3]. J. Netolicka, I. Smirnova analyzed the possibilities of blended teaching of professional English (Blended Education), where the tasks of a foreign language communicative competence formation are carried out by combining traditional classroom classes and students' independent work using computer learning tools [14]. E.M. Pokrovskaya, L.A. Lychkovskaya, O.A. Smirnova conducted a qualitative analysis of the formation of all foreign language communicative competence components in the process of interaction between undergraduates and employer representatives in a virtual environment [17]. American researcher D.J. Short described an approach that provides the creation of favourable conditions for the integrative teaching of the English language and the core subject [23]. This approach is called "Sheltered Instructions" and has been widely used in the US educational system in the last 20 years.
Judging by the published data in the scientific literature, the introduction of some methods and technologies contributes to the achievement of a higher level of foreign language communicative competence formation and increases students' motivation to learn a foreign language. These methods and technologies involve periodic self-assessment of communicative competence level [9], the orientation of the learning process to the real professional and communicative needs of students and a significant practical result [2], group work and cooperation in the classroom [1], the use of gaming techniques [27], as well as transferring a part of the educational activity to a virtual computer environment [15]. At the same time, these studies note a number of difficulties in introducing new technologies for a foreign language communicative competence formation, among which the main one is that participants have limited experience of working with these technologies.
Based on the fact that natural science specialists need a foreign language, first of all, as a means of obtaining professionally significant information, teachers often focus on the development of reading and translation skills. Speaking and listening are neglected. In addition, in the process of a foreign language communicative competence formation, there is a low internal students' motivation, as well as a fear of making mistakes during the utterance. The situation is complicated by the fact that students traditionally learn speech forms and the statement content in the form of a given text, which does not very effectively contribute to the formation of independence and initiative in the process of speech activity.
Recent studies on the problem of foreign language communicative competence formation have shown that in different countries one of the ways to solve this problem is an alternative assessment of students' learning activities. Evaluation of any educational process has two main reasons: evaluation can be used as constructive feedback for the teacher, and also as a measurable indicator of student competence [21]. L. Cheng and J. Fox distinguish between "assessment for learning" and "assessment of learning" [6]. Assessment of learning traditionally uses a classic test, often for administrative purposes, that is usually taken at the end of a term or school year and has little or no impact on learning. Assessment for learning takes place during the learning process in order to "decide where students are in their learning process, where they need to go and how best to get there" [6, p. 74]. It involves both teachers and students, and its role is to identify the strengths and weaknesses
of the learning and teaching process. An even more precise look at assessment in the context of teaching professional English is provided by I. Lee, who introduces a new term: "assessment as learning", defined as "an integral part of the assessment for learning". In this case, the student is seen as the link between the assessment and the learning process and has a crucial role in the assessment. Assessment as learning encourages students to control and self-regulate their thought processes and emphasizes the importance of increasing students' ability to work independently [13, p. 36]. In our study, assessment as learning will be considered by us as an alternative assessment of the undergraduates' professional skill formation in a foreign language.
Within the framework of the competency-based approach, such assessment is based on practice-oriented forms and methods that allow modelling situations close to real life, i.e. to professional and academic fields. Such assessment will focus on the communicative effect, the integration of professional and language skills, the interaction of the learning process and the speech product, open responses and attention to context, as well as the establishment of clear criteria for grading.
For natural science undergraduate students, such assessment can also be a motivating factor that involves them in mastering a foreign language. In the case of teaching a professional foreign language, the material related to the curriculum directly follows from the area of future engineers' interest, which increases the chances of forming students' internal motivation to learn a foreign language. The latter is expressed in the direct student's involvement in the cognition process, in the student's personal activity in a learning process, and as a result, in improving and raising the level of foreign language communicative competence.
