Current changes in english language teaching

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Current changes in english language teaching

Smirnova Lina Leonidivna -

PhD, Associate Professor, Chair of Linguodidactics and Foreign Languages Volodymyr Vynnychenko Centralukrainian State Pedagogical University

Formulation and justification of the relevance of the problem. In 2019 English was the most widely spoken language worldwide, counting both native and non-native speakers. It is in regular use by approximately 1.5 billion people - a fifth of the world's population [11]. English as a foreign language has enormous potential. Especially it is true for young people as they are part of a world that is changing dramatically and in which languages serve as pathways to understanding others around the globe, as well as understanding who we are. Nowadays English as a foreign language not only fosters respect, tolerance and mutual understanding, gives the opportunity to connect with friends and other cultures but substantially helps to be efficient and employable [10, p.196].

More and more companies target to becoming globally interconnected, they are also struggling to find candidates to fill job vacancies and to effectively evaluate the skills that these candidates have. For such a modern company strong communication skill is a critical underlying factor, for instance, for first call resolution, protecting brand image. Thus, linguistic skills as well as employability and soft skills appear to be developed in order to succeed and operate professionally in the international context. Obviously, by affording the advantages of ELT to young people, we can bring forth a viable 21st-century.

With the increase of automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace, both to optimize work processes and production efficiencies, individuals in front-line or customer service positions will need to focus on developing skills identified in Pearson's Future of Skills research study that make us uniquely human, such as originality, fluency of ideas, and most especially communication, in order to compete in a rapidly changing job landscape [3]. The recently published Pearson Global Learner Survey indicates that learners believe English is the gateway to working globally from anywhere[4].

Undoubtedly, English has become a core skill for workplace readiness, businesses and other organizations are seeking effective ways to measure language proficiency and languagelearning outcomes. Consequently, ELT approaches have currently changed as well.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. According to the issue our article dwells on, we consider Jon Kaplan's (president and CEO of TDS Global Solutions) point of view to be apropos, so he believes that there has been a definitive shift in thinking from accent neutralization to understandability or intelligibility. The main focus on assessing communication skills is now firmly on the ability to effectively communicate and be understood between both parties.

We also support James Pearce, Francisco J. Vare, Alan and other authors from FluentU English Educator Blog who think that although the coming decade is indeed tech-dominant, one ingredient remains consistent across the years: excellent teaching and a positive classroom setting. The big question is how do we merge the two to create the ultimate classroom for learning and self-discovery [6].

We cannot but agree with the expert from British Council Chia Suan Chong who considerably pays attention that technological innovations are part of education and English language teaching, but not all have staying power. The novelty of some innovations will wear out, and there are growing concerns about privacy and data protection. Only the innovations that come with solid teaching practices will stand the test of time [1].

Yilin Sun, president of TESOL International Association, thinks that trends in today's ELT field can be broken down into three major categories: globalization, localization, and

interdisciplinary collaboration. She shares her perspectives on major trends in the global ELT field, they are the following:

changing perspectives on English teaching and learning

changes in goals of English teaching and learning

changes in approaches to teaching

changes in teaching content, curriculum design, and assessment

expanding the dimension of communicative competence

changing views of an effective English educator

rapid development and integration of information technology in ELT

changing roles and increasing

responsibilities of teachers

With all these new trends, the role of today's teacher is also evolving, and our responsibilities have been increasing [12].

Considering studied materials, the fact that we aimed at focusing on main tendencies in teaching English today, the objective of the article is to give a clearer understanding of modern approaches to ELT in the context of employability and lifelong learning.

The main material of the study.

Development of skills creating empowered 21st century learners

Due to the rise of technology and recent worldwide societal changes ELT has also crucially transformed in its approaches, methods and aims. Speaking about aims, it is important to follow and analyse the tendencies on time and appropriately to help every learner develop the skills they need for success in a fast-changing modern world [8, p. 128].

