CC BY
91TEACHING SPEAKING THROUGH PROBLEM-SOLVING
ACTIVITIES
Gulnoz Komilova Uzoqovna
A senior teacher of the Department of "Foreign languages" at the Tashkent Chemical
Technological Institute https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10358776
Abstract. In this article illustrates the analysis and understanding of CLTapproach how it is implemented in the foreign language-teaching context in Uzbekistan. The author of the work specifies her view and focuses on teaching ESL learners in the country.
Keywords: competent, communicative activities, problem-based learning, problem solving activities, teaching strategies, teaching techniques.
Introduction
Today, the development of information technologies, as well as the widespread introduction of modern information and communication technologies to all areas, especially public administration, education, and health care, are being carried out in our republic. In accordance with the No. PD-357 degree of the President of Uzbekistan dated August 22, 2022 "On measures to take the field of information and communication technologies to a new level in 2022-2023" priority tasks are being implemented [1].
Speaking is one of important skills to be mastered. Speaking is very important because by mastering speaking skill, students are able to make conversation with others, to give the ideas and to exchange the information with others. Learning English means learning language components and language skills. Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling are examples of language components. Among the four skills, speaking is often considered as the most difficult skill to be learned by the students. Teaching English for Uzbek students has had limited success for many years. Numerous attempts were made by the Ministry of Education of Uzbekistan to develop a curriculum that will help students improve their English skills. However, most Uzbek students are not competent in using the English language skills. English teacher should have teaching strategies to solve the problems faced by the students. The teacher must be able to manage their assignments effectively. They are demanded to motivate the students in order to learn English
Well, related to that statement, teaching technique becomes one of the important points on the teaching learning activities.
To teach speaking is not an easy job. There are many problems in teaching speaking. First, students who have poor of vocabulary. Second, students use to speak English language. Third, they rarely practice English to communicate with others. When the teacher asked students to make conversation with their friends in front of class, they would refuse it. Another problem related to the students is that they are not interested with the material given to them. This situation caused them bored and they do not want to continue studying.
Based on the explanation above, I tried to use problem solving activities to improve speaking skills for students in my university. Problem solving method which ensures individuals participation in group of any size. Materials which focus on problem solving offer further opportunities for students to work in pairs or small groups, to share information and opinions on topics, which are meaningful to them. Problem-Solving method is a way of presenting the lesson
by presenting the material as a starting point the discussion of issues to be analyzed and synthesized in an attempt to find a solution or answer by the students.
Materials
Teaching speaking is a very important part of second language learning. The ability to communicate in a second language clearly and efficiently contributes to the success of the learner in school and success later in every step of life. Therefore, it is essential if language teachers' pay great attention to teaching speaking, rather than leading students to pure memorization, providing a rich environment where meaningful communication takes place is desired. With those aim, various speaking activities such as those listed above can contribute a great deal to students in developing basic interactive skills necessary for life. These activities make students more active in the learning process and at the same time make their learning more meaningful and fun for them. It is important to create opportunities for students to interact by using group work as this can improve learners' motivation and promote choice, independence, creativity, and realism. Pair work and group work also provide feedback to the learner from sources other than the teacher. Pair work, as the name suggests, involves two students working together to complete a task or exercise using the target language. Group work is three or more students who work together.
Images may help aid understanding and learning of concepts that are difficult to explain verbally. This is especially true for lower level learners.
Methods
Method of Teaching
According to Dewey (2007:17) the reflective method of solving the problem, namely an active thinking process, be careful, which is based on thought process towards definitive conclusions through five steps:
a) Students identify the problem, the problem came from outside the student's own
b) The next student would investigate and analyzed the difficulty and determine the issues it faces.
c) And then he connects these essays is the result of analysis or each other, and the possibilities to solve such problems in the act he was led by his own experience.
d) Then he considered the possibility of an answer or a hypothesis with the consequences
of each
e) Then he tried to practice the one that considers the best possible solutions. Results will prove whether or not solving the problem really is, when solving a problem that is not quite right, it would be tried on other possibilities to be found solving the right problem. Problem-solving that is true, that is useful for life.
2. Definition of Speaking
"Speaking is also one of the language arts that is most frequently used by people all over the world". The art of speaking is very complex. It requires the simultaneous use of the number of abilities which often develop at different rates. Generally, there are at least four components of speaking skill concerned, they are: comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency (Jeremy Harmer, 1998:87).
