Foreign Language Communication Skills Research Articles

Formation of Communication Skills in Primary School Students in Foreign Language Lessons in the New Ukrainian School

The article highlights the ways of implementing the competence approach in the process of teaching younger students the English language, it involves clarifying the content and results of learning, selecting effective methods, techniques, and forms of organizing educational interaction, updating the didactic and methodological support of the educational process, introducing new approaches to checking and evaluating the educational achievements of students. It has been determined that in the modern conditions of education reform in Ukraine, the formation of communicative competence of primary school students is gaining relevance, because the younger school age is extremely favorable for mastering communicative skills and abilities, since children of this age period, speech hearing and articulation are easily formed, they love to learn new words and stable expressions, master linguistic constructions, show interest and sensitivity to linguistic phenomena, strive for communication and quickly acquire speech experience. It has been proven that the didactic and methodical principles of the organization of competence-oriented teaching of foreign languages of elementary school students. The age characteristics and potential capabilities of elementary school students are outlined, the types and forms of educational activities are proposed and substantiated by the competence, communicative, person-oriented, and cultural approaches to learning, and the methods, forms, and methods of organizing the process of learning language material and the formation of foreign language communication skills are characterized; the specific tasks of the development of the educational process during the implementation of the Concept of the New Ukrainian School in general secondary education institutions are defined.

Personalized control in foreign language learning

The article considers personalized control as the basis for an individual development trajectory, an individual plan for improving foreign language communication skills. The tool for its implementation is individual success monitoring in foreign language learning followed by the analysis of test results with the participation of the teacher as a consultant, which makes it possible to identify the ways of overcoming existing problems in mastering a foreign language. The article analyzes the results of monitoring, conducted among students at the Institute of Philology and Intercultural Communication (Kazan Federal University), and concludes that further work should be done to determine the individual path of each student in eradicating their weak points. The decision-making remains with the students themselves; however, additional courses in the development of receptive skills may become a motivating factor, when the period of pseudo-passivity actually lays the foundation for improving communicative competence through the involuntary acquisition of foreign language vocabulary and grammar. Success in listening or reading comprehension, based on authentic texts, inspires confidence in further improvement of communicative competence and allows, through self-analysis and self-assessment, determining guidelines for each student’s progress in learning a foreign language.

Guidelines for Improving Educational Personnel Competencies in The Digital Age to Elevate the Quality of Life and Underprivileged Children Competencies in Urban Communities, Chiang Mai Province

Objectives: This study aims to explore categories, quality of life, and underprivileged children competencies, and study guidelines for improving educational personnel competencies in the digital age to elevate the quality of life and underprivileged children competencies in urban communities, Chiang Mai province. Methods: Exploring categories, quality of life, and underprivileged children’s competencies was conducted through in-depth interviews and public hearings with 180 school administrators, teachers, representatives of underprivileged children's parents, and experts obtained by Purposive Sampling. Studying guidelines for improving educational personnel competencies was conducted through competency assessment and workshops with 162 school administrators, teachers, supervisors, and experts, selected through Purposive Sampling. Results: The findings revealed 10 categories of the underprivileged children, 11 factors affecting the their quality of life. The underprivileged children had a low level of threshold competencies and core competencies. The educational staff has high communication skills, learning management development, and health understanding in the digital age. Conclusions: The guidelines to improve educational personnel competencies include to develop digital literacy curriculum, smartphone-based media production curriculum, curricula for advanced thinking and innovation skills, foreign language learning management skills, communication skills in foreign and local languages, cultivation and maintenance of medicinal plants skills, modern urban community agriculture skills, product development skills for schools, online distribution, special education curricula for disabilities and children with developmental delays, health knowledge in the digital age for educational personnel, digital-era school administrations, and the competencies development of supervisors.

