CC BY
28
YffK 811.161.1
DOI10.25513/2413-6182.2019.6(1). 223-232
ISSN 2413-6182 eISSN 2658-4867
VERBAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES BY MEANS OF SITUATIONAL TASKS
A.V. Kirova1, Yu.A. Mel'nik2
1 Dostoevsky Omsk State University (Omsk, Russia) 2 Military University of the Ministry of Defense of Russia (Moscow, Russia)
Abstract: The article is devoted to the study of situational tasks as an effective method of teaching verbal communication in a Russian as a foreign language preparatory course at higher education institutions. Situational tasks are considered as teaching approach consisting of a set of conditions which simulates various communi-cational situations. Also by solving situational tasks students have a chance to put knowledge acquired after studying different topics into practice and to expand their general knowledge. The solving of situational tasks based on full inclusion and participation in situations close to real ones let students master the ability to deal with broad-spectrum information, independently and quickly find relevant data and actively and creatively use their knowledge. Various types of tasks usable in Russian as a foreign language classes are studied in the research.
Key words: situational task, verbal communication, speech development, Russian as a foreign language.
For citation:
Kirova, A.V., Melnik, Yu.A. (2019), Verbal communication skills development in Russian as a foreign language classes by means of situational tasks. Communication Studies (Russia), Vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 223-232. DOI: 10.25513/2413-6182.2019.6(1).223-232. (in English)
About the authors:
1 Kirova, Anastasia Vladimirovna, Postgraduate Student of the Chair of General and Applied Linguistics, Instructor of the Chair of Foreign Languages
2 Mel'nik, Yulia Aleksandrovna, Instructor of the Chair of Russian language Corresponding authors:
1 Postal address: 55^ Mira pr., Omsk, 644077, Russia
2 Postal address: 14, Bolshaya Sadovaya ul., Moscow, 123001, Russia
1 E-mail: anastasia.kirova@gmail.com
2 E-mail: uliya0783@mail.ru
© A.B. Kupoea, K).A. MeAbHUK, 2019
Received: December 18, 2018 Revised: December 21, 2018 Accepted: January 14, 2019
Introduction
The main goal of language teaching in general and Russian as a foreign language in particular is verbal communication skill acquisition. Such skills are the basis of communicative competence which is developed in the studying process. Verbal communication is defined as "the form of interaction between people by means of a language; a communication tool and a way of information transmission" and also as one of the activities by means of which communication and information exchange between individuals takes place [Shchukin 2012: 10]. Moreover, modern methodology considers speech activity as a way of practicing verbal communication, which is the base of the educational process and mechanism of its implementation, to be autonomous [Shchukin: 11]. Such a manner of speech activity is widely used in Russian as foreign language classes at different levels in the process of skills development.
There are four common stages of speaking skill development.
1. Introduction or representation of material. Students perceive form, meaning and implementation peculiarities of language phenomenon being studied.
2. Primary consolidation level. Student do exercises targeted at primary implementation of information received.
3. Level of skill automation. Students do exercises which demand repeated usage of the language phenomenon in their speaking activity. At this stage, language phenomenon first stays constant and then varies.
4. Advancement level. Students do different tasks, which aren't connected with studied language phenomenon directly. Nevertheless, they have to ensure its correct usage, especially in speaking [Lebedinskij, Gerbik 2011: 264].
Different exercises are used at different levels. For primary consolidation of material it would be useful to practice language exercises which draw students' attention to the studied language phenomenon in context. Communicative exercises simulating situations of real verbal communication are used at the level of skill automation. It is important to pay attention both to content and form of speech. At the skill advancement level performance in verbal communication takes place and it motivates students to communicate in the foreign language easily. It is extremely important to create such conditions and situations in which students would have a chance to communicate in the foreign language in the classes.
Theoretical backgrounds for situational tasks development and implementation
E. Passov points out that "situation means not only a set of extralinguis-tic circumstances, but also a system of interrelationship between interlocutors,
which is reflected in their consciousness... Situation is a dynamic system of interrelationship between students which generates personal need in the targeted activity and fuels this activity thanks to its reflection in a consciousness" [Passov 1989: 95].
There are three types of "situation" in methodical literature.
1. Situation of reality is a task in which a combination of conditions (circumstances] demands an individual to perform an operation in order to solve it.
2. Nonverbal situation is a combination of conditions (circumstances] in an action of a person, which demands to perform an act in order to solve it.
