The system of exercises in theprocess of formation students' foreigncross - cultural competence

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UDK 348.127

the system of exercises in theprocess of formation students' foreigncross - cultural competence

The ongoing process of globalization has influenced not only the nations but their cultures as well. As a result of integration the existing differences of our lives, relations, work and our cultures appeared in different light. The approach to the idea of cross-cultural competence in multicultural society and its formation is constantly reviewed. System of exercises in formation offoreign students ' cross-cultural competency is examined in the article. Types of exercises presented in the article are selected according to developed criteria.

Keywords: cross-cultural competence,system of exercises, criteria, cross-cultural competency.

СИСТЕМА ВПРАВ В ПРОЦЕСІ ФОРМУВАННЯ У СТУДЕНТІВ ІНШОМОВНОЇ МІЖКУЛЬТУРНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНЦІЇ

Триваючий глобалізаційні процеси впливають не лише на народи, але і їх культури також. У результаті інтеграція,яка існує у відмінності в побутi, відносинах, роботах і культурах,проявляється по-різному. Підхід до ідеї крос-культурної компетенції в полікультурному суспільстві і його формування постійно вивчається. В даній статті проаналізовано систему вправ, спрямованих на формування міжкультурної компетенції студентів. Відповідно до сформульованих критеріїв визначено та охарактеризовано найефективніші з них.

Ключові слова: міжкультурна компетенція,система вправ, критерії, крос-культурної компетенції.

СИСТЕМА УПРАЖНЕНИЙ В ПРОЦЕССЕ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ У СТУДЕНТОВ ИНОЯЗЫЧНОЙ МЕЖКУЛЬТУРНОЙ КОМПЕТЕНЦИИ

Продолжающиеся глобализационные процессы влияют не только на народы, но и их культуры тоже. В результате интеграция, которая существует в различия в быту, отношениях, работах и культурах, проявляется по-разному. Подход к идее кросс-культурной компетенции в поликультурном обществе и его формирование постоянно изучается. В данной статье проанализирована система упражнений, направленных на формирование межкультурной компетенции студентов. Согласно сформулированных критериев определены и охарактеризованы наиболее эффективные из них.

Ключевые слова: межкультурная компетенция, система упражнений, критерии, кросс-культурной компетенции.

Introduction

In the 21st century the process of globalization has become rapid and influenced all aspects of human activities. The employment and educational opportunities have turned out to be vast around Europe including different geographic locations with a great number of various cultures. The countries, new comers of the European Union, have obtained the great experience of speedy adaptation to the changes taking place in their countries. Nevertheless the longer the new members have been living in European Community the better they understand their lack of skills in cross-cultural communication which are the result of the shortage of experience to communicate effectively with people speaking another language and representing other cultures [8].

The internationalization of management education and learning has become well established. Effective specislists no longer work solely in the comforts of their home culture, but also must learn to work across cultures. One of the most intense cross-culture experiences comes in the multiyear foreign assignment: the expatriate experience. From these experiences, expatriates tend to learn a variety of skills that facilitate success in a new host culture, transform their home culture, and facilitate the transfer of knowledge across cultures.

The modern requirements for the foreign language proficiency in high school include the presence of foreign language communicative competence of future specialists. It is defined as a certain level of language proficiency, speech and social-cultural set of knowledge, skills and abilities that enable to vary acceptably and appropriately their communicative behavior in a communicative way depending on the functional predictors of foreign language.

The very next important term is `the cross-cultural competence'. So, the `cross-cultural competence' is the development of knowledge and skill through experience and training that results in a complex schema of cultural differences, perspective-taking skills, and interpersonal skills, all of which an individual can flexibly (or adaptively) apply through the willingness to engage in new environments even in the face of considerable ambiguity, through self-monitoring and through self-regulation to support mission success in a dynamic context[6].

So, today the organization of teacher-student or student-student activity can be implemented by means of exercise. One of its functions resides in forming of readiness of a practical use of acquired knowledge, abilities and skills. In accordance with this the determination of classification of exercises is an important task for modern linguodidactics and a condition of cross-cultural competency forming in the process of foreign students' learning.

Nowadays the role of exercises and choice of their optimized system for acquisition of material is the point at issue.

Literature review. The importance of selection of exercises was pointed out in the works of E. Azimov, Y. Vereshchagin, I. Zimnya, V. Kostomarov, O. Mitrofanova, Y. Passov and others.

Y. Azimov and A. Shchukin mark that exercises is a basis of any activity. In a “Dictionary of methodical terms” scientists consider exercise as a basic unit of methodical material organization, which acts in the process of learning, provides subject actions with this material and mental activity forming. Thus wise we support the position of the researchers, according to which exercises are considered as purposeful interrelated actions, which are carried out in the sequence of increase of language and operating difficulties, depending on the order of language abilities and skills formation [1].

Accordingly we'll establish the criteria of exercise selection and give their classification in the process of foreign students' cross-cultural competency forming.