Technology of improving foreign language communication skills of master’s students majoring natural and technical sciences

The rapid development of the Internet, as well as the digitalization of almost all spheres of human life, marked the transition from an industrial to an information-technogenic society, as predicted by futurologists in the middle of the last century. The growth of the information and technological space and the intensification of production electronization put forward increased requirements for the training of specialists in the natural sciences and technical profiles, primarily engineers. The given study is focused on the actual problem of improving foreign language skills of Master’s students at Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology that participates in the federal project «Advanced Engineering Schools». Despite the fact that this project is aimed at training highly qualified personnel for the exclusively Russian economy, it seems that it could be further developed within the scientific and professional cooperation between Russia and the BRICS and SCO states, which is impossible without a sufficiently high level of foreign language. As a result, we have identified the advantages of a communicative approach in linguodidactics (orientation to the practical component of the educational content, motivation for communication, maximum development of thinking skills, etc.). Besides, we have established the requirements for exercises aimed at developing students' communication skills, intellectual and cognitive abilities, and forming stable positive motivation to master a foreign language for professional, research, and teaching activities.

Features of designing and conducting an online course in business English for adult learners

Foreign language communication skills are crucial for today’s business professionals, as they provide opportunities for advancing their career and conducting efficient communication with partners world-wide. The present article and the underlying research explore the implementation of andragogical principles in an online course for Business English. One of the most important principles entails providing conditions for comfortable learning, including, above all, the format of interaction, which ultimately affects its efficiency and organization. The relevance of distance learning is confirmed by current national laws, as well as by social studies that indicate a demand for online classes in Russia. The use of digital technology for the development of adult learners’ foreign language communication allows them to be educated in a setting that simulates their working environment. This would suggest that when organizing adult education, it is recommended to rely on the learners’ professional experience, offer practice-oriented tasks, encourage autonomy and offer authentic, problem-oriented materials in order to facilitate interaction and set off discussions. With all the advantages of the distance learning format, adult learners may, however, encounter difficulties which are to be taken into account. This article presents an online course for Business English, taking into consideration the identified principles of andragogy, specific properties of workplace interaction and particular features of the distance learning format. The research findings may be of practical value for designing and organizing a course in Business English with its methodology based on adult learning theory principles.

PEDAGOGICAL CONDITIONS OF FORMING LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF FUTURE ENERGY ENGINEERS

The paper covers the analysis of the problem of finding effective pedagogical conditions for the development of foreign language competence of students majoring in power engineering in higher educational institutions. The paper proposes solutions to this problem. The paper presents the author's own definition of "pedagogical conditions" as a set of targeted measures that organize and facilitate the educational process, focusing on students' professional and foreign language competence. These measures are influenced by external and internal factors, various forms of educational and scientific work, as well as modern methodologies and innovative technologies. Their purpose is to foster comprehensive personality development and provide professional training for future energy engineers in accordance with current requirements.
 Through a survey conducted among scientific and pedagogical staff of technical universities, along with the author's own experience, the main pedagogical conditions that foster a favorable educational environment for developing foreign language competence among power engineering students have been identified. These conditions include: building positive motivation among future energy engineers to learn foreign languages during their professional training, integrating project technologies into foreign language instruction at higher educational institutions, developing self-study foreign language communication skills among Master's students in both receptive and productive forms, and implementing interdisciplinary integration of general professional and foreign language training content.
 The meaning of every pedagogical condition has been theoretically substantiated and the examples of their practical implementation into the educational process have been provided, namely: the introduction of “Nicos Weg” course, working on interactive activities, thematical projects and solving communicative situations. It has been determined that these suggested pedagogical conditions contribute to high-quality foreign language training for students in higher educational institutions and enable the achievement of program learning outcomes that ensure future energy engineers possess the ability and readiness to effectively utilize foreign language knowledge and skills in their professional activities.

AND NOW WHAT (PART 2)? LANGUAGE TEACHING: WHAT DID WE LEARN AND WHAT REMAINS AFTER THE LOCKDOWNS?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of life, and language learning is no exception. Lockdowns and restrictions led to digital tools such as online platforms, virtual classrooms, video conferencing, and interactive games becoming essential for language teaching. It was a difficult period for teachers and learners, however, who had to adapt overnight to a digital landscape unknown to most of them. The challenges of this period have also created the opportunity for education systems to adjust to new digital settings. This paper discusses the benefits and challenges associated with the use of digital tools in language teaching after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and especially what the teachers learned and tried to transfer after returning to a face-to-face instructional modality. The data were collected through an e-questionnaire. We sought to understand how teachers adjusted their practice, what steps they took to address knowledge gaps regarding possible digital resources, and how they transferred that knowledge to in-person classes. Teachers experienced many difficulties and doubts about resources, methods, and learning outcomes, particularly about students’ learning of foreign language communication skills. We also noticed that only half of them tried to continue using digital tools in their teaching practice after the lockdowns ended.

