CC BY
37
УДК 378.147
Е. С. Комолова
ст. преподаватель каф. лексикологии английского языка ФГПН МГЛУ e-mail: [email protected]
К ВОПРОСУ О НАЧАЛЬНОМ ЭТАПЕ ПРЕДМЕТНО-ЯЗЫКОВОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ (на примере специальности «Психология»)
Автор рассматривает подготовку студентов, ранее не изучавших иностранный язык, к иноязычной профессиональной коммуникации (на примере специальности «Психология»); проводит краткий анализ работ, посвященных формированию профессиональной иноязычной компетенции, и поднимает ряд вопросов, ранее не освященных отечественными и зарубежными методистами, намечает направление дальнейшей работы.
Ключевые слова: вторичная языковая личность; предметно-языковое обучение; межкультурная коммуникация; подъязык психологии.
Komolova E. S.
Senior Lecturer, Department of English Language Lexicology, MSLU e-mail: [email protected]
ON CONTENT AND LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING FOR PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS (Initial Stage)
The article dwells upon the vital issue of language training in the professional sphere for psychology students whose level of foreign language skills is assessed as minimum, which makes it impossible for them to participate in real communication of any kind. After a brief survey of Russian and foreign research papers on the subject of shaping professional foreign language competence the author points out the issues that have not been covered yet and emphasizes the importance of the further research in this area.
Key words: second language identity; content and language integrated learning; cross-cultural communication; sublanguage of psychology.
The ongoing process of the intensification of worldwide social relations has serious ramifications that are reflected in the sphere of language training as all the scapes of globalization are inextricably linked to the question of language and more specifically to the questions of language education. "Now languages not only are signs of authentic national identities, they are also seen as commodities, the possession of which is a valued skill in the job
market" [9, p. 35]. Commodification of languages caused communication skills revolution that has taken part at three general levels: communication skills are seen as an essential qualification for many jobs, as a basic element in ever-growing self-help and self-improvement market, as a part of national curricular. Thus, dramatic changes aiming at training students for effective cross-cultural communication have taken place in the sphere of language education for professional needs. Modernization in the system of education pursues a goal of professional and personal mobility within single market, cross-cultural communication and cooperation, mutual understanding. As a result, higher standards are set for non-linguist graduates [5], including cross-cultural psychologists (кросс-культурный психолог [3]). This leads to viewing CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) as an indispensable part of college / university education.
It should be mentioned, that the approach is differentiated from "bilingual or immersion education and a host of alternatives and variations such as content-based language teaching, English for Special Purposes, plurilingual education in two distinct ways: it is based on an integral approach, where both language and content are conceptualized on a continuum without an implied preference for either, it has its roots in European contexts where socio-linguistic and political settings are very rich and diverse" [12, p. 97].
The issue of shaping a second language identity (the term borrowed from I. Khaleeva [6]) within non-native environment is very complicated and requires a lot of time and effort. Some methodologists even insist that this aim is impossible to achieve due to the lack of academic hours in non-language universities [1]. Still, learning subject matter together with learning the language gives students a different learning experience, integrates thinking and learning skills, communicates intercultural knowledge, prepares for internationalization, enhance their spontaneous oral production, motivates learners, makes them more confident using the target language, more sensitive to the vocabulary and ideas presented in the target language [7]. All these aspects help to prepare a non-language specialist-to-be for effective cross-cultural communication.
CLIL is a term used to cover a variety of models ranging from language-led projects to subject-led projects. According to Eurydice Survey held in 2006, different countries use different terminology for CLIL which reflects the emphasis given to either the subject-based component or the
language of CLIL. It has also been noticed that there are 216 types of CLIL programmes based on variables such as compulsory status, intensity, starting age, starting linguistic level and duration. CLIL models are not broad-based. "They are elaborated at a local level to respond to local conditions and desires. Indeed the characteristics of CLIL developments in Europe show a great variety of solutions... it is the combination of the choices in respect to the variables that produce a particular CLIL model as well as also defining its effectiveness vis a vis the overall aims" [12, p. 100]. Thus, learning environment, learning outcomes, and the learner's characteristics should be taken into account when, for instance, planning professional training for psychology students willing to work in the sphere of cross-cultural communication, simply borrowing CLIL programmes cannot have the desired social and learning outcomes.
