Foreign Language Communication Research Articles

Utilization of Whatsapp Group as a Communication Medium for Arabic Writing and Text Message Analysis

Research on WhatsApp Group as a communication medium in the learning process and the application of foreign language communication has been widely discussed by researchers. However, research on WhatsApp Group utilization as a written communication medium to learn Arabic together is still rarely studied. Therefore, this study focuses on describing the WhatsApp Group feature used to learn Arabic together in the Arabic Education Department (Pendidikan Bahasa Arab/PBA) lecturer group and analyzing the messages contained in it. This study used a qualitative descriptive approach. This study revealed several findings: the PBA lecturer group used WhatsApp for written communication using Arabic to be a medium for continuous training. Some of the topics discussed through written communication were classified into three types: first, remarks, prayers, and invitations; second, information on important academic and non-academic matters; and third, discussion about everyday life. As for the results of the analysis of the text messages written by the PBA lecturer group, it was found that the text messages written in the WhatsApp Group in terms of choosing vocabulary and sentence structure were generally correct, and there were only a few words and sentence structures that were less precise. Theoretical implications are also described in the results of this study.

Формирование коммуникативной иноязычной компетенции у студентов-менеджеров для участия в эффективном деловом общении

Managers have to coordinate various production, economic, technical, and social tasks in order to achieve common goals. As a result, they need to be able to communicate with a wide net of diverse contacts in this country and abroad. Therefore, intercultural communication plays a very important role in the business sphere. The present research featured the development of communicative competency in students of management for effective business communication. Readiness for business communication in a foreign language is an important indicator of professionalism. The authors defined the concepts of communication, effective business communication, and communicative competency. They focused on the interdisciplinary approach to the development of competencies in future managers as part of such disciplines as Management, Organization, Personnel Management, Economic theory, World Economy, and Business Foreign Language. The competency of business foreign language communication is both the purpose of training and a quality indicator. The article introduces an effective technology of developing the communicative competency in students that major in management. It is an interdisciplinary complex of interactive methods, techniques, Internet sources, and training tools.

ЗМІСТ НАВЧАННЯ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ В АСПІРАНТУРІ

Foreign language communication has become essential in modern scientists’ academic activity and includes such components as learning a foreign language as a way of mastering a specialty and as a means of professional interaction. English is regarded as a tool of young scholars’ self-education which significantly increases their professional chances to find themselves within the international scientific environment. The aim of the article is to study the essence and tasks of the English language disciplines taught at a post-graduate school at a higher technical educational institution. The main purpose of studying a foreign language at a post-graduate school of Odessa National Academy of Food Technologies is the foreign language communicative competence formation depending on the specialty, i.e. achieving the level of practical language proficiency that allows to be used in professional and scientific research. The ultimate tasks of the disciplines are the following: formation and improvement of professionally significant foreign language communication skills in all types of speech activity (reading, speaking, listening, writing); extension of the vocabulary required for postgraduate students to carry out scientific and occupational activities in accordance with their specialization and areas of science; development of independent work skills to increase the level of the foreign language knowledge; development of skills to deal with the world English-language information resources on a specialty profile to be ready to make up written (abstracts, summaries, theses, articles, motivation letters) and oral scientific reports; mastering the norms of the English speech and written etiquette in professional and scientific fields. The foreign language curriculum at a post-graduate school presupposes that by the end of the study a young scientist is to master all the types of the speech foreign language activity. In terms of the structure and content, the post-graduate English language course is based on original English and American sources (journal scientific publications, the latest investigations news, the Internet, etc.). Thus, the necessary language skills and abilities to possess various types of speech activity and translation are upgraded. With the help of the same educational materials the necessary phonetic, lexical and grammatical knowledge is improved, expanded and deepened. The performance control is carried out at the lectures in the form of home assignments, grammar and lexical tasks, written tests, presentations, essays, etc. Summarizing all the above mentioned, we can draw a conclusion that the post-graduate English teaching content is aimed at developing communicative competence in order to learn a professional foreign language at the level sufficient for academic communication within the international scientific environment. In the future it is planned to research the method of independent students’ mastering the skills of English for specific purposes during their postgraduate studies.

