Foreign Language Faculty Research Articles

Formation of future teachers’ pedagogical resilience in modern conditions

Introduction. The social order of modern society sets the task of training a specialist who would be able not only to organize effective communication with all subjects of the educational process, but would also be able to overcome certain crises in the professional activity, confidently go towards the goal, quickly recover from possible pedagogical failures, realistically assess the current situation and the prospects for getting out of it with minimal losses. This actualizes the need for the formation of pedagogical resilience in future teachers, which is possible by introducing a specially developed module into the educational process. The research purpose is to analyze the optimal ways of forming pedagogical resilience through the development and introduction of special training, business games, a project method, a case method in the educational process. Materials and methods. The pedagogical experiment was attended by 58 bachelor students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, studying in the field of study “Pedagogical Education” at the South Ural State Humanitarian and Pedagogical University (Russian Federation). Research methods: a test for diagnosing the level of pedagogical resilience formation; χ2-Pearson statistical test. Research results. A module “Resilient teacher” has been developed and introduced into the educational process, implemented within the framework of the academic discipline “Methods of teaching a second foreign language”. The results of diagnostics at the final stage of the formative experiment showed an increase in the level of pedagogical resilience formation, which indicates the need to include the module in the educational process of training future teachers (χ2 = 5.9; p <0.1). Conclusion. It is concluded that pedagogical resilience is not only an important trait of a teacher’s personality, but it also serves as a fundamental component of successful pedagogical activity in the future.

THE DIAGNOSIS OF TEACHERS’ POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION QUALITY

The article dwells on the problem of the quality of postgraduate pedagogical education through training courses. It presents the results of diagnostics of the quality of professional competence development, revealed by questioning the participants of advanced training courses of the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University. To identify the level of organization and teaching of online training courses, as well as to determine the difficulties that arose in their learning process, we conducted a survey of participants. Based on the analysis of the results of the survey, we made some proposals that participants consider a priority for their professional development.The article demonstrates the experience of the Faculty of Foreign Languages in organizing postgraduate training courses. The program of the advanced training course for English teachers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Pavlo Tychyna Uman State Pedagogical University concerns current Standards in the subject “The methods of teaching English”. The new program recommends implementing interactive teaching approaches and technologies, creative tasks, case studies, projects into the training courses. The main components of a teacher’s professional activity are aware of the needs of learners, planning and organizing lessons, assessing the level of communicative competencies, as well as the mastering of English, methods of teaching, managing their professional development. We discussed the conditions and forms of training, content materials, some specific difficulties in organizing training courses.
 Keywords: postgraduate pedagogical education, training courses, quality assessment, questionnaires, methodological competence, digital competence, location of training courses, modern methods of teaching English, online courses.

Trends in the development of foreign language education in a non - linguistic university

The article observes modern trends in the development of foreign language education in a nonlinguistic university, using as an example the English Department for Science Students, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University. Nonlinguistic university graduates need a fairly high level of foreign language communicative competence to be competitive in the modern labor market, which determines an everincreasing attention to teaching LSP (Language for Specifc Purposes). In 2001, the English Department for Science Students participated in the Russian-British project RESPONSE (Russian Education Support Project on Specialist English) aiming at a largescale study of the current state of teaching English for specifc purposes in Russian universities. Its fndings provide the baseline that serves a useful starting point for evaluation and monitoring the changes that have occurred in this area over the past twenty years. The main trend is the change of teaching methods and approaches: from the grammar-translation method inherited from the Soviet higher school to computer assisted language learning (CALL), communicative and competence approaches today. Active integration of information and communication technologies in the educational process makes it possible to form and develop the university's electronic information and educational environment. The MSU educational platform “University without borders” is based on Moodle LMS and used for distance teaching and learning. It ofers online educational materials, electronic textbooks and courses, for both degree programmes and supplementary education. The main digital tools that lecturers use to teach and supervise students' self-study are listed. The paper considers such areas of the work of the English Department for Science Students as development and application of interactive teaching methods and technologies; implementation of alternative forms of control, e. g. performing the fnal bachelor ESP assessment in the format of B2 CEFR exams or conducting an interfaculty scientifc student conference in English at the master's level; designing a professional development course in academic English for earth and life scientists; establishing an electronic library; compiling specialized corpora of medical and biological scientifc texts; promotion of multilingualism and multiculturalism.

