Prospective primary school teachers’ foreign language sociocultural competence: monitoring principles

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PROSPECTIVE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS' FOREIGN LANGUAGE SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE: MONITORING PRINCIPLES

Olena Ishutina

Assistant of Primary Education Theory and Practice Department,

SHEE “Donbas State Pedagogical University”

Sloviansk, Ukraine

Abstract. The paper substantiates the necessity and importance of the organization of prospective primary school teachers' foreign language sociocultural competence monitoring in the educational process of high school. The author notes that prospective primary school teachers' foreign language sociocultural competence is inseparably linked with linguomethodological competence. It is proved that the measurement of foreign language sociocultural competence of primary school foreign language teachers should be performed in the process of lingvomethodological training of the students as lingvomethodological competence occupies a dominant place and is a unifying and a backbone for other competencies of the future teacher's professiogram. In this regard, the concept of “foreign language sociocultural competence of prospective primary school teacher” is clarified, the essence of lingvomethodological monitoring of foreign language sociocultural competence is revealed.

It is emphasized that linguistic disciplines (“The practice of oral and written language”, “Practical grammar of a foreign language”, “Practical phonetics of a foreign language”, etc.) and linguomethodological courses (“Methods of teaching English at primary school”, “ICT in learning foreign languages”, “Innovative technologies of learning foreign languages”, etc.) play very important role in forming “foreign language sociocultural competence of prospective primary school teacher”. Specific principles of lingvomethodological monitoring of foreign language sociocultural competence are identified and characterized. They are complexity, lingvomethodological orientation, validity, multi¬vector monitoring procedures.

Key words: foreign language sociocultural competence; monitoring; lingvomethodological monitoring; monitoring principles.

Анотація. У статті обґрунтовано необхідність і важливість упровадження моніторингу іншомовної соціокультурної компетентності майбутнього вчителя. Доведено, що вимірювання іншомовної соціокультурної компетентності вчителя іноземної мови початкової школи доцільно проводити в процесі лінгвометодичної підготовки студентів, адже лінгвометодична компетентність посідає чільне місце та є об'єднувальною й системоутворювальною для інших компетентностей професіограми майбутнього вчителя. У зв'язку із цим уточнено зміст поняття «іншомовна соціокультурна компетентність (ІСКК) майбутнього вчителя початкової школи»; розкрито сутність і визначено основні функції лінгвометодичного моніторингу ІСКК; з'ясовано та подано характеристику його специфічних принципів: комплексності, лінгвометодичної спрямованості, валідності, різновекторності моніторингових процедур.

Ключові слова: іншомовна соціокультурна компетентність; моніторинг; лінгвометодичний моніторинг; принципи моніторингу.

Аннотация. В статье обоснована необходимость и важность организации мониторинга иноязычной социокультурной компетентности будущего учителя начальной школы в учебно-воспитательном процессе вуза. Доказано, что измерение иноязычной социокультурной компетентности учителя иностранного языка начальной школы сообразно проводить в процессе лингвометодической подготовки студентов, так как лингвометодическая компетентность занимает главенствующее место и является объединяющей и системообразующей для других компетентностей профессиограммы будущего учителя. В связи с этим уточнено содержание понятия «иноязычная социокультурная компетентность (ИСКК) будущего учителя начальной школы»; раскрыта сущность и определены основные функции лингвометодического мониторинга ИСКК; определены и охарактеризованы его специфические принципы: комплексности, лингвометодической направленности, валидности, разновекторности мониторинговых процедур.

Ключевые слова: иноязычная социокультурная компетентность; мониторинг; лингвометодический мониторинг; принципы мониторинга.

Problem setting in general. The beginning of the XXI century in Ukraine had imprinted by a rapid pace of social transformation that led to a radical transformation in education. Upgrading and development of social, cultural, informational and technological fields of Ukrainian community are reflected in higher pedagogical education. So, at the end of XX - beginning XXI century there have been conceptual changes in the domains purposes, educational content that orient it mainly on personality development, forming of creativity, mobility and enhancing the competitiveness of prospective teachers.

