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109
DOI: 10.12731/2218-7405-2013-7-16
DIDACTIC MONITORING IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Kaznachevskaya L.V.
The article is the reflection of the practical experience. Some questions about the student training in the process of teaching English, the forms of control that are useful for teaching the linguistic subjects, didactic monitoring that is oriented to the process of studying languages are considered in the article. The main aim of the author is to create the model of didactic monitoring and check the efficiency of monitoring in the process of teaching and studying English. The author offers a model of didactic monitoring. In the frame of the model she carries out the complex methods of control of the all kinds of the students' language activities, the author also offers a complex method of collection, analysis and processing information in the sphere of teaching English with the aim to correct the process of teaching.
Purpose is to create the model of didactic monitoring and check the efficiency of monitoring in the process of teaching and studying English.
Methodology: studying and analysis of the pedagogical, psychological, philosophical, methodical literature; analysis of the teaching programs and plans; pedagogical analysis of English tasks and tests; questioning of teachers and students; pilot control of the model of didactic monitoring.
Results. The results of the work were used to develop a mechanism for introduction of didactic monitoring as a source of complex control in the process of teaching English.
Practical implications are the process of teaching foreign languages at educational establishments of different kinds.
Keywords: didactic monitoring, control of educational and cognitive activity, lingvodidactic testing, intensification of educational and cognitive activity, forms and methods of control.
ДИДАКТИЧЕСКИЙ МОНИТОРИНГ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ПРЕПОДАВАНИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА
Казначевская Л.В.
Статья является отражением практического опыта работы автора. В ней затрагиваются вопросы о соответствии форм и методов контроля результатов учебно-познавательной деятельности учащихся целям обучения в процессе преподавания английского языка; формах контроля, приемлемых для процесса преподавания языков; дидактическом мониторинге, ориентированном на преподавание английского языка.
Основная цель автора статьи - создание модели дидактического мониторинга и проверка эффективности мониторинга в процессе преподавания и изучения английского языка. Автор предлагает механизм внедрения дидактического мониторинга, в рамках которого осуществляется комплексный контроль всех видов языковой деятельности учащихся, и комплекс методик по сбору, анализу и обработки информации о ходе обучения английскому языку с целью дальнейшей коррекции учебного процесса.
Ключевые слова: дидактический мониторинг, контроль учебно-познавательной деятельности, лингводидактическое тестирование, активизация учебно-познавательной деятельности, формы и методы контроля.
One of the most important directions of the reformation of the educational system in the Republic of Belarus is the improvement of the control and monitoring of the teaching process. New educational technologies are focused not only on the prior-
ity of knowledge and fulfillment but also on the individual and creative, personally oriented forms and methods of teaching, on their variability and registration of students' personal experience. So, nowadays teachers emphasize the individual development of a personality. In this situation the actual pedagogical problem is the measurement of the results of human activity and the evaluation of its qualitative and quantitative indicators. The most foreground direction to increase the efficiency of the control technique is the formation of a new educational and control system that will be based on independent and objective information about students' academic achievements, on the inverse relationship between a teacher and learners, on the saving of time costs. In order to meet actual requirements of the teaching process, some new events as monitoring, pedagogical monitoring and didactic monitoring have appeared in modern pedagogy.
The aim of the article is to review the main features of monitoring as an innovative event in pedagogy, to describe didactic monitoring in the process of English teaching.
Monitoring is a constant supervision of any process with the aim to identify its correspondence to the desired result or to the original observation. [4] Monitoring is a particular independent direction. Its place is between measurements, research, experiment, informatics and management.
The concept "monitoring" came to pedagogy from ecology and sociology. In ecology monitoring is a constant supervision of environment with the aim to prevent undesirable deviation in important parameters. In sociology monitoring means a determination of a few indicators that reflect the state of social environment. They speak about monitoring when in the process of an innovation they constantly supervise processes and events that take place in the real subject environment. Then they will include the results of the supervision into management activity.