The Application of E-learning in English Teaching at Dong Nai Technology University

Many colleges and universities in Vietnam have employed e-learning platforms in teaching English with the hope to better students’ English proficiency. Recently, e-learning programs such as DNTU-LMS and Canvas have been implemented at Dong Nai Technology University. With their features of flexibility and efficiency, they have been being used as crucial tools for teaching and learning in various faculties in the university especially during the widespread of Covid-19 pandemic. The present study aimed at identifying the views of the EFL learners from Faculty of Foreign Languages on the application of e-learning platform. A group of 100 EFL students was chosen randomly to participate in this study. Data was collected using questionnaire. After analyzing student’s responses, the results proved that the introduction of e-learning was effective. E-learning also stimulates students to learn English and brings them comfort and joy.

Investigating The Effectiveness of Moodle Based Blended Learning in Developing Writing Skills for University Students

Abstract A s blended learning methodhas learned widespread support for adoption, it is known that there is no single standard formula, and thus more cases of blended learning need to be reported. The current research main purpose is to investigate the effectiveness of implementing blended learning using Moodle to enhance writing skills. Sixty-first-year Faculty of Foreign Languages and Translation students at Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST) participated in the research, in which the experimental group was taught writing skills using Moodle-based blended learning methods, while the control group – without blended learning (traditional face-to-face class). Quantitative data collection was utilized in order to assess learners’ writing achievement across control and experimental groups at the beginning and in the end of the study. Quantitative method of data analysis was employed for the evaluation of the gained pre and post–experimental data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze data, independent and paired sample t-tests were run to analyze the data. The findings showed that student responses and attitudes to blended learning activities in the writing course were positive, and gradually the performance of studentsin writing has generally improved as a result of the Moodle-based blended learning.

СЛОВО ПРО ТВОРЧИЙ ПОСТУП ПОЛОНІСТА І ТЕОРЕТИКА ЛІТЕРАТУРИ: МИКОЛІ ЗИМОМРІ – 75

The article is dedicated to the 75-years-old jubilee of a well-known literary critic, translator, educationalist, Doctor hab. of Philological Sciences, Professor Mykola Zymomrya. The article reflects the main milestones of his life and career. Mykola Zymomrya was born in 1946 in Holatyn in Ukraine. Main directions of activity: German studies, Slavic studies, contrastive literary studies, theory of literature, translation studies. Professional career: finished secondary school in Holatyn and graduated from Uzhhorod State University (Departments of Ukrainian and German Philology). After graduating from the Faculty of Foreign Languages (1967) was a teacher of the German language and literature at the Department of German Philology; a doctorate (1969–1972) at Humboldt University of Berlin where his doctoral thesis was written on the topic “Reception of Ukrainian literature in German-speaking countries from its sources until 1917. To the history of Russian-Ukrainian-German mutual literary relations“ (1972). His doctoral dissertation on the topic „International relations and the role of translation in the creative process” was written in the Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and was defended in 1984. Academic titles: assistant professor (1976); professor (1987). Head of the Department of German Philology (1974–1979); scientific worker at the Gorky Institute of World Literature (1980–1982); head of the Department of Foreign Languages at Uzhhorod State University (1986–1993); professor at Higher Pedagogical School in Słupsk (1993–1995); professor at Transcarpathian Institute of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education (1996–2002); professor at Baltic High School of Human Sciences in Koszalin (1997–2002); professor at Polonia University in Czestochowa (2002–2012); professor at Drohobych State Pedagogical University of Ivan Franko (since 2000), head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Translation (2003–2010), head of Germanic Languages and Translation Studies Department (since 2010). Over 1000 scientific articles have been published (1970–2021) on issues in literature studies and criticism in newspapers, periodical publications, thematic collections, monographic publications, including in Polish. Membership in associations and organisations: Member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (1980), Member of the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine (2008), Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Higher School of Ukraine in Kyiv (2008), Head of the Commission for Cooperation with Polonia Scientific Societies in Ukraine, USA, European Union and Baltic Countries (2010). Prior awards: state award “Honours in Education in Ukraine” (1996), Honorary Distinction “Deserved for Koszalin Voivodeship” (1998), Award of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine “For outstanding learning achievements” (2009), award of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine “K.D. Ushynski” (2011), award of the Academy of Higher School of Ukraine “Yaroslav Mudry” (2011), Honoured Scientist and Technician of Ukraine (2017).