Therefore, the European integration process and the formation of a new educational paradigm caused increasing role of foreign languages as a source of knowledge about the country and the world, and changed its status as a school subject, which leading goal is to work out the students' ability to intercultural communication, establishing them in communicative competence and its important components - sociocultural competence, which are sufficient to implement intercultural communication by other language means.

The relevance of the formation of primary school teachers' foreign language sociocultural competence is motivated by the requirements of today's multicultural world, in which to function effectively it is not enough to learn and understand the foreign language and culture. Competence educational paradigm based on cultural approach directs students not only to the absorption of certain knowledge and skills in a foreign language, but also to the formation of their own attitude to foreign-language cultural events and facts, contributes to the development of personal experience to create their own adaptation strategies in foreign language sociocultural environment .

Now learning a foreign language acquires great importance from the first class, and the children's success in mastering foreign language competence depends on the formation of the corresponding sociocultural competence of primary school teacher. That is why the training of prospective foreign language teachers for primary level needs to be updated with training content, search, forms and methods of teaching that the best way would influence the level of sociocultural competence of prospective teachers.

The latest papers and publications on the problem. The need for language learning through cultural context is justified by many scholars, among them N. Bilotserkivska, N. Borysko, R. Gryshkova, T. Kolodko, A. Kolominova, S. Nikolaeva, E. Passov, V. Safonova, O. Usyk, S. Shehavtsova et al. Thus, the problem of sociocultural competence formation is widely studied and examined by scientists in various aspects. The methodological principles of formation and development of sociocultural competence in the context of primary and secondary school are presented in the works of V. Bader, N. Gez, O. Kolominova, Z. Kornayeva, S. Nikolaeva, E. Passov et al. In recent years, attention to the study of sociocultural competence of students of higher educational institutions increased (N. Bilotserkivska, R. Gryshkova, T. Kolodko, O. Usyk, S. Shehavtsova et al.).

However, as it's indicated by the analysis of the scientific literature, the majority of scholars attribute due attention to the issue of control and measuring the level of the teachers' socio-cultural competence. Some aspects of this problem are presented in the studies of R. Gryshkova, T. Kolodko, O. Usyk, S. Shehavtsova et al., but monitoring of foreign language sociocultural competence of prospective primary school teacher has not appeared as the subject of separate educational studies.

The aim of the study. Considering that the systematic and comprehensive measurement (monitoring) of the formation quality of each of the competencies is one of the key is one of the most important requirements of the competency educational paradigm, the aim of this article is to determine the essence of monitoring of primary school teachers' foreign language sociocultural competence, and clarify the characteristics of its specific principles. To implement this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) to clarify the content of the notion “foreign language sociocultural competence (FLSCC) of the prospective primary school teachers”; 2) justify the need and importance of monitoring of FLSCC in the process of linguomethodological professional training of the students; 3) determine the prospective primary school teachers' FLSCC monitoring principles.

Presentation of basic research material. Some scholars (P. Bekh, L. Birkun, A. Kalinin, V. Safonova, P. Sysoev, V. Furmanova etc.) determine sociocultural competence as the ability to select the desired level of linguistic etiquette which is appropriate in a particular situation of communication, depending on the social status of the interlocutor. Other researchers (N. Borysko, N. Ishkhanyan, N. Sklyarenko, G. Tomahin etc.) interpret FLSCC through the ability and willingness of an individual to carry out adequate cross- cultural communication.

N. Borisko defines the sociocultural competence as a set of specific linguostudying, sociolinguistic, socio-psychological, culture studying and intercultural knowledge, skills and abilities that determine the ability and readiness of the individual to the dialogue of cultures as a participant and facilitator [3]. A. Myrolyubov [4, p.18] in the composition of social and cultural competence refers knowledge of the sociocultural context and skills of speech and non-speech behaviour, which are specific to the native speakers.

Following V. Safonova, J. Kuzmenko understands sociocultural competence as “a multicomponent formation, the components of which are general cultural, linguostudying, sociolinguistic and culture studying competence” [9, p. 5].

T. Kolodko defines sociocultural competence of a prospective teacher as an integrative property of the individual, “.. expressed in harmony of countrystudying, linguocountrystudying, sociolinguistic competences, which allow the individual to understand the patterns of culture as a process of creation, preservation and transmission of human values, to orient in traditions, realities, customs and spiritual values, not only of their nation, but of other nations; be able to communicate in a foreign language in the today world, in terms of cultural concepts and realities of different people”[8, p. 17].