3. Speech situation is a combination of conditions (circumstances] in an action of a person, which demands to perform a speech act in order to solve it [The same: 14]. A peculiarity of situational task is in its pronounced practice-oriented character but it is necessary to master certain subject knowledge for its solution [Ekimova 2014: 87]. As a rule, in Russian as a foreign language classes practical tasks are solved because acting out such situations allows students to feel more confident in everyday life.
At the moment the method of situational tasks is widely applied in teaching scientific [Bondar 2015; Ovchinnikova 2014], engineering [Vishniakova
2011], military [Budarin 2010; Verevkina 2014], and medical [Shchekotov
2012] subjects. This method is more frequently used in humanities [Zharavina 2014] and foreign language teaching [Glazyrina 2014; Melnik 2018; Novikova 2014; Savenok 2010; Shtekhman 2016; Fesenko 2017].
Situational tasks are challenges which allow students to master intellectual operations in the step-by-step process of working with information: introduction - perception - application - interpretation - synthesis - assessment.
We define situational tasks as a teaching approach aimed at the solution of practically relevant challenges including sets of conditions and having a goal of forming components of education [Pavlenko 2012].
0. Fesenko considers that "the goal of using situational tasks in the educational process in Russian as a foreign language classes is communication and the development of the skill of the construction of coherent verbal and written texts" [Fesenko 2017: 111]. Thus, situational tasks may be used in Russian as foreign language classes at different stages of study, as they let students easily and effectively master patterns in speech studied before.
There is a number of criteria, based on which it is reasonable to select suitable material for situational tasks [Budarin 2010: 178; Zharavina 2014: 958; Ovchinnikova 2014: 49].
Criteria are the following.
1. Situational tasks should be formulated as a story or coherent text.
2. Relevance. It is necessary to choose topics which are relevant to future professional activity or the studied subject.
3. Practical suitability. Every task should arouse students' interest and have a connection with a real life situation that a person will face in future professional activity.
4. Contextual surrounding. It is necessary for the task to represent a problem which demands an activation of a certain set of knowledge and forms exact skills linked to subjects of training.
5. Targeting. It is necessary to take into account age peculiarities and level of competence in the discipline before creating situational tasks.
6. Typicality. It is necessary to reflect in the situations something typical that would promote the ability to analyze situations by means of analogy in the future. We note that situations should be typical only at the beginning of each topic. As the studying process moves ahead, it is necessary to complicate tasks and provide not only typical but also innovative, creative approaches to the solution of a stated problem. Otherwise students lose the ability to meet challenges creatively.
7. Specificity. Conditions and goal of a task should be stated clearly (so the student clearly understands what results are expected as an outcome of his activity]. Nevertheless it is allowed to include extra factors which have no direct relation with the situation, but still promote seeking the best possible solution to the problem.
8. The potential for students' development. Content of situational tasks has to include issues which demand analysis of the situation, the drawing logical conclusions, expression of personal opinions, formulation and proof of personal position regarding the designated problem.
9. Variation. A task should have several possible solutions so it allows students to develop their abilities to look for the best option.
Provided criteria would help a teacher to elaborate a text for a situational task correctly. In addition, the teacher has to take into account requirements of State Standard in Russian as a Foreign Language [State Standard...Language].
Typical situational tasks for Russian as a foreign language classes
Vocabulary and grammar material is organized according to a topical basis in the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language. It is also useful to apply the method of situational tasks in the process of teaching vocabulary topics.
The active building up of vocabulary takes place at A1 level. In teaching such topics as "Acquaintance" or "Eiquette", the following situational tasks may be suggested for students.
1. You are taking a bus. Ask a passenger to hand over money for a ticket, thank the person for the help.
2. You are in a Russian language class (at your friend's birthday celebration, at the theatre). Express the request using the following speech patterns:
- Please
- Would you be so kind
- Will you kindly
- If it's not too much trouble
- If you don't mind
- Do me a favor
- Be a good fellow.
3. There are different ways to express refusal in Russian. Refuse to lend a pen to a stranger, a brother (a sister) and a friend.
4. Your friend visits you for the first time. Introduce him to all members of your family (parents, grandfather, grandmother, brother, sister, nephew).