Using Explicit Instruction versus Incidental Learning in Enhancing Lexical Collocational Knowledge and Quality of Writing

This study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of using explicit instruction versus incidental learning in enhancing lexical collocational knowledge among third-year English majors at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Translation, Misr University for Science and Technology. For the purposes of this study, 60 students were divided into two experimental (i.e. explicit instruction and incidental learning) and one control group. A lexical collocation test which consists of two parts, namely, receptive and productive, and a writing quality test were administered for three groups after the treatment. A 10-session treatment was administered for the experimental groups’ students, while the control group students followed their regular method. Results revealed a clear advantage for explicit instruction as the explicit instruction group significantly outperformed the incidental learning group and the control group both in receptive and productive lexical knowledge. Results also indicated that the explicit instruction group students outperformed both the incidental and the control groups in the quality of writing. The incidental learning group also reflected some collocation gains with better performance than the control group.

СТРАТЕГИИ РАБОТЫ С ИНОЯЗЫЧНЫМ ХУДОЖЕСТВЕННЫМ ТЕКСТОМ НА ЗАОЧНОМ ОТДЕЛЕНИИ ФАКУЛЬТЕТА ИНОСТРАННЫХ ЯЗЫКОВ

For a number of objective reasons, students of the part-time department often do not achieve the level of language proficiency that they could achieve by studying under one of the full department programs. When learning a foreign language, the literary text provide the richest opportunities for independent work. The article considers the issue of developing a strategy for independent work with a foreign-language literary text, which, being an inherently complex integrative activity, can make the process of forming a variety of educational skills among students of the part-time department much more effective, as well as make a significant contribution to the process of forming their communicative competence. Work with a foreign-language literary text inevitably requires the use of skills developed in other disciplines taught at the Faculty of Foreign Languages. It is impossible to work on a work of art without paying much attention to the lexical and grammatical aspects of the text, without appealing all types of speech activities not dealing with the complex activities of translation. The training skills are improved by performing exercises during and after reading the text.

PROFESSIONAL IMAGE OF A FUTURE TEACHER OF FOREIGN LITERATURE: FROM LEARNING TO PRACTICE

The article deals with the formation of the professional image of the future foreign literature teacher. The semantic content of the concept of professional image of a teacher is analyzed and supplemented. The structural components influencing the effective formation of the professional image of the future teacher are highlited and described. It is shown that pedagogical skills, visual image, internal appearance are important components in the structure of the professional image of the future teacher. With the peculiarities of the school subject «Foreign Literature», the specifics of forming the professional image of the future foreign literature teacher are justified. The essence of the concept of professional image of the future foreign literature teacher is revealed. The structure of professional image of future foreign literature teachers, which consists of personal, professional, socio-cultural, communicative, motivational-target, result-analytical components is developed. The basic and specific abilities that contribute to the productive formation of the professional image of the future foreign literature teacher are considered. A survey of fourth-year students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Volodymyr Hnatyuk Ternopil National Pedagogical University was conducted. The aim of the poll was to find out the attitude of students to future pedagogical activities, to identify their vision of the concepts of «professional image of a teacher», «professional image of a foreign literature teacher». The results showed that the most students consider the concept of professional image of a foreign literature teacher as a set of external, personal and professional qualities that permit the most effectively realise the educational process. The obtained results confirmed that the productive formation of the professional image of the future foreign literature teacher is based on interrelated abilities, particulary basic, linguistic, specific.

