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CONSTRUCTIVIST DELIVERY MODE FOR ACADEMIC ENGLISH STUDENTS
Laptinova Y.
Doctor of Philosophy, Senior Teacher at the Department ofForeign Languages at Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarev-
sky National University of Arts, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Abstract
The intent of the work is to contribute to the development of more effective course design and delivery strategies for Academic English students. In this regard, the present paper takes a closer look at the constructivist instructional mode that language teachers can utilize to promote language proficiency. The article considers some form of learning activities that might be implemented at postgraduate research level in universities. The work lists the core principles needed in the efficient management of such activities. Findings revealed that a constructivist mode to Academic English course design can be well implemented in formal education through a variety of activities that contribute appreciably to the development of satisfying language proficiency if properly applied into the class settings.
Keywords: Academic English, constructivist instructional mode, online settings, language proficiency, postgraduate students.
Introduction
In most universities and colleges in Ukraine, Academic English is a compulsory course for postgraduate students, which is designed to help them lay a solid foundation for their future career. So, the selection of the instructional strategies used to guide the facilitation of learning constitutes the main concern of the most language teachers. When selecting activities for an Academic English (or English for specific purposes) course, any course designer needs to consider how students learn and respond appropriately. Numerous researchers and educators claim that learning occurs as learners are actively involved in a process of meaning and knowledge construction as opposed to passively receiving information. They are favouring constructivist learning theory, which postulates that knowledge is not a thing that can be simply given by the teacher at the front of the room to students in their desks. Rather knowledge is constructed by learners through an active, mental process of development [1]. Every course designer needs to take this fully into account.
Vast number of educators have been actively engaged in using constructivist principles to design and implement new learning environments showing that theory can effectively guide educational practice. In the conference "Constructivism: Uses and Prospects in Education" Jean Jacques Ducret, Ernst von Glasersfeld, Jacqueline Bideaud, Annick Weil-Barais focused their examination on the extent to which constructivist intentions might fit with the reality of existing
education systems [2]. In the book "Designing Environments for Constructive Learning" 16 authors explored the implications of a constructivist view for the design of learning environments and for the role of technology in that design [3]. The authors Bruce A. Marlowe and Marilyn L. Page provided ways to implement constructivist principles to help teachers understand the challenges and rewards they can expect from constructivism [4].
Despite the fact that constructivist approach has been primarily used in science and mathematics teaching, it can be adapted to the field of Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) as well. Dieter Wolff, a prominent German FLT researcher, in his latest book outlined the features of foreign language teaching on constructivist lines [5]. In launching constructivism as the new paradigm for FLT, Wolff places "constructivist" FLT in opposition to the traditional forms of "instructivism" in language teaching. Michael Wendt, is another prominent exponent of 'constructivist' FLT. But both in his theoretical groundwork and in the teaching propagated in his writings, he argues for the importance of a social constructivist theory of language learning [6]. Marcus Reinfried (Erfurt) in his article "Can Radical Constructivism Achieve a Viable Basis for Foreign Language Teaching?- A Refutation of the 'Wolff-Wendt' Theorem" argues for a realistic constructivist version of the theory, which may well serve as an epistemological basis for language learning [7]. Oleg Tarnopolsky in his
article analyzes different varieties of the constructivist approach to teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) at Ukrainian universities [8]. Lots of language teachers have applied constructivist instructions to the development of communication skills. The rationale and effectiveness of constructivism are not the subject of debates. The challenges lie in its practical implementation in different settings. Our main concern is to explore how the theoretical principles of constructivism can be implemented in online/offline learning/teaching for Academic English students.
The purpose of this article is to consider constructivist course design and delivery mode in the context of Academic English.
To achieve this purpose, an attempt has been made
• to review the main principles of constructivist instructional mode in the context of Academic English;
• to list the conditions needed to ensure that constructivist learning is effective;
• to offer constructivist activities in the Academic English course that can be implemented both online and offline.
