Provocative techniques as a method of improving foreign language teaching process at engineering universities

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Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy

European Integration and International Cooperation

Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogics Academy

Provocative techniques as a method of improving foreign language teaching process at engineering universities

Marina Pasichnyk: Senior lecturer of the Department of Foreign Language Training

Kharkiv

Abstract

The article highlights the issues of didactic potential and conditions of provocative techniques applying in foreign language teaching in the context of higher professional education. The paper presents a typology of provocative techniques, illustrated by examples. As separate types of provocative techniques the author suggests "lecture provocation", "choice" (in a situation where there is no definite correct answer or the answer is already given and no choice is provided), "search" (to find a mistake or a fact, including when there is no such thing), "provocation through interaction" (based on involving other participants), "provocation" (based on the involvement of other participants). The author emphasizes the key features of provocation in foreign language teaching: evoking an emotional reaction of surprise, the game nature of learning activities, the need for a reflexive discussion with students after the work to bring them out of their provoked emotional state; novelty, non-standard tasks, breaking stereotypes, allowing to consider provocative techniques as a tool to organize learning activities in individual learning situations.

The author concludes that provocative techniques as a means of organizing foreign language learning activities have a significant didactic potential, which lies in the possibility to stimulate cognitive activity of students; to conduct a learning dialogue, to encourage action; to develop critical thinking, creative thinking (ability to see several solutions, complexity of problems) and to be effectively included in the academic process of higher educational institution. The use of provocative techniques in foreign language classes in an engineering university can contribute to solving a number of relevant pedagogical tasks: not only forming the necessary foreign language knowledge (theoretical and practical), but also stimulating cognitive, speech activity of students, developing their thinking (critical and creative), fostering the need for self-determination and self-development.

Keywords: provocation in the foreign language teaching, provocative techniques, higher education institution, methodological tool, activation of learning activities.

Анотація

Пасічник М. "Провокативні техніки як метод удосконалення процесу навчання іноземних мов у технічних ЗВО".

Стаття висвітлює питання дидактичного потенціалу та умови застосування провокативних технік у навчанні іноземній мові у контексті вищої професійної освіти. У роботі наводиться типологія провокативних технік, яка ілюструється прикладами. Як окремі типи провокативних технік авторка пропонує «лекцію-провокацію», «вибір» (у ситуації, коли немає однозначно правильної відповіді або відповідь вже задана та вибір не передбачений), «пошук» (знайти помилку або якийсь факт, в тому числі коли цього немає), «провокацію через взаємодію» (будується на основі залучення інших учасників у провокативну дію). Авторка підкреслює ключові особливості провокації у процесі навчання іноземної мови: викликання емоційної реакції здивування, ігровий характер навчальної діяльності, необхідність проведення рефлексивної дискусії зі студентами після закінчення роботи для виведення їх зі спровокованого емоційного стану; новизна, нестандартність завдань, руйнування стереотипів, що дозволяє розглядати провокаційні техніки як засіб організації навчальної діяльності в індивідуальних навчальних ситуаціях.

У висновках авторка зазначає, що провокативні техніки як засіб організації навчальної іншомовної діяльності мають значний дидактичний потенціал, який полягає у можливості стимулювати пізнавальну активність учнів; вести навчальний діалог, спонукати до дії; розвивати критичне мислення, творче мислення (здатність бачити кілька рішень, складність проблеми) та можуть ефективно включатися в академічний процес ЗВО. Використання провокаційних засобів на заняттях з іноземної мови у вищих навчальних закладах може сприяти вирішенню низки актуальних педагогічних завдань: не лише формуванню необхідних іншомовних знань (теоретичних та практичних), а й стимулюванню пізнавальної, мовленнєвої активності студентів, розвитку їх мислення (критичного та творчого), вихованню потреби у самовизначенні та саморозвитку.

Ключові слова: провокація в іншомовному навчанні, провокативні техніки, заклад вищої освіти, методичний засіб, активізація навчальної діяльності.

Problem statement

The digitalization and informatization of the modern world have a significant impact on the availability and volume of information, its diversity and, at the same time, its contradictory nature. The change in the pace of life, which is associated with the mentioned processes, inevitably affects the basic cognitive functions of human beings: attention, thinking, and memory. It follows that it is impossible to modernize a modern professional educational system to meet the new requirements of society without taking into consideration the processes taking place not only in the social sphere, but also, on the personal level.

