The debate as a tool of developing public speaking at English second language and German second language classes and sessions of the English access micro scholarship program

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The debate as a tool of developing public speaking at English second language and German second language classes and sessions of the English access micro scholarship program

The article analyzes the concept of the technique of using "debate" in English and German lessons in higher education institutions in Ukraine and English language sessions with students of language and nonlanguage specialties, fellows of the US Embassy program The English Access Microscholarship Program, which provides English language skills and public skills speeches by program participants, participation in conferences in Ukraine and abroad. The method of "debate" forms in students all four basic skills of language communication - listening, reading, speaking and writing. According to regulations, these skills must be developed by a foreign language teacher.

In addition to the development of language skills directly, the technique of "debate" develops the skills of rapid formation of opinion and its coverage during scientific conferences, debate clubs, public speeches on television and radio. It has been proven that one of the main reasons for the psychological barrier for students to speak a foreign language in public is their lack of communication skills and experience of public speaking in their native language. Debates teach such speech tactics that will allow students to communicate more effectively in the future, to speak at international seminars and conferences, to participate in discussions with foreigners, to defend their own opinion aloud, to speak a foreign language in public.

Teachers can use the "debate" with students of the first courses of language specialties to summarize, systematize and consolidate the educational material, as well as to act as a control speech, which will help improve English communicative competence.

However, it should be borne in mind that not every topic can be the subject of discussion, it must be properly formulated, usually by the teacher.

Preparation and conduct of the debate involves the organization of work in groups (teams). The teacher can create teams independently, distributing roles, or students create groups independently, and roles are distributed by mutual consent. Serious pre-training of students is required before direct debates. At this stage, techniques are often used to stimulate creative and critical thinking of students, such as "brainstorming" or "mind cards" (memory cards).

Keywords: debate, debate club, overcoming the psychological barrier, public speeches.

ДЕБАТИ ЯК ІНСТРУМЕНТ РОЗВИТКУ ПУБЛІЧНИХ ВИСПУПІВ НА ЗАНЯТТЯХ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ ТА НІМЕЦЬКОЇ МОВИ ТА СЕССІЯХ ПРОГРАМИ МАЛИХ СТИПЕНДІЙ АНГЛІЙСЬКОЇ МОВИ THE ENGLISH ACCESS MICROSCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Шевченко М. Ю.

кандидат філософськихх наук, доцент кафедри іноземних мов
Донбаський державний педагогічний університет
вул. Генерала Батюка, 19, Слов'янськ, Україна

У статті аналізуюється поняття техніка використання «дебатів» на уроках англійської та німецької мов у вищих навчальних закладах України та сесіях з англійської мови із студентами мовних та немовних спеціальностей, стипендіатів програми Посольства США The English Access Microscholarship Program, яка передбачає володіння англійською мовою та вмінням публічних виступів учасниками програми, участь в конференціях в Україні та закордоном. Метод "дебатів" формує в учнів усі чотири основні навички мовного спілкування - аудіювання, читання, говоріння та письмо. Відповідно до нормативних документів ці навички має розвивати вчитель іноземної мови.

Крім розвитку мовних навичок безпосередньо, техніка ««дебати» формує навички швидкого формування думки та висвітлення її під час проведення наукових конференцій, клубів дебатів, публічних виступів на телебаченні та радіо. Доведено, що однією з головних причин психологічного бар'єру перед студентами публічно говорити іноземною мовою є відсутність у них комунікативних навичок та досвіду публічного виступу рідною мовою. Дебати навчають такій мовленнєвій тактиці, яка дозволить студентам у майбутньому ефективніше спілкуватися, виступати на міжнародних семінарах і конференціях, брати участь у дискусіях з іноземцями, відстоювати власну думку вголос, говорити іноземною мовою публічно.

