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COMICS AS A MEANS OF TEACHING ENGLISH 1 2 Nurzhanova Zh.D. , Sekenova М.К. (Republic of Kazakhstan)
1Nurzhanova Zhainash Dzhumahmetovna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor; 2Sekenova Mensulu Karshygaevna - Undergraduate, DEPARTMENT OF THEORY AND PRACTICE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, EURASIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY NAMED AFTER L.N. GUMILYOV, NUR-SULTAN, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
Abstract: in the youth environment, the screen (clip) style of thinking has long prevailed, which is based on visual images in the process of cognition. In the course of the study, the author comes to the conclusion that in response to a new style of thinking, it is necessary to strive to combine methods of working with linear text and visual sources of information, to which modern man is so susceptible. Such a harmonious combination is provided by comics, which have a rich didactic potential. The article discusses the possibilities of introducing comics into the educational process when learning English, describes the positive aspects of using comics in the educational process.
Keywords: comics, didactics, language skills, motivation.
КОМИКСЫ КАК СРЕДСТВО ОБУЧЕНИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ
1 2 Нуржанова Ж.Д. , Секенова М.К. (Республика Казахстан)
1Нуржанова Жайнаш Джумахметовна - кандидат педагогических наук, доцент; 2Секенова Менсулу Каршыгаевна - магистрант, кафедра теории и практики иностранных языков, Евразийский национальный университет им. Л.Н. Гумилева, г. Нур-Султан, Республика Казахстан
Аннотация: в молодежной среде долгое время преобладал экранный (клиповый) стиль мышления, в основе которого лежат зрительные образы в процессе познания. В ходе исследования автор приходит к выводу, что в ответ на новый стиль мышления необходимо стремиться сочетать приемы работы с линейным текстом и визуальными источниками информации, к которым так восприимчив современный человек. Такое гармоничное сочетание обеспечивают комиксы, обладающие богатым дидактическим потенциалом. В статье рассматриваются возможности внедрения комиксов в учебный процесс при изучении английского языка, описываются положительные стороны использования комиксов в учебном процессе.
Ключевые слова: комикс, дидактика, языковые навыки, мотивация.
Introduction
Teaching English today is considered as one of the priority areas of modern education. The main goal of teaching English is the development of communicative competence. The communicative approach to teaching foreign languages, developed over 50 years ago, remains the most popular method in the world to this day. This method is distinguished by its versatility, as it is suitable for both adults and children. The communicative technique, as its name implies, is aimed precisely at the possibility of communication, a relaxed conversation in a foreign language.
The role of the teacher fades into the background in favor of the active presence of the student in a communicative approach. This forces the teacher to search, analyze and select authentic, entertaining and didactic materials that will help the student in the learning process. One of the means of developing imagination, gaining knowledge, communication, entertainment in an English class can be considered comics.
Besides, the relevance of using comics to teach English to students is determined by the fact that in the 21st century, changes in the format of a modern book demonstrate the period of transition of a printing publication into a multimedia space, as well as the creation of alternative options for the existence of a printed word. This is due to the fact that in our time, people are constantly in contact with illustrated content, whether it be posts on social networks or a presentation at a conference. In addition, many people are visual by nature, that is, it is much easier to perceive, understand and remember the information they see than the information they hear or read. So, information contained directly in a text message is assimilated only by 7%, voice characteristics contribute to the assimilation of 38% of information, while the presence of a visual image significantly increases perception - up to 55% [1, 73-78].
Traditionally, comics have been seen as simply children's entertainment, and at best considered a suitable resource for introducing young learners to reading. In this regard, McCloud suggests that such discredit is due to the confusion of the comic book as a "container" and "vehicle" of this content; usually trivial and comical [2, 7]. In addition, this perception is facilitated by the language of comics, which combines visual and verbal code. Of
course, it can be argued that such an underestimation of the comic genre has a negative impact on the use of its huge potential, especially in the educational field. In this regard, though it must be noted that the concept of comics has changed positively over the last few decades; there is still a long way to go to achieve its full acceptance as an educational resource for the teaching of languages and especially for the teaching of English as a foreign language.
The aim of the study is to study the possibility of using comics, as well as the features of this kind of literature in the educational process, namely, in teaching English through visualized literature.
Methods of the research
In accordance with the aim of the article, an analysis of the literature on the research topic was carried out, as well as a generalization method.
An analysis of recent studies by specialists in the field of pedagogy and psychology confirms that comics, in terms of their impact, are becoming a more effective teaching tool than traditional textbooks.
Results and discussion
The main property of comics is that the comics simplify and speed up the process of cognition, since the comics are divided into fragments. They express thoughts and ideas in a visual way. Therefore, comics are able to influence human consciousness, even more than traditional educational textual literature.
Comic as a didactic tool provides a better understanding and memorization of theoretical material, since in it the subject receives information in separate fragments in a visual form, which corresponds to the peculiarities of the perception of a modern person. The breakdown of information into frames allows you to place the necessary emphasis on the identified issues, focus on certain ideas, events or phenomena, and better understand their content.
Comic helps to solve the problem of motivation because it is focused on the reader's interest, appealing directly to his perception, in contrast to the academic test, which lacks visual variety. The information in the comics is emotionally colored, it affects the feelings of the reader, appeals to his experience. Often life situations are reproduced in the comics, the appeal to which helps to bring learning closer to the world of everyday life. As a rule, a student understands the meaning of learning activity when he sees how the acquired knowledge can be applied in life.