Consequently, the actual tasks of students' training in the context of higher professional education can include not only the formation of theoretical and practical knowledge, creating conditions for acquiring practical experience, but also the impact on the personality of a future specialist, namely, the development of critical and creative thinking, increasing cognitive activity and readiness level for foreign language communication on professionally relevant topics, and fostering the need for self-determination. One of the possible ways of solving this problem is the use of provocative teaching methods in the process of organizing students' learning activities in a foreign language class at a higher engineering institution.

Literature review. Many foreign and national studies focus on the development of critical thinking in students, considering the mechanisms of its development and the applied aspects of its functioning.

The problems of developing and forming students' critical thinking are logically connected with the issues of developing their creativity, inventiveness, self-actualization, independent thinking and they are represented in the works of J. Guilford, M. Baker, R. Rudd, A. Matyushkin, B. D. Bleedorn, O. Tikhomirov, and others [4,6,8].

The analysis of the research undertaken on identifying effective ways of developing students' critical thinking shows that, despite the great theoretical and practical importance of modern teaching methods, the following questions are insufficiently discussed: what methods and the ways of developing students' critical thinking in foreign language classes at a technical university are reasonable. didactic language teaching education

The scientific and methodological literature also does not sufficiently cover the use of provocative techniques in foreign language classes at higher engineering education institutions to improve the quality of foreign- language vocational education.

The purpose of the article is to characterize the didactic potential of provocative techniques and identify the conditions for their application in the process of teaching a foreign language in the context of higher engineering education.

The statement of the main material. The critical thinking technology and its components applying in the process of teaching a foreign language at an engineering university is an effective way to develop students' intellectual abilities and skills of mental operations. The acquired skills allow students to increase the effectiveness of foreign language information comprehension and increase interest both in the learning material and in the academic process itself; to understand the characteristics of critical thinking and to take responsibility for their own education. In the process of using various simulation techniques and exercises, students' personal qualities are practiced and there are opportunities for self-expression and communication in a foreign language. This proves the effectiveness of the educational technologies applying for the development of students' critical thinking in the academic process of higher educational institution, providing the modern quality of professional education on the basis of preserving its fundamentality.

In scientific and pedagogical literature, it has been pointed out that critical reflection can only arise when there is indeterminacy and tension concerning existing personal beliefs and values [7]. The dissonance created by indeterminacy allows the reflective subject to change their position and consider other viewpoints rather than rely exclusively on their own experience and judgments. Some studies have shown that learners achieve greater results when confronted with ideas that are different from their own. It is through such cognitive dissonance that they begin to think critically and are able to revise their initial views [8].

By means of a reflexive model, students can better absorb what is new content, associate it with what they have already known, adapt it to their own purposes and transform their thought into action. This promotes the building of creativity, the ability to think critically, and the development of metacognitive skills (i.e., the ability to observe one's own thinking process).

Engel and Conant suggest that when students are asked to create something new in a group-conversation, they learn to develop and justify their position, which then reflects in the ability to build a convincing argumentation. The intragroup exchange of views can result in completely new ideas not considered before the discussion, which is of particular value.

Recognizing the importance of critical thinking skills stimulates the search for new technologies of their development in the context of foreign language teaching, which in its turn leads to the consideration of the possibility of using the resource of “provocative techniques” in foreign language classes at higher educational institutions.

The technology of “provocation” corresponds perfectly not only to the applied goals of foreign language teaching, but also covers the whole range of problems related to foreign language learning: the culture clash, intercultural dialogue, the search for compromise.

According to A. Yenin, “provocative pedagogy” is a broad system of influencing students using a variety of techniques, methods, approaches, tools and effects. But it initially carries confrontation, conflict, unanswered questions and specific information. But most importantly, by imposing “conflict” it forces one to look for ways to solve the way out of it. It forces one to think [1].

The goal of provocative behavior is to motivate the provocatee to the necessary actions, to the communicative activity of the provocatee [3]. In addition, the important role of provocative challenge for self-determination, selftransformation of an individual has been noted. These goals are achieved primarily by destabilizing the communicant's emotional state by violating his communicative expectations: "the communicative situation of provocation has one main parameter - reaction; the other parameters can be considered optional" [2]. By provoking a reaction of puzzlement, indignation, disagreement, the initiator of provocative communication stimulates the activity of the other party. Emotional reaction is a condition for the realization of volitional and cognitive processes, in particular in educational activities [9].