5. Give a phone call to your friend (parents, teacher) and make an appointment.
6. You are at friend's place. It is cold (hot) in the room. Ask your friend to solve the problem.
7. You are visiting one of your friends. Your friend has to go out of the room. Introduce yourself to the other guests.
In teaching such topics as "Jobs", "Sport", "Home town/city", "Weather" it is possible to practice the following situations.
1. You come for a job interview for the position of engineer (doctor, mechanic, driver). Speak about yourself.
2. You have graduated from school and you want to become a doctor. Persuade your parents.
3. You have been invited to a hockey match but you already have two tickets to a basketball match. Refuse politely.
4. You are going to ski. Invite your friend.
5. You are talking to your friend. Tell him about your favorite sport.
6. Give a tour around Omsk (or the capital of your country).
7. You got lost in a city. Explain to a passerby how it happened and ask for
help.
8. Your friend is going to visit you. It is winter now. Tell him what the weather is like today is and what kind of clothes he will need.
9. You arrived in Omsk in the autumn. Tell the group about the clothes you were wearing.
10. Winter is considered to be the most interesting season in Russia because the temperature can vary from -50 degrees Celsius in the north of the country to +15 degrees Celsius in the south. It could snow or snow with rain In Omsk. What is the most interesting season for you? Why?
Before starting situational tasks when teaching the topic "Transportation" it is possible to use appropriate vocabulary and grammar material together with an illustration (picture № 1].
A teacher could use illustrations in order to diversify the process of teaching speaking skills using situational tasks in Russian as a foreign language classes. For example, to use real photos of friends and relatives of a student. Describe your friend. The partner's task is to guess who you are talking about.
Another variant is to tell your students to talk about a person based on a picture (provide multimedia presentation or printed cards for students in advance). It is possible to use both pictures of famous people and common ones.
Pic. 1. Means of transport
Active vocabulary diversification through introduction of a large amount of new lexical units takes place at A2 level. These lexical units should be included into verbal speech. For sustainable speaking skills at this level it is possible to suggest the following situations relevant to the topics "Education" and "Travelling".
1. Tell about your first day in the first grade (about your first day in the institute, about your end-of-year school party, about your first exam).
2. You are a Russian language teacher. Give a Russian language lesson for the first year students at your school.
3. A stranger asks you how to get to the train station. Give him instructions.
4. You are on vacation in Italy. You don't speak Italian. Ask a stranger where a cafe is.
5. You have decided to go to Moscow for a city tour. You come to a travel agency. Tell the agent what you would like to see in the capital.
6. Your friend lives in Moscow. Ask him to tell you about city sights.
7. You got acquainted with a foreigner via the Internet. He wants to visit your country. Recommend what museums to visit.
At A2 level it is possible to give students the whole text as an example and ask them to create their own text based on the given one. For example,
1. Read the letter and give answers to Marina's questions.
Hello, my dear friend.
Sorry for not having written for a long time. I was very busy. As you know, I am studying in the Math Department at the university. I am a second-year student. In winter I had end-of-semester exams.I passed my exams and then I had holidays. I visited my mother and father during the holidays.
Tell me about your studies. Is it difficult for you? What subjects do you study, which are your favorite? Where will you study after your preparatory course? Why do you like the military profession?
Your friend, Marina.
2. Tell about education in your country. Use the text "Education in Russia" as an example.
Education in Russia
Toddlers attend kindergartens. They play, go for walks, and listen to fairy tales, which are read by a kindergarten teacher.
In primary school children are taught to read, write and count. In secondary school students study different subjects: physics, chemistry, languages, math, history, geography, etc. Students have lessons in classrooms. Each student has a grade book where teachers put marks. During lessons, students have to answer the teacher's questions, do exercises, write sentences, count and read. Teachers sometimes ask students to come to the blackboard. After every lesson the teacher gives homework and checks it in the next lesson. Before completing their secondary education students have to pass national exams (Unified State Examination).
After passing the exams former students may enter universities. Students and cadets receive higher education. All the students and cadets attend lectures and seminars and write papers. At the ends of each semester students and cadets have to pass tests and examinations. Professors put grades in academic record books.
Situational tasks are highly functional when tables (schema tables] are used. They give an opportunity to present the generalized idea of communication and its conditions visually and also to add necessary grammar material, without which it is impossible to create an efficient communicative model. Moreover, a table could be used as a "summary" for formulating an answer. All necessary information is compressed (into a plan or main points] and could be used as a base for a future coherent text.