According to N.D. Galskova and E.N. Solovova, foreign language communicative competence is considered as the ability and readiness for foreign language communication with native speakers, perception and understanding of partners, adequate expression of your thoughts and intentions [10; 24]. According to O.Y. Goykhman, foreign language communicative competence formation is aimed at mastering the following aspects by students:
• communicative genres that are professionally defining for a particular speciality. This skill is the main one because each genre has its own specifics and compositional structure according to the purpose of communication;
• the ability to use terms in a professional context;
• the basics of rhetorical knowledge and skills;
• rules for taking into account extralinguistic factors, which serve as important parameters for assessing the communicative situation. These include the communication circumstances, the specialist's personal qualities;
• patterns of determining the partner's status-role characteristics, as the success of communication depends on how the form and communication style are chosen [12, p.54]. Thus, we see that there is significant variability of foreign language communicative competence component composition identified by researchers, which indicates the complexity and diversity of communication in a foreign language.
In recent years, a number of Russian researchers is interested in the components composition of communicative competence in the frame of Council of Europe trends and initiatives. V. Safonova attempts to compare Russian and European research works on the
issues of communicative competence development and assessment. She concludes the importance of sociocultural competence in the modern plurilingual world [22]. E. Solovova considers the following competences: linguistic, speech, sociocultural, professional to be an integral part of the communicative competence [24]. The authors above-mentioned propose to bring the list of foreign language communicative competence components in the line with all European competences.
According to the European Framework of Reference for Languages, foreign language communicative competence is considered as "...comprising several components: linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic. Each of these components is postulated as comprising, in particular, knowledge and skills and know-how" [7, p. 130].
In our study, foreign language communicative competence acts as a multidimensional phenomenon, which manifests itself in the process and result of its structuring. Based on the European language competences, in our study, we used the following criteria and indicators of the formation of foreign language communicative competence formation (Table 1).
Table 1
Criteria, indicators and methods of foreign language communicative competence
Foreign Language Communicative Competence Components
Linguistic Sociolinguistic Pragmatic
Vocabulary range Sociolinguistic appropriateness Flexibility
Grammatical accuracy Thematic development
Phonological control Coherence
Diagnostic methods
Complex Testing
Table 2
Levels of foreign language communicative competence
Low Average High
- active vocabulary is poor; - the subject component of foreign language competence has not been formed; - there are a large number of grammatical and phonological errors; - they can establish basic social contact using simple everyday polite forms; - can adapt well-rehearsed, memorized simple phrases to specific circumstances through limited lexical substitution; - poor communication skills; they can link groups of words using simple connectors such as "and", "but", and "because"; - can find specific information in simple everyday texts, while a limited vocabulary prevents a complete understanding of what is read; - when listening to texts, they have significant difficulties in understanding their content - have a good vocabulary on issues related to the field of activity and the most general topics; - have a good command of simple language structures and some complex grammatical forms; - can articulate almost all the sounds of the language being studied; - can correct the distinction between formal and informal registers, but does not always do it correctly; - can develop a clear description, argumentation, expanding and supporting the main ideas with appropriate supporting details and examples; - can reformulate an idea to emphasize or clarify it; - can create text that is generally well organized and connected using different linkers; - can understand and interpret the main statements within the studied topics; - can use basic strategies for working with authentic professional texts - can understand and use correctly the whole range of professional vocabulary, can choose from several vocabulary options in almost all situations; - have a high degree of grammatical accuracy; - can articulate all the sounds of the target language with a high degree of control; - can give detailed descriptions and arguments, combining subtopics, developing on separate points, drawing conclusions; - can adjust their formality level (register and style) according to the social context: formal, informal or colloquial; - can change the style of expression and the sentence length effectively, using expanded vocabulary and word order; - can produce well-organized, coherent text; - while listening can understand foreign monologues or conversations; can convey the content of the heard text; - can use a variety of strategies for working with authentic professional texts; can convey the content of the read text
Results
Ascertaining stage
In the course of the ascertaining experiment, the primary diagnosis of "Biology" and "Ecology" undergraduates in English was carried out while studying the discipline "Foreign language in professional activity" at Vyatka State University. The purpose of the primary diagnosis was to identify the initial level of foreign language communicative competence formation using a comprehensive diagnostic test. The test included listening, reading, writing and speaking tasks, integrating foreign language and professional competences. Diagnostic and final test scores are presented as an arithmetic mean: the average score for writing and speaking and the average score for listening and reading. The maximum test score is 46 points. Of these, listening - 10 points, speaking - 14 points, reading - 10, writing - 12 points. The structure of the test is presented in Table 3.
