Language reflection and reflection of own activities during the study of German as a second foreign language study of German

Abstract

The problem of promoting reflection in German language classes as the second language was raised. The students studying German as a second foreign language were offered the survey by V. Pavlov «Readiness for the self-development». The choice of the investigation method is justified by the fact that the term «self-development» is very closely related to the term «reflection»: in order to develop oneself successfully, one must be able to reflect well. The results of the study show that 61% of students were prepared for the further self-development, which is connected with the need to reflect. 18% of students wanted to get to know themselves but did not have good self-improvement skills. 13% of students had more opportunities for self-development than the desire to understand themselves. The most problematic, in terms of the ability to reflect in order to develop oneself, seemed to be the last group (8%). It should also be noted that the fairly common answer was “I haven't thought about it”. The experience of the empirical studies allows the conclusion that the questionnaire can have not only diagnostic, but also formative functions: the formulation of questions stimulates the students to reflect on their personal and professional development. When studying German as a second foreign language, the students were offered a variety of tasks that encouraged reflection. After the work carried out, the number of students who are ready to reflect, to get to know themselves better has increased. The following considerations are based on the results of the work carried out: 1. We can develop language reflection among our students if we promote language awareness through activities; Promote language analysis; Encourage comparing languages; Encourage explaining differences; Perform language games; 2. We can develop language learning reflection among our students if we allow them to set goals, encourage reflection on own learning progress and promote awareness of their own experiences in learning German successfully.