Conclusion
So, it is obviously useful to apply the approach of situational tasks in the process of forming verbal communication skills as one of the types of speech activity. Such tasks increase the quality of education, help students to adapt both to teaching and life situations, as they let students apply knowledge gained after studying different topics. Solving a situational task lets a student reveal creative potential and greatly extend educational space, as this type of
activity promotes the development of active speaking skills and the discovery of their creative capacity. Practical orientation of situational tasks increases students' successful adaptation in a target-language country.
References
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Melnik Yu. A (2018) Rechevoe obshhenie na zanjatijah po russkomu jazyku kak ino-strannomu v voennom vuze [Verbal communication in the classes of Russian as a foreign language at the military institute], In Philology and culture, no. 4 (54), pp. 282-287 (in Russian). Novikova, N.G. (2014), Ispol'zovanie situatsionnykh zadach v obuchenii studentov soz-daniyu delovogo diskursa [Use of situational tasks in teaching students to create business discourse], Obrazovanie i obshchestvo [Education and society], No. 89, pp. 28-33. (in Russian) Ovchinnikova, T.A. (2014), Tekhnologiya raboty s situatsionnymi zadachami [Technology of work with situational tasks], Innovations in modern science: proceedings of 3rd international winter symposium, Moscow, pp. 47-52. (in Russian) Passov, E.I. (1989), Osnovy kommunikativnoi metodiki obucheniya inoyazychnomu ob-shcheniyu [Basis of communicative methods of teaching foreign language communication], Moscow, Russkii yazyk publ., 276 p. (in Russian)
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РАЗВИТИЕ УМЕНИЙ И НАВЫКОВ РЕЧЕВОГО ОБЩЕНИЯ НА ЗАНЯТИЯХ ПО РУССКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ КАК ИНОСТРАННОМУ ПРИ ПОМОЩИ СИТУАЦИОННЫХ ЗАДАЧ
А.В. Кирова1, Ю.А. Мельник2
1 Омский государственный университет им. Ф.М. Достоевского (Омск, Россия)
2 Военный университет Министерства обороны Российской Федерации
(Москва, Россия)
Аннотация: Статья посвящена рассмотрению ситуационной задачи как эффективного метода обучения речевому общению на занятиях по русскому языку как иностранному на подготовительном курсе вуза. В данной работе си-
туационные задачи рассматриваются как методический прием, который представляет собой комплекс условий, позволяющий смоделировать разнообразные речевые ситуации. Это задачи, помогающие обучающимся осваивать интеллектуальные операции последовательно в процессе работы с информацией: ознакомление - понимание - применение - анализ - синтез -оценка. Ситуационные задачи позволяют применять на практике знания, полученные в процессе изучения разных тем, при этом они могут предусматривать расширение образовательного пространства студентов. Решение ситуационных задач, основывающихся на привлечении учащихся к активному разрешению учебных проблем, тождественных реальным событиям, позволяет овладеть умениями быстро ориентироваться в разнообразной информации, самостоятельно и быстро отыскивать необходимые для решения проблемы сведения и, наконец, научиться активно, творчески пользоваться своими знаниями. Практическая направленность ситуационных задач способствует более быстрой адаптации студентов в стране изучаемого языка. Рассматриваются различные типы задач, которые могут быть применены в практическом курсе русского языка как иностранного.
Ключевые слова: ситуационная задача, речевое общение, развитие речи, русский язык как иностранный.
Для цитирования:
Кирова А.В., Мельник Ю.А. Развитие умений и навыков речевого общения на занятиях по русскому языку как иностранному при помощи ситуационных задач // Коммуникативные исследования. 2019. Т. 6. № 1. С. 223-232. DOI: 10.25513/2413-6182.2019.6(1).223-232.
Сведения об авторах:
1 Кирова Анастасия Владимировна, аспирант кафедры теоретической и прикладной лингвистики, преподаватель кафедры иностранных языков
2 Мельник Юлия Александровна, преподаватель кафедры русского языка
Контактная информация:
1 Почтовый адрес: 644077, Россия, Омск, пр. Мира, 55а
2 Почтовый адрес: 123001, Россия, Москва, ул. Большая Садовая, 14
1 E-mail: anastasia.kirova@gmail.com
2 E-mail: uliya0783@mail.ru
Дата поступления статьи: 18.12.2018 Дата рецензирования: 29.12.2018 Дата принятия в печать: 14.01.2019