Verbal and non-verbal methods of activation of cognitive behavior of educational applicants in the process of learning foreign languages

The article considers the analysis of the use of verbal and non-verbal methods in the process of learning foreign languages. The relevance of this research is connected to the fact that the learning of foreign languages in the modern world is becoming advanced and progressive, so there is an urgent need to study the effectiveness of methods of activation of students` cognitive activity. The article highlighted such concepts as "verbal methods", "non-verbal methods", "interactive technologies of learning foreign languages", "The Silent Way", "the 25th frame effect" and "Schechter`s method", and also considered the features of various technologies and their effectiveness. This article highlights the results of a survey among students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, in which they had to answer twelve questions about the relevance of using the methods presented in the article and their attitude to them. Students shared their own experience and expressed their view on the feasibility of their use in the future in their professional activity. Based on the results of the survey, the authors of the research highlighted the most important issues regarding the use of interactive technologies in the process of learning foreign languages.

Instructional design in foreign language teaching

This paper offers a presentation of two original multimedia educational resources with interactive online tasks in the German language developed within the course “Teacher”s and translator”s electronic resource” in cooperation with the students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and International Communication of Tver State University. The purpose of our projects assumes, in the first place, deliberate formation of a learning environment meeting the needs of a target audience. In the process of working over the projects, the authors took into consideration the principles of instructional design that served as a theoretical basis for the development of educational materials. Instructional design is viewed by the authors of the article as a separate branch of practical pedagogy which primarily focuses on the application of pedagogical knowledge in practice, namely, development of high-quality efficient educational resources with the use of modern information technologies. The distinctive feature of the theory of instructional design is consideration of not so much the cognitive parameters and mental processes characterising the learning process as the efficient methods and learning formats stimulating these cognitive processes. The most important result of our work is the conclusion that the projects developed with regard for the principles of instructional design under the ADDIE model contribute to enhancement of students’ cognitive abilities and increase the amount and quality of information assimilated by them; at the same time, the learning becomes more systemic and practice-oriented from the first stages of project analysis and planning. The novelty of our approach specifically lies in practical treatment of instructional design as a tool for development of learning materials, invigoration of learning activities and tutor support of students.

Influence of School Environment on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State

Being accepted as out of the four essential language skills in the language learning process, writing seems to be difficult for numerous EFL learners. This research is an endeavor to explore if learners can grow out of the writing difficulties with topic-based writing activity. 78 third-year students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Phan Thiet University in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province participated in the study. These students were in the two writing classes, one class was treated as the experimental group (EG) and the other as the control group (CG). Research findings exposed the benefits of topic-based writing activity in nurturing learners' writing motivation and enhancing their writing skill. Furthermore, this activity gave students good chances to widen their knowledge on the topic, enrich their emotion on disadvantaged people, and build a friendly learning environment outside the classroom. The necessity and usefulness of the application of topic-based writing activity was predominantly recognized among students.

PROMOTING LEARNERS’AUTONOMY: TO WHAT EXTENT DO STUDENTS PRACTICE AUTONOMOUS ACTIVITIES FOR THEIR LEARNING?

