УДК 311.111 (07) Филологические науки/ 1. Методика преподавания языка и литературы

к.ф.н. Лаврієнко Т. Я. 

Тернопільський національний педагогічний університет

імені Володимира Гнатюка, Україна

THE IMPORTANCE OF REPETITION WHILE FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

This study is part of a research on students’ spiritual development while foreign language learning which resulted in publishing the manual for this purpose. We had introduced the use of spiritually focused parables and a set of exercises as a teaching and testing technique with the students of philological department. The objective of the proposed article is to find out the main strategies of empowering students’ foreign language speaking, particularly by focusing on repetition as a vital part of language learning, as well as demonstrate a number of effective speaking promoting tasks.

The theoretical background of students’ speaking activities has been the topic of scholarly discussions of such researchers as O. M. Leontiev (О. М. Леонтьєв), I. O. Zymnia (І. О. Зимня), T. V. Riadova (Т. В. Рядова), V. H. Kostomarov (В. Г. Костомаров), T. M. Panasenko (Т. М. Панаcенко), O. O. Potebnia (О. О. Потебня), A. A. Shahmatova (А. А. Шахматова), T. Bigelow, R. Carter, D. Wilson and others.

When I became a teacher, I immediately had to deal with students who were much like I was when I was a young girl. Having no problems with grammar exercises, writing assignments, reading and translating the texts, there was always a worry about speaking badly and therefore losing face in front of my groupmates. So, I began to seek the solution of this problem and finally discovered that there is a number of things we can do to help us and our students feel more confident about using foreign language.

Repetition has always played a part in language learning. Despite the fact that its efficiency in helping students to transfer knowledge from their short-term to their long-term memories is not firmly established, linguists suppose that if students think about what they are repeating and try to organize it in their heads, they stand a better chance of remembering what they are learning than if they merely repeat it without thought [4, 56].

Last autumn I attended the presentation by David Evans at seminar on methodology in L’viv. Speaking about words and memory, he emphasized that according to the latest research in order to remember a word one needs to take at least six encounters with it. This can be accomplished by using rather simple strategy:

Learning a word:

hear it → read it → say it → write it → picture it → mime it → sing it → rhyme it → define it → make it personal → associate it → group it → change its context → investigate it → change its form → translate it.

However, repeating something a number of times, one after the other, isn’t especially useful. What language students need is repeated encounters with language which are space out – that is, material which students come back to again and again, with time lapses in between.

Besides, students will perform much better if they have the chance to think about what they are going to say and how to say it. This may involve, by the words of Jeremy Harmer, just giving them time to think or letting them practice dialogues in pairs before having to do anything public. When students repeat speaking tasks they have already done once, their first attempt is like a rehearsal for the final effort. Evidently, each rehearsal gives them more confidence as they are not attempting to get the words out for the first time.

We suggest spiritually focused parables and a set of exercises as engaging and worthwhile way to awaken students’ consciousness and help them grow in their capacity to use the English language by repeating the story, then telling it again re-using and re-formulating what they said the first time [1, 59-63].

WHY WE SHOUT WHEN IN ANGER

A Hindu saint who turned up at the river Ganges to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He looked on the people, then turned to his disciples and smiled. 'Why do people shout in anger at each other when they blow up?'' – the saint brought up the issue.

Disciples thought for a while, trying to sort out the problem, then one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout.' 'But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.' asked the saint.

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples, so they gave up.

Finally the saint explained: 'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The more they blow up, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly. They get on well. Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

He looked at his disciples and said: 'So when you argue, come down to this advice: do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return. They may end up in divorce courts, for instance.'

(Unknown author)

VOCABULARY SECTION

I. Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following:

saint

disciple

to shout in anger

for a while

to lose one’s calm

next to somebody

as well

in a soft manner

to satisfy

finally

to explain

angry

to distance

to cover

to happen

to fall in love

close

nonexistent

to whisper

that's all

to argue

to let

divorce

court

for instance

II. Say the same in English:

1. Ліки від самотності не в тому, щоб бути біля того, хто тебе любить, а в тому, щоб могти любити самому.

2. Коли людина втрачає своє серце, вона втрачає свою мудрість, силу та свободу.

3. Плачте, коли ваше серце плаче, і смійтеся, коли воно сміється, - дозвольте йому відчувати те, що воно відчуває.

4. Кохання знаходить радість в будь-якій дурничці, якщо її поділяє з тобою близька людина.

5. Кохання –це все. І це все, що ми знаємо про нього.

6. Малі суперечки завжди викликають великі сварки і незгоди. Багато розлучень починається від панчіх, забутих під ліжком.

7. «Успіх породжує успіх» – тому іноді вчителі ставлять п'ятірку, щоб учень, задоволений своїм досягненням, прагнув досягти більшого.

8. Крім того, є така думка, якщо людина починає кричати у гніві, значить вона відчуває свою провину і намагається криком вплинути на хід подій.

9. Відвідувати і слухати злих людей - це є вже початок злої справи.

10. Не сумуй, адже ти ніколи не знаєш, хто може закохатися у твою посмішку.

III. Learn the phrasal verbs from the text:

Turn up – appear

Look on – to watch the event without taking part in it

Bring up the issue – raise the issue

Sort out the problem –clarify the problem

Give up – stop trying

Blow up – to become very angry

Get on well – to like each other and be friendly

Come down to – be influenced by

IV. Insert the phrasal verbs from the text into the gaps.

1. They got married this year. They love each other and really …… .

2. He usually tries to ……. the problem by himself, but later on he …….. my advice.

3. He ……. playing football because he broke his leg.

4. A painter with long hair and brown beard …….. in this little town.

5. Don’t ……. every time somebody irritates you. Take a deep breath instead.

6. Don’t …… if somebody is choking. He needs immediate help.

7. The old university building has been reconstructed. Why wasn’t this issue …… at the board meeting?

V. Think about the following issues and give answers to the questions.

1. Do you agree with the saint’s advice? Explain your point of view.

2. Do you often see people in anger? How do you feel then?

3. How do you behave when somebody is angry with you? Give some bright example of the situation, which happened to you.

4. Do you think that anger can be justified or excused?

5. What things are you angry with?

6. To what extent is it normal to be angry?

7. Can anger be a signal of some serious physical disease?

8. If parents are angry with their children, how will their kids behave in future?

9. How to live and treat the person who usually blows up?

10. What techniques do you know to calm yourself down? Do you use them?

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Лаврієнко Т. Я., Плавуцька О. П. The Secret of Happiness: [навчально-методичний посібник для домашнього читання студентів філологічних факультетів] / Тамара Ярославівна Лаврієнко, Ольга Петрівна Плавуцька. – Тернопіль : ТНПУ, 2012. – 71 с.

2. Bigelow Terry Patrick, Michael J. Vocoun. What choice do I have? Reading, writing, and speaking activities to empower students / Terry Patrick Bigelow, Michael J. Vocoun. – HEINEMANN, Portsmouth, NH. – 170 p.

3. Carter R. and M. J. McCarthy. 1995. Grammar and the spoken language. Applied Linguistics 16/2: 141-158.

4. Harmer J. The practice of English language teaching / Jeremy Harmer. – 3^rd edition, 2001. – 225 p.

5. Wilson, D. Be prepared! English Teaching Professional. – 2005.