Therefore, based on the available in the scientific and methodological literature definitions of socio-cultural competence of foreign language teachers, foreign language socio-cultural competence (FLSCC) of prospective primary school teacher we understand as an integrative personal quality that is realized in the unity of countrystudying, linguocountrystudying, and sociolinguistic competences and provides the prospective teachers' ability to carry out cross- cultural communication through awareness of themselves and any other individual as a representative of a given national culture; possess cultural knowledge (understand national realities, traditions, customs and religious values of another people) manipulate and transfer to the students, creating in them the linguistic picture of the world.

Traditionally, students acquire sociocultural knowledge and skills and skills of verbal and behavioural etiquette among foreign language environments primarily in the study of practical components foreign languages courses (“Practical Grammar”, “Practical phonetics”, “The practice of oral and written speech”), the country-/ culture studying, literature of foreign language and other linguistic disciplines. In addition, sharing opinions of O. Bihych as for the problems of professional training of foreign language teachers for primary schools, we consider that students should acquire sociocultural competence in the course of psychological and pedagogical disciplines to implement the cognitive aspect and the educational goals of foreign language education of primary school children in the classroom and extracurricular activities in a foreign language.

So, in the course of Pedagogy prospective primary school teachers have to acquire career-oriented sociocultural knowledge (O. Bihych) about the types of educational institutions and their socio-cultural purpose in the home country and the countries of studying foreign language, school symbolism which is reflected in the design of schools and school uniforms, school documents in native and foreign languages, the system of evaluation of educational achievements of young pupils in their native country and abroad, etc. [2].

N. Sokolova notes that professionally oriented social and cultural development of the prospective foreign language teacher involves the integration of disciplines, including methodology of teaching foreign language, practice course of foreign language, foreign literature [10, p.46 ]. In our opinion, this statement is quite true for the process of training a primary school teacher, FLSCC of which is inseparably linked with linguomethodological competence.

Analysis of the structure and components of foreign language sociocultural competence and its relationship with the process of the formation of the student's linguomethodological competence suggests a direct dependence prospective primary school teachers' linguomethodological competence on the level of their FLSCC. The latter is the key one in the structure of professional pedagogical competence and for its meaningful directly correlates with linguomethodological competence of primary school teacher.

Taking into account specifics of future professional activities, great part of the professional training of future foreign language teachers of primary school is given for their linguomethodological preparing that's why the formation and development of the students' social important, key, subject , brunch, general professional and other competencies are mainly considered through this prism. During studying at the university new competencies, which students acquire, expand the content of already existing ones, organically combined, interpenetrating and integrating. Accordingly, the formation and development of linguomethodological competence of prospective foreign language teachers of primary school is naturally accompanied by increased formation of its FLSCC while studying linguodidactic disciplines.

Raising the question of ways and means of measuring FLSCC of foreign language teacher of primary school, we note that it is advisable to carry out in students' linguomethodological training because linguomethodological competence has firmly established itself and is a unifying and systematizing for other competencies of prospective teachers' professiogram. Based on the existing scientific definitions of the socio-cultural competence, methodical ways of its formation, structure, etc., we think that linguomethodological monitoring is the most appropriate way of systematic, complete and objective measurement of prospective primary school teacher's FLSCC in the process of foreign language linguomethodological training. Given the definition of pedagogical and professiographic monitoring which are available in pedagogical and methodological research sources (N. Baydatska, A. Denisenko, V. Gorb, V. Zinchenko et al. [1; 5; 7]) , linguomethodological monitoring is understood as a partial kind of professiographic monitoring which is a special set of measures of continuous surveillance, detection, measurement and evaluation of the state of linguomethodological competence of students throughout the duration of linguomethodological training at the university, as well as summarizing and forecasting the dynamics and key development trends based on specific objective indicators.