Relationships between EFL learners' background, motivational, instructional, ICT‐related characteristics, and writing performance: Evidence from 13 educational systems

AbstractThe present study was carried out to explore whether English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' background, motivational, instructional, and information and communication technologies (ICT)‐related characteristics predicted differences in writing performance across 13 educational systems. The multilevel analyses indicated that female, younger learners, and learners with higher socioeconomic status (SES) had better writing performance. School‐level SES was a stronger predictor of variability in writing performance than student‐level SES. EFL learners who perceived English learning to be less difficult and of more positive value tended to perform better in writing. The relationship between learners' perceptions of teachers' emphasis on cross‐linguistic similarities between languages and writing performance was negative. The results also provided evidence on the negative effects of ICT‐related characteristics (i.e., ICT use for English learning and ICT‐facilities at home) on EFL learners' writing performance.

COMMUNICATIVE-ACTIVITY APPROACH IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MODERN SYSTEM OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING

The review of communicative activity key features realization approach in a modern system of foreign languages learning ​​has been carried out. It is defined that the communicative activity approach is based on the conceptual provisions of the activity and principles of communicative learning theory which gives students the opportunity to investigate problems independently, to observe, to analyze, to think critically, to argue and persuade the interlocutor as well as to make their own methods of learning a foreign language and to develop the ability to assess risks, to form constructive management of feelings, to use information and communication technologies, to interact in an adequate and creative way in all kinds of social and cultural contexts, to mobilize life experience, to apply basic / declarative knowledge and skills in practice, to create success situations, to form skills of self-control and mutual control. It is stated that modern paradigms of foreign language teaching outline the need to create conditions for active mastering of foreign language communication skills through the ability to understand and to achieve coherence in the reception and production of utterances within the communicatively significant speech formations. The main aspects of foreign language learning process on a communicative basis consider, namely: non-standard methods and forms of work that support students’ speech and mental activity and contribute to the maximum disclosure of their inner potential. It has been concluded that the effectiveness of communicatively oriented foreign language teaching depends on teachers’ understanding of the need to abandon authoritarian and scholastic methods and to apply teaching methods aimed at intensifying of the forming foreign language process and general cultural background of students in a creative way.

The role of temperament in the process of learning foreign language communication

This article discusses the role of temperament in the process of learning foreign language communication of foreign students.
 It is noted the need to use active teaching methods, which are characterized by a high degree of involvement in the learning process and the activation of cognitive and creative activities in solving problems. When using such methods, each participant gets opportunities to express themselves in a situation as close as possible to living conditions. It is believed that in the process of modeling active methods, as well as in the distribution of roles in them, it is necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of participants, ie different types of temperament, which will help most effectively involve foreign students in learning foreign language communication.
 People with the type of temperament "choleric" are offered leading roles, because the choleric is always ready to get involved in important and interesting work.
 People with the "sanguine" temperament type can not only be offered leading roles but also act as moderators in certain situations, because they are a lively, mobile person, quick to respond to environmental events, relatively easily experiencing failures and troubles.
 People with a phlegmatic temperament can be given secondary roles, because they have a strong desire and more or less constant mood, weak external expression of mental state.
 Melancholics, who are easily vulnerable, prone to deeply experience even minor setbacks, who seem sluggishly react to the environment, are offered secondary roles.
 It is concluded that in the process of choosing active teaching methods the teacher must take into account the peculiarities of all types of temperament, which allows not only to create a more comfortable atmosphere in the classroom, but also to ensure a high degree of speech and effectively prepare for foreign language communication.

COMMUNICATION CULTURE IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT METHODS

The article examines the process of creating and developing communication culture in a foreign language in the field of international relations, defines the main conditions for ensuring the process efficiency. In the resarch; the features of the project method are analysed and the effectiveness of its application in the process of developing a foreign-language communication culture in the field of international relations is grounded.

객실승무원 공채 지원자가 생각하는 채용기준 중요도 및 준비도의 우선순위 비교 연구: 국적항공사를 중심으로

This is the comparative study on the priorities of recruitment criteria importance and readiness for applicants who want to work as cabin crew for national airlines in Korea.BR Two characteristics of the analysis results are as follows. The importance level of all the recruitment criteria that students of the airline service department thought was lower than that of their own readiness level. Although the students recognized that each recruitment criteria were important, they neglected readiness to achieve each recruitment criteria. The results showed that students put more effort in order to develop their competence in the attitude aspect(polite manners, positive mind, bright expression and friendly tone, etc.) than in the knowledge aspect(safety and service professionalism, acquiring airline information, foreign language communication skills, etc.).BR This study provides the practical guidelines to students of the airline service department so that they can achieve their career goals more easily in the face of difficult employment environment. In addition, it is confirmed that the department of airline service can use the analysis results as basic data to develop education and training programs for students.

