R.F. Zhussupova, K.M. Nabiyeva

L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University

Conditions of enhancing linguistic giftedness and foreign language aptitude of Astana’s pupils

 

The article describes different approaches to the definition of learners’ giftedness in Astana city, types of giftedness; moreover it presents characteristics of how to define giftedness among Astana’s learners. The article presents “Multiple Intelligences” model of giftedness by Gardner as the model for teaching English language to gifted students. In addition, the problem of evaluation and assessment of gifted students’ performance in the classroom is analyzed in the article. The article also presents the term "polylingual communicative giftedness” as a complex psycholinguistic and communicative-strategic ability for learning world’s languages ​​and preparedness to communicate in any language. The statistics of gifted students’ achievements of Astana that take part and achieve results at international scientific Olympiads and competitions is given in the article.

Key words: giftedness, linguistic giftedness abilities, signs of giftedness, model of giftedness, gifted pupils, scientific Olympiad.

 

Language makes up a significant part of the total human experience and possesses different structures and patterns of meaning and may pay attention to contrasting aspects or characteristics of events. This gives the foreign language its unique quality, with its own particular blend of sounds, conventions and shared understandings, which the native speaker assimilates both culturally and linguistically. The foreign language learner has the challenge of learning new knowledge and a new mode of meaning in order to gain some insight into another person’s reality and access to other social domains.

 There needs to be applied a comprehensive approach to mastering a foreign language and acquiring the language proficiency. First of all, communicative skills, language intuition and language ability do not necessarily facilitate a learner with the formation of the second language personality. It also should be noted that the formation of the second language personality is the final stage of mastering a foreign language.

The notion “second language personality” is defined as “the total of the foreign language aptitude of a learner on the cross-cultural level” [1, 59].  Thus, both the linguistic giftedness and the foreign language aptitude are only pre-requisites to the formation of the cross-cultural competence and the development of the second language personality.

Moreover, there are still many controversial questions concerning the development of linguistic giftedness and foreign language aptitude, i.e. the opportunity of individualization and differentiation of language education in schools; relevance and necessity to teach foreign languages from an early age, new approaches to the development and support of gifted children; “side effects” of multilingualism and early foreign language education; non-testable methods of revealing the linguistic giftedness; the direct connection between foreign language aptitude and native language acquisition, the innate character of linguistic giftedness.

The Voytko psychological dictionary (1982) defines the notion of giftedness as “a high level of abilities and potential” [2]. Giftedness is the result and evidence of the high level of a person’s intellectual development.

N.S. Leytes defines giftedness as:

«1) a fundamentally unique combination of abilities that provides a successful implementation of activities. Thus, a set of integrated abilities with a special structure makes up for the lack of other skills by means of developing the complex of combined abilities;

2) general abilities that determine the amplitude of a person’s abilities, his level and the peculiarity of activity;

3) an intellectual potential and integral individual characteristics of cognitive capabilities and learning abilities;

4) talent; the internal conditions for outstanding achievements in a given field. Multiple meanings of the term “giftedness” point out the issue of an integral approach to a sphere of abilities. The phenomenon of giftedness requires a complex scrutiny, i.e. by means of applying psychophysiological, differential-psychological and social-psychological approaches [3, 247, 248].

Giftedness by occupation is distinguished the following way:

·       practical,

·       theoretical (cognitive),

·       artistic-aesthetic,

·       communicative

·       spiritual-evaluative giftedness;

By sphere of mind:

·       intellectual,

·       emotional

·       volitional;

By degree of development and forms of manifestation:

·       topical and potential,

·       evident and  hidden giftedness;

By manifestation of giftedness in different kinds of activities and age peculiarities:

·       common (mental) and special,

·       early and late giftedness.