A.A. Orlov thinks that monitoring is a long supervision of objects or events of pedagogical activity. [5] V.I. Andreev notes that pedagogical monitoring is a system diagnostics of the qualitative and quantitative features of the operation efficiency and
self-development trend of educational system. It includes goals, contents, forms and methods, didactic and technical facilities, conditions and results of teaching, upbringing and self-development of a personality and group. [1]
There are the following types of pedagogical monitoring:
• upbringing monitoring is a supervision of the different sides of upbringing and educational process;
• management monitoring is a supervision of the character of the interaction between different management levels (director - teaching staff, director - group of learners, director - team of parents, teacher - learner, teacher - teacher, etc.);
• psychosocial monitoring is a supervision of the system of group and personal relationships, of the character of psychological atmosphere in a staff and group;
• didactic monitoring is a supervision of different sides of training and educational process.
V.V. Baburina gives a fuller definition of monitoring. She thinks that monitoring is a form of arrangement, collecting, keeping, handling, analysis and distribution of the information about pedagogical activity system that provides a continuous supervision of its contents and forecasts its development. [2]
The object of didactic monitoring is a group of students, a teacher, and a department of educational process. The aim of didactic monitoring is to provide the effective informative reflection of the results of educational and cognitive activity and to correct it in future.
Didactic monitoring performs the following functions:
• control (it's a detection, analysis and self-analysis of the ignorance and its reasons, a fixation and systematization of knowledge);
• integrative ( to provide a complex characterization of the processes that take place in the system of education);
• diagnostic (it's a reflection of the state of educational and cognitive activity and of the changes that take place in order to evaluate these events);
• comparative (to create conditions to compare the state of development of cognitive activity in different time periods);
• stimulating (it's the intensification of educational and cognitive motives, a self-concept of the quality of educational and cognitive activity);
• evaluating (it's the evaluation of the students' knowledge level in the process of control of educational and cognitive activity);
• expert (to examine the state, competence, forms, methods of the development of educational and cognitive activity and its components);
• informative (it's a way to get regular information about the state and development of the process that is necessary for analysis and forecast);
• pragmatic (to use monitoring information with the aim to improve educational and cognitive process and to make decisions);
• upbringing (to form the understanding of Knowledge as a value that helps to develop personality).
As methods of collecting and handling of information in the process of didactic monitoring we may name expert interview, observation, analysis of documentation, attendance of classes, control of educational and cognitive activity, questioning, testing, self-concept and experiment.
E.V. Loginov, V.N. Chupin distinguish the following forms of monitoring:
• periodical monitoring (it is materialized periodically, as the needs in corresponding necessary data about the system of education arise);
• calendar monitoring (it is renewed as the terms of the report come);
• phase monitoring (it is materialized to solve a specific task). [5]
In its development monitoring has some phases. A.S. Berkin, V.D. Zhavoronkov give such links (phases) of didactic monitoring as:
• diagnostics;
• science-based study;
• prediction. [7]
However we can present monitoring fuller using the following phases:
• preparatory phase (we set a goal, an object, a direction, evaluation criteria, then we work out research tools);
• analytical phase (we process information and make recommendations);
• corrective phase (we correct the results of research and make decisions).
Some levels of didactic monitoring are distinguished:
• individual, personal monitoring takes place every day (observation, fixation of the dynamic of the development of each group of students in the whole or in certain areas);
The system of control lets identify the level of topic mastery and see the dynamic of material mastery, determine typical mistakes, correct the work to remove the mistakes with the aim to increase the effectiveness.
• administrative monitoring is done by the administration (it's monitoring of the state of education that uses a number of indicators such as the percentage of training, the percentage of quality, etc.).
The main principles of monitoring are:
• continuity;
• scientific orientation;
• educational advisability;
• diagnostic and prognostic orientation;
• predictability;
• integrity and succession. [6]
We may determine specific principles of monitoring during the teaching of linguistic subjects:
• comprehensiveness;
• record of continuity of students' speech development;
• record of interaction of language and speech material;
• record of different types of speech activity.