The main principles of constructivist instructional mode in the context of Academic English
A constructivist epistemology argues that knowledge is not acquired as a collection of abstract entities but rather is constructed by individuals through interaction with others in the social environment in which knowledge is to be applied [9]. So, at the heart of constructivist instruction is the idea of language learning as a form of language skills construction through engagement in real experiences in a particular context. Academic English course does provide a good field for the implementation of constructivist idea since
1) Academic English establishes a supportive classroom community - a group of peers with common interests and prio efficiencies in general English knowledge;
2) AE focuses not so much on language learning but more on the functions of professional activities being modelled in communication situation. The defining characteristics of AE, that set it aside from other subjects in higher education, are its focus on the language and associated practices that leaners need in order to undertake study or work in English medium higher education. Typical course elements include: essay writing, presentation skills, academic reading, subject-specific terminology, classroom debate, academic conversations and more. So, AE is not about mechanical grammar exercises, didactic lectures, rote memorization, and high-stakes exams. Effective communication should be the outcome, rather than the strictly correct use of vocabulary and structures.
Core principles necessary for the effective management of constructivist activities
New visions about teaching and learning have forced practitioners to adapt their courses in an online setting. In this study the term "online settings" refers to language learning that takes place fully online via the internet, with no face-to-face component [10]. Regard-
ing the effectiveness of constructivist Academic English classes in the online settings, we support Robert J. Blake's suggestion "to move the debate (and research) away from the direct comparison between face-to-face and online versions of a course — what Blake calls 'the wrong research question'—towards research into the specific affordances of online learning in specific contexts", in our case, how to make online learning courses more effective in Academic English context [11]. We argue that online settings do provide conducive learning context for constructivist AE classes. The most compelling feature of this context is the capacity to imitate realistic settings and engage students in authentic activities that replicate the valuable experiences of real-world practitioners. Thus, online settings may even reinforce engagement in the learning process. So, online AE course can produce similar learning outcomes if using basic principles that must be fully applied in constructivist activities listed below. Here are four essential principles that make construc-tivist learning effective:
1. replicate extra-linguistic reality. The main idea of this principle is language learning through simulation of real-life communication practices modelled in the classroom. The term "simulation" is for the mode of learning applied to the acquisition of skills in controlled artificial environment [12]. In simulations students retain their own personas and are not required to pretend to be someone else whereas in role-play the participants are required to act as if they were people different from their real selves since role-playing removes students from themselves;
2. encourage reflective observation and abstract conceptualization. Rather than starting the problem by introducing the rule (the presentation of sacred truths, for example, how to write a grant proposal for music development) teacher should create opportunities for making the students think; construct and propose their own understanding of the subject through reflective observation and abstract conceptualization;
3. force students to use prior experiences and prior knowledge to help them form and reform interpretations. The students in this way are transferring their prio language experience to the simulated situation conducted in English;
4. cut Teaching Talk Time (TTT). While lectures and note taking can be beneficial, nothing compares to the hands-on experience your students get from learning public speaking. That's why you should keep your teacher talk time (TTT) to a minimum, speaking just enough to elicit the activities and give feedback. For the rest of the class, let your students do the talking.
Constructivist activities in the Academic English course content
AE course is based on modelling of communicative situations for postgraduate students majoring in music and can take place in an online or offline learning environment. The participants are required to assume roles needed in a professional setting and behave within the situation as if it was a real one.
Here are ten activities that aim to embed constructivist learning within AE context:
1. Academic Debating
Students are offered topics (propositions or resolutions) to practice debate. The topic is to be on current issues of their major (improvisation, performativity, methodologies, notation, performance and analysis, performers and recordings, virtuosity, and much more). Usually, the debate consists of two teams: the affirmative side to support the topic and the negative side to oppose the topic. Students have to debate why their position is correct and why their opponents are wrong. They are allocated a time to present their arguments and add rebuttals to the opposing points. They need to support their ideas with evidence. After each presenter has spoken, the judge(s) evaluate the debate on the basis of the content, style and strategy of speeches. The adjudicators / judges decide who won the debate.
2. Teaching
Learning is particularly effective when teaching others. This situation sees students in the role of the teacher. Students are encouraged to experiment to find ways to teach other students and collaborate with fellow learners. Students who spend time teaching what they've learned would gain a deeper understanding and knowledge retention than students who simply spend the same time re-studying.
3. Submitting manuscript
This role-play activity involves participants in the simulative process of an article submission. Role-play involves the students taking the part of manuscript authors, peer reviewers, editors-in-chief, roles which might be similar to students' own personal experience and to the language which they will need to produce in the real situation. A group of postgraduates might be asked to write a mock research paper (an abstract for the research paper, review, essay, thesis statement) and submit it for review. Submitted article will be evaluated by at least two independent mock reviewers. Feedback from the peer reviewers will contribute to the editor's decision on whether to accept or reject the article for publication. A mock journal editor reveals technical and editorial reasons why manuscript is rejected or accepted.