FEATURES OF THE MILITARY INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION CADETS POLYCULTURAL COMPETENCE FORMATION IN THE PROCESS OF LEARNING PROFESSIONALLY ORIENTED FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The article is devoted to consideration of the peculiarities of the formation of multicultural competence of cadets in the process of learning a professionally oriented foreign language, as well as the issue of mastering foreign language communication skills as an important element of the formation of multicultural competence of cadets of military institutions of higher education. The article highlights the relevance of the formation of multicultural competence for future officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in modern conditions. Based on the analysis of various scientists’ researches, the essence of the concept of multicultural competence of cadets of military institutions of higher education is revealed, its structure is defined as the unity of cognitive processual and personal axiological components. The role of communication in a foreign language and the development of its skills in the formation of the mentioned phenomenon during the training of cadets in military institutions of higher education is substantiated. The forms and methods of educational work that contribute to the successful formation of skills and abilities of multicultural competence as one of the components of the professional training of future military specialists are presented. For example, involvement in participation in the work of sections, discussions, such as conferences, meetings, quizzes, etc.
 The examples of the use of authentic materials meant to increrase the level of formation of cadets' polycultural competence while learning a foreign language such as advertising brochures, posters, excursion leaflets, guidebooks, etc., are considered. The importance and necessity of forming such a professionally significant quality as tolerance, which has verbal and non-verbal expression in speech and is a core element of intercultural communication, is emphasized. Examples of language parameters of tolerance and intolerance, such as flexibility of speech, referentiality, etc., are provided.
 Key words: polycultural competence; cadet; military institution of higher education; communication in a foreign language; professional activity; tolerance.

Method of the development of students' foreign language communication skills based on practice with a chatbot

Introduction. Chatbot is a program based on machine learning and natural language that allows the organisation of learners’ foreign language communication practice. However, the effectiveness of the teaching method depends on how and to what extent the foreign language practice with the chatbot is integrated into the foreign language learning process. The aim of the study is to develop and test the author's step-by-step method of the development of learners' foreign language communication skills based on chatbot practice. Materials and methods. Participants of the research were 1st year students of Derzhavin Tambov State University (Russian Federation), majoring in English as a Foreign Language. Students of the control group (N=25) were trained in foreign-language speech communication in traditional foreign language classes, and participants of the experimental group (N=25) in addition to regular classes for a semester once a week participated in a foreign language communication practice with a chatbot and performed tasks for the analysis of practice results. Ten foreign language speech skills were under controlled. The data analysis was carried out using the Student’s t-test. Research results. The step-by-step method of the development of students' foreign language communication skills based of practice with a chatbot proved to be effective with regard to the development of the following skills: asking for information on the topic of the dialogue (t = 2.49; p ≤ 0.05); responding to a dialogue partner's requests (t = 2.24; p ≤ 0.05); stating thoughts on the topic of the dialogue in short or extended form (t = 1.78; p ≤ 0.05); drawing conclusions (t = 1, 8; p ≤ 0.05) Expression of students’ own opinion on the topic of discussion (t = 1.91; p ≤ 0.05); providing arguments for their opinion on the topic of discussion (t = 1.41; p ≤ 0.05); interrogation, clarification, reformulation, expression ideas by other language means (t = 4, 11; p ≤ 0.05). The study did not show the effectiveness of the proposed method on the development of students' abilities to initiate a dialogue (t = 0.58; p> 0.05); welcome dialogue participants and exchange greeting phrases (t = 0.58; p> 0.05); end a conversation (t = 0.58; p> 0.05) because of students' high proficiency in these skills at the time of participation in the experiment. Conclusion. The novelty of the study is in the development of a step-by-step method of the development of learners' foreign language communication skills based on practice with a chatbot. The results of the study can be used in foreign language teaching to secondary school university level students.