Однак необхідно мати на увазі, що не кожна тема може бути предметом обговорення, її повинен правильно сформулювати, як правило, викладач. psychological barrier public speaking

Підготовка та проведення диспуту передбачають організацію роботи в групах (командах). Викладач може самостійно створювати команди, розподіляючи ролі, або учні самостійно створюють групи, причому ролі розподіляються за взаємною згодою. Перед проведенням прямих дебатів необхідна серйозна попередня підготовка студентів. На цьому етапі часто використовуються прийоми для стимулювання творчого та критичного мислення студентів, наприклад «мозковий штурм» або «карти розуму» (картки пам'яті).У стаття наведено приклади використання вправ під час та до проведення дебатів зі студентами мовних педагогічних спеціальностей.

Ключові слова:дебати, клуб дебатів, подолання психологічного бар'єру, публічні виступи.

Statement of the problem

The center of the linguodidactic paradigm of modern language education is the communicative competence of the individual, ie the ability and willingness to carry out foreign language interpersonal and intercultural communication with native speakers. The formation of communicative competence is inextricably linked with socio-cultural knowledge. It is in this context that it is important to use debates in foreign language lessons. Thus, the purpose of our work is to analyze the didactic possibilities of using pedagogical technology "debate" in foreign language teaching.

The relevance of the study is undeniable

The debate method during online education is multifunctional and solves the following tasks: educational, because debates contribute to the expansion of horizons, consolidation, updating of previously accumulated knowledge, mastery of new knowledge, skills and abilities; developmental, because they contribute to the development of intellectual, linguistic qualities, creative abilities.

One of the main tasks of teaching a foreign language is a communicative task. For achieving successful communication, i.e., the ability to exchange information with each other, students need to learn how to interact with each other.

The "Debate" method is one of the most effective techniques to achieve successful speech interaction between communicants. This technique allows you to integrate and involve a large number of students in the process of speech interaction at the same time, and also with the help of it, you can consider and discuss current modern problems that students will be interested in themselves.

The subject of the study is the problem of using debate method at English second language classes and sessions of the English Access Microsholarship Program.

The object of the research is the process of using the method method as a tool increasing students motivation and communicative skills at classes of the English Language.

The purpose of the study is to analyse the features of using the method of debates.

Analysis of research on the issue

Student debates are the subject of research by a number of specialists. Domestic and foreign researchers have studied the features of such training, in particular - W. Willhoft, H. Limmerman, I. Geiko, N. Klakson, H. Limmerman, H. Malcolm, I. Geik, J. Mini, A. Panchenkov, O. Pometun, L. Pirozhenko, T. Remech, D. Ross, V. Saul, S. Scott, D. Steinberg, I. Sushchenko, O.Frankivska, G. Freyman, O. Frilli, G. Sheynov, A. Schneider, K. Schuster, and others. In the works of researchers, debate is considered as one of the most effective techniques to achieve successful speech interaction between communicants. This technique allows you to integrate and involve a large number of students in the process of speech interaction at the same time, and also with the help of it, you can consider and discuss current modern problems that students will be interested in themselves.

Statement of the objective

Aisterness of public speaking can be attributed to the most important communicative skills of modern schoolchildren, because throughout their further education and career they will be evaluated by the effectiveness of oral communication with others. Moreover, the debate forms all four basic language communication skills - listening, reading, speaking and writing, which, according to regulations, a foreign language teacher must develop in students.

First of all, the "debate" technique forms all four basic language communication skills in students - listening, reading, speaking, and writing. In accordance with the normative documents, these skills must be developed by a foreign language teacher.

In addition to the development of language skills directly, the "debate" technique forms the skills of public speaking. It has been proven that one of the main reasons for the fear of schoolchildren speaking a foreign language in public is their lack of communication skills and experience in public speaking their native language. Debate teaches such speech tactics which will allow students to communicate more effectively in the future, speak at international seminars and conferences, participate in discussions with foreigners, defend their own opinions aloud, and speak a foreign language publicly [2, p. 16].

In the senior courses, "debates" can be used to generalize, systematize and consolidate educational material, and also act as control speaking. However, it must be borne in mind that not every topic can be a subject of discussion, it must be correctly formulated, as a rule, by a teacher [3, p. 26].