Table 3
Comprehensive diagnostic test
№ Sections Tasks Number of tasks Number of points
1. Speaking Make a presentation on the topic of the student's master's research; take part in the job interview 2 14
2. Reading Gap filling; true/false/not given 2 10
3. Listening Multiple choice; fill in a table based on the received information 2 10
4. Writing Write a report on the experiment and its results; write a business letter 2 12
Table 4
The initial level of foreign language communicative competence formation
Total number of students Levels of foreign language communicative competence formation
Low Average High
number of students % number of students % number of students %
84 34 40,5 42 50 8 9,5
The primary diagnosis results for natural science undergraduates showed that 40,5% of students had a low level of foreign language communicative competence, 50% - an average level, and 9,5% - a high level. Among the productive skills, the skills to operate with professional vocabulary, use and control the necessary grammatical structures in speech, change the register of communication depending on the status of the communicants, and also create well-connected texts turned out to be insufficiently formed. Among the receptive abilities and skills, the ability to understand the presented text fully, as well as the ability to use a variety of strategies for working with a foreign text, turned out to be insufficiently formed too. In addition, the results showed that different aspects of foreign language communicative competence are formed unevenly.
Thus, the ascertaining experiment proved the need to include alternative assessment methods in the learning process, so that student training results are adequate to the modern requirements of natural science undergraduate professional training.
Formative stage
In the course of the formative experiment, we used alternative assessment methods while teaching English to natural science undergraduates. The purity of experimental teaching was ensured by unified methodological approaches in the experimental groups. These approaches were based on unified methods of organizing educational activities and unified criteria for evaluating the educational activities of undergraduates. The experimental training content corresponded to the professional activity of future engineers.
During the experimental training, we followed the pedagogical conditions identified by I.V. Garkusha: 1) choosing the best methods of teaching English, 2) using developing strategies for the teacher's psychological impact, 3) productive pedagogical communication, 4) stimulating communicative competence [11]. The purpose of experimental training is to improve the skills and abilities of foreign language communicative competence. The objectives of experimental learning are the orientation of a foreign language teacher to the characteristics and needs of non-linguistic students, motivating students to communicate in English, the use of educational technologies that ensure the development of cognitive activity, critical thinking, overcoming psychological barriers, the development of professionally oriented linguistic thinking.
In the system of unified assessment and control, a point-rating system of evaluation was used, which involved taking into account all the results of the undergraduate's educational activities. The following forms of alternative assessment were used during experiential training:
1. iPortfolio - an individual project aimed at promoting students' independent work [21]. During the term, students are to collect documents that are explained and studied in the lessons. We used employment documents written in English (European resume, a letter of application), as well as other types of texts that engineers will have to create in a real working environment: a set of instructions, tables, graphs, diagrams, diagrams, datasheets, specifications, etc.
2. We Create Activity, aimed at encouraging students to put their knowledge into practice and make English classes useful and challenging [21]. Students could choose any topic included in the curriculum and present it as a short video film, video presentation, poster, etc.
3. iLearn & Teach Project, where students collaborate with each other in groups of 4-6 and demonstrate how they learned a particular topic while teaching the rest of the group. The idea of this form of work was inspired by the statement of the Roman philosopher L.A. Seneca "While we teach, we learn" [16]. In the classroom, students presented an overview of the topic, created training tasks, formulated problematic questions in biology, chemistry and ecology, used PowerPoint in their instructions, presenting information in the form of graphs, diagrams, tables. Each group had about 60-90 minutes depending on the lesson plan.
4. Technical report - students are invited to choose any topic from the curriculum, often such a topic is related to undergraduates' research work. The chosen topic must be presented in English in the form of a technical report, which can be presented on paper or defended orally [16].
5. Mock job interview is carried out on the basis of the materials collected in the portfolio [21]. The teacher conducts an interview with an undergraduate who plays the role of a candidate for a certain position and answers both general questions and questions related to his future professional activity.
