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УДК 811.111
Е.Г. Арюхина, Н.П. Крылова, В.В. Чистякова
Череповецкий государственный университет,
Д. Картер
Университет Айдахо, США
СРЕДСТВА ПОВЫШЕНИЯ МОТИВАЦИИ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ИНТЕРАКТИВНОГО ОБУЧЕНИЯ ИНОСТРАННОМУ ЯЗЫКУ В ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЙ ПОДГОТОВКЕ СТУДЕНТОВ УПРАВЛЕНЧЕСКИХ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОСТЕЙ
В статье дается анализ результатов международного пилотного проекта, нацеленного на повышение мотивации студентов вуза в процессе их обучения иностранному языку в контексте использования интерактивных форм и методов работы. В частности, рассматриваются наиболее эффективные средства интерактивного обучения, которые позволяют студентам управленческих специальностей успешно овладеть необходимыми компетенциями.
Мотивация, интерактивные формы, методы обучения, кейс-метод.
The article is focused on the results of an international pilot project aimed at motivation improvement of university students in the process of teaching a foreign language in the context of the use of interactive forms and methods of work. In particular, it discusses the most effective means of interactive teaching, which allows successful acquisition of required competencies.
Motivation, interactive forms and methods of work, case study.
Introduction
Competence-oriented approach to education is in the focus of all program documents, both at the federal and local levels. Among the key competencies that should be formed in educational institutions in the process of language learning, cross-cultural competence and, of course, language competence are considered to be very important as they build communicative competence in the context of cross-cultural realities. Formation and development of these competencies depend primarily on motivation and individual needs of language learners. Motivation initiate a purposeful activity, determines the choice of means and methods to achieve the goal. Positive cognitive motivation to learning activity is one of the most important factors in foreign language study. Such motivation encourages students to persistent, systematic work and as a result leads to deep knowledge.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the results of the international project aimed at increasing the motivation of high school students in the process of foreign language learning by using interactive forms and methods.
Methods and Results
Foreign and Russian researchers laid the foundation of this research. The motivation concerning a foreign language learning is an essential item. Problems of motivation of the person were actively studied both by foreign and Russian researchers , such as B. Ananiev , A. Maslow , S. Rubinstein , I. Zimniya , A. Leontiev and others [6, 10]. They consider motivation as a key factor in educational environment. Early foreign research on second language acquisition (SLA) focused primarily on developing effective methods for teaching a second lan-
guage. SLA researchers have explored a wide range of variables using a multitude of theoretical perspectives in their attempts to explain key aspects of second language acquisition [4].
One variable that has been widely recognized as an important factor in second/foreign language learning is motivation. In their seminal text on the role of motivation in second language learning, Gardner and Lambert defined motivation as a learner's "attitudes toward the other group in particular and toward foreign people in general and by his orientation toward the learning task itself" [3, p. 3].
Another theoretical extension came when Clément demonstrated that self-confidence is an important individual-level factor of motivation that results from positive contact between the language learner and members of the target language group [1]. More recently, Dornyei and Skehan have suggested that since language learning is typically a prolonged process, it may be instructive to identify whether different components of motivation may be operational at different points in the learning process. Dornyei accounts for a broader array of potential "academic and social motives" [2, р. 61] including:"® L2-related values, beliefs and attitudes; (ii) learner-specific motives, such as self-confidence and self-esteem; (iii) motives rooted in the social micro-context of the language classroom, such as the informal class norms designated by the peer group; (iv) the teacher's motivational influence; (v) the motivational characteristics of the curriculum and the teaching materials; (vi) the distracting effects of alternative actions; and (vii) the learner's self-regulatory activity to control his or her own motivational state [2, pp. 616-617].
A host of studies have attempted to answer this question by identifying and then testing classroom activities that could potentially enhance motivation. Ajibade and Ndububa, for example, found that the use of word games and culturally relevant instructional activities strengthened the motivation of secondary school students in Nigeria. More recently, Medina and Gordon [5] conducted a study that explored the effect of service learning on L2 learner motivation.
Of course, not all language learning takes place in traditional classroom environments. The emergence of new technologies and the spread of the English language are, in many ways, "mutually enforcing new trends of the global informational economy" [8]. Computer technology has been used in a variety of formats to enhance English language instruction around the globe [7]. However, despite the widespread use of computer technology in English language instruction and the wide range of web-based tools available, only a few researchers have explored the use of Skype or podcasting technologies as learning tools [9].