Practical aspects of using chatbots for learning the Russian language in intercultural communication

Сhatbot based on artificial intelligence is a comprehensive research and educational tool for Russian language teachers and Chinese students studying Russian language and culture. This article is devoted to the issue of integrating a chatbot into the educational process as part of the study of the Russian language by Chinese students. The possibilities of using a chatbot in the aspect of RFL in face-to-face and remote formats are considered, and its advantages and disadvantages in acquiring specific practical skills, in particular, when studying Russian numbers, are identified. The purpose of this research is to study the possibilities of using a chatbot to identify the meaning of language units and the correctness of grammatical structures, as well as cultural characteristics in the process of teaching Russian as a foreign language. The research method is to analyze the correctness and usefulness of the chatbot's (ChatGLM) responses to questions related to the Russian language and culture. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the consideration of practical aspects of using a chatbot for studying the Russian language and culture. The results of this study show that the chatbot is a useful tool and allows you to practice language, ask questions in Russian and Chinese and receive answers from the system. To a limited extent, the chatbot can correct errors, suggest correct phrases and help students improve their foreign language communication skills. Machine learning methods and technologies, such as the chatbot, can be used to improve foreign language skills in the context of cross-cultural communication if treated judiciously. The results can be used to create methodological developments in the field of Russian-Chinese intercultural communication, as well as in the process of learning relevant languages.

Functional approach to the problem of forming foreign language communicative competence skills

The problem of a functional approach to teaching English and ways of developing foreign language communicative competence skills are considered.

Clil Approach to The Students' Foreign- Language Communication Skills: Teacher's Perception

This study aimed to describe teachers’ perceptions of using CLIL to improve students’ communication skills in foreign languages without knowing the material elementary school students are taught. This research is motivated by the main problem of the low foreign language ability of students in elementary schools who apply bilingual learning. This situation makes it difficult for students to understand the material taught by the teacher in bilingual education. According to Coyle et al. (2010), CLIL is an approach with a dual focus between content and language with a 4C framework consisting of Content, Cognition, Communication, and Culture; This research includes descriptive qualitative research with interview data collection techniques, document studies, and field notes. The participants in this study consisted of 2 teachers who taught Cambridge Science and Mathematics subjects in grade 4 of SD Lazuardi Kamila GCS. For the application of CLIL in the classroom, teachers use peer learning methods to motivate students to learn foreign languages. Teachers have a perception that CLIL influences the process of learning English communication skills in students. The situation is supported by teachers’ creativity in applying 4C and teaching methods that follow the needs of students as peer learning methods.
 Keywords: CLIL, Communication, Perception, Teacher

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МОБІЛЬНОСТІ ЯК ПРОФЕСІЙНО ЗНАЧУЩОЇ ОСОБИСТОЇ ЯКОСТІ СТУДЕНТІВ

The globalization of education causes fair criticism of the self-sufficiency of the universities of any country for the training of competent specialists; moreover, the need to expand the academic mobility of students is generally recognized today. The article describes the main methodological approaches to defining the essence of the concept of ‘academic mobility’. The purpose, tasks, and functions of academic mobility of students in the context of international educational integration have been studied. Significant changes that have taken place in society, fundamental changes in the field of higher education have caused a rethinking of the goals, tasks and methods of organizing education in our country. One of the main goals of education is the training of qualified specialists who are able to navigate the constantly changing reality, master new modern technologies, implement them in practice and successfully master fundamentally new fields and activities. Successful self-realization and feeling comfortable in modern society, as well as ensure its sustainable development, will be possible for specialists who are able to improve themselves and transform professional reality in accordance with the requirements of time and modern society. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of the formation of personal mobility of future specialists. The activity of the individual is manifested in the ability to mobilize one’s capabilities, realistically evaluate events and find one’s place in the surrounding life, defend one’s views, etc. Thus, personal mobility expresses a tendency in a person’s desire to achieve the satisfaction of his material and spiritual needs, which are growing. As a result of the conducted research, it was stated that academic mobility is one of the important conditions for the development and self-realization of an individual in modern conditions. This enables students to: continue receiving further education; independently form an educational trajectory in accordance with interests, inclinations, needs; gain additional knowledge in related fields; improve foreign language and intercultural communication skills; get acquainted with foreign culture, history, etc.