It should be noted that the above methods of alternative assessment are based on interaction in a foreign language, which involves various forms of interaction: in a group, in the student-student mode, student-teacher, student-group of students, teacher-group of students, while the language barrier and the fear of making a mistake are removed. In addition, the use of alternative assessment methods can increase motivation and interest in the use of foreign language skills and abilities in various areas of the professional sphere.
Control stage
After experimental training of natural science undergraduates in professional English using alternative assessment, a second diagnosis of the foreign language communicative competence formation was conducted. The results of the control experiment are presented in comparative table 5.
Table 5
The achieved level of foreign language communicative competence formation
Total number of students Levels of foreign language communicative competence formation
Low Average High
number of students % number of students % number of students %
84 15 17,9 53 63,1 16 19
The results of the control experiment showed that the number of students with a low level of foreign language communicative competence formation decreased from 40,5% to 17,9%, i.e. by 22,6 percentage points. At the same time, the number of students with an average level increased from 50% to 63,1%, which also indicates a significant increase by 13,1 percentage points. The number of students with a high level also increased from 9,5% to 19% - by 9,5 percentage points. The dynamics of the foreign language communicative competence formation levels appears on a bar graph (Figure 1).
Number of students (%}
61,9
51,2
38,1
20,2 17,9
10,7
Lew Average High
Formation Levels
■ I nitia I lev el ■ Ac hi eved leve I
Figure 1 Dynamics of foreign language communicative competence formation
The presence of statistically significant differences in the indicators at the ascertaining stage and at the control stage of the experiment is confirmed by x2 - Pearson's criterion. The value of the Pearson statistics can be found using a calculator [18]: the calculated value of the statistics is 11.308.
The number of degrees freedom is (3-1) *(2-1) =2. The critical value of statistics is found from the table for the Pearson distribution with the number of degrees of freedom equal to 2 at a significance level of 0.05 and 0.01 - 6.6 and 9.2 respectively. If the calculated value of the statistic is less than 6.0, then the differences are insignificant. If the calculated value is more than 6.0 but less than 9.2, then we get a zone of uncertainty. If the calculated value is more than 9.2, then the differences are significant.
The estimated value of statistics 11.308 falls within the zone of the significance of differences in the levels of formation of foreign language communicative competence in the group before the start of the experiment and after the end of the experiment using alternative assessment.
The obtained results allow us to state that the conducted experimental training using alternative teaching methods significantly increased the level of foreign language proficiency among natural science undergraduates.
In order to get feedback from the students participating in the experiment, they were surveyed and, based on its results, an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using alternative assessment in teaching a foreign language at a university was carried out.
Students answered questions regarding the satisfaction degree and the content assimilation level of the academic discipline "Foreign Language in Professional Activities". 85% of respondents were satisfied with the learning outcomes and gave a positive assessment of the use of alternative methods in learning English; 15% of students considered the course program ineffective, as they faced difficulties in perceiving the material of the profile discipline in a foreign language. 64% of students noted fairly complete assimilation of the course material in a foreign language, 36% of students spoke about the need to use Russian-language teaching materials when preparing some tasks (for example, We Create Activity, iLearn & Teach Project). The majority of respondents (88%) indicated that the use of alternative assessment methods contributes to the activation of the learning process and the motivation growth to master a foreign language, increases confidence in the use of a foreign language, as well as fluency. 78% of respondents rated their level of foreign language professional communicative competence as sufficient after the experiment. Of these, 72% noted that the use of alternative assessment methods contributes to the actualization of professional vocabulary, the creation of well-organized texts, as well as overcoming the language barrier and the fear of making mistakes in a foreign language.
Answering the question about the importance of English in the professional sphere, 66% of students named the main motivating factors for mastering it the opportunity to work in large international companies, communicate with foreign colleagues in the future, train or study at advanced training courses abroad, continue education in another country and etc. 27% of students have an intrinsic motivation to master a foreign language - the desire to master a profession and acquire knowledge. For 7% of students, the main incentive to attend foreign language classes is the possibility to pass an exam successfully.