4. Review writing and commentary writing
This simulation might consist of professional critics and writers acting in their professional roles in the circumstances of a hypothetical reviewing. Students are made to review a concert or a music event or a musical analysis of a concert. Others are to comment their reviews. It is helpful as the reviewer is a musician and understands music theory, musical styles, and the type of music to be reviewed. In this simulation students are interacting as equals with a small group of their peers rather than performing for the teacher and class as a whole.
5. Giving a presentation
Organize small research conferences, focused symposia, or other forms of convenings around important issues in music education. A group of postgraduates might be asked to assume roles of attendees: researchers, practitioners, policymakers and other important collaborators whose substantive knowledge and
practice, theoretical insight, or methodological expertise can be engaged in ways that help to build upon and advance education research. Encourage group work (collaborative learning). Online classroom is well adapted to replicate a real conference. Learners have no roles imposed on them from outside in the form of a role-card or a prepared scenario. They would apply their own personal experience and professional knowledge in the circumstances of a hypothetical conference.
6. Developing Postgraduate Student profiles
Have students design their own profiles. The implication of this is that a student would be a student in the simulation. Students are placed in a realistic situation which is relevant to their lives and interests. They have a mutual need to communicate in order to facilitate the exchange of information and suggestions. With this we have a meaningful way to enable students to improve their professional communicative competence.
7. Interviewing musicians
Students are asked to practice simulated interview process. In the role play one student might be told that he is a journalist interviewing Musicians whilst another is a musician. After the mock interview, the listeners will then review the interview and provide feedback. Have some students create mock interview questions similar to those they will eventually encounter in actual interviews. Other students can take a role of any fictional or real musician and improvise their parts. The student can be provided with his own role-card (a given scenario) which tells him what his role character and attitudes are, and which can give him linguistic support by suggesting what he might say and how he might say it.
8. Creating and hosting an online masterclass
A group of postgraduates might be asked to promote and host a mock masterclass (seminar or workshop). In a hypothetical seminar the players assume the role of experts in a music setting. They create masterclass content that is informative and memorable to resonate with audience.
9. Academic listening summarizing
Summarizing is an important skill in academic writing. Students are required to extract the most important points from an audio text and rewrite them in their own words, in a shortened form. Before playing the video, separate your class into groups of three or four and ask them to think about things they like and don't like about a presentation and take notes as they watch the video. Once the presentation has ended, have your groups report the passage content in their own words. They can either paraphrase if they want to keep the length the same, summarize if they should make the text shorter or synthesize if they need to use information from several sources.
10. Applying for music grants
Have students write a mock grant proposal. In the grant application process the players assume the role of grantees and grantmakers/grantors. Grantee (a novice grant writer) should present his project idea in a grant proposal including a cover letter. Arrange meetings. During the meeting with granting agents, grantee is to
be able to summarize his musical project and his goals clearly and concisely to wow his potential investors. At the end of the exercise the group will have arrived at some decision or series of decisions and choices which they will be expected to explain and justify. Grant makers are to reveal the reasons grant proposals get rejected.
These simulations of 10 real-life scenarios were originally designed and implemented in Academic English online course to the first year postgraduates at Kharkiv I. P. Kotlyarevsky National University of Arts (Ukraine). The goal was to transform monotonous in-structivist teaching method into an engaging teaching and learning interaction and to test whether construc-tivist instructional mode contributes to significant progress in language production. From my observation, compared with the instructivist instructional mode, in which students just take notes and practice what they have learnt rigidly; the constructivist-based mode engages students to participate in real-life scenarios imitating in many professional settings. The simulative activities, based on the constructivist mode, are very popular with students and they find them effective. The results indicate that students progressed significantly in four language-related areas: vocabulary, grammar, listening and speaking.
Conclusion
The results of the study conclude that Academic English course can benefit by applying constructivist mode of instruction which makes learning more effective through students' active engagement in theory and practice simultaneously as opposed to passively receiving information. Under the instructional delivery model knowledge is constructed (not transmitted) by the learner out of prio-experiences and interactions with others within the social context of the classroom.
Constructivist Instructional method can also be used in online learning since online settings have capacity to provide engaging substitutes for real-life experience.