The preparation and conduct of the debate involve the organization of work in groups (teams). The teacher can create teams themselves, assigning roles, or students create groups on their own, and the roles are distributed by mutual agreement. A group can include neighbors in desks or rows.

Before conducting a direct debate, a serious preliminary preparation of students is needed. At this stage, techniques are often used to stimulate the creative and critical thinking of school children, such as "brainstorming" or "mind maps" (memory cards).

The “brainstorming” technique is used at the stage of direct generation and selection of ideas and assumes the observance of several principles. First of all, goals, objectives, and constraints are formulated. Participants in the discussion are provided with maximum freedom: giving the word to everyone (encouraging the shy, "sticking to" the most active and authoritative), as well as complete freedom of opinion, encouraging "crazy" ideas and analogies/

The discussion is carried out hierarchically: first - the maximum "breadth", then the assessment of the prospects of options and the selection of the best, then again "breadth". While using the brainstorming method, the role of a facilitator and capturing ideas are important [5, p. 201].

Students of the “Civil Engagement Club”, Debate Club "Per aspera ad astra" and “English Access Microscholarship Program”

use brainstorming games in every lesson. For example, on the first session of the “Civil Engagement Club”, we played the game “What superpower would you like to have?” with the help of the online tool “Mentimeter”. Learners had to pick any superpower and explain their choice. Also, during the session participants brainstormed some ideas of possible ways to stop bullying, what we can do and what people we should influence.

The main idea of the “mind mapping” method is to reject the usual “linear” records and fix the information in a graphical form in the form of a branching crown of a tree, using illustrations, symbols, patterns (samples, templates), and associations. Nancy Margulis gives the principles of creating maps memories developed by their creator Tony Buzan in her work "Maps of the Interior". The main topic is located in the center of the sheet, after that the most important aspects of the topic are mentally selected, and branches from the main problem are drawn. Each subtopic has its main branch, and one word is used for each concept. Where possible, the concept is illustrated. Nancy Margulis recommends making mind maps for at least thirty minutes without distraction. After the creation of the memory map, there is a phase of "smart reading", when, before speaking, speakers quickly check the main ideas, mark the key factors and important details on the map. As a result, the method serves the search, structuring, and timely use of ideas [1, p. 208].

In addition, debate teaches schoolchildren to use language cliches correctly in public speaking. The most commonly used are: we suppose, we must confess, we suggest, we believe, the thing is, the fact is, we wonder, the point is, in our opinion, there is something in what you are saying but, we appreciate, thank you for your attention, thank you for the questions and several others. Debates also provide students with an understanding of the structure of speech. An example of a plot speech in "classic" debates is the speech plan of the first speaker: greeting the audience - introducing the team and yourself - introduction (substantiating the relevance of the topic - defining the concepts (definitions) of the topic - putting forward criteria - argumentation - conclusion - gratitude for attention. Students' understanding of the structural and plot schemes of the debate will allow them to draw up a plan for most public speaking events in the future.

Developing English communicative and public speaking skills is the main aim of debate club Per Aspera Ad Astra. At the age of COVID 19 when students do not communicate with each other in real format using new exercises for debate became relevant and led to positive results not only in methodological but also in psychological way.

As an example, we can use the following debate activity. Students are divided into 3 groups: entrepreneurs, conservationists, simple inhabitants of the planet. Entrepreneurs must lead positive arguments about the human impact on the environment, environmentalists negative, residents should take a neutral position and give examples of your impact on the environment, which should contain both positive arguments and negative: “So, now I am going to divide you into 3 groups. The first group will be businessmen who will present only positive people influence on the environment. The second one will be environmental protectors who will present only negative influence on the environment. The last group will be ordinary people of our planet who don't belong to any groups and who will present examples of their own influence on the environment which can be both positive and negative”.

After the students have discussed everything in groups, begin the debate itself: each side presents its arguments, starting with entrepreneurs. Students may object to an opponent, but they have to listen to the previous sounded argument of another group of students, without interrupting them: “Let's start our debates with our businessmen. You may object to your opponents but after they will present their arguments”.