3. Problem Solving Activities
"Problem-Solving activities is a method of problem-solving in a rational, logical, correct, and precise with a useful alternative solution". The problem-solving method is a method to solving
the problem as starting point for discussion, researched, analyzed to seek alternative solution that are useful for students.
4. Definition of Discussion
"Discussion is essentially a method to solve the problems with the process of group thinking". Therefore, the discussion is a cooperative activity or coordinated activities that contain certain basic steps that must be obeyed by the whole group (Tarigan,2008:40). Learning English means learning language components and language skills. Grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling are examples of language components. Among the four skills, speaking is often considered as the most difficult skill to be learned by the students. Brown and Yule (1983) states that: "learning to talk in the foreign language is often considered being one of the most difficult aspects of language learning for the teacher to help the students with". Speaking is one of important skills to be mastered. Speaking is very important because by mastering speaking skill, students are able to make conversation with others, to give the ideas and to exchange the information with others. In fact, most students still cannot explain something well by using English. It happens because English teacher only focus on grammar so students do not have enough space to practice English in class.
Results
According to many teaching theorists, speaking skill can be developed through many activities which include an information gap, a jigsaw puzzle, games, problem-solving, and Role-playing. In addition, supported this idea that the activities that can assist better speaking skills are free discussion and role-playing. Also, stated that the language activities are important factors in teaching language for communication. Activities help create interaction in the language classroom. Additionally, communicative activities can motivate the learners and establish good relationships between the teacher and the students as well as among the students thereby encouraging a supportive environment for language learning. English teacher should have teaching strategies to solve the problems faced by the students. The teacher must be able to manage their assignments effectively. They are demanded to motivate the students in order to learn English that: "learning to talk in the foreign language is often considered being one of the most difficult aspects of language learning for the teacher to help the students with".
Speaking is one of important skills to be mastered. Speaking is very important because by mastering speaking skill, students are able to make conversation with others, to give the ideas and to exchange the information with others. In fact, most students still cannot explain something well by using English. It happens because English teacher only focus on grammar so students do not have enough space to practice English in class. Also, stated that the language activities are important factors in teaching language for communication. Activities help create interaction in the language classroom. Additionally, communicative activities can motivate the learners and establish good relationships between the teacher and the students as well as among the students thereby encouraging a supportive environment for language learning. English teacher should have teaching strategies to solve the problems faced by the students. Across content areas, the standards address problem-solving in the form of being able to improvise, decide, inquire, and research. According to the literature problem-solving and inquiry are often overlooked or addressed only superficially in classrooms, and in some subject areas, are not attended to at all.
Discussion
Whereas production is a process that focuses on an end-product, problem-solving is a process that centers on a problem. Students apply critical and creative thinking skills to prior knowledge during the problem-solving process. The end result of problem-solving is typically some kind of decision, in other words, choosing a solution and then evaluating it.
There are two general kinds of problems. Close-ended problems are those with known solutions to which students can apply a process similar to one that they have already used. For example, if a student understands the single-digit process in adding 2 plus 2 to make 4, she most likely will be able to solve a problem that asks her to add 1 plus 1. Open-ended or loosely structured problems, on the other hand, are those with many or unknown solutions rather than one correct answer. These types of problems require the ability to apply a variety of strategies and knowledge to finding a solution. For example, an open-ended problem statement might read:
A politician has just discovered information showing that a statement he made to the public earlier in the week was incorrect. If he corrects himself he will look like a fool, but if he doesn't and someone finds out the truth, he will be in trouble. What should he do or say about this?
Obviously, there is no simple answer to this question, and there is a lot of information to consider. Many textbooks, teachers, and tests present or ask only for the results of problem-solving and not the whole process that students must go through in thinking about how to arrive at a viable solution. As a result, according to the literature, most people use their personal understandings to try to solve open-ended problems, but the bias of limited experience makes it hard for people to understand the trade-offs or contradictions that these problems present. To solve such problems, students need to be able to use both problem-solving skills and an effective inquiry process.
Inquiry in education is also sometimes called research, investigation, or guided discovery. During inquiry, students ask questions and then search for answers to those questions. In doing so, they come to new understandings in content and language. Although inquiry is an instructional strategy in itself, it is also a central component of problem-solving when students apply their new understandings to the problem at hand. Each question that the problem raises must be addressed by thorough and systematic investigation to arrive at a well-grounded solution. Therefore, the term "problem-solving" can be considered to include inquiry.
