Features of the Development of Auditory and Pronunciation Skills in Online German Classes

Abstract

The relevance of the research is determined by the need to find new methods of teaching a foreign language in the context of the transition to an online learning environment, which will contribute to ensuring an appropriate level of development of future specialists' communicative foreign competence. The purpose of the study is to determine the features of the development of students' phonetic competence in online German classes on the example of the pedagogical activity of teachers of the I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University. The study of the selected problems was carried out in two stages based on logical and system approaches using general scientific methods, including the method of analysis, synthesis, comparison, concretisation, systematisation, and the method of analogies. It was identified that the modern educational space is characterised by the digitalisation of the educational process, as a result of which approaches to teaching a foreign language are changing. The paper considers foreign practices of using multimedia technologies in foreign language classes to form students' auditory and pronunciation skills in online learning. The necessity of changing the conventional methods of teaching an introductory phonetic course in a foreign language according to the requirements of distance learning was substantiated. It was established that the key factor in the development of auditory and pronunciation skills in online German classes is the use of video and audio materials (video conferences and messengers), animated images of articulation of sounds, as well as a system of exercises for the practical application of the theoretical knowledge obtained. On the example of teaching an introductory phonetic course in German for first-year students of the Department of International Relations of the I.I. Mechnikov Odessa National University, the basic principles of using mobile applications in the process of distance learning, including Padlet, LearningApps, Voki, PicVoice, and ChatterPix are described. The prospects for further research lie in the practice of using the online environment of an introductory German phonetic course among students of related specialisations