(Pedagogical Sciences)

 

The development of students’ ability to conduct

conversations in English.

 

Karasyova Ye.V.,

National University of Pharmacy (Ukraine)

 

Abstract: To teach students to speak English fluently in non-language universities today is an important and not an easy task of higher education. There are many approaches to develop the skills and abilities of conducting  conversations at different language levels during the academic lessons.

Keywords: forms, methods, conversation, situational tasks, role playing, video materials, dialogues.

II. Formulation of the problem. The aim of our research is to trace the forms and methods of teaching students to conduct a conversation in a foreign language and discover how to develop the skills of the ability quickly and directly communicate in English, making clear, detailed message to a wide range of issues and an opportunity to present student’s  views on a certain given problem.

III. Results. The analysis of the teaching materials have shown that driving the conversation in English provides that students must capture and present information in different circumstances, use formal and informal language in different situations, discuss with two people or more and be able to maintain a conversation, to capture their own shortcomings and errors in pronunciation, speak with few grammatical and lexical mistakes and be able to correct them during the conversation.

Thus, during the practical training of a foreign language   the teachers of the foreign languages department of the University of Pharmacy   use such methods of teaching  how to conduct conversations as  solving situational tasks, role playing, discussion of video materials, creation of  short dialogues, using vocabulary of  the lesson.

Situational tasks are a very powerful and popular method of learning to conduct a conversation. They teach students to communicate using the vocabulary that has already purchased. In the classroom, students are divided into small groups. They offered situational problem, 5 minutes of reflection and 10-15 minutes for discussion, in which they must prove their point of view, to argue with the opponent and succinctly express.

When students learn lexical theme "Pharmaceutical Education Abroad", they are offered various situational tasks, for example:

Answer the following questions and develop the idea:   If you have an opportunity to study abroad what University will you choose? Why? Do you want to study at Bradford University? What do you think about education abroad? What advantages and disadvantages pharmacy students have when training in the Academy of pharmaceutical sciences in Great Britain?

It should be noted that a teacher must organize a debate or discussion on some situational tasks that students could apply not only vocabulary, but also grammatical structures studied according to the plan of the lesson.

The leading role in organizing learning a foreign language on level B2 belongs to the role games that the students role-play with a great pleasure and creative approach. The teacher encourages students to share a mini group, gives cards with tasks and roles. It takes 5-7 minutes to create a dialogue on this topic, and hold competitions for the best dialogue. For example, students are given a card with the problem:

 Role-play a dialogue between the Minister of Health Care and a reporter about the System of Health Care in Great Britain.

 The team wins if the language was clear, error-free and the dialogue was creative.

The discussion of video- materials during the practical classes provides primarily that students know lexical material on a particular subject and can develop the idea of using their knowledge of a foreign language and professional education. The teacher is the moderator of ideas and should therefore organize the discussion of video material to provoke the students with questions for a debate or a discussion of what they have seen.

For example, when studying the theme "Proteins", the teacher encourages students to view the video on this topic and offers a number of questions that students must answer, namely:

  Are all the chemical processes controlled by proteins?  How can we classify the proteins? Is it true that all proteins are insoluble in organic solvents and alcohol? Are simple proteins composed of a large number of amino-acids?

After reviewing and answering questions, students are invited to discuss what they have seen in small groups of 2-4 people or role-play the video film. Homework may be writing the content for the video film by memory.

IV. Conclusions. So, in conclusion, I’d like to say that situational tasks, role playing, discussion of video materials, creation of  short dialogues stimulate students’ interests for studying a foreign language, develop students’ language skills. They all will be more effective if a teacher creates friendly atmosphere of studying and uses a creative approach while planning the lesson.

References:

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5.                         Fincher-Kiefer (2001). Perceptual components of situation models. Memory & Cognition, 29 , 336-343.