It is important to note that constructivist AE course will be productive and efficient only if it is appropriately implemented in online\offline learning settings. We suggest several basic guiding rules for constructivist-based teaching/learning in Academic English classrooms:
• create authentic situations, replicas of or analogous to the kinds of real-life problems faced by professionals in the field of their interests;
• encourage collaborative learning in true-to-life communicative environment;
• guide students to conceptualize - to form a concept out of observations, experience, data, etc rather than simply lecturing on the correct rules. Thus, present provocative open-ended questions that don't have one clear answer. Ask students to construct their own definition, prompt and facilitate discussion. Constructivism suggests focusing on exploration the problem to be solved. Students learn content and theory in order to solve the problem. This is different from traditional ob-jectivist teaching where the theory would be presented first and problems would be used afterwards to practice theory;
• help students engage their prior knowledge and connect new information to their prior understanding, foster acquisition and retrieval of prior knowledge;
• cut down Teacher Talking Time (TTT), the time teachers spend talking in class, rather than learners. The teacher should avoid most direct instruction and attempt to lead the student through questions, to prompt and facilitate discussion.
A constructivist delivery mode to Academic English skills development can be well supported in various formats: face-to-face, blended, and distance education through a variety of activities simulating the process of communication and interaction in various life situations modelled in the classroom. In this article we offer a number of activities to support practical implementation of constructivism in the classroom. True-to-life simulation scenarios encouraged in constructivist classrooms include: academic debating, learning by teaching, the article submission process, review writing, giving a presentation, developing profiles, taking interview, hosting an online masterclass, academic listening summarizing, writing a grant proposal. Having students take part in realistic simulations optimises class time and enhances students' communication skills in the target language. A large number of studies show the benefits of simulations as they provide immersive experiential learning through which knowledge is built by transforming the experience.
To summarize, designing and implementing con-structivist AE course for online settings are complex and novel functions in a formal educational community accustomed to replicating traditional instructivist modes of instruction. Results of the study confirms that the constructivist approach to course design and delivery provides learning environments conducive to the development of professional skills among postgraduates.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING TEAM BUILDING TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN A NON-LINGUISTIC UNIVERSITY
Uvarov V.
Assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages, Russian State University for the Humanities,
Moscow, Russia
ВАЖНОСТЬ ПРИМЕНЕНИЕ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ ТИМБИЛДИНГА В ОБУЧЕНИИ ИНОСТРАННОМУ ЯЗЫКУ В НЕЯЗЫКОВОМ ВУЗЕ
Уваров В.И.
старший преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков ФГБОУ ВО «Российский государственный гуманитарный университет», Москва, Россия
Abstract
The article makes an attempt to demonstrate the relevance of the use of team building technology in the educational process. The arguments and examples are based on the author's own professional experience of teaching English at a non-linguistic university for over thirteen years. The author dwells in detail on the advantages that the use of team building technology gives, emphasizing not only their individual significance for each student, but also calling the skills and personal qualities of students formed by teambuilding as strategically important for the harmonious functioning of the whole society.
Аннотация
В статье предпринимается попытка продемонстрировать актуальность применения технологии тим-билдинга в рамках учебного процесса. Рассуждения и примеры приводятся из собственного профессионального опыта автора, преподающего английский язык в неязыковом вузе уже более тринадцати лет. Автор подробно останавливается на преимуществах, которые дает применение технологии тимбилдинга, подчеркивая не только их индивидуальную значимость для каждого студента, но и называя формируемые с использованием тимбилдинга навыки и личностные качества учащихся стратегически важными для гармоничного функционирования всего общества.
Keywords: team building technology; foreign language; efficiency; motivation; quality of teaching; skill building
Ключевые слова: технология тимбилдинга; иностранный язык; эффективность; мотивация; качество обучения; формирование навыков
Введение
В современном обществе технология тимбилдинга получила широкое распространение в профессиональной сфере. Каждая компания, вне зависимости от ее профиля и структурных особенностей, с разной степенью интенсивности проводит со своими сотрудниками специальные корпоративные программы и мероприятия, позволяющие сформировать целостный здоровый коллектив, каждый
член которого рад быть частью единого целого, всегда охотно приходит на помощь коллегам и является прекрасным командным игроком.
На наш взгляд, технология тимбилдинга может и должна целенаправленно применяться еще до начала профессиональной деятельности человека -на этапе получения им высшего образования. Прекрасной платформой для внедрения тимбилдинга в учебный процесс могут стать занятия по иностран-