After discussion, students in the same groups are given time to summarize the result of the debate, draw up a certain conclusion about the influence of a person on environment and present your reasoning to the class: “Now, I'll give you some time to draw the conclusion of the debates and make up a short paragraph about peoples influence on the environment which will be presented to the whole class”.

Moreover, we can use this method online. Access students managed to perform different mind mapping tasks with the help of online tools. “Miro” is one of them, for example. It allows to create, broaden, change plenty of schemes and even add a picture of a tree to visualize the task.

Access students practiced their public speaking skills with Mr. Patrick Knapp, an American diplomat (a human rights officer) who works at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv as a special guest on their regular online class. Moreover, participants tried themselves as “actors” and joined “Online Drama Club” with Jean Charles, English Language Fellow. During the rehearsals, learners faced some arguments in organizational skills, so they had to use only a foreign language (English) to make their point and express their opinion.

Scott S considers debates as a kind of technology for teaching students to speak a foreign language and as a kind of game, which task is to prove the chosen point of view and, observing the logical line of speech (thesis, argument, link-support), to convince the opponent. The author highlights voluntary debates where children choose their team; authoritarian, where the teacher divides children into commands independently, and random [4, p. 38].

Creative techniques for teaching speaking in foreign language lessons include various discussions and debates. While studying the topic "Education" within the framework of the speech situation, students are invited to discuss and find out: "Which school is better: traditional or alternative?" To accomplish this, they are invited to split into two teams supporting different types of schools; time is given for them to prepare statements “for” their school and “against” the school of their opponents. The rules are announced that a discussion will take place within ten minutes, a goal is to convince your opponents that your team's school is better. During the discussion, the teacher writes down the points for each team's persuasive arguments on the board. After the end of the discussion the question is asked: “Are there any team members who were convinced by the rivals and wanted to join them?” and summarized by the number of arguments. Then the teacher analyzes the mistakes encountered during the discussion.

Conclusions

The"debate" technique is relevant and effective and can be used in foreign language lessons in high school. This technique helps to motivate students for further studying of foreign language. The use of debates in teaching the speech interaction of schoolchildren in foreign language lessons contributes to the achievement of successful communication between the participants who are involved in the discussion process, as well as to increase the interest of children in the study of the subject.

LITERATURE

1. Edwards Richard E. Competitive Debate: The Official Guide. New York, 2008. P. 1-375.

2. Martha J. Bradshaw and Arlene J. Lowenstein. Debate as a Teaching Strategy: Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing and Related Health Professions. Sudbury, 2011. Р. 163-172.

3. Martini L. Using Debate as a Teaching Tool to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills in the Social Studies Classroom Retrieved from. URL: http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/finding/martini.doc

4. Scott S. Perceptions of Students' Learning Critical Thinking through Debate in a Technology Classroom: A Case Study.The Journal of Technology Studies. Volume XXXIV, Number 1, Spring 2008. P. 39-44.

5. The Debatabase Book: a Must Have Guide for Successful Debate / by the editors of IDEA; introduction by Robert Trapp. 4^th ed. New York, NY: IDEA, 2009. P. 1-238.

REFERENSES

1. Edwards Richard E. Competitive Debate: The Official Guide. New York, 2008. P. 1-375. (in English)

2. Martha J. Bradshaw and Arlene J. Lowenstein. Debate as a Teaching Strategy: Innovative Teaching Strategies in Nursing and Related Health Professions. Sudbury, 2011. Р. 163-172. (in English)

3. Martini L. Using Debate as a Teaching Tool to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills in the Social Studies Classroom Retrieved from/ URL: http://ted.coe.wayne.edu/sse/finding/martini.doc (in English)

4. Scott S. Perceptions of Students' Learning Critical Thinking through Debate in a Technology Classroom: A Case Study. The Journal of Technology Studies. Volume XXXIV, Number 1, Spring 2008. P. 39-44. (in English)

5. The Debatabase Book: a Must Have Guide for Successful Debate / by the editors of IDEA; introduction by Robert Trapp. 4^th ed. New York, NY: IDEA, 2009. P. 1-238. (in English)

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