In this research the term motivation means a multilevel person's moderator of his behavior and activity [10]. There are two main groups of motives for learning: external and internal. The external motives include: motives of assessment , success , self-assertion . Internal motivation is not related to external circumstances, but it is based on the contents of the individual activities. The development of internal motivation of students related to their personal sense in learning, the significance and importance of the studied subject.
One of the effective means of motivation improvement in SLA is interactive learning which involves communication, collaboration , dialogue interaction, being in the same educational environment between a teacher and students, the consistency in the choice of means of problem solving. Students are involved in the learning process, they have the opportunity to reflect on the knowledge process and knowledge assimilation
These forms of work involve a person to person interaction between students with each other and with a teacher, the students' activity can be characterized as investigative. Such type of teaching provides replacing a passive students' attitude to an active intellectual and communicative attitude to learning. Moreover interactive methods allow you to create a favorable emotional background of a classroom activity, transforming the student from a passive position, reproductive way of studying to active, initiative way [9]. Also such way of teaching provides the development of important communicative competence of the modern manager, giving additional competitive advantage in today's management business market.
Students' motivation improvement in the process of learning a foreign language is also realized through prob-lematizing educational tasks that have personal meaning for students. In fact knowledge is assimilated more efficiently if it has a special personal sense for the student. In this connection, the subject of assignments and exercises in the framework of the study subjects in a foreign language is directly connected with personal experiences of students with their professional preferences and inter-
ests, for example: Job interview, Professional skills, Successful leaders etc.
An international project on interactive learning of a foreign language was held in 2015-2016 academic year in Cherepovets State University and involved the usage interactive methods of teaching as well as modern Internet technology, in particular - Skype. The main objective of this project was to improve students' motivation to learn a foreign language.
Professors of Foreign Languages Department and the Department of Economics and Management of CSU conducted foreign language lessons for students of administrative specialties of Business School, CSU . The project involved the participation of the first and second year students studying at Economics and Municipal Management departments. Professor of University of Idaho (USA) together with the professors of Cherepovets State University held an interactive English language training course, using mostly such methods and forms of learning as: discussions, the method of brainstorming, case study, etc. The topics were directly related to the future professional activity of the students, for example: «Human Resources", "Professional Skills", "Job Interview". These topics were of special interest for the students, as they allowed them to simulate situations of their future professional activities.
The experiment was carried out in two stages in accordance with the terms and the objectives of the project. Preparatory stage (01.09.2015 - 14.02.2016) involved collecting information about the level of students proficiency http://www.multitran.ru/c/m.exe?t=4523154 _1_2&s1= %F3 %F0 %EE %E2 %E5 %ED %FC %20 %E2 %EB %E0 %E4 %E5 %ED %E8 %FF and their professional and personal interests. According to the test results the initial level of communicative competence of the students was defined as intermediate (B1).
The survey, which was conducted at the Department of Foreign Languages, CSU, showed that, the students want to speak a foreign language and recognize its importance for professional growth in general, but not as part of a university course, and not for themselves personally (72 % of all respondents).
The survey allowed to identify the following causes of low motivation to study a foreign language "here and now":
- very small or no evident progress in foreign language study after 6 years of secondary school and / or language courses;
- the absence of the scope of these skills application "here and now" and / or in the future professional activity.
Based on the survey results the following criteria for the studied units evaluation were identified:
- improvement of foreign language communicative competence of students: increase of vocabulary (as compared to the control group), the formation of specific foreign language communication skills);
- atmosphere of encouragement and success connected with foreign language communication;
- informing students about possible ways to apply foreign language knowledge in their life and career.
The main stage of the project was held in the period from 14.02.2016 to 15.05.2016 and involved the partici-
pation of the first and second year students studying at Economics and Municipal management departments of Cherepovets State University. The students were divided into two groups: the students of the first group (control group) were taught in the traditional way, mostly teacher-up-front style, while teaching of the students of the second group (experimental group) involved the usage of interactive methods of teaching and modern Internet technologies. In the second group teaching were arranged in three modes:
- individual and group work of students aimed at the development of autonomous learning skills (with methodological support from the teacher), individual comprehension of the obtained information and expansion of the learning environment through the use of the resources provided by the teacher;
- traditional classroom teaching to practice specific skills on a familiar material as well as the development of students' capacity for reflection and self-planning and monitoring of their own educational path (conversation with the teacher to discuss the algorithm of work, discussion, feedback from the teacher and the group). It should be clarified that the traditional form of learning process organization is needed to eliminate the possibility of reducing the performance of those students who are wary of new activities, and does not exclude the use of the now popular active learning methods.