Peculiarities of using virtual whiteboards to form the professional competence of future lawyers in foreign language classes at university

Problem statement . The focuses of the current digital intercultural learning environment as training programs for professionals in the legal industry specify their developing of systemic foreign language communication skills, skills to analyze which can be based on information technologies and actualized in rapidly changing professional tasks. The study is aimed at substantiating the effectiveness of using virtual whiteboards to form the professional competence of future lawyers in foreign language classes at university. Methodology . The analysis of theory and methodology, generalization of crucial scientific papers on the studied problem, processing of results and creating interactive whiteboards are applied. The pedagogical experiment involved 97 students (girls - 48%, boys - 52%) of the Law Institute of Vyatka State University. Fisher's criterion (angular transformation) is used as a statistical processing method. Results . The didactic peculiarities of making use of virtual whiteboards when forming professional and legal competence of a professional in the legal industry during foreign language classes are stated: the capabilities of network intercultural cooperation when solving tasks in the legal industry; seeking legal assistance; foreign language communication; virtual discussion of criminal acts; independence of the interactive network environment for modeling legal processes; keeping the results in a cloud. At the control stage of the experiment, statistically significant differences between the levels of formed competences of the participants of the experimental and control groups were revealed. Conclusion . Making use of whiteboards will contribute to the formation of foreign language and professional legal competences of a specialist while providing a set of circumstances: active work with foreign regulatory acts in English, showing students new intercultural information collaboration and legal consultancy, combining different types of work, organizing foreign language feedback, solving real practical legal tasks.

Facilitation Techniques in Teaching ESP Online: Postpandemic Solutions for Law-Enforcement Officers Training

The article considers the effectiveness of teaching English for Specific Purposes online to future border guard officers during their study at the Border Guard Academy. The article considers ways to enhance the border guards’ foreign language training, which is partly conducted online due to the quarantine restrictions and ongoing war initiated by russia. The study covered the experience of organization of facilitation skills development for the teachers and trainers in European Union border guard educational institutions. The authors consider facilitative methods and tools as effective means for teaching future border guards English language online. The facilitative skills acquired by border guard teachers and trainers were tested during ESP Course for border guards at the Ukrainian Border Guard Academy. Analysis of the results of employing facilitation methods and techniques during “Intensive Online English Language Course for Border Guards” proved effectiveness of the conducted online training course and indicates the feasibility of using facilitative methods and techniques within the online training courses for the personnel of the law-enforcement agencies. Comparison of the obtained results (the placement and final assessment) proves the effectiveness of foreign language communicative skills development of the course participants. Therefore, the obtained results testify to the efficiency of utilizing the facilitation techniques by the teachers and trainers of the border guard academy.

"CORPORATE LANGUAGE IN ROMANIAN BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT"

The paper focuses on the corporate language used in the business environment in Romania. English exerts the strongest influence on the Romanian vocabulary, influence appreciated by some politicians and businesspersons as beneficial, but at the same time, blamed by many linguists and cultural personalities. Corporate language is not a negative phenomenon by definition. But it becomes negative when used in excess or for no reason. In some cases, linguistic clichés turn into automatic formulas that limit thin king, while in others their use is not necessary. Corporate language manifests as a reality today both in terms of economic and social context in which organization evolves and as a distinct activity field of the organization. To meet the requirements imposed once with the internationalization of economic relations, sound professional training and a good grasp of specialized knowledge are just as important as communication skills in foreign languages, intercultural adaptation being a natural consequence.