The general giftedness is the foundation for the development of special giftedness. The hypothesis about the existence of general giftedness was pointed out by the English psychologist Francis Galton in the middle of XIX century. And in 1929 Charles Spearman presented the two factor intelligence theory which explained the high degree of correlations in diverse tests by the general factor of mental energy, i.e. the majority of special factors define the success of implementation of a certain test.  For a long time there have been many discussions among the proponents of  quantitative evaluation of primary abilities (Edward Lee Thorndike, Louis Leon Thurstone) and the proponents of “general factor” (Hans Eysenck, Cyrul Burt and others). Thanks to the researches of J. Guilford, E. Torrance and D. Bogoyavlenskaya psychology distinguishes two types of general giftedness: intellectual and creative giftedness (creativity) [4, 16-20].

Gardner produced a model for giftedness called Multiple Intelligences, which incorporates domains that are socially and culturally valued. The eight intelligences include: the linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, naturalist, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Thus, intelligence is not a single entity and in Gardner’s view each discrete intelligence is a system in its own right. Therefore each intelligence operates independently of others and an ability assessment of one does not indicate there would be a similar ability level in another [5, 3-33].

                D:\desktop laptop\статья ВАК\multiple-intelligence.png

Pic. 1 Gardner Multiple Intelligences.

Sternberg asserts that in order for a person to be considered gifted they have to meet five criteria: excellence, rarity, productivity, demonstrability and, value. The individual needs to be extremely good at something “relative to peers”, and possess a “high level of attribute that is rare”. They must possess the potential for productive work in some domain. It is not enough to be labeled “gifted” based solely on test scores. An individual has to demonstrate gifted traits, according to Sternberg and Gardner. The demonstrability criterion states that the individual’s giftedness should stand up to assessment using valid and reliable tests. The value criterion restricts the identification to those who possess an attribute that is valued as relevant by the society or culture [6, 14-27].

Linguadidactics considers the development of special giftedness on separate subjects as the most future-oriented one, as giftedness transfers from a prospective point  to the point of actuality which actively manifests itself in educational-cognitive activity of learners.

Giftedness can display itself at different stages of personality development, but namely the senior school age is considered by psychologists as the most sensitive age for the development of giftedness which manifests itself in reflective and productive skills. Moreover, the senior school age is not just the age of the manifestation of giftedness but the age for deepening and integral composition of already established abilities and their complexities [7, 210-214].

There are many discussions in works of national and foreign psychologists concerning special abilities and in particular the foreign language aptitude. The analysis of scholarly literature that looks into scholarly literature allows to distinguish the following:

– intellectual abilities as intellect characteristics provide the success of intellectual activity in the context of correctness and velocity of information processing, originality and multiplicity of ideas, depth and tempo of learning that are displayed in abilities to observe, raise questions, discern problems, put forward hypotheses, give definitions to notions, classify, draw conclusions and inferences, structure materials, explain, prove and defend ideas (М.А.Kholodnaya, 2002) [8, 138];

– communicative abilities as psycho-physiological peculiarities of personality which provide a successful interaction between language partners in solving pragmatic and communicative problems. In fact, communicative abilities presuppose not only a language proficiency but also rules and norms of communication with respect to the extra-linguistic situation (E.А.Golubeva, 1989; M.Canale, G.Zimmerman, 1973) [9, 341-346];

– linguistic abilities as a complex mental formation which is characterized by a dynamic structure that unites the following components:

·        mnenic – the scope of verbal, semantic and mechanical memory (I.А. Pappoport, 1976; J.Carrol, 1962);

·        reflective – logical and  associative thinking (Y.А. Vedenyapin, 1969; I.А. Zimnyaya, 1970; V. Nechunas, 1971);

·        perceptive – ability to presuppose language elements, flexibility of transformational processes, sensorial-perceptive  and differential sensitivity  (А.Т. Alybina, 1977; М.М. Hochlerner, 1983; I.N. Lukashenko, 1983; F. Marek, 1967) [9, 364-369].

The evaluation of giftedness can not be based solely on testing – the degree and distinctness of giftedness is revealed in the course of training and education while implementing a certain informative activity with learners. It is not the goal to distinguish giftedness as early as possible in a premature and excessive manner. In fact, the revelation and development of gifted learners should be facilitated by special schools (for example: musical and mathematical) involving extracurricular activities, different coteries, studios, school Olympiads arrangement, competitions of school art performances. On the other hand, it is absolutely unacceptable to hinder the development of gifted learners. The academic workload, forms of education and training of these children should be correspondent with their abilities. The solicitude for gifted children presupposes the development of abilities by virtue of general educational development and personality enhancement» [3, 248].