- lessons in the media classroom (Skype lessons) with a teacher from the University of Idaho, USA. In addition to the implementation of educational tasks this kind of work is a powerful motivational factor. The qualification of the American professor, the possibility of such contact and the kind of the lessons created an emotional uplift in the group due to the effect of novelty and practical value of the material. At this stage the students learned about useful or interesting spheres of foreign language skills applications, i.e. the boundaries of the learning environment expanded.
At the end of the project in the experimental groups there was a survey conducted in the experimental groups which showed that students accept the proposed form of work and find it more interesting and effective than the traditional way of foreign language learning.
In order to identify the degree of learning efficiency a final testing was conducted in the control and experimental groups, the results of which were processed on the basis of the following criteria: quantitative (the amount of utterances, how long the students can dwell on the given topic, a number of errors, the use of studied language units in the utterances) and qualitative (completeness and accuracy of the utterances, the level of interaction with the interlocutor). The results are given in table below (Table 1).
Comparison of the testing results in experimental and control groups as well as the results of the survey of students at the end of the project experiment confirms the effectiveness of the chosen methods of teaching.
Among the interactive forms and methods of teaching the most effective are the following: penal discussions, brainstorming, role-plays, case study, project work. These methods are especially efficient in teaching a foreign language to students of management specialties
(«Management», «Municipal Management», «Economics»). Method of discussion and dialogue in the process of discussion of a topic allows you to develop communicative competence of the students, future managers, the ability to defend their point of view; role-plays allow the students to simulate a situation close to their future professional reality; design techniques are important for the formation of skills to analyze large amounts of information, work with different software, Internet technologies; brainstorming helps find creative solutions of problem issues, which is also an important competency of managers.
Table 1
Testing results
Criteria Experimental group ( %) Control group ( %)
1. Amount of the ut- 5-17 sen- 3-5 sen-
terances tences tences
2. Amount of new
words used in speech (of the total words stu- б5 % 43 %
died on the topic)
3. Error frequency (a number of mistakes
made in the utterances 15 % 23 %
of the total words used
in speech)
4. Amount of com-
plicating elements of the total number of sen- 5 % 3 %
tences (participial, infi-
nitive constructions,
compound words)
5. Communicative
task solution (of the 93 % 72 %
total number of stu-
dents).
6. Conformity between utterance content
and norms of utter-
ances (compliance with the amount of utter-
ances, relevance to the
topic, covering all the aspects of the assign- 70 % б0 %
ment, appropriate style of speech, reasoning, compliance with the rules of politeness) (of the total number of stu-
dents).
One of the most effective means to improve students' motivation to learn a foreign language in the framework of the project proved to be case study method, which is understood as a method of situation analysis. The students were offered to comprehend a real life situation which involves solving a practical problem, and for this it is necessary to use the obtained knowledge - lexis, grammar, cross cultural issues as well as knowledge of certain sphere (management, economics).
Case is a description of a certain situation which is arranged in a certain format and designed to teach students to the analysis and generalization of different kinds
of information and is aimed at improving the skills of formulating problems and find in accordance with the established criteria [12].
Case method proved to be very effective at solving a wide range of educational and communicative tasks:
- the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of general ideas;
- development of self-critical and strategic thinking, the ability to listen to and take into account an alternative point of view and to express t arguments;
- development of the ability to analyze complex and unstructured problems;
-development of rational and critical thinking, responsibility for the decision, the ability to communicate;
- development of the skills to make an algorithm of steps for successful solution of the problem;
- development of teamwork skills;
- improvement of the ability to find the most efficient solution to the problem;
- improvement of communicative and cross-cultural competences.
Taking the classification of cases given by Fedyanin H. and V. Davidenko [11] as a foundation, it should be noted that though there are many kinds of case but the most effective turned out to be the following:
- practical cases - case based on the real situation -they require the solution of the problem, which can be compared with the decision that was taken in the real situation;
- highly structured cases - short and precise presentation of the situation with precise figures and data; they are suitable for practicing of grammatical material;
- ground breaking cases - cases in which it is necessary to find some nonstandard solution - they assume individual and group preparatory work [11].
As far as the size of the cases are concerned, the most effective were the following: a) short case studies (3-5 pages) that don't need and preparatory work and can be studied directly in class involving a general discussion; b) mini-case studies (1-2 pages) often used to illustrate the theory taught in class; c) full cases (5-7 pages) which presuppose individual and group preparatory work.
Conclusion
Implementation of the international pilot project conducted on the basis of ChSU, has confirmed the use of interactive forms and methods of teaching a foreign language as important means to improve students' motivation and demonstrates the need for further study on the matter.
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