For students to understand both the question and ways of looking at the answer(s), resources such as historical accounts, literature, art, and eyewitness experiences must be used. In addition, each resource must be examined in light of what each different type of material contributes to the solution. Critical literacy, or reading beyond the text, then, is a fundamental aspect of inquiry and so of problem-solving. Search for critical literacy resources by using "critical literacy" and your grade level, and be sure to look at the tools provided in this text's Teacher Toolbox.
Problem-based learning (PBL) is a teaching approach that combines critical thinking, problem- solving skills, and inquiry as students explore real-world problems. It is based on unstructured, complex, and authentic problems that are often presented as part of a project. PBL addresses many of the learning goals presented in this text and across the standards, including communication, creativity, and often production. The PBL literature points out that both content knowledge and problem-solving skills are necessary to arrive at solutions, but individual differences among students affect their success, too. For example, field-independent students in general do better than field-dependent students in tasks. In addition, students from some cultures
will not be familiar with this kind of learning, and others may not have the language to work with it. Teachers must consider all of these ideas and challenges in supporting student problem-solving.
Characteristics of effective technology-enhanced problem-based learning tasks
PBL tasks share many of the same characteristics of other tasks in this book, but some are specific to PBL. Generally, PBL tasks:
Involve learners in gaining and organizing knowledge of content. Inspiration and other concept-mapping tools like the app Poppet are useful for this.
Help learners link school activities to life, providing the "why" for doing the activity.
Give students control of their learning.
Have built-in and just-in-time scaffolding to help students. Tutorials are available all over the Web for content, language, and technology help.
Are fun and interesting.
Contain specific objectives for students to meet along the way to a larger goal.
Have guidance for the use of tools, especially computer technologies.
Include communication and collaboration.
Emphasize the process and the content.
Are central to the curriculum, not peripheral or time fillers.
Lead to additional content learning.
Have a measurable, although not necessarily correct, outcome.
More specifically, PBL tasks:
Use a problem that "appeals to human desire for resolution/stasis/harmony" and "sets up need for and context of learning which follows".
Help students understand the range of problem-solving mechanisms available.
Focus on the merits of the question, the concepts involved, and student research plans.
Provide opportunities for students to examine the process of getting the answer (for example, looking back at the arguments).
Lead to additional "transfer" problems that use the knowledge gained in a different context.
Not every task necessarily exhibits all of these characteristics completely, but these lists can serve as guidelines for creating and evaluating tasks.
Student benefits of problem-solving.
Conclusion
There are many potential benefits of using PBL in classrooms at all levels; however, the benefits depend on how well this strategy is employed. With effective PBL, students can become more engaged in their learning and empowered to become more autonomous in classroom work. This, in turn, may lead to improved attitudes about the classroom and thus to other gains such as increased abilities for social-problem solving. Students can gain a deeper understanding of concepts, acquire skills necessary in the real world, and transfer skills to become independent and self-directed learners and thinkers outside of school. For example, when students are encouraged to practice using problem-solving skills across a variety of situations, they gain experience in discovering not only different methods but which method to apply to what kind of problem. Furthermore, students can become more confident when their self-esteem and grade does not depend only on the specific answer that the teacher wants. In addition, during the problem-solving process students can develop better critical and creative thinking skills.
REFERENCES
1. O'zbekiston Respublikasi Prezidentining qarori, 22.08.2022 yildagi PQ-357-son https://lex.uz/docs/-6166539
2. Decision of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, No. PQ-357 of 22.08.2022 https://lex.uz/docs/-6166539
3. Chiesa D., Azizov U., Khan S., NazmutdinovaK., Tangirova K,(2019). Reconceptualizing Language Teaching: An in-service teacher education course in Uzbekustan. Baktria PressAl Asmari, A. A. (2015). Communicative Language Teaching in EFL university context: Challenges for teachers. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 6(5), 976-984. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0605.09
4. Alghonaim, A. (2014). Saudi university students' perceptions and attitudes towards Communicative and non-Communicative Activities and their relationship to Foreign Language anxiety. Research Journal of English Language and Literature, 2(2).
5. Richard, Jack. C. et.all. 2001. Approches and Methods in Language Teaching. 2nd edition. New York: Cambridge University Press