Thus, didactic monitoring is a relatively new event in the pedagogy in Belarus and it's close to the concepts like feedback, reflection, control, attestation that are more private, particular components of the general concept of "Didactic Monitoring".
The aim of monitoring in the process of English teaching is to improve the practical skills of the Belarusian students in Business English while studying the management of business activity and public administration.
The expected results of didactic monitoring are:
• students will get more theoretical knowledge in English, International Accounting, Public Administration and they will get valuable practice experience of communication in the foreign language (English) in the sphere of business;
• Belarusian teachers will improve their level of English and their professional skills;
• we will be able to evaluate didactic monitoring as an instrument of collection, analysis, evaluation and correction of pedagogical processes.
The main aim of the author of the article is to create a model of didactic monitoring and to check the efficiency of monitoring in the process of English teaching and studying. The related aims are:
• to check the efficiency of different forms of control of the results of students' cognitive activity;
• to supervise the efficiency of English teaching in the process of didactic monitoring;
• to evaluate monitoring processes from the viewpoint of the efficiency of such type of activity for English studying.
The aim of monitoring is to collect and analyze the information that reflects the results of students' educational and cognitive activity and to correct it.
The object of the research is the level of the command of English of a group of students who have been chosen to take part in the Belarusian-Swedish project.
We chose such methods of collecting and handling the information as testing, observing, classes attending, control of the results of educational and cognitive activity, questioning.
To choose the students we made a lingvodidactic test of knowledge of English (control of lexical and grammatical skills) and we interviewed the teachers (to control the understanding of foreign speech aurally and to control the skills of foreign-language communication). The test in general language skills consisted of a number of lexical and grammatical tasks, a text of the economic content and some tasks after the text. The tasks were of a closed type. The aim of the test was to determine the level of students' linguistic competence (the command of fundamentals of grammar and professional vocabulary). The test was evaluated on a 100-point mark scale.
In parallel we orally controlled students' monologue and dialogue speech in order to determine the level of understanding of English aurally and ability to express their thoughts in foreign language freely. The necessity of "double control" was caused by the program of the project that meant the knowledge of professional vocabulary and the fundamentals of grammar as well as fluency in foreign language for informal communication. 70 students took part in the testing.
The results of the test and interview were summarized in the table and all the participants could read it. On the outcomes (the test - more than 50 %, the control of oral speech - 8-9 points on the 10-point mark scale) we chose 31 students who became the main characters of didactic monitoring.
We could see the intensification of students' educational and cognitive activity in the preparatory phase of the project. The students were divided into several groups that were given a particular task (the presentation of the Republic of Belarus, the presentation of the university, a tour about Gomel, a tour about the university, a lecture about the system of consumer cooperatives, etc.). All the tasks were made in English. Each group had its own English teacher who controlled the quality of the task fulfillment and helped to find and present the material. It should be noted that the students tried to do their segments of work themselves and the final result showed
that they spent a lot of time improving their lexical and grammatical knowledge of the language.
The active participation of the Belarusian students in lectures and practical classes was also caused by the methods of subjects teaching. At the classes technical methods of teaching (computer presentations, video films, slides, video camera filming) were used as well as different methods of discussing the material (discussion, analysis, evaluation, self-concept). It was noted that the students tried not only to get new knowledge at the classes but also to show previously acquired skills that they had got during the study at the university. We may mention students' activism, their desire for dialogue, openness, studiousness and accuracy in tasks fulfillment. At the last practical class in International Accounting the students were offered a test. The test consisted of four tasks, each of them was divided into some questions on calculation, measurement, evaluation of main data. The aim of the test was to determine the level of the mastering of studied material. The possible maximum result of the test was 32 points, valid result was 19 points. We used a students' presentation as a form of final control in Business English. Each student prepared a three-minute presentation on any topic. Then the presentation was filmed with the help of video camera. The aim of such a form of final control was to determine the level of students' mastering of Business English, the ability to present himself and to work with the audience in English.