Discussion
The experimental work results showed that the combination of different types of assessment while teaching a foreign language to natural science undergraduates is not only an important component in the educational process, but also a significant tool in the foreign language professional communicative competence formation. Our results confirm the conclusions made in the works of D. Rus [21], M. Phongsirikul [16] that indicators of students' achievements in the described system are students' personal acquisitions, the formation of meta-subject formations and competences. In addition, alternative assessment makes it possible to increase the assessment objectivity, which, in turn, stimulates the development of interest in the subject "foreign language", the need for its use in situations that are significant for students, and also motivates students to further work on improving their language proficiency level. This conclusion is confirmed by the results of studies by L. Cheng and J. Fox [6], I. Lee [13]. We agree with D. El-Hmoudova, E. Milkova that with the use of alternative assessment students are immersed in the language environment and it helps them to achieve desired outcomes in mastering the language [9]. Our results are also consistent with D. Rus's opinion that the practical orientation of language learning using alternative assessment develops not only speech skills and foreign language skills in the professional field but also improves the ability to interact, work in a team, see and solve problems in familiar and new professionally oriented situations [21].
The experiment results made it possible to highlight the significant features of the methods and forms of alternative assessment in the process of teaching English to undergraduates. These features are the following: conditions are created for knowledge self-acquisition and development of the necessary skills; students' autonomy increases, which leads to an awareness of the goals and objectives of the need to master a foreign language in relation to their professional training; students' knowledge and skills in a foreign language improve because of their self-education and self-development. Effective methods of alternative assessment of students' activities while teaching a foreign language are iPortfolio, We Create Activity, iLearn & Teach Project, Technical report, Mock job interview.
Conclusion
Foreign language communicative competence of professional orientation is a multicomponent phenomenon, including the concepts of language, speech, communication, culture and professional activity. Our study presents an approach to solving the problem of foreign language communicative competence formation, which involves increasing the level of foreign language proficiency through assessment, which is called alternative, and is designed to consider the student as a link between assessment and the learning process. With the "assessment as learning" approach, the student participates actively both in the process of mastering professional competences and in the process of evaluating their learning activities in foreign language lessons. In this regard, the study of a professionally oriented foreign language acts both as a goal and as a means of ensuring the future specialists' professional preparedness.
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Perspectives of Science & Education. 2022, Vol. 57, No. 3
Информация об авторах Information about the authors
Пономаренко Лариса Николаевна Larisa N. Ponomarenko
(Россия, Киров) (Russia, Kirov)
Доцент, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Educ.), Associate
кафедры иностранных языков неязыковых Professor of Non-linguistic Foreign Languages
направлений Department
Вятский государственный университет Vyatka State University
Е-mail: vsu [email protected] E-mail: vsu [email protected]
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5056-5446 ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5056-5446
ResearcherlD: L-3310-2017 ResearcherID: L-3310-2017
Scopus Author ID: 57195592825 Scopus Author ID: 57195592825
Суслопарова Мария Михайловна Maria M. Susloparova
(Россия, Киров) (Russia, Kirov)
Доцент, кандидат педагогических наук, доцент Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Educ.), Associate
кафедры иностранных языков неязыковых Professor of Non-linguistic Foreign Languages
направлений Department
Вятский государственный университет Vyatka State University
Е-mail: maria m [email protected] E-mail: maria m [email protected]
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2680-2533 ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2680-2533
ResearcherlD: M-6904-2018 ResearcherID: M-6904-2018
Scopus Author ID: 57204593337 Scopus Author ID: 57204593337
Ванягина Марина Романовна Marina R. Vanyagina
(Россия, Санкт-Петербург) (Russia, Saint-Petersburg)
Доцент, кандидат педагогических наук, профессор Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Educ.), Professor of
кафедры иностранных языков Foreign Languages Department
Санкт-Петербургский военный ордена Жукова Saint-Petersburg Military Order of Zhukov Institute of
институт войск национальной гвардии РФ National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8492-3520 ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8492-3520
ResearcherID: ABE-3174-2020. ResearcherID: ABE-3174-2020
Еремкина Наталья Ивановна Natalya I. Eremkina
(Россия, Москва) (Russia, Moscow)
Доцент, кандидат филологических наук, доцент Associate Professor, Cand. Sci. (Philology), Associate
кафедры иностранных языков Professor of Foreign Languages Department
МИРЭА - Российский технологический университет MIREA - Russian Technological University
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6464-5711 ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6464-5711
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