One cannot judge about the existence of giftedness solely on the ground of standard examination results. The giftedness in children can be distinguished and examined only in the process of education and training, i.e. in the course of implementing some kind of informative activity. Whereby, the early manifestations of giftedness do not yet determine a person’s future abilities: for the reason that it’s difficult to foresee the course of a further formation of giftedness [10, 257, 258].

A gifted personality possesses the unity of mind and activity, i.e. such kind of person is a highly active learner whose psyche serves as a unique and ultimate plan of activity; as a creative model of reality which enables a gifted learner to familiarize itself easier with the environment on all levels of determination; as an individual, a personality and a human being – thus providing a life-sustaining activity, internalizing and producing a better social experience [11].

According to the principle of mind development, a creative and gifted personality develops in the process of early maturation and formation of psycho-physiological potential (meaning – the human body), as well as in the process of abilities development by acquiring values and their use (meaning – the individual development) and in the course of transformative and values-formative activity (meaning – personality). All of these levels consequently dominate over each other and replace each other under the scope of the unified factor system of the psyche formation. The leading factor of giftedness is considered to be the personal development which is connected with the creative activity. Moreover, creativity appears as the creation process of individually and socially-valuable product, as well as the process of self-development, self-fulfillment and self-objectification of personality – on the basis of mastering and enrichment of socially-historical experience [11].

In particular, a creatively gifted personality embarks on the path of intensive creation of inner and outer world with its positive and negative tendencies, success and failure, achievement and risks. Following that, it requires some understanding, acceptance and support from society and each member of the society for whose prosperity the promotion of gifted and talented learners takes place.

The data of 2014 indicates that there are 88 public schools in Astana: 77 public schools, 11 private schools with the total of pupils: 102587 people.

Along with innovative schools, there are four specialized schools for gifted pupils – the Zerde school, the Kazakh-Turkish lyceum for gifted boys, the Kazakh-Turkish lyceum for gifted girls and the school-lyceum № 48. These schools are among the best ones in Astana and their pupils often demonstrate great results. The number of pupils in such specialized schools amounted to 1426 which means that there is a 14 % increase in gifted pupils at schools (Table 1).

 

The number of gifted students in specialized schools of Astana. Table 1

№

The name of school

The number of pupils

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

1

The Zerde school for gifted pupils

238

242

279

340

389

 

2

The kazakh-turkish lyceum for gifted girls

245

267

272

279

290

3

The kazakh-turkish lyceum for gifted boys

301

312

345

396

436

4

The school-lyceum № 48

72

46

218

235

311

 

Total

856

867

1114

1250

1426

However, even with a noticeable increase in the number of schools, the number of schools for gifted students still remains the same.

In 2015 out of 102687 pupils, 67 % of them (68800 pupils) took part in educational Olympiads, scientific and intellectual competitions of different levels.

Thus, 26255 school children participated in polytechnic competitions and 42545 pupils took part in academic competitions of general education. 

19787 pupils (which makes up 28 % of all pupils in Astana) took part in the municipal Olympiad: 10012 pupils participated in polytechnic section, 97662 pupils took part in academic section. Overall, there are 4052 winners in the academic section and 3857 winners in the polytechnic section. 

On March 18th 2015 the Regional scientific and practical center “Astana Daryn” held the municipal academic Olympiad “Polyglot” at school № 71. In total, 66 educational institutions submitted applications to take part in this Olympiad. Out of 212 pupils who were selected to take part in this competition in English language section, 88 of them proved to be excellent at English.

The republican program of education development 2011-2020 of  the Republic of Kazakhstan states that there is an aim to integrate with the world educational field which would result in increasing the competitiveness of Kazakhstani education. For the purpose of education system advancement and implementation of challenges The Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan has taken steps to enhance requirements for international intellectual competitions where Kazakhstani pupils take part.