Cущность понятия «коммуникативный подход» в современной методике преподавания иностранных языков

The purpose of the study is to substantiate the advisability of relying on a communicative approach in the foreign language teaching methodology at universities. The paper determines prerequisites for the emergence of a communicative approach in the methodology; clarifies principles formulated by E. I. Passov’s Lipetsk Methodological School regarding communicative foreign language education; systematises researchers’ views on the component composition of university students’ communicative competence; presents a theoretical integrative model of students’ communicative competence; proposes a technology for the formation of linguistic, speech, linguopragmatic and sociocultural components of students’ communicative competence. Scientific novelty of the study lies in elaborating a theoretical integrative model of university students’ communicative competence and a technology for the formation of linguistic, speech, linguopragmatic and sociocultural components of the communicative competence. As a result of the study, the author substantiates the advisability of relying on a communicative approach in the university foreign language teaching methodology from the standpoint of goal-setting, i.e. the formation of students’ communicative competence, and a teaching technology, involving the use of a set of communicative-oriented tasks in the learning process that are aimed at the development of linguistic, speech, linguopragmatic and sociocultural competencies.

Особенности формирования ценностной установки сотрудников органов внутренних дел на овладение профессиональной иноязычной коммуникацией

The study aims to analyse features peculiar to value attitude formation in internal affairs personnel towards mastering professional foreign-language communication (VAMPFLC). The paper considers the notion of “value attitude” and defines the value attitude of internal affairs personnel towards mastering professional foreign-language communication, presents the structure and examines the features peculiar to the VAMPFLC components formation. Scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that in contrast to psychological and social attitude, the VAMPFLC, based on a four-component structure, is presented as a tool that makes it possible to develop readiness to master professional foreign-language communication in internal affairs personnel and achieve the planned learning outcomes due to the features peculiar to the VAMPFLC components formation. As a result of the study, the author has provided the definition and structure of the VAMPFLC, considered the features peculiar to the VAMPFLC components formation.

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO THE FORMATION OF “SOFT SKILLS” IN THE PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF SERVICE PROFESSIONALS

The article analyzes the role of and approaches to the formation of “soft skills” in the studying and professional activities of service professionals.
 The relevance of the proposed study lies in the lack of coverage in the scientific literature of the role of “soft skills”in the professional activities of service professionals. It should be noted that the role of “soft skills” in the process of performing professional tasks of specialists in various fields of knowledge is increasingly attracting the attention of scientists, primarily due to globalization, focus on European quality standards in services, and employers' requirements for employee’s not only professional but also social skills.
 To achieve this goal it is necessary to perform the following tasks: to determine the pedagogical conditions for the formation of “soft” competencies in higher education in Tourism and Hospitality, which are extremely important for the daily professional activities of hospitality professionals, to analyze the prospects for “soft skills” actually in the process of professional activity, during professional internships, etc., as well as to analyze the current requirements of employers to the level of mastery of social skills.
 Achieving this goal led to the use of the following research methods: systematization of modern scientific literature, theoretical analysis of scientific sources to determine the status and theoretical justification of the role of “soft skills” in the professional activities of service professionals. Methods of empirical research: observation, comparison, generalization.
 It was proved that social skills play an important role in the professional activities of hospitality professionals, as the implementation of daily tasks is related to communication, including communication in foreign languages, teamwork, cooperation, stress, responsibility, etc. It should be noted that the analysis of labor market requirements revealed that employers are increasingly paying attention to the possession of future employees’ not only professional knowledge, skills and abilities, but “soft”competencies.

Формування soft skills на заняттях з англійської мови у студентів ветеринарної спеціальності