In compliance with A. Leontyev's activity theory, psycholinguistic researches of T. Ryabov-Akhutin there was developed a scheme of the stepwise formation of mental actions, speaking abilities and skills, according to which one distin guishes different classifications of exercises, within which there is a division into two groups: 1) pre-speech, training, preparatory; 2) speech, creative, communicative.

The main purpose of the first group is the organization of a speech unit or a single language operation learning (formation of grammatical forms, division of utterances into semantic segments and other). The second group includes the exercises focused on mastering one of four types of activities, developing of the ability to participate in communication in the language studied.

From viewpoint of Y. Passov exercise arrangement should consider the following points: 1) automation of the material (structure, vocabulary); 2) assimilation of grammatical, lexical or pronunciation side of speech activity;3) total language learning [6]. Consequently, taking the criterion of communicativeness as a basis, the linguist distinguishes the following types of exercises: conditional and speech - which form speech skills and speech ones - focused on practical application of abilities and skills in the process of communication [5].

To S. Shatilov's mind one of the main criteria of exercise selection is the formation of language and speech skills. The researcher defines the first ones as “the skills of operating language material outside the terms of communication”, whereas under the second he understands “automated components of speech skills (complex speech activity)” [7].

The scientist proposes three types of exercises: 1) communicative - implement the act of speech activity in a foreign language; 2) conditional and communicative - imitate and model communication in definite situations; 3) non-communicative - used for comprehension and conscious learning of phonetic, lexical and grammatical language material in various kinds of speech activity outside the speech situation [7].

According to G. Pifo's criterion of communicativeness, there has been developed a classification of exercises based on the ideas of gradual organization of speech communication in the educational process. The researcher allocates exercises in the preparation of communication (receptive); in communication structuring (reproductive and reproductive-productive level); in communication (productive level) and in the control of the level of formation of skills to communicate in the language studied [6].

Among modern Ukrainian linguodidacts, who developed the exercises in the context of sociocultural training line, special attention should be paid to the classifications of V. Dorozand V. Zahorodnova.

In the process of working at language material, in the formation of lexical and grammatical skills, in V. Doroz's opinion it is advisable to use analytical and analytical-constructive exercises. The first ones involve the following tasks: finding and writing out ethno cultural words from the text.

In the framework of analytical and constructive exercises one does extracting with insertion, substitution or addition of ethno lexemes; building of phrases and sentences with ethno cultural lexemes etc.

In her classification the linguodidact finds place for communicative exercises, the essence of which is to implement abasic motive - a desire to express an opinion for reporting, asking questions, persuasion, inducement to action etc. [2].

To V. Zahorodnova's mind, exercise selection should be done according to the criterion of operations' performing, focused on building skills that form the basis of Russian students' cross-cultural communicative competence.

Research aims

Humanitarian subjects can be considered the fundamental classes where the students can be given the knowledge about ethnic norms which regulate the human relations. The changed foreign language curricula can make a great input in formation of cross-cultural competence. In the past it could have been explained by the fact that in the countries of the “Western Block” the teaching approach was mainly influenced by speech and grammar theories. In addition, the students were not motivated to study foreign languages at all. They could not find any point in studying foreign languages because the political situation of that time did not promote the cross-cultural communication. In the late 1980s the situation began to change however not much has been contributed in this field so far.

The difficulty is that in day-to-day practice teachers of foreign languages face the meaning of socio-cultural context and linguo-culturological problems. The lack of practical knowledge also decreases successful cooperation in cross-cultural environment.

But still, exercises are one of the main means of formation cross-cultural competence. Accordingly, the researcher selects information-receptive exercises aimed at awareness, understanding and systematization of knowledge of the theoretical material; reproductive and analytical exercises, where the main goal is to reproduce verbal, non-verbal and extra linguistic information about discursive phenomena, reconstructive - focused on language mastering by means of different types of discourses and their differentiation in non-similar extra linguistic application spheres; constructive-creative - in which the main objective is the development of skills of cohesive texts construction in the process of communication in spontaneous situations [3].

Elaborating the classification of exercises in the framework of the research suggested, we appeal to S. Shatilov's viewpoint, according to which language fluency should be achieved by means of simultaneous work on both language and language propedeutic exercises.

There under, we differentiate speech and language skills and refer to the first ones language operating outside communication terms, whereas under the second we understand automated components of speech abilities [8]. Therefore, one of the criteria underlying the selection of the classification of exercises proposed is the correspondence to language and speech skills.

Therewith, in keeping with the distribution of exercises on communicative, conditional and communicative, non-communicative, given by the above-mentioned Methodist, we distinguish the criterion “communicativeness” as a leading one. The important criteria of exercise selection are their focus on information acquisition or transmitting. Due to the defined criterion it is worthwhile to refer to the typology proposed by G. Pifo, which comprises receptive, reproductive, productive exercises.