Learner autonomy plays a vital role in the success of language education. The specific purpose of this study is to investigate the views English majored first year students regarding the students‟ awareness of the importance of learner autonomy as well as the practice of autonomous activities inside and outside the classroom at Faculty of Foreign Languages ( FFL) of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City ( IUH). This study was conducted with two instruments: questionnaire and interview. The questionnaires were completed to elicit responses from 100 participants who were English majored freshmen at FFL. At the same time, the writer also made two interviews with teachers who were teaching freshmen. There are four conclusions that are obtained from the findings and discussion. First of all, the majority of the participants in the research have intrinsic motivation when practicing autonomous activities for their learning. Secondly, most of them are aware of the importance of learner autonomy in learning English. And the third finding is about students‟ strategies in their own learning English. The result indicates that most of the students usually practice listening when they practice language outside the classroom. Finally, it is found that both of the two teachers in the research suppose that 90% of English major freshman at IUH have good perception of learner autonomy, which is a very positive signal for the language learning process.

The effectiveness of Topic-Based Writing on EFL Learners’ Writing Skill

Being accepted as out of the four essential language skills in the language learning process, writing seems to be difficult for numerous EFL learners. This research is an endeavor to explore if learners can grow out of the writing difficulties with topic-based writing activity. 78 third-year students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Phan Thiet University in Phan Thiet City, Binh Thuan Province participated in the study. These students were in the two writing classes, one class was treated as the experimental group (EG) and the other as the control group (CG). Research findings exposed the benefits of topic-based writing activity in nurturing learners' writing motivation and enhancing their writing skill. Furthermore, this activity gave students good chances to widen their knowledge on the topic, enrich their emotion on disadvantaged people, and build a friendly learning environment outside the classroom. The necessity and usefulness of the application of topic-based writing activity was predominantly recognized among students.

Teaching Russian Culture via English: Implications, Objectives and Challenges

The article focuses on the issues related to the specifics of teaching the Russian Culture via English course introduced as a part of Masters in Linguistics degree program at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies of Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) in 2016. The need for the course stems from the fact that the era of pluricentric English calls for a new type of globally competent and competitive Russian linguists, teachers, and teacher trainers of English able to express their national identity as well as to transmit, promote, and teach national culture through English functioning as a lingua franca, specifically, through the national variety of English, that is Russian English. The course aims at fostering students’ national self-awareness and enhancing their ability to reflect upon their own culture, culture of others as well as culture in general. The article also tackles such aspects as the course syllabus and objectives, its teaching techniques, and materials, as well as challenges that students might face.

EXTENSIVE READING AND ITS IMPACT ON LEARNER AUTONOMY: A STUDY ON 1st YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT A VIETNAMESE UNIVERSITY

This study was conducted to examine the potential impacts of extensive reading on learner autonomy of first year English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners at the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL), Hanoi Pedagogical University No.2 (HPU2), Vietnam. The findings showed that extensive reading could help the majority of students enhance their autonomous learning, reflecting in the improvement in students’ abilities of 1) making decision, 2) setting up the purposes for the activities, 3) allocating time for the activities, 4) applying into other activities and 5) making self-evaluation. There was also an increase in their reading speed. Moreover, extensive reading helped students to build up positive attitudes towards reading activities. Nonetheless, the students encountered some difficulties such as how to spend time effectively and to choose the readable texts. Therefore, to develop students’ autonomy, the teachers should raise students’ awareness, create supportive learning environments, and integrate extensive reading into the teaching activities properly.

Instruments’ validation of access to motivation, skills, and use of digital technology: EFL context in Indonesia

The purpose of this study was to validate instruments regarding digital technology access among Indonesian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) faculty members during the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). An EFL Faculty member’s Access to Digital Technology (EFL-FADT) scale was adopted from previous relevant studies consisting of Motivation, Skills, and Use. A total of 235 EFL faculty members from three public and three private universities in Indonesia participated in this study, selected through cluster random sampling. A survey design was applied to examine the factor structure of the EFL-FADT. The survey data were computed through the steps of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with IBM SPSS 23 and SPSS AMOS 23. Through the EFA with Varimax rotation, two factors emerged from Motivation, three from Skills, and two from Use. The result successfully mapped the proposed model. The CFA approach verified the instrument which was satisfactory for Indonesian EFL faculty members. The findings informed 25 valid and reliable indicators. The measured scale achieves psychometric properties. It can provide future studies with a tool to capture EFL faculties’ access to digital technology.