The theoretical justification for higher education quality monitoring models is reflected in the thesis and monographic works of I. Bulakh, O. Volkov, V. Zaichuk, O. Lyashenko, N. Fomenko, G. Tsehmistrova and other Ukrainian scientists. In a number of PhD theses (A. Denisenko, S. Kretovich, O. Lokshina, T. Lukina, T. Oleandr, O. Ostroverkh etc.) researchers have identified the requirements for the implementation of education activities quality monitoring at the university In recent years, the contributions to the study problems of monitoring of the students' educational achievements quality and monitoring of the effectiveness of the educational process is done by N. Baydatska, L. Korobovych, O. Turzhanska, T. Horunzhenko and other Ukrainian scientists.

In practice of the educational establishment monitoring is implemented so that it was effective and qualitative. It means that the pedagogical monitoring system should be built on certain principles of its organization in order to ensure the implementation of its key features.

Among scientists, whose research is devoted to a thorough scientific basis of monitoring in education can be identified V. Avanesov, O. Avramenko, V. Gorb, O. Lyashenko, V. Moksheyev et al. One of the most comprehensive classification of the pedagogical monitoring principles seems the system proposed in the works of V. Gorb. A scientist singles out the following general principles of monitoring studies: pragmatic significance; educational assessment; organization of pedagogical communication; pragmatic orientation;

scientific; continuity; integrity; accessibility [5]. Based on the classification principles of pedagogical monitoring by V. Gorb, to the specific principles of linguomethodological monitoring of primary school teachers' FLSCC we rank as well complexity, linguomethodological orientation, validity, different vectors of monitoring procedures.

The principle of complexity, we think, is characterized by understanding monitoring as a complex structured system, each component of which requires a comprehensive, regular, orderly, but a separate study, to output general conclusions about the effectiveness of the formation of students' foreign language sociocultural competence during their linguodidactic training in foreign languages. The important point is the realization of continuity linguomethodological monitoring of the educational process of faculty training primary school teachers because of its curricula and programs of linguistic disciplines and linguomethodological cycle. Each of the individual parameters obtained during linguomethodological monitoring is an essential and necessary part of the complex FLSCC measurements of primary school teachers, thus it can only be interpreted in conjunction with other indicators.

Principle of linguomethodological orientation takes into consideration the specific of student learning language and linguomethodological foreign language courses that is reflected in the selection of measurement methods, frequency of their use, construction of monitoring studies on the basis of professional features training of primary school teachers. An important distinction is purely linguistic disciplines (“The practice of oral and written language”, “Practical grammar of a foreign language”, “Practical phonetics of a foreign language”, etc.) and linguomethodological courses (“Methods of teaching English at primary school”, “ICT in learning foreign languages”, “Innovative technologies of learning foreign languages”, etc.), because , as a common basis for the formation FLSCC of prospective teachers, they, however, have got distinctive features that require separation of complex of the most appropriate for each group measurement methods and ways of monitoring.

The principle of linguomethodological monitoring validity means full compliance of the control organization with the content of the investigated material, precision measurement criteria of FLSCC, the possibility of confirming the results obtained by other methods. Therefore, for following this principle in the linguomethodological monitoring of students' FLSCC appropriate calculation and measuring values adequate for the structure of the foreign language sociocultural competence should be applied.

The principle of different vectors of monitoring procedures provides for obligatory the use of system of measurement methods during linguomethodological monitoring, each of which will be applied most effectively in the study of a foreign language segment of formation of sociocultural competence during students' linguomethodological training, and used together they give a comprehensive understanding of quality both linguomethodological students training of foreign language in general, and of forming of their foreign language sociocultural competence.

Summary. Thus, in the course of our research the meaning of “foreign language sociocultural competence of primary school teacher” was clarified, it was revealed that its formation occurs during linguistic and linguomethodological training in foreign language of university students, feasibility of monitoring of students' foreign language sociocultural competence during the study of the cycle of linguomethodological disciplines, due to the activity nature of FLSCC of prospective teachers. Also, among the specific principles of linguomethodological monitoring of foreign language sociocultural competence of prospective primary school teacher, we have classified the principles of complexity, linguomethodological orientation, validity, different vectors of monitoring procedures. See the prospects for further research in the development of foreign language qualimetric models of socio-cultural competence of primary school teacher and determining methodological principles of FLSCC monitoring in the professional training of students.

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