The first type of exercises is characterized by the perception of the information through ear or optic canal, which makes it obvious how an individual identifies, differentiates sounds, grammatical structures, I. e. understands the essence of the statements. Reproductive exercises are aimed at full or partial reproduction of the information, perceived by the individual. Productive exercises encourage a student to speech self-generation from the level of a sentence to a text one [7].

Within the abovementioned types of exercises O. Bihych, N. Brazhnick, S. Haponova, G. Hryn'uck, S. Nickolayeva, T. Olyinick distinguish types of exercises according to the criterion “operation, action, or activity that must be performed by the subject of education” [4]. Hence, referring to the classification, proposed by the abovementioned scientists, in the context of receptive communicative exercises we distinguish the following subtypes: reading of dialogues/texts for sociocultural information obtaining; defining of equivalent/nonequivalent lexical units of the Ukrainian and native language; reproductive communicative exercises are introduced by text retelling; productive communicative exercises include a description of the sequence of actions shown in the pictures, reproduction of a dialogue, plan outlining, preparation of story based on comparative learning of the peculiarities of national character/standards of conduct/everyday life/traditions/customs/holidays/national cuisine of Ukrainians and representatives of foreign cultures.

Within the bounds of receptive conditional and communicative types of exercises we distinguish the following ones: reading of a message, sentence or group of sentences, contained in the phrase; reproductive conditional and communicative exercises comprise such types: imitation of speech patterns, insertion, transformation, expansion, completion of a statement; building of set expressions / phraseologisms / dialogues / texts based on visual or word support, text retelling; productive conditional and communicative exercises include generation of utterances at the sentence (students put questions to the text)or text level (reporting about facts; description of appearance, place of residence, climate, customs, traditions, etc).

Receptive non-communicative exercises include: perception, identification of lexical units/grammatical structures; reproductive non-communicative exercises comprise such types as: naming of the subject, depicted in the photos, search of equivalents of linguocultural units in the native and Ukrainian language; revealing of the level of similarity/dissimilarity in the meaning of concepts in the native and Ukrainian language; substitution/insertion of lexical units, change of grammatical form, building of speech patterns following the example, transformation of a sample, expansion/restriction of a sentence, combining of simple sentences into complex ones [4].

The conclusion

Developing the cross-cultural communication strategies the attention should be given to the following aspects: the contact establishment, conflict management, agreement reaching, summing up and analysis of the pros and cons. Forming the cross-cultural communication tactics the future specialists should posses the skills to get in contact and develop it, share the information, be active at listening, demonstrate interest, create the atmosphere of trust, make the definite types of questions in order to be sure that the communication is understood correctly and finally to get a partner involved into communication.

To sum up, it should be mentioned that the learning of the Ukrainian language at the preparatory department should be based on such criteria of exercise selection as: compliance with language and speech skills, communicativeness, and orientation on information acquisition or transmission, which creates conditions for successful mastering of verbal, non-verbal and socio-cultural material.

References

1. Azimov E. G. Slovar metodicheskych terminov (teoriya i praktika prepodavaniya yazykov) / E. G. Azimov, A. N. Shchukin. -Spb.: Zlatoust, 1999. - 472 s.

2. Doroz V. F. Linhvokulturolohichnyi pidhid do vyvchennya ukrayinskoyi leksyky u 5-6 klasah shkil z rosiiskoyu movoyunavchannya: dys... kand. ped. nauk: 13. 00. 02/ Doroz Viktoriya Fedorivna. - Berdyans'k, 2005. - 270 s.

3. Zahorodnova V. F. Kros-kulturne navchannya ukrayinskoyi movy rosiiskomovnyh ychniv v umovah mizhetnichnoyi komunikatsii: dys. kand. ped. nauk: 13. 00. 02/Zahorodnova Viktoriya Fedorivna. - K., 2012. - 498 s. - S. 127.

4. Bigych O. B., Brazhnick N. O., Haponova S. V. Metodyka vykladannya inozemnyh mov u serednih navchalnyh zakladah: [pidruchnyk dlya vyshiv] / [Bigych O. B., Brazhnick N. O., Haponova S. V. ta in.]; za red. S. Y. Nickolayevoyi. - [2-he vyd., dop.i pererob.]. - K.: Lenvit, 2002. - 328 s.

5. Passov E. I. Ponyatiinaya systema osnovnyh metodicheskih kategoriy/E. I. Passov // Russkiy yazyk v natsionalnoy shkole. -1981. - № 2. - S. 38-45.

6. Ross K.G. Toward an operational definition of cross-cultural competence from interview data / Ross K.G. -Institute of Simulation and Training University of Central Florida, 2008. -

7. Shatilov S. F. Metodika obucheniya nemetskomu yazyku v sredney shkole: [uchebnoye posobiye dlya studentov peda- gogicheskih institutov]/Sergey Fedorovich Shatilov. - L.: Prosveshcheniye, 1977. - 295 s. - S. 30-31.

8. Електронний ресур. - Режим доступу: http://ec.europa.eu/education/politicies/lang/key/studies_en.html

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