It is professional distinctiveness that makes the process of acquiring professional foreign language competence unique for each specialty occupation. It should be mentioned, that a scope ofa Psychology Department graduate's activities can't be limited to just one narrow sphere. The degree of BA or BSc in Psychology provides a wide range ofjob opportunities for graduates, as, first of all, psychology is a subject that entails a lot of topics which can relate to everyday life (for example, group dynamics, assessing people, attempting to understand human motivation, etc). Consequently, it will have something in common with the majority of careers that graduates are likely to pursue. Moreover, the types of skills developed on a degree course are attractive to potential employers.
In addition to the above mentioned, the major specialisms in psychology according to A Student's Guide to Studying Psychology include [14]:
• Clinical Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Occupational or Organisational Psychology
• Criminological or Forensic Psychology
• Health Psychology
• Counselling Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Psychotherapy
• Sports Psychology
Therefore, an adequate command of language for a Psychology Department graduate willing to perform professional functions within
cross-cultural environment should include the skill of choosing a language item for the cultural specifications and the situation itself effectively, acting in a culturally sensitive way, the knowledge of peculiar cognitive features, interests, and demands of the client [3].
A number of scientists claim that language education of psychology students has some peculiarities because of the special characteristics of the sublanguage of psychology [4; 7]. Although units of terminological systems tend to be precise, monosemantic, have exact correspondent terms, lack synonymity, actually these characteristics can not be applied to the sublanguage of Psychology. Moreover, meaning capacity of Psychology terms in English and Russian language does not always coincide, terms can have different semantic shares or comprise the meaning of two or more terms. For example, the pairs of correspondent terms creativity-TBopnecTBo, identification-ндентн$нкацнa, behaviour-noBegeHHe have different semantic shares. It is illustrated in chart I, the explanation is provided below.
Chart I
№№ Correspondent terms Different semantic shares
1 creativity
творчество + animal behaviour
2 identification deliberate
идентификация unconscious
3 behaviour + inner activity
поведение
1. According to Oxford dictionary of Psychology "creativity" has the following definition:
the production of ideas and objects that are both novel or original and worthwhile or appropriate, that is, useful, attractive, meaningful or correct... in order to qualify as creative, a process of production must in addition be heuristic or open-ended rather than algorithmic (having a definite path to a unique solution) [11, p. 175].
Whereas the term "творчество" in Russian language has the additional meaning of "animal behaviour" and can even be attributed to substance [5, p. 536].
2. The definition of the term "identification" ("the deliberate adoption of other person's behavior or ideas as one's own" [11, p. 353]) shows its deliberate character, whereas "идентификация" denotes unconscious assimilation similar to the meaning of "identification" in psychoanalysis:
a defence mechanism whereby one uncounsciously incorporates attributes or characteristics of another person into one's own personality [11, p. 353].
3. Similarly, "поведение" means observing the process from the outside («извне наблюдаемая двигательная активность живых существ, включающая моменты неподвижности, исполнительное звено высшего уровня взаимодействия целостного организма с окружающей средой» [2, p. 388]), while "behaviour" comprises both outer and inner activity:
the physical activity of an organism, including overt bodily movements and internal glandular and other physiological processes, constituting the sum total of the organism's physical responses to its environment [11, p. 83].
Lexical units of sublanguage of Psychology comprising meaning of two or more terms in the correspondent language can be illustrated by the following examples:
1. In the interpretation of Russian dictionaries the term "язык":
...система знаков любой физической природы, служащая средством осуществления человеческого общения и мышления; в собственном смысле язык слов - явление, общественно необходимое и исторически обусловленное. Одним из непосредственных естественных проявлений языка выступает речь как звукословесное общение [2, p. 636]
coincides with the meaning of "language", whereas the second meaning of the term is similar to that of "tongue":
анатомический термин, обозначающий мышечный вырост на дне ротовой полости; принимает участие в акте речи и является органом вкуса [2, p. 636].
