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49
УДК 378
FAIRY TALES IN THE PROCESS OF CHILDREN'S FOREIGN-LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE
COMPETENCE FORMING
E.P. Komarova, N.N. Turkina
This paper presents the results of implementing a new project "Fairy English with Fairy Tales" in the process of foreign language communicative competence development of children. It's based on the well-known and children's beloved fairy-tales ("Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "The Ugly duckling", "The three little pigs"). The complex comprises a colorful textbook, workbook and CD, recorded by the native speaker and it meets the needs of children learning English at elementary level. The experiment has been run during two consecutive academic years in UNESCO Associated School Interlingua
Key words:Foreign language communicative competence, fairy-tales, auditing, comprehension, reading, speaking,
writing
Intellectual development of children is one of the most actual targets in the Russian educational system. Much attention is focused on English classes due to wide socio-economical and cultural contacts with foreign countries. The presence of foreign-language communicative competence as a part of a professional competence may guarantee students gaining high education at a good university and a well-paid job.
Learning a foreign language in the childhood is more preferable. The learning process must be interesting and accessible. A new project "Fairy English with Fairy tales" was based on the well-known and children's beloved fairy-tales. The complex comprises a colorful textbook, workbook and CD, recorded by the native speaker and it meets the needs of children learning English at elementary level.
The main advance of the project is that is covers all types of speech activity (listening and comprehension, reading, speaking, writing) and contributes to the development of memory, attention, intelligence, thinking and imagination of children. The complex presupposes a gradual learning of linguistic, lexical and grammatical material. Classic tales are divided into several parts; each of it is composed to the following scheme: new vocabulary introduction and practice; listening and comprehension task, reading tasks, writing tasks and speaking. All the parts have additional material aimed at expanding vocabulary and knowledge of grammar rules. An illustrated glossary is placed at the end of the workbook. Every part has got up to 20 obligatory and 5 additional exercises that cover new vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing activities. Most exercises have got pictograms that help children to understand what they should concentrate on.
The vocabulary exercises give the children the opportunity to practice the new words. The first exercise comprises a list of new words with translation and examples. The second task is focused on remembering new words by different means, for example: correct the spelling of new words, group the words according to a part of speech, divide the new words into categories, find the hidden word, rhyme the words below with the
Комарова Эмилия Павловна - ВГТУ, д-р пед. наук,
профессор, e-mail: vivtkmk@mail.ru
Туркина Наталья Николаевна - ВГТУ, аспирант, e-mail:
vivtkmk@mail.ru
new one, complete the chain, cross the odd word out, read the explanation and find the right word from the list above and etc...
Later, listening and comprehension tasks follow with pre-listening, listening for gist, and listening for detail exercises. Children look through the sentences and while listening they have to underline or choose the right word from several options. Sometimes homophones and words that may be confused or pronounced alike are used to check children's attention. Then the children are asked to listen to the story once again (listen for detail) and complete the following tasks: answer special questions, tick true/false sentences, add the missing words/sentences, put the sentences in the correct order, choose the best title and etc. Listening to the record twice allows children to catch the facts they may omit or miss while listening for the first time. By completing listening and comprehension tasks children are motivated by their ability to listen and understand real fairy tales in foreign language and develop their auditing skills.
Reading tasks help children remember new words, word combinations and collocations. Children are asked to read and translate the sentences to find some words while reading, to match the words/parts of sentences after reading, write out words and phrases of particular categories, find the sentence that describe the picture best of all and etc.
In the writing section of each part the children practice syntax, text structuring, and write sentences/stories about the main characters of the fairy tales, about themselves or members of their family by the pattern. The tasks of putting the sentences in the correct order or translating the sentences will support the children in structuring their writing skills.
The grammar exercises appear in the parts of the textbook where grammar rules are needed for children to understand the meaning of the text. The grammar exercises are well-supported by explanations, examples, models and schemes so the children are not pushed beyond their level of competence. The grammar tasks are based very closely on the text, and the children are encouraged to refer back to the text they have listened/read.
Via speaking exercises children develop communicative skills that are essential for real communication. The chosen arrangement of exercises beginning with vocabulary tasks and followed by
listening, reading, writing, grammar exercises - is intended to make children feel confident and to allow them to learn how to speak correctly right from the start. Most parts of textbooks have got key words that assist children in retelling. There sometimes appears even more difficult task - that is to write out the words and phrases that the children consider important for retelling. Speaking tasks are aimed at the children's readiness to form and express their opinion.
Most parts have got an optional section of vocabulary extension exercises that can be used to learn more words and expressions concerning appearance, mood, abilities and actions, family, domestic and wild animals, house, food, colors and etc... in an easy way. Children draw, color pictures, count, do crosswords and other playful tasks. Most parts with additional sections are ended with rhymes focused on new vocabulary. Learning the rhymes make children remember the new words and expressions without much effort.
The educational-methodical complex "Fairy English with Fairy Tales" was successfully implemented on the basis of international educational center "Interlingua" in 2013. Colorful textbook is developed on the basis of Federal state educational standard for foreign languages.
In 2013-2014 14 groups and 148 children participated in the experimental work that was regarded as successful. The illustrated books contribute to the formation of foreign language communicative competence of children; acquaint them with the fabulous characters of popular fairy-tales. A specially worked out system of exercises guarantees a gradual foreign language communicative competence development in an interesting and accessible form, increases motivation of children in learning English language, lays the basis for children's interest in cultural diversity of the world. The result gained through the experiment showed that most children have increased the level of foreign language communicative competence and intellectual abilities such as memory, mental abilities, verbal comprehension, and imagination. The results of experimental work confirmed the effectiveness of the presented project "Fairy English with Fairy Tales".
References
1. Bruce McGowen, Vic Richardson. Clockwise -Oxford: Oxford University Press.2000. - 112
2. Richard Northcott. Oxford Read and Discover -Oxford: Oxford University Press.2011. - 48
3. Zhiriva T. Fedienko B. Easy English. - Rostov-on-Don: Feniks, 2005. - 96
4. Levko E. I love English. - St. Petesburg: Norint.
2004
VoronezhstatetechnicalUniversity
FAIRY TALES IN THE PROCESS OF CHILDREN'S FOREIGN-LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIVE
COMPETENCE FORMING
E.P. Komarova, N.N. Turkina
This paper presents the results of implementing a new project "Fairy English with Fairy Tales" in the process of foreign language communicative competence development of children. It's based on the well-known and children's beloved fairy-tales ("Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "The Ugly duckling", "The three little pigs"). The complex comprises a colorful textbook, workbook and CD, recorded by the native speaker and it meets the needs of children learning English at elementary level. The experiment has been run during two consecutive academic years in UNESCO Associated School Interlingua
Key words: Foreign language communicative competence, fairy-tales, auditing, comprehension, reading, speaking, writing