The scope of comics as a means of teaching English is large and they combine the following types of speech activity: reading, speaking and writing.
Considering each type of speech activity that includes a comic, it should be stated that reading, "as a process of perception and active processing of information graphically encoded according to the system of a particular language" [3, 6], is a complex analytical and synthetic activity, which consists of the perception and understanding of the text.
Teaching a foreign language in schools of various types should contribute to the orientation of students in the social environment based on the development of intellectual abilities and the achievement of a level of communicative competence in the field of reception, which would allow reading fairly complex texts related to three areas of communication (social, social, cultural, educational and professional).
Speaking is a form of oral communication, through which information is exchanged through the means of language, contact and mutual understanding are established, and the interlocutor is influenced in accordance with the communicative intention of the speaker.
All functions of oral communication - informative, regulatory, emotional-evaluative and etiquette - are carried out in close unity. One of the main tasks of modern speaking teaching is the formation of a secondary linguistic personality capable of successfully carrying out social interaction with carriers of a different culture [4, 14]. The success of learning to speak depends on the individual - age characteristics of students (on the presence of motives for learning, attention and interest, on the ability to use oral communication strategies, rely on previous speech experience, etc.), on the linguistic and discursive characteristics of texts and on learning conditions (availability of technical teaching aids, situational conditioning and problematic exercises, pair-group organization of classes, etc.).
The main goal of teaching speaking is to develop students' ability to carry out oral speech communication in a variety of socially determined situations. In the written expression of thoughts, as in speaking, the same transitions between externally expressed and internally pronounced language forms function.
Writing is a productive analytical and synthetic activity associated with the generation and fixation of a written text. Writing arose on the basis of sounding speech as a way of preserving speech works in time, as a repository of human knowledge and accumulated experience, as a mirror of the culture and traditions of each country.
When constructing a written text, the author corresponds to a certain logical scheme: motive, purpose, subject, addressee. This chain of logical links is reflected in the semantic-syntactic and lexical-grammatical structure of the text. Written fixation of information as a complex of complex speech skills largely coincides with the generation of oral statements.
Along the way, it should be noted that the process of writing closely interacts with the verballogical, figurative and motor types of memory, contributing to the creation of supports and guidelines for the writer's speech-thinking activity.
Foreign language teacher and Stephen Carey, commented on comics that: "Comics provide a genuine language learning opportunity for all learners... The vastly abbreviated text of many comics makes them manageable and language-friendly even for novice readers" [5].
The abbreviated text common to many comics makes them understandable and useful in learning the language, even for novice readers. Once students have learned to be proficient readers, comics give students the opportunity to read material that combines images with text to express satire, symbolism, point of view, drama, puns, and humor, which is not possible with text alone.
Thus, it should be said that comics provide an opportunity for those who are just starting to read and also for students who are learning a new language. Students follow the beginning and end of the story, keep track of the plot, characters and time, while organizing them without the need for complex deciphering and translation skills. The images match the text and give students clear contextual clues to the meaning of each word. So the main ways of using comics in modern English lessons were listed. Work of this kind cannot be carried out constantly, but it will help to diversify and update the material being studied. The advantage of such work is also the fact that the space for the expression in the comic is limited and the student has to vary one or another of his statements, which helps to hone the flexibility of the language, the ability to paraphrase phrases and sentences. Conclusion
As already noted, modern culture is a screen culture, so the educational process cannot be built on the basis of the ideas of people of the past who lived within the paradigm of the text. The educational process should take into account the needs of the present time, be built on the basis of the perception of the world by the younger generation.
In modern culture, visual images of information transmission predominate, since in conditions of an overabundance of information it is difficult for a person to absorb it in large volumes. Text documents began to be replaced by sources with a large number of graphic images in the form of explanatory diagrams, images, mind maps, graphic narratives made in the comics genre. A person of screen culture prefers not to read and listen, but to watch. The embodiment of the basic principles of screen culture is a comic book, which is a changing plot pictures, reminiscent of the stopped frames of the film.
Educational comics can serve as an effective tool for gaining new knowledge and deepening existing ones. Comics in a compressed symbolic form are able to convey complex ideas and abstract representations, in addition, they are excellent motivators of cognitive activity, develop speech skills such as writing, reading and speaking.
References / Список литературы
1. Voroshilova M.B. Kreolizovannyy tekst v politicheskom diskurse / M.B. Voroshilova // Politicheskaya lingvistika, 2007. Vyp. (3) 23. S. 73-78.
2. McCloud Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: HarperPerennial., 1994. P. 7.
3. Klychnikova Z.I. Psikhologicheskiye osobennosti obucheniya chteniyu na inostrannom yazyke. Posobiye dlya uchiteley. / Z.I. Klychnikova. 2-ye izd., isp. M: Prosveshcheniye, 1983. S. 6.
4. Kamenskaya O.L. Tekst i kommunikatsiya. / Ucheb. posobiye dlya institutov i fakul'tetov in. yaz., M.: Vyssh. shk., 1990. S. 14.
5. Cary Stephen. Going Graphic: Comics at Work in the Multilingual Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2004.
