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THE ACTIVIZATION OF THE PROCESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER'S PROFESSIONAL TRAINING BY "CASE STUDY" METHOD
A.Y. Niyazova
Department of Theory and Practice of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Philology, ENU Eurasian National University (Astana, Kazakhstan).
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. The article concerns the problem of improvement in foreign languages teachers' professional training by "case study" method. The activiza-tion of training process will be reached when teachers master the main aspects of professional training content (motivation, processional, result, reflective). The rational organization of teacher training can be provided with "case study" method and also with methodical system of active teaching methods-ways.
Keywords: the teaching activity; the activization of the process of teachers professional training; "case study" method; method-way; motivation aspect of content; processional aspect of content; result aspect of content; reflective aspect of content.
The realization of modern qualitative education demands to search for the new effective teaching methods and to train competent and rival specialists in various fields. This aim remains important in any country's education system. The effectiveness of specialist's work depends on how successfully he carries out his professional activity, possesses the set of professional competencies, including his knowledge, skills, abilities and experience.
In the article we raise an issue about training future foreign language teachers by means of "case method" at the laboratory lessons on methods of teaching foreign languages at the department of foreign languages' theory and practice at the Eurasian National University named after L.N. Humilyov.
At the practical lessons and school practice there are created the conditions for integration of future teachers' psychological and pedagogical knowledge into the specific professional problems' solution. These factors affect the formation of teachers' professional skills and competences.
The series of experiments show that "case method" is can be effectively used for organization, development and management of teaching content comprehension.
"Case Method" is considered by us as a way of studying the subject (if the main purpose of study is knowledge acquisition) and a way of mastering (comprehension) the teaching content, which components are the skills and habits of carrying out a particular activity, so it is the way of forming skills and habits in various activities.
There are some requirements for usage of the "case-method":
- the students must be provided by large number of practical problematic tasks in certain combinations, which support students' professional training;
- the students must be given by chance to solve problematic tasks including their professional experience, knowledge and skills, to analyze the various conditions of problems' solving;
- the training must be carried out by means of different organizational
forms;
- the training must be carried out by means of various visual and technical facilities;
- the students must be able to perform variety of activities: cognitive, educational, creative, mental, organizational.
The above requirements are taken into consideration in our case for the future foreign language teachers' training. Case contains problematic tasks to the activization of four major components in the content of training foreign language teacher:
1) motivational, promoting the formation of the teacher's professional motives and training teachers to conduct analysis of pedagogical situations and pupils' individual features, abilities;
2) procedural, promoting the mastering by teachers the ways of organizing proper interaction with schoolchildren, selection and processing of teaching content, methods, facilities and organizational forms;
3) efficient, contributing to teacher's self-mastery of preparation and usage of teaching materials, the most effective teaching techniques, facilities and organizational forms;
4) reflexive, promoting the mastering by teachers the effective methods of control (the establishment of students' preparedness, the definition of the students' difficulties and causes of errors) and self-control (efficiency of the organization and usage of teaching materials, techniques) [1].
The case is fully presented in the textbook "The workbook of problematic tasks for activization of the English language teacher's teaching activity" [2: 118].
The case contains many tasks that provide the preparation for real teaching practice and the formation of teaching experience and skills.
This case, in turn, is divided into lower-level cases, aimed to train future teachers to teach speaking, listening, reading and writing. Consider the case, which includes exercises for learning foreign language speaking.
The first group of problematic tasks includes exercises that provide the acquisition of the motivational aspect of the foreign language teacher's training content. Consider some of them:
1) Problematic tasks for identifying teaching programs' requirements to the level of knowledge and language skills:
• Analyze the school programs, textbooks and fill in the table with the requirements for pupils' proficiency in speaking, reading, listening and writing.
Problematic tasks to the activization of four major components in the content of training foreign ^ language teacher
motivational
procedural
efficient
reflexive
Problematic tasks for:
- training for identifying teaching program requirements to the level of knowledge, language skills and abilities of pupils in speaking;
- training for identifying teaching goals, lesson's objectives, teaching effectiveness;
- training for the selection of teaching materials, techniques, facilities and organizational forms;
- training for the selection of methods of differentiated instruction and achievement speaking intersubject connections
Problematic tasks for:
- training for lesson planning;
- training for rational selection and organization of teaching exercises;
- training for rational selection and organization of active teaching methods;
- training for rational selection and organization of effective teaching facilities;
- training for rational selection and organization of active teaching techniques;
- training for establishment of rational interaction in teaching speech communication
Problematic tasks for:
- training for independent usage of active teaching methods and forms;
- training for independent usage of effective teaching facilities, exercises;
- training for independent usage of effective teaching techniques;
- training for independent usage of effective tests for speaking abilities' control
Problematic tasks for:
- training for identifying the effectiveness and quality of lesson planning;
- training for identifying the effectiveness and quality of active teaching methods, techniques, organizing forms and teaching materials
2) Problematic tasks for identifying certain age characteristics of students, their individual characteristics, for diagnosis of speech and intellectual capabilities:
• Select from a list of age characteristics that match the pupils of primary school, secondary and high school.
• Check whether the following questionnaire helps the teacher in teaching speaking, reading, listening and writing. What action would you take after receiving the results of this questionnaire?