The results of final control were presented to the students and organizers of the project during a week all who wished could read them. We finally chose the students when we gave them a qualifying lingvodidactic test (a high level of tasks and their effective arrangement were mentioned), we took into account a final test in International Accounting, video presentations and general impression that the students made during the informal communication.
While analyzing all forms and methods of control that were used during the project we may note that:
• control was systematic, public and objective that corresponds to the main principles of the system of control of the results of educational and cognitive activity;
• control had a comprehensive character and it's typical for teaching linguistic subjects;
• different types of forms and methods of control were used;
• the contents of forms and methods of control met its goals;
• there was no emotional intensity during control.
In order to evaluate the results of didactic monitoring all the participants (students and teachers) were given a questionnaire and we offered them to answer the questions about the efficiency of didactic monitoring in the process of English teaching.
We may make conclusions based on the analysis of the questionnaires about the using of didactic monitoring in the process of English teaching. While monitoring was being realized the students were able to:
• learn and study partly foreign economy;
• improve the skills of understanding of foreign speech aurally;
• get extra knowledge in English and International Accounting;
• practice knowledge of English and knowledge in the sphere of economics, marketing and management;
• obtain language practice;
• get professional skills;
• get more knowledge of English vocabulary;
• exchange experience;
• realize themselves in the process of learning and in the process of events organization;
• enhance international practical and theoretical experience.
During the work at didactic monitoring the teachers were able to:
• improve their English as a source of international communication;
• improve their skills of work with students using software and hardware
tools;
• learn the methods of evaluation the results of students' educational and cognitive activity (constructive criticism with the assistance of students);
• apply their knowledge of English in business sphere, business, management;
• learn and study partly foreign economy, methods of analyzing and planning of the economic activity of an enterprise;
• get professional skills;
• improve their skills of colloquial language, the skills of translation the information from English;
• exchange their experience with other teachers;
• influence the professional orientation work among future specialists;
• stimulate students' study;
• get skills of interethnic communication;
• increase motivation to study a foreign language;
• get new knowledge in the sphere of Business English, International Accounting, Public Administration;
• exchange in practice the methods of teaching and training.
While evaluating monitoring we developed the following recommendations:
• to increase the number of classes;
• to give more time for informal communication;
• to control educational and cognitive activity not only after the end of the project but also after every theme to learn the material better;
• give more attention to the technical support of the project;
• to increase the number of studied directions.
So, on the basis of the above material we may make the following conclusions:
1) the research of didactic monitoring is an actual problem in the pedagogy in Belarus;
2) didactic monitoring is a complex, many-sided and multilevel process that requires a detailed study;
3) didactic monitoring is an effective way of collection and analysis of information followed by evaluation and correction of the processes in the system of education;
4) with the help of didactic monitoring we can influence the different sides of students' education and cognitive activity.
References
1. Andreev V.I. Pedagogicheskiy monitoring kak sistemnaya diagnostika kachestva obrazovaniya [Pedagogical monitoring as a system diagnostic of the quality of education]. Kazan: KGU, 1999. pp. 4-6.
2. Baburina V.V. Formirovanie i razvitie poznavatel'noy aktivnosti uchashchikhsya v protsesse didakticheskogo monitoringa [Formation and development of students' cognitive activity in the process of didactic monitoring]. [Elektronnyy resurs]: Dis. ...kand. ped. nauk: 13.00.01. Penza, 2004. 163 p.
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DATA ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kaznachevskaya Larisa Vladimirovna, teacher of a chair of foreign languages
Belarusian Trade and Economic University of Consumer Cooperatives 50, pr.Oktyabrya, Gomel, Gomel Region, 246000, Belarus e-mail: kaznachevskaya@tut. by
ДАННЫЕ ОБ АВТОРЕ
Казначевская Лариса Владимировна, преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков
Белорусский торгово-экономический университет потребительской кооперации
проспект Октября, 50, г. Гомель, 246000, Беларусь e-mail: kaznachevskaya@tut. by
