Teaching students of linguistics to write essays in a foreign language based on working with the Criterion automated assessment system

Abstract

Importance. Teaching linguistic students to write essays in a foreign language is a laborious and time-consuming activity for a teacher. Modern artificial intelligence tools are able to take on some of the functions of a teacher to provide students with evaluative feedback. The purpose of the study is to develop a step–by-step methodology for teaching students to write essays in a foreign language based on practice with an AI tool.Materials and methods. The analysis of scientific articles on pedagogy and methods of teaching foreign languages from scientific journals indexed in the Multinational Database Scopus and Web of Science, as well as the list of peer-reviewed scientific publications of the Russian Federation (K1, K2) is carried out. The Educational Testing Service’s Criterion automated essay control system is used as an AI tool.Results and Discussion. A methodology has been developed for teaching students of linguistics to write essays in a foreign language based on the Criterion system, consisting of seven consecutive stages: 1) preparatory; 2) students writing a draft version of an essay in a foreign language; 3) receiving evaluation feedback from the Criterion system; 4) students studying evaluation feedback from the Criterion system and finalizing the essay; 5) discussing the results of work with the Criterion system in the classroom; 6) students reflecting on work with the Criterion system; 7) checking students’ essays by a teacher.Conclusion. The proposed step–by–step teaching methodology is implemented within the framework of the “student – artificial intelligence – teacher” paradigm and is aimed at creating additional conditions for extracurricular foreign language practice of students.