Functions Of Infographics In Teaching A Foreign Language In High School

Abstract

The article describes the cognitive-visual technology and the tool of infographics in relevance to teaching post graduate non-linguistic students a foreign language. Apart from the illustration function, educational and cognitive potential of using infographics as a learning tool are examined. The author analyses advantages and disadvantages of using infoposters in the educational process and highlights the didactic potential of this tool for developing a foreign communicative competence considering the characteristics of modern students’ way of cognition. The stages of creating an infoposter are presented and the benefits of using this tool during class hours are explained. The article also provides information on experiment aimed at enhancing the communicative activity of students through the study of professionally oriented vocabulary and the implementation of exercises related to text analysis using the infographics tool. The results of experiment demonstrate positive dynamics in the aspects of forming professional thesaurus and developing analytical skills. The survey also shows students willingness to further use of infographics for self-study. Obtained results allow to make a conclusion that the use of cognitive-visual technology and infoposters can be considered an effective tool in teaching a foreign language to non-linguistic students in high school.