This technology is particularly relevant in relation to creating an environment for students' personal development and the formation of their value orientations. The introduction of provocative tasks makes it possible to get students interested, to make the acquired experience personal and emotionally colored, thus influencing beliefs and behavior. However, this technology has a number of limitations and requires important conditions to be met.

First of all, for the successful implementation of a provocative situation, a certain environment in the classroom is necessary: a special climate, psychological comfort, mutual trust, subject-subjective relations between the foreign language teacher and the students. The teacher should be competent in psychology, in particular age-specific psychology. A special type of teacher's personality is necessary as well: sense of humor, quick reaction, ability to foresee and, if needed, to eliminate the consequences of psychological deprivation, to be able to smooth the negative effect of provocative influence by transferring it into a positive direction.

In such a way, the technology of "provocation" triggers a mechanism of disagreement, of verbal resistance, which makes a lively discussion in a foreign language possible, helping students to engage in an active and interesting dialogue. The student strives to express his or her position or agree with a provocative statement in a foreign language, to share his or her ideas and beliefs with others involved in the learning process, using as much foreign language vocabulary and grammatical structures as possible. Communication motivation is based on the following needs:

the communication act needs as such, which is specific to human beings as social creatures;

specificity in performing a given foreign language speaking act, the need to "intervene" in a given speaking situation (provocation is particularly useful in this case).

A lecture-provocation is traditionally seen as a way to motivate students to learn something new: when students have to find out about mistakes in the course material. Indeed, explicitly presented provocation (a warning about the presence of mistakes in the presented training material - with or without specifying their amount) allows us to prevent the emergence of an undesirable emotional state - a feeling of deception, resentment, irritation, aggression. Therefore, it is probably appropriate to consider the playful nature of provocation in the foreign language teaching, which determines the emotional coloring of foreign language communication in the classroom.

In general, provocative techniques based on detecting mistakes in the learning material allow intensifying students' attention to the solution of the learning task, building foreign language knowledge, developing critical thinking, and encouraging independent searching.

Provocative techniques can also be a way of creating a subject conflict, thereby stimulating the students' personal attitude towards the training material in question and encouraging activity (including foreign language speech) in the process of mastering the foreign language educational material.

Here are some examples of the use of provocative techniques in foreign language classes at a technical university:

“Search” is to find the mistakes (with a notice, without any warning about their presence and amount) in the form of tasks (in particular, tests) based on the studied grammar material. In this case it is possible to increase the emotional impact of this technique by setting a task to correct mistakes and not telling them that there are none (suggesting to look for something that is not there). In this case the students carefully and repeatedly revise the learning grammar material, then the teacher asks them to justify the reasons why the searched for item cannot be found in the studied context.

A lesson with pre-planned mistakes (provocation lesson), in the process of which students are proposed to analyze the content of the lesson, discover planned factual mistakes has been designed to develop the students' ability to quickly analyze the foreign language information they have received, to pick out incorrect or inaccurate information. The most common mistakes made by students in the key questions of the foreign language topic or unit under study are chosen. The number of planned mistakes depends on the specifics of the foreign language learning material, the didactic and educational purposes of the class and the level of students' preparation.

The "provocation through interaction" technique. Opposition: opponents should certainly comment, make recommendations, and ask for feedback. It is also helpful to define the role of the supervisor/contributor.

The role of the supervisor/probationer is to identify the strengths of the work, to discuss and comment on its implementation, and to recognize the weaknesses of the project and the ways in which they are suited to support it.

At the same time, however, we consider it essential both for the development of thinking and in terms of fostering a respectful attitude towards others and enhancing culture of foreign language communication.

Technique «choice». An open-ended task is a problematic question which is bound to provoke an emotionally personal attitude, e.g., discussed in the form of a debate. The teacher reads a sentence (or a short text) twice, which contains a provocative statement and should trigger a discussion mechanism. The students are given five minutes to concentrate their thoughts and prepare to present their opinions. During their preparation, they are allowed to draw up a brief outline of their speech. The provocative text is usually related to a certain foreign language topic of conversation, which vocabulary should be used in the discussion. Each student is given an opportunity to express his/her agreement or disagreement with the talking points of the teacher. It is compulsory to provide arguments for their opinions. Listening to the participants of the discussion, the teacher marks briefly on the blackboard the main pros and cons of the statements. At the end, a summary should be formulated, in which not only the teacher but all the participants in the discussion take part. Generally, such a summary is considered to be correct and compromise, helping to encourage the students' ability to take part in future discussions without fear.