Environmental engineering students’ motivation through foreign language learning in the context of digital teaching realization (on the example of Moodle virtual environment)

The article analyzes the ways digital teaching implementation during the process of foreign language learning by future environmental engineers. The relevance of the work is the need of society for highly qualified specialists with foreign language communication skills. The theoretical significance of the study is in the fact that ways of digital teaching implementation are considered. The practical significance of given paper is in the development of electronic educational and methodological complexes for various levels on the Moodle platform education during the process of foreign language learning, which allow to stimulate the desire for students’ motivation to success, effectively organize independent activities and enhance students’ cognitive activity. “Motivation of success and fear of failure (questionnaire of A. A. Rean)” was applied in the empirical study. The results showed that learning in virtual reality leads to increased motivation and involvement of students in the learning process. It is concluded that the competent organization of independent work in a virtual educational environment and the use of modern tools improve the quality of future environmental engineers’ professional training.

Развитие образовательной автономии в условиях групповой работы по авторскому электронному пособию на дистанционной образовательной платформе

Importance. Learning autonomy should be developed for a number of reasons. Firstly, educational technologies paved the way for students’ independent cognitive activities. The second reason is the paradigm shift brought about by social and political changes: nowadays students are more focused on their own educational progress than on teamwork aimed at helping their peers. Thirdly, since groups of learners are getting bigger, students do not get enough practice in class, so they need to learn to work autonomously so that they can follow the syllabus. The objective of the study is to develop the students’ skills of learning autonomy as well as foreign-language communicative skills by organizing teamwork on an online platform. Materials and methods. The subjects of the experiment were 70 freshmen and sophomores majoring in linguistics from Peter the Great Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether teamwork is conducive to the development of students’ learning autonomy and whether their collaboration on a distance learning platform contributes to acquiring foreign-language speaking skills. Results and Discussion. In the exposure groups, where the students did their home assignment in small teams on a distance learning platform, the scores for the final conversational task were better than those in the reference groups, where the students working on a distance learning platform were not divided into teams, and where the teacher helped the whole group do their home assignment. On top of that, the levels of learning autonomy in the exposure groups were higher than those in the reference groups. Conclusion. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that we used a number of existing academic papers to develop the assessment criteria for linguistic majors’ foreign-language conversational skills. In addition, we designed a questionnaire for assessing the level of learning autonomy. The experiment allowed us to establish that teamwork is the best way to organize foreign-language practice on an online platform because each student has more time to develop conversational skills and to learn to work autonomously than in an EFL class where the teacher works with the whole group.

PECULIARITIES OF FORMING FOREIGN LANGUAGE COMPETENCE OF FUTURE ENERGY ENGINEERS BY MEANS OF APPLYING EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS

The paper substantiates the expediency of applying educational projects as a means of forming future energy engineers’ foreign language competence based on the opportunities they provide to create an individual trajectory for learning a foreign language and to improve communication skills. The author’s own definitions of the concept of «project learning technologies», «project work» and «educational project» have been formulated. The efficiency of creating profession-oriented projects in the course of educational process has been experimentally verified by the example of forming foreign language competence of the students majoring in 141 «Electric Power, Electrical Engineering and Electro-mechanics» with the use of English site materials. According the results obtained in the investigation, it has been determined that the work on an educational project makes students exhibit their intellectual skills, enhance their intrinsic motivation to mastering new knowledge, improve their skills of self-organization and self-development, provide activation and automation of their receptive and productive communication skills. A complex of interrelated and complementary features, which characterize the process of forming future energy engineers’ foreign language communication skills by means of educational projects has been determined, namely: creation of an individual trajectory for learning a foreign language; revealing of the inner potential of every higher education student regardless of their foreign language competence level; autonomy in the process of carrying out educational work, encouragement to self-education and self-development; computerization of foreign language training, expanding personal and professional horizons; improvement of speaking activity skills; formation of a complex of competences (information, communication, professional, project and investigation ones) that are necessary for successful self-realization under the conditions of intellectual and innovative society development.

The assessment method of foreign language communication ability of intelligent emotional network based on artificial emotion.

The traditional evaluation methods of foreign language communication skills cannot deal with emotional information in the process of communication. Psychologists believe that a real personalized evaluation system should be smart. Based on the emotion network technology of artificial emotion intelligence, aiming at the shortcomings of the traditional evaluation system, this paper puts forward a new language ability evaluation system with certain emotion judgment function. The system can easily obtain and identify emotions in foreign communication, and can also carry out individual learning at the cognitive and emotional levels on the basis of comprehensive analysis of emotions and communication effects.