• What advice would you give to the teachers who wrote about the cases that occurred to them in the classroom..?
• Consider the following recommendations and determine which ones will help to improve pupils' interaction with the teacher at lesson of English.
3) Problematic tasks for identifying teaching goals and lesson's objectives:
• Review the lesson's objectives and determine what goal is realized at lesson (practical, educational, developing, mentoring).
• Analyze the proposed lesson plans developed by students and determine the goals and objectives of the lesson.
• Analyze the proposed fragments of different lesson plans and determine how the teacher gets to exercise lesson's objectives.
4) Problematic tasks for the selection of academic language and teaching materials, techniques, facilities, organizational forms:
• Determine whether the proposed language and speech training materials are selected according to pupils' cognitive abilities and interests.
• Determine which of the proposed exercises are the most effective in teaching speaking, reading, listening and writing.
• Discuss what purpose put the teacher, offering students the following tasks to the text.
• View a video lesson, analyze it and determine: a) whether the teaching materials are selected according to pupils' interests; b) what organizational forms and teaching methods focus on age and educational interests of the pupils.
5) Problematic tasks for the selection of teaching methods:
• Determine what speech skills formation provides the following task.
• Analyze textbooks of English and give the examples of teaching methods, which provide teaching speaking, reading, listening and writing.
• Analyze the proposed lessons' fragments and determine how the teacher uses the contents of other school disciplines in teaching speaking, reading, listening and writing.
The second group of problematic tasks promotes mastery of procedural aspect of the teacher's training content [2: 40]:
1) Problematic tasks for lesson planning:
• At what stage of the lesson (preparatory, introducing the material, training, and activization of speech activity) can be the tasks performed.
• Highlight the steps in the proposed lesson plans of the students and find out the goals and teaching content. Explain how the teacher performs organizational transition from one lesson step to another.
• Place the lesson steps in the correct order and specify the topic of the lesson, goals and objectives.
2) Problematic tasks for rational selection of teaching materials (texts, speech situations) required for teaching speaking, reading, listening and writing:
• Choose the authentic teaching materials for teaching speaking, reading, listening, writing, and specify the reason for your choice.
3) Problematic tasks for rational selection and organization of exercises:
• Choose the proposed exercise that: stimulates pupils to give the coherent, logical presentation of their ideas; can it be used in teaching speaking on the basis of an educational film (before viewing and after seeing it).
• Put into correct order the steps of: role-play, discussion, interview.
4) Problematic tasks for selection of teaching aids:
• Determine which of the proposed visual supports can be used in teaching speaking, listening, writing.
• Determine the desired sequence work on the collage.
5) Problematic tasks for rational selection of organizational forms:
• View a video lesson and determine what form of training teacher uses. What is the purpose of pair and group work organized by the teacher?
• Fill in the following table about the advantages / disadvantages of different organizational forms.
6) Problematic tasks for rational selection of active teaching techniques:
• Select from a list of active teaching techniques those that are useful for teaching speaking, listening and writing.
• Compare options for discussion and select the most effective.
The third group of problematic tasks promotes mastery of efficient aspect of the teacher's training content [2: 81]:
1) Problematic tasks for the independent selection of teaching methods, organizational forms, resources, exercises:
• Read the dialogue-model (with text-sample) and explain how you will use it when you teach speaking.
• Develop a fragment of the lesson aimed at teaching speaking and organize training in following organizational forms: "teacher-class", "teacher -student 1 - student 2 - student 3".
• Analyze the materials proposed in foreign textbooks and organize role-play, develop the visual support.
2) Problematic tasks for the independent selection of active teaching methods:
• Develop a discussion based on the following statement. Plan the steps of the discussion and develop the questions that will help to stimulate the students' arguments.
3) Problematic tasks for the independent selection and development of
tests:
• Develop test items for testing pupils proficiency in speaking.
The fourth group of problematic tasks promotes mastery of reflexive aspect of the teacher's training content:
1) Problematic tasks for assessing the quality of lesson planning, the effectiveness of teaching techniques, organizational forms and materials:
• Analyze the proposed of lessons aimed at developing pupils' speaking skills. Identify the lesson's value and deficiency.
• Analyze video of the lesson and determine the lesson's purpose, the effectiveness usage of the technical facilities.
2) Problematic tasks for assessing the quality of teaching and ongoing verbal communication at the lesson of English:
• Analyze the teacher's speech in the classroom and explain whether it is adapted to the level of pupils' language training.
• Watch the video of lesson's fragments and determine the errors of the teacher's work.
In the conclusion, we note that we presented our approach to English language teachers' training by means of "case-method" that makes possible to involve every student in active processes of professional training and professional decision-making by means of different modern resources. Such organization of future teachers' practical work makes the training more interesting and efficient.
Literature
1. NIYAZOVA, A.Y., 2004. Activization of the process of teaching speaking English in the
seventh-eighth grade at secondary schools. Thesis for the candidate's degree in pedagogical sciences. Saint-Petersburg, 188 p.
2. NIYAZOVA, A.Y., and KOLKOVA, M.K., 2013. The workbook of problematic tasks for
activization of the English language teacher's teaching activity. Astana: Zerde publishing house, 118 p.