"Why I don't like.../ outdated...”: answer, essays, compositions on this topic put students in a difficult position - it is necessary to prove to the teacher why they do not want to engage in the subject taught to them, this causes understandable concerns and requires a communicative culture. However, the use of this technique, in our opinion, is reasonable and appropriate: students are made to think about their position and activity as a student, the teacher gets an opportunity to diagnose difficulties, overcoming communicative barriers in the process of foreign language learning, to adjust their work.

Technique «Duel». The student's group is divided into teams, each team member has to ask a question on the topic to any representative (of their choice) of the opposing team. A correct answer gives points to the opposing team, an incorrect answer gives points to the team that asked the question. The rivalry situation in the competition is intensified by the opportunity to choose an answer from the opposing team.

In general, such work is very emotional and effective (because, knowing the conversational topic to be answered, the opponents have the opportunity to prepare, so the preparation of questions requires in-depth and thorough working through the foreign language lexical and grammatical material). It is also possible to prepare questions for the opposing team and to receive a point if the opponents have answered correctly. This kind of task helps to develop the ability to highlight the essential, the most important, to identify the distinctive features and, of course, requires a good knowledge of the foreign language material. In addition, asking the students to justify the high score of the team with the most correct answers allows to emphasize the criteria for evaluation.

The provided examples of the provocative techniques applying can be further extended. Provocation in foreign language teaching implies creativity from the teacher, therefore it cannot be limited to a template and requires certain conditions to be met. Among the significant conditions for the provocative techniques applying in foreign language teaching we can mention, first of all, the following:

pedagogical reasonability (ensuring the possibility to achieve the goal, to solve foreign language communicative tasks, to implement the functions of provocative techniques);

compliance with the ethical norm (provocation may concern the activity, but not the person; it may have a playful character);

novelty, absence of stereotypes.

The methodologies for these classes are varied. However, as a rule, there are two stages: the preparatory stage and the main stage. The preparatory part involves introducing and reinforcingand fixing the speech patterns and the most frequently used phrases in a provocative discussion (e.g., speech etiquette units framing the speaker's address to other participants in the discussion); address to other discussants- provocateurs; speech constructions representing agreement or disagreement with an opinion the speaker's ideas and arguments; words and phrases with a colloquial connotations, phraseological units, proverbs, sayings, etc.) and relating to specific purposes, a specific audience, their level of a foreign language and willingness to communicate.

This task is accomplished through a system of exercises aimed at observing the use of speech structures in micro-situations, including problematic questions of future discussion- provocation and stimulating the generation of a creative statement, allowing a partial introduction of the required foreign language vocabulary, testing the students' competence in the designated range of issues, as well as generating the students' interest in the future communication.

A system of exercises that aims at observing the use of speech structures in microsituations, including problematic questions of future discussion-provocation and stimulating convocation, corresponds to this task.

The main stage is the discussion- provocation, where the specific topic of the discussion should be stated,the subject of the discussion is defined, its main line is determined, the various aspects of the problem are highlighted, the arguments and justifications are presented, the attitude of participants towards them are highlighted.

Provocative techniques can be repeated in the foreign language training activity with a certain consistency, but they should not themselves become a pattern, so the teacher needs to vary the techniques in the foreign language class at a higher engineering educational institution.

University students have a large store of knowledge and sufficient social experience. They are capable of transforming existing knowledge and skills into competences with high motivation for active cognitive activity. Thus, the task of teaching critical thinking skills by provocative techniques can be considered as the development of students' cognitive activity on the basis of logical, exploratory and critical thinking.

The indicator of the effectiveness of provocative techniques application can be the level of achieving the set goals: students master the knowledge on "Foreign language" discipline at the necessary level, students' cognitive activity is at a high level, as well as the degree of their involvement in the foreign language learning dialogue, the level of initiative and independence in the class, as well as the ability to recognize provocative techniques, communicate in the situation of speech provocation. Communication in a situation of speech provocation in a foreign language is evidence of the student's development as a subject of learning activity, able to analyze, plan and implement it, taking a reflexive stance.