Developing Lexical Richness among EFL Students: Effect of Morphological Awareness Training on Writing Performance

this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of morphological awareness training program in developing lexical richness among first-year English majors at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Translation, Misr University for Science and Technology in terms of lexical density and variation. Quasi-experimental method was adopted with its pretest-posttest control group design. A training program on morphological awareness was developed to fulfill the purpose of the study. Sixty students participated in the study; ( 30 ) in the experimental group and (30) in the control group . The results pinpointed the effectiveness of morphological awareness training program in developing lexical richness among EFL majors in favor of the posttest of lexical density and variation among the experimental group students. The study recommended training teachers on morphological awareness to help their students develop their lexical richness.

SHADOWING AND INTERPRETING PERFORMANCES OF ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS

Shadowing has been widely utilized in English language teaching classes, especially in interpretation training courses for decades and has become a topic of avid interest to various researchers such as Lambert (1992), Murphey (1995, 2001), Shiota (2012), and Hamada (2014). However, there has been no research conducted on the effect of implementing shadowing on fluency improvement in English interpretation in Vietnam. In response to this gap in the literature, this study aims to investigate (1) the possible connection between shadowing practices and the interpreting performances of the third-year English-major students in the educational context at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) and (2) the students’ perceptions of the application of shadowing in interpreting classes and its impacts on interpreting fluency. 54 third-year students at the Faculty of Foreign Languages (FFL), HaUI took part in a two-month experimental research, divided randomly into two groups including experimental and control groups. Data were gathered from (1) the pre- and post-tests with these two student cohorts, (2) interviews conducted with five students from the experimental group and (3) observations with this group. The research findings showed (1) a minimal influence of shadowing techniques on fluency improvement of the experimental group and (2) positive students’ beliefs and attitudes towards the application of shadowing in interpreting classes and its impacts on interpreting fluency. Based on these findings, a series of recommendations on the pedagogical procedure for applying shadowing to enhance English major students’ interpreting performances and further research on the application were offered. The paper, hopefully, provides useful information for teachers and researchers in the domain of interpretation, in general, and interpreting teaching activities at tertiary education, in particular.

Distance learning of future translators and interpreters: tools and experience of introduction

The article is devoted to the analysis of distance learning tools that can be used for teaching translation and to the description of the experience of introducing distance learning into the structure of future translators’ and interpreters’ professional training. Information and communication technologies have significantly changed the workflow of modern translators, who now mainly work on a freelance basis, performing the entire work cycle from translation, editing, quality control and sending the completed translation to a customer or a translation company using a number of technical translation tools. Changes have not bypassed interpreters, because thanks to interpreting management systems and interpreting delivery platforms, they are able to work remotely, and the trend persists. All of this makes distance learning more relevant than ever, because in addition to gaining professional knowledge and developing students’ skills and abilities, it is necessary to develop a culture of working remotely, so the aim of the study is to analyze distance learning tools for future translators and interpreters and to study the experience of introducing distance learning into the structure of professional training by determining the subjective attitude of students to its use. Among the main tools that can be used to provide the distance learning of translation and interpreting, we have identified Zoom, Skype, Google Classroom, Viber and e-mail, which were used to organize distance learning for future translators and interpreters during the national quarantine in March – April 2020. Participants of the anonymous survey included 34 third- and fourth-year students of the Faculty of Foreign Languages of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, who were asked to share their subjective impressions about distance learning, assessing their own attitude to a number of parameters using a 5-point scale. The questionnaire showed a generally positive attitude of students to the distance format (the average result taking into account the answers to all 20 questions of the questionnaire totaled to 3.74) and revealed some shortcomings in the organization and preparation of materials for students’ independent work (too many tasks and the lack of their quality). Distance learning tools such as Google Classroom and Zoom received the highest scores, which can be explained by their ease of use, best learning interactivity and effective feedback among students and instructors.