Among the top skills that learners will need in the nearest future are global skills and soft ones. In order to operate in an international context a successful teacher should have tools to engage students in meaningful conversations with meaningful language as well as to develop employability through global skills. We speak here about such global skills as interpersonal communication, collaboration, critical thinking, intercultural competence and citizenship, and digital literacy, these are just some of them.

Soft skills call up to global ones of course and have a rather imposing list as well thus, we will stress on analytical skills, problem-solving skills, initiative, innovation, teamwork, adaptability and more. It is important to integrate these competencies with the subjects now. To facilitate the work of teachers in this direction quality resources and textbooks will help, which not only contain tasks for the development of global and soft skills, but also have clear explanations for teachers how to do it well and motivate students to develop. This is what Pearson publishing house's textbooks will help you with.

Personalization of training

The principle of `Students in the learning center' is understood differently. Nowadays less and less teachers speak of a corrupt generation who are allowed to do anything, progressive colleagues rethink not only the role of students but also their own. Teacher becomes a manager who analyzes the interests and motives of students and integrates them with learning objectives. For some it is important to prepare for the exam, and for others to look for a tool to connect with the world in English.

One more but not less important element of the personalization of training is authentic learning environment, which is seen by us as such when there is a well-grounded crossconnection of what you (as a teacher) want to teach and what they (students) are interested in. It is up to the teacher to involve students into authentic learning environment. Authentic engagement takes place when students are involved without pushing, fulfil tasks subconsciously with interest and pleasure [9, p. 167]. Usage of Speak Out 2nd Edition textbooks from Pearson is very productive in this respect as well. All in all, a teacher chooses those methods and such approaches he/she considers to be the best.

It is difficult to combine all the interests and motives in a classroom with 25 students, but a well-designed course will facilitate this task. Students should be active: express their thoughts about various events and compare themselves and their lives with the information in the textbook and be confident in quality preparation for exams.

We would advise to pay attention to the questions that accompany Speak Out 2nd Edition course. Students reflect on and express their attitudes toward different events or stories. Learners always want to be heard and we give them that opportunity. Together with a thorough preparation for the exam, this course is the best solution to the problem of personalization of education in universities. Students have access not only to all audio and video and word lists but to online educational platform MyEnglishLab, so they can study at home, watch videos they like, or refresh material before the exam.

Education of citizens of the world

We are constantly moving towards globalization and this cannot be denied. Today, our students don't just watch foreign movies, they follow bloggers, celebrities, and even interact with peers from different countries during computer games, all without leaving their own room.

Teachers, in turn, can use this trend to teach learners to understand and respect other cultures, to explain the importance of perceiving others as individuals, regardless of their race. And where, if not in foreign language lessons, are the most favorable conditions for this? Brand new textbooks from Pearson encourage students to share examples of communication with foreign friends; included texts are about real people and real events. Feedback from teachers, who use the resources constantly, suggests the fact that such materials are almost the only thing that motivates students to learn.

Blended learning

Modernity shows us not only how to develop but sometimes dictates its conditions to us. We get used to quickly adapting and changing the forms of full-time and distance learning, conducting classes with a group, half of whose students connect to the Internet. This requires students to be self-disciplined and motivated.

MyEnglishLab platform from Pearson comes to the teacher's aid, which allows you to easily and quickly monitor the work of students, check the assessed work in one click and set deadlines. The online platform guarantees students full easy blended learning, during which they have the opportunity to practice the content they have learned in class, and then in an interactive environment, with instant feedback and tips to continue learning English and complete the full course with a level of language proficiency not lower than B2 - B2 +.