Conclusion and further research prospects

The didactic potential of provocative techniques in foreign language teaching (providing the formation of competences) consists in the possibility to stimulate students' cognitive activity; to engage in a learning dialogue, to encourage action; to develop critical thinking, creative thinking (the ability to see multiple solutions, complexity of the problem). These functions are realized through provoking an emotional state (disagreement, surprise, etc.) by an unexpected form and/or content of a learning task (breaking a stereotype, reframing the meaning and context), the game nature of organizing learning activities.

The use of provocative techniques in foreign language classes at higher educational institutions can contribute to solving a number of relevant pedagogical tasks: not only to develop necessary foreign language knowledge (theoretical and practical), but also to stimulate students' cognitive, speech activity, develop their thinking (critical and creative), foster the need for self-determination and self-development.

The main features of provocation in foreign language teaching include: evoking emotional reaction of surprise, game-like nature of learning activities, necessity to conduct a reflexive discussion with students at the end of work in order to get them out of provoked emotional state;

Список використаних джерел

1. Енин А. В. Психология «провокативной педагогики»: некоторые аспекты теории и методики / А. В. Енин // Вестник Тамбовского университета. Серия: Гуманитарные науки. - 2009. - № 2 (70). - С. 252-255.

2. Козлов А. Е. Провокативный дискурс как объект лингвистического анализа / А. Е. Козлов, И. И. Саженин // Вестник Новосибирского государственного педагогического университета. - 2015. - № 5 (27). - С. 142-155.

3. Степанов В. Н. Провокативные речевые жанры как инструменты непрямой коммуникации: лингвистические признаки и анализ / В. Н. Степанов // Теория и практика судебной экспертизы. - 2014. - № 4 (36). - С. 89-99.

4. Baker M. Relationships between Critical and Creative Thinking / M. Baker, R. Rudd // Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research. - 2001. - Vol. 51, no. 1. - Р. 173-188.

5. Bleedorn B. D. Introduction toward an integration of creative and critical thinking / B. D. Bleedorn // The American Behavioral Scientist (19861994). - 1993. - Vol. 37, no. 1. - Р. 10-20.

6. Guilford J. P. The analysis of intelligence, / J. P. Guilford. - New York : McGrawHill, 1971. - 514 р.

7. Johnson A. How to use thinking skills to differentiate curricula for gifted and highly creative students / A. Johnson // Gifted Child Today. - 2001. - Vol. 24, no. 4. - Р. 58-63.

8. Paul R. Critical thinking: the nature of critical and creative thought / R. Paul, L. Elder // Journal of Developmental Education. - 2006. - Vol. 30, no. 2. - Р. 34-35.

9. Silvestrini N. Affect and cognitive control: Insights from research on effort mobilization / N. Silvestrini, G. H. E. Gendolla // International Journal of Psychophysiology. - 2019. - № 143. - P. 14-125.

References

1. Enin, AV 2009, `Psikhologiya «provokativnoy pedagogiki»: nekotoryye aspekty teorii i metodik' [Psychology of provocative pedagogy: some aspects of theory and methodology], no. 2 (70), pp. 252-255.

2. Kozlov, AE & Sazhenin, II 2015, `Provokativnyy diskurs kak obyekt lingvisticheskogo analiza' [Provocative discourse as an object of linguistic investigation], Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, no. 5 (27), pp. 142-155.

3. Stepanov, VN 2014, `Provokativnyye rechevyye zhanry kak instrumenty nepryamoy kommunikatsii: lingvisticheskiye priznaki i anal',

4. [Provocative speech genres as a means of indirect communication its linguistic entity and analysis], Teoriya i praktika sudebnoy ekspertizy, 2014, no. 4 (36), pp. 89-99.

5. Baker, M & Rudd, R 2001, `Relationships between Critical and Creative Thinking', Journal of Southern Agricultural Education Research, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 173-188.

6. Bleedorn, BD 1993, `Introduction toward an integration of creative and critical thinking', The American Behavioral Scientist (1986-1994), vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 10-20.

7. Guilford, JP 1971, The analysis of intelligence, McGrawHill, New York.

8. Johnson, A 2001, `How to use thinking skills to differentiate curricula for gifted and highly creative students', Gifted Child Today, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 58-63.

9. Paul. R & Elder, L 2006, `Critical thinking: the nature of critical and creative thought', Journal of Developmental Education, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 34-35.

10. Silvestrini, N & Gendolla, GHE 2019, `Affect and cognitive control: Insights from research on effort mobilization', International Journal of Psychophysiology, no. 143, pp. 14-125.

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