Abstract. The article defines the role and importance of soft skills in teaching English to veterinary students. The author emphasizes that due to the development of superprofessional skills today universities are able to train competitive specialists, in particular in the field of veterinary medicine, who have a high level of communicative foreign language competence. It is substantiated that such skills as teamwork, communication skills, critical thinking, which contribute to the development of personality and determination of its position in society, form the basis of soft skills and determine the competitiveness of higher education graduates in the modern labor market. The purpose of the research works is to determine the role of soft skills in teaching English to veterinary students. Results of research work. Soft skills are defined as "skills of the XXI century", or "interchangeable" skills (transferable skills). They are based on such skills as teamwork, communication skills, critical thinking, which contribute to the development of personality and determine its position in society (especially in terms of effective and harmonious interaction with other people) – they are becoming increasingly important in the competitiveness of higher education institution graduates in the labor market. We can distinguish four main groups of soft skills: 1. Basic communication skills, which include the ability to persuade, argue, work in a team, negotiate, conduct business correspondence, make presentations, etc. 2. Self-management, which includes the ability to manage emotions, skills in dealing with stressful situations, the ability to plan and set goals, use the time effectively, control emotions. 3. Skills of intellectual thinking, which form the ability to search and analyze information, think creatively, logically, not stereotyped, have design skills, make informed decisions. 4. Foresight management, which helps students to master such skills as goal setting, project management, motivation, control, easy access to feedback. Exactly these super-professional skills can be formed in Business English classes for veterinary students.

Experience in organizing the cadets’ practical training by means of the discipline “Foreign language”

Nowadays practice-oriented learning in higher education is fixed as a legal norm in Russian legal system. The legislator emphasizes the importance of developing students practical skills while they are at the higher school. Primarily it deals with specialized subjects of educational programs. Nevertheless, general studies, which include a foreign language, should also cover specialists/bachelors practical training.
 There is a need to determine the possibilities of organizing practical (professionally-oriented) language training for students of educational organizations of higher education. We see the improvement of the practical component of the discipline Foreign Language in the possibilities of interdisciplinary integration of the course material. This task is solved by selecting typical situations of business communication, clarifying the terminology necessary for elementary foreign language communication, and determining the appropriate teaching forms, methods and techniques.
 The purpose of the paper is to present the experience of organizing the cadets practical training within higher education settings of the Federal Penitentiary Service in foreign language classes. The proposed materials are developed with the specifics of the program being mastered in mind.
 The research is based on systematic and functional, activity, competency-based and humanistic approaches. The normative documents study and the generalization of the higher learning mass pedagogical experience made it possible to systematize and plan one lesson in this course.
 Methodological foundations, empirical and theoretical research methods allowed us to determine the logic of in-class learning, a set of training tasks, to specify the forms of the cadets classroom activities (shift groups working) and the principles of evaluating the learners success.
 The proposed version of the lesson allows you to activate the mechanisms of cadets professional self-identification, promotes the formation of their personal and professionally significant qualities, helps to master legal terminology and apply it in oral communication, as well as to get an idea of the similarities and differences between the legal systems of Russia and the countries of the studied language.
 The author also formulated a number of problems related to the cadets practical training by means of a foreign language.

The "inter" cultural dimensions in teaching of FLE in an exolingual context

The aim of this research is to propose pedagogical ideas for improving the quality of teaching / learning of French language / culture in the Jordanian university context. To do so, we will focus on the importance of cultural and intercultural aspects in acquiring a foreign language communication skill. We will then emphasize on clarifying the terms of culture, civilization and interculturality, often confused by foreign language teachers. Subsequently, we will discuss the role of interculturality in communication with others and the role of cultural competence in teaching FFL. The study ends with a number of pedagogical reflections based on our personal experiences and the results of two questionnaires carried out among Jordanian teachers and learners. Keywords: Communication competence, Cultural dimension, FLE class, Intercultural pedagogy, Didactic proposals.

Academic foreign language communication environment in school textbooks

The active acquisition of foreign language communication in different types of activities in accordance with the spheres, topics, and language input outlined by the current curriculum. Its implementation in the content of school foreign languages textbooks allows improving the academic process and directing it to competency-based principles. The authors interpret this category at the level of complex and interrelating activities of two subjects of the academic process: a learner and a teacher. It is defined as a kind of academic space, which provides holistic acquisition of the academic content, allows learners to show their abilities, motivates their foreign language activities, enables them to learn the native speakers' culture, promotes their education, development, and upbringing. According to the results of the study, the authors create a model of the academic foreignlanguage communication environment and propose to implement it in the content of school foreign languages textbooks. The results of conducted quantitative research prove that the academic foreign language communication environment created by the secondary school textbook content enhances the learners' progress motivates academic activities, allows the teacher to successfully implement the prognostic tasks, and shows his own professional experience.

DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS OF PROFESSIONAL-ORIENTED TRAINING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES IN TECHNICAL HIGHER EDUCATION ON THE BASIS OF SUBJECT-WRITTEN INTEGRATION

The article deals with the problem of developing a system of professionally oriented teaching of foreign languages in a technical university on the basis of subject-language integration in our country and abroad. Based on the analysis of the functioning of this system, the goals and objectives are highlighted, as well as approaches to solving the formation and development of communicative foreign language competencies in modern students. The leading direction in the development of the system of professionally oriented teaching of foreign languages is the organization of integration both in relation to the content of interdisciplinary information and the methods of its assimilation.

Practical Aspects of Academic Literacy Development in Higher Education Institutions

Global tendencies in all scientific spheres require developed academic literacy of the researcher for effective international communication. Foreign language communication in a professional academic environment implies proficiency in the language of academic discourse. For academic discourse, as a component of academic literacy, development of academic writing skills is crucial. Higher educational institutions realize the necessity to design academic writing courses, and determine their place in the curriculum. Following the challenges of the time and academic community demands, SSTU English Language instructors designed an academic writing course to increase the methodological and academic literacy of students and young researchers. We believe that the development of the key educational and communicative foreign language competencies for academic and professional interaction can contribute to successful integration into the international scientific environment. Course design considered foreign experience, methods and curricula in the field of academic writing and academic reading.

Using the electronic portfolio as a means of formation the foreign language communicative competence when training future tutors-teachers

The problem and the aim. Intercultural, foreign language communication is an integral part of the modern electronic learning environment. The professional competence of the future teacher as a subject of information interaction is manifested in the ability and readiness to speak a foreign language while performing official duties, in research activities, for self-realization. The authors propose to use the capabilities of the electronic portfolio for the formation of foreign language communicative competences of students of pedagogical training programs in the information educational space. Research methods. Theoretical analysis and generalization of scientific literature were used to determine the components of the foreign language communicative competence, the content and structure of the electronic portfolio. The method of pedagogization of the information technology, group interaction, assessment by external experts, mutual assessment and self-assessment are used for designing and scaffolding of the electronic portfolio with digital tools. The experiment involved 64 students of the Vyatka State University of the training program 44.03.01 Pedagogical education (bachelor level). The software is the Tilda service (https://tilda.cc/ru/). As a method of statistical processing of the experimental data, the χ2 (chi-square) Pearson test was used. Results. In the experimental group, future tutors-teachers used Tilda tools to determine the structure and content of the electronic portfolio (categories, sections, projects), which was subsequently provided for discussion and analysis by other students, external experts. The assessment of the levels of formation of the foreign language communicative competence was carried out and statistically significant differences in the qualitative changes that occurred in the pedagogical system were revealed, χ2obs. 2 > χ2crit0.05 (7,07 > 5,99). In conclusion features of designing and using electronic portfolios, implemented on the Tilda platform to present achievements in the foreign language communicative, educational, cognitive, professional activity are summarized.

Mejora de las habilidades en idiomas extranjeros de empleados de turismo

The purpose of this paper is to lay the theoretical and methodological foundations for supplementary foreign language training of employees of the regional hospitality industry. Competence-based, systemic, socio-cultural, regional and andragogical approaches constitute the general methodological framework of this research. The research employed the methods of theoretical analysis (analysis of psychological-pedagogical and sociological literature); empirical methods (questionnaire survey, interview); data mathematical analysis methods. The paper overviews the key results of questionnaire survey among employees of the regional hospitality industry, which helped to reveal the problems they face in foreign language communication within the scope of their job duties, assess the degree of their satisfaction with their current knowledge, skills and abilities in foreign language, and consider a possibility of supplementary foreign language training. The authors have identified basic principles for improving foreign-language skills of employees of the regional hospitality industry, determined the thematic content of the English language training program “English for Hospitality Students” developed to accommodate the communicative needs of potential learners. The conclusion presents the methodological substantiation of the program of supplementary foreign language training for employees of the regional hospitality industry.

The development of foreign language communicative competence of students at the non-linguistic university based on cognitive-systematizing approach

The article describes the results of the pedagogical experiment organized and conducted on the basis of the principles and main statements of the concept of cognitive-systematizing development of foreign language communicative competence. It is shown that pedagogical process based on the gradual development of cognitive strategies and communication is built on the integration of a wide range of methods, allowing for individual psychotypologic characteristics of students. It was found that under the conditions of monitoring of the foreign language proficiency level it provides a more efficient development of educational material and major improvements in the level of foreign language communication effective competence of students studying at non-linguistic University.