Another significant advantage of the online platform, as we have mentioned, is the automatic detection, verification and evaluation of students' tasks. Each student always has an instant result of the work done. Additional convenience and motivation of training is provided by students' ability to work through a special application in a smartphone, the availability of additional resources of different types (audio, video, etc.), tests of different levels, arranged on one platform.

english language teaching

Conclusions and prospects for future research directions

Obviously, for modern students, knowledge of English offers many opportunities and opens up many prospects in various spheres of life. It is essential to prepare our students to be effective users of English and responsible global citizens and also prepare ourselves to be reflective practitioners and critical social agents in this globalized world. Naturally, approaches to ELT have changed and in the 21st- century classroom teachers have multiple roles and responsibilities as facilitators of student learning and creators of a productive classroom environment in which students can develop the skills they will need for the 21st-century workforce. Fluency in English provides not only further professional development of young people, but also constant personal growth and increase of their life potential. It is the English language that will help future professionals to open new employment perspectives, allowing them to communicate independently with foreign partners, get a good job and career advancement.

Bibliography

Chia Suan Chong. (20218). Ten trends and innovations in English language teaching for 2018. Retrieved from https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices- magazine/ten-trends-innovations-english-language- teaching-2018

Global Skills: Creating empowered 21st century learners. [electronic resource, access: https://elt.oup.com/feature/global/expert/global- skills?cc=my&selLanguage=en]

Pearson. (2017). The Future of Skills: Jobs in 2030. Retrieved from https://futureskills. pearson.com/research/#/welcome-video

Pearson. (2020). The Global Learning Survey. Retrieved from https://www. pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/ one-dot- com/global/Files/news/gls/Pearson_ Global-Learners- Survey_2020_FINAL.pdf

Environment: Views and Perspectives. Arkalyk. 2017, P. 128-136.

Smirnova L. Effective Improvement of ESP Students' Skills (Practical Aspect) // Наукові записки. Вип. 186. Серія: Педагогічні науки: зб. наук. праць. Кропивницький: РВВ ЦДПУ ім. В. Винниченка, 2020. С. 165-169.

Smirnova L. Employability Skills in the

Context of ESP // Матеріали міжнародної науково- практичної Інтернет-конференції «Іноземна мова у професійній підготовці спеціалістів: проблеми та стратегії», 20 лютого 2020 року. Кропивницький, PDF format, ISSN 2522-4743. С. 195-198

[Електронний ресурс] Режим доступу :

https://www.cuspu.edu.ua/images/conferences/2020/02 /maket_materconf2020_1103.pdf

The Economist. (2019). Where are the world's best English speakers? Retrieved from https://www.economist.com/graphic-

detail/2019/12/04/where-are-the-worlds- best-

english-speakers

Yilin Sun. (2014). 8 major trends in the global ELT field. Retrieved from http://blog.tesol.org/8-major-trends-in-the-global-elt- field/

Referencis

Chia Suan Chonh. (2018). Desiat tendentsii ta novovveden u vykladanni anhliiskoi movy na 2018. [Ten trends and innovations in English language teaching for 2018].

Hlobalni navychky: Stvorennia potuzhnykh uchniv 21 stolittia. [Global Skills: Creating empowered 21st century learners].

Pirson. (2017). Maibutnie navychok: Robota v 2030 r. [The Future of Skills: Jobs in 2030].

Shandruk, S. (2017). Pidhotovka vykladachiv inozemnykh mov v Ukraini: tendentsii ta vyklyky reformy osvity. [Foreign language teachers training in Ukraine: tendencies and challenges of education reform].

Smirnova, L. (2020). Efektyvne

vdoskonalennia navychok studentiv ESP (praktychnyi aspekt). [Effective Improvement of ESP Students' Skills (Practical Aspect)]. Kropyvnytskyi.

Smirnova, L. (2020). Navychky

pratsevlashtuvannia v konteksti ASTs. [Employability Skills in the Context of ESP]. Kropyvnytskyi.

Ekonomist. (2019). [Employability Skills in the Context of ESP].

Ilin, San. (2014). 8 osnovnykh tendentsii u svitovii haluzi ELT. [8 major trends in the global ELT field].

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