By order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan of December 7th 2011 № 514 there has been approved “the list of republican and international Olympiads and scientific projects competitions on general education subjects, professional skill competitions and tournaments where there have been included 20 international Olympiads and 9 international scientific competitions on general education subjects, republican scientific competitions and republican Olympiads. Pupils of educational institutions of Kazakhstan withstand the competitions with flying colors at international level in Olympiads and scientific competitions, thus presenting a positive image of our country in the world stage. The spectacular example of efficacy of municipal education system is the victories in international Olympiads and scientific competitions (Table 2).

Table 2. Data on participants of international competitions

2014-2015 educational year.

The title of competition

Total of participants

1st place

2d place

3d place

Total of medal places

International competition «MOSTRATEC» (Brazil)

 

18

4

4

10

18

International scientific competition “The young scientist (South Korea, Daejeon)

52

5

7

23

35

International competition of pupils’ research works on the mechanics and mathematics named after U. Dzholdasbekov

60

6

6

24

36

ХІ international competitions on space exploration “Discovering the world of science” (Baikonur)

105

11

14

31

56

The All-Russian Olympiad “Sozvezdiye” of scientific – research and educational – research projects among children and youth on the environmental protection problem “Person – Earth – Space” in Moscow.

7

 

 

5

5

International competition of projects «INFOMATRIX»

49

 

2

7

18

31

Grand Prize: 4

The All-Russian competition of research works named after V.I. Vernadsky

3

1

 

 

1

Certificates: 2

Internation Olympiad IYEPO-2015»(Georgia)

34

3

14

16

33

International scientific competition

“Mathematics and project engineering (Moscow)”

48

1

3

5

9

International competition «I-SWEEP» (USA, Houston)

4

 

 

 

4

Certificates: 4

Asia-Pasific Olympiad

2

 

2

 

2

International Olympiad  «Silk Road»

1

 

1

 

1

International Balkan Olympiad

1

 

 

1

1

International Eurasian Olympiad on computer

3

 

 

3

3

The first Republican Olympiad on Kazakh language and Literature named after K. Bitibayeva

8

 

1

1

6

Certificates: 3

So, totally in 2014-2015 319 pupils of Astana participated in international top-rated Olympiads and scientific competitions in the United States of America, Brazil, Georgia, Russia and South Korea and became the recipients of 235 medals: 37 gold medals, 59 silver medals and 135 bronze medals (Table 3).

The results of participation of Astana schools in international Olympiads and scientific competitions. Table 3

Educational year

Total of medal places

Gold medals

Silver medals

Bronze medals

2009-2010

153

56

44

53

2010-2011

172

69

46

57

2011-2012

104

23

38

43

2012-2013

144

43

41

60

2013-2014

237

64

76

97

2014-2015

235

37

59

135

Thus, we can observe the dynamical growth of achievements among gifted pupils during 2009-2015.

These numbers indicate the growth rate of winners among Kazakhstani pupils and represent the productivity of Astana education system (Diagram 1).

Diagram 1. The results of participation of Astana schools in international Olympiads and scientific competitions

By summing up all theoretical definitions, types and signs of giftedness among gifted school children of Kazakhstan, it is possible to conclude that besides linguistic abilities school children of our country possess an enormous potential to a “poly-lingual communicative giftedness”. We have presented this term as a complex psycho-linguistic and communicative-strategic ability to learning worldwide languages and a promptitude for communication in a foreign language.

Above all, it is important to create such an educational process which includes an individual/research and collective/creative activity of learners and to provide the development of intellectual abilities and formation of foreign communicative skills among gifted school children. 

This overview allows to draw a conclusion that there are favorable conditions for enhancing linguistic giftedness and foreign language aptitude of pupils.

On the ground of the aforementioned data, we highly recommend that there should be opened a separate school for gifted pupils by the selection method of pupils’ achievements in scientific competitions, Olympiads for creating a thriving and inspiring environment, or such kind of conditions where a pupil would fulfill his/her potential and achieve the best results.

Acknowledgements:

We would like to acknowledge the Republican scientific and practical Center “Astana Daryny” for the provided data on gifted students in specialized schools of Astana and also on information regarding international Olympiads and competitions where Astana’s pupils take part.

 

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