2. The term "performance" incorporates the meaning of Russian Psychology terms "языковая активность", "выполнение", "работа":
the act or process of carrying out a sequence of behaviour, especially the presentation of a dramatic role or piece of music; in linguistics, especially in generative grammar and transformational grammar, a term introduced by the US linguist and philosopher (Avram) Noam Chomsky to denote the specific utterances of a native speaker of a language, including hesitations, false starts,
E. C. KoMonoBa
and speech errors, in contrast to their underlying competence. It is analogous
to the concept of parole, also called linguistic performance [11, p. 544].
The above mentioned examples clearly show that cross-cultural differences cause semantic discrepancies in the terminology in question. A number of psychological terms have certain peculiarities that can cause difficulties in the process of education of psychology students. The following characteristics of the sublanguage of Psychology should be taken into account when planning CLIL training for cross-cultural psychologists:
1. The sublanguage of psychology is noted for terms of metaphorical character, synonyms, different meaning capacity, which is considered to be nontypical of a scientific sublanguage [4; 7];
2. The sublanguage of psychology has a great number of borrowings from other scientific sublanguages [4; 7].
It should be mentioned that professional distinctiveness in the sphere of Psychology eliminates any possibility of misunderstanding [4], which places even greater emphasis on the importance of the role of specific semantic features mentioned above in the process of language acquisition for professional communication.
It has already been mentioned, that taking learners' characteristics into account is crucial for planning CLIL course at university. It is common knowledge that all applicants have different foreign language levels. Streaming or placing students in the right group according to their foreign language knowledge is usually facilitated by the use of placement tests. However, some applicants may not have studied language at school, which does not prevent them from entering universities with CLIL subjects. This arouses certain difficulties, as "according to Cummins and other researchers, it takes learners at least five years to achieve CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency), which is a level required for academic study" [8, p. 8]. Moreover, before CALP students have to acquire BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills), which usually takes two or three years of education in the target language [8]. Within the sphere of our interests this raises a vital issue of professional training in the field of cross-cultural communication for psychology students who haven't learnt a foreign language before. Particular attention should be paid to the facilitation of the process of psychology students education within a four-year university course.
Although the problem of professional training of psychology students in the sphere of cross-cultural communication has been dealt with in the investigations of Russian authors [4], the question of initial stage in the language training for specific purposes has not been touched upon so far.
Despite the fact that countries have very many ways of realizing CLIL due to specific socio-cultural settings and educational policies, the educational approach is often integrated into school education, consequently applicants are already used to studying the subject through the medium of a non-native language. Thus, there are research papers on the transition between secondary and tertiary education using CLIL approach, special programs dealing with the abovementioned problem (for example, Junior University), step-by-step instructions for organization of a CLIL course for university students, who have already learnt a foreign language at school. Some countries, in particular, Spain and the Netherlands, have responded with substantial investments into CLIL implementations, conducted numerous research and development projects, established explicit quality parameters and a supply of teacher and school development measures [10; 15]. However, the issue of professional training in the sphere of cross-cultural communication for students who have not learnt a foreign language before has not been covered yet. For instance, authors of CLIL-based funerary archaeology courses held at the Division of Palaeopathology of the University of Pisa claim that "all the material relevant to the course is simplified and adapted to the needs and language of the students, who are supported by authentic materials in the form of text-books, articles, tutorials, illustrations, audio and video recordings, and by a number of activities ranging from gap-filling exercises, matching words with their definitions, jumbled sentences, sentence formation, preparation of posters, powerpoint demonstrations". At the same time, they admit that a minimum knowledge of the language is the condition requested for attendance to the classes [10]. Furthermore, "It's a common concern of educators and parents how being taught in the foreign language will affect learner's knowledge, skills, and understanding of the subject. Because the medium of learning is less perfectly known than the L1, it is feared that this will lead to reduced subject competence as a result of either imperfect understanding or the fact that teachers preempt this problem and simplify content" [13, p. 188]. This shows that although CLIL has been considered to be one of the most innovative and promising approaches to foreign language teaching in
Europe over the past decade, there are still problems of vital importance left unsolved or uncovered.
A brief survey of the research papers on the problem of professional training in the sphere of cross-cultural communication for university students leads us to the conclusion that the issue needs further investigation in the context of initial stage of language education for psychology students. The solution to the question raised can play an integral role in facilitating the process of language education for cross-cultural psychologists-to-be and other non-language specialists, who pursue effective cross-cultural communication in the professional sphere.
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