Хоменко Л.М.

Сумський Національний Аграрний Університет, Україна

USING NEWSPAPERS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING AS A TOOL TO CONVERSE EFFECTIVELY

Recent situation in information society gives a good opportunity to improve and modernize the teaching process. There are new computer classes with Internet access that make possible using multimedia technologies in English language teaching. It is known, how difficult it is for a teacher to make the atmosphere of the English lessons close to that of the English native speakers’. Ordinary textbooks cannot satisfy various and multi target objectives of English language teachers. It is proposed that English-language websites, due to their genuine interests, real-world relevance, and ready-to-use language should be incorporated into EFL instruction. Examples of instrumental authentic materials, particularly Internet resources, as well as matching student-centred activities, are suggested for instructional use. Authentic materials, such as English newspapers and magazines, supply up-to-date information on current issues.

The main aim of this article is to prove of the efficiency of using newspapers and magazines in English language teaching and to motivate FL teachers to introduce this method of teaching into their lessons.

At the English classes the teacher should never fail to use an opportunity to emphasize the value of newspapers in language teaching and learning. I state the advantage of using newspapers for the following reasons:

- It is a cheap source of authentic (British and American) English with a variety of registers.

- It provides appropriacy of language in context.

- It is entertaining.

- Paralinguistic features abound.

- It provides excellent exposure to other cultures.

- It offers a wide spectrum of topics ranging from sports and education to politics.

I would like to share some ideas, based on my teaching experience, about using newspapers in teaching English – its aspects and the students’ communication skills.

Editorials and gossip columns, serious and light-hearted newspapers can be used to teach formal and informal varieties of English. Editorials and feature articles can provide passages for summary and comprehension; letters to the editor can demonstrate good features of letter writing; reports on court proceedings can illustrate questioning techniques; various articles can provide direct and reported speech for grammar samples of study. Of immediate benefit is the fact that one issue of a newspaper may contain material for teaching various types of writing: description, analysis and synthesis, comparison and contrast, and process description; and they provide models of good written form: paragraphing, topic sentence, introductions, conclusions, etc. Homework assignments requiring students to list and bring to class the vocabulary items and expressions they encounter in newspapers have become immensely valuable.

I have used newspapers extensively because they have certain qualities that make them effective as teaching tools. There are different kinds of activities which you can creatively use at the lessons involving the whole class. One of the most interesting activities for students is “Political discussion club” when discussing breaking news articles students enjoy expressing their own point of view on different political issues. Various word games facilitate quick memorizing of newspaper vocabulary. We use TV, watch BBС and CNN news. After that I make my students write a newspaper article with a special commentary on it. They enjoy doing it: this activity develops both listening and writing skills with the following vocabulary discussion.

Here are some suggestions for using newspapers in class:

1. Use the English language newspapers produced for the local community. Many large cities have a newspaper in English. The topics within these papers are likely to have more of an impact on the learners than the topics that are specific for the British or American press.

2. Allow your learners to select an article that interests them; they can read it and report back to other learners.

3. Encourage the learners to read outside the class as much as possible.

4. Make your tasks as authentic as the material. Tasks like “underline all the verbs in the past” are of limited value and should be used sparingly. Think of what people do when they read newspapers in their own language.

5. Help students become better learners. Reading is a great way of mastering language. If you can get your learners to regularly dip into English newspapers, their reading skills, writing skills and vocabulary will improve. Talk about reading and comprehension of the English texts with your learners as well, and share the strategies they can use while reading. How often do they use a dictionary, for example? At the end of a course do they feel they are reading faster or better?

If the real-time information is put to use, the acquired knowledge can be immediately activated and solidified. The following activities are recognized successful in class:

- Group brainstorming / problem-solving discussion (approximately four in a group; for 15-20 min.) on the topic of a group’s interest that involves issue(s) to be discussed or debated; reported to the whole class afterwards by a group representative;

- PowerPoint presentation (individual or group) based on the information obtained from the websites; delivered in front of the whole class;

- Close test type of exercises – making newly learned expressions in English into blanks in passages for students to fill in based on the co-texts;

- Group game designing – using the newly read articles for the whole class to play;

- Essay writing – on the articles read, e.g. global warming, from the students’ own perspectives.

To sum up, all the above activities have proved to be instrumental in (1) achieving learner-centeredness; (2) developing students’ creative and critical thinking skills; (3) encouraging teamwork and learning autonomy. Thus, I dare to conclude that newspapers can be successfully used as a tool to converse effectively.