Electronic resources as an additional tool for studying German

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Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University

Electronic resources as an additional tool for studying German

Vorona T.O.

Lecturer at the Department of German Philology

and German translation

Abstract

Today everyone's life is influenced by scientific and technological progress. So students can receive homework in Google Class or in the form of a message on one of the social networks. Students actively use their mobile phones to communicate, search and share information, take photos and videos. Therefore, the question arises about the feasibility of using mobile phones in the educational process. Apple's release of iPad tablets has led to the emergence of a whole range of practical applications for their use in the educational process of primary, secondary and higher education, as well as led to a large number of developments in educational applications for these devices. That is why the question of rational use of electronic resources for learning foreign languages arises.

There are a number of mobile applications that are designed both to learn the basics of the German language and to deepen existing knowledge. Some applications are designed specifically for children. Everyone can choose an electronic resource according to age and level of knowledge. Most applications are freely available and can be easily downloaded to your phone or tablet. The article describes mobile applications such as "Deutsche Welle", "Goethe-Verlag", "Phase6", "Hallo Deutsch Erwachsene", "DeutschAkademie". In addition, their main functions and possibilities of application are given.

Mobile applications can be used as additional training. But every day students use printed or electronic dictionaries. Therefore, the article also points out the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic dictionaries in the process of learning German. The article contains recommendations for the use of electronic resources in the classroom and for individual work of students.

In addition, the article highlights the results of the survey, conducted by Koryagina A.Y. and Vorona T.O. - teachers of the Black Sea National University named after P Mohyla. Topic of the research is "The use of electronic resources in foreign language classes. Teacher's opinion. Student's opinion." The survey was conducted among 15 teachers and 103 students. The results of the study are presented in the form of drawings and diagrams.

Key words: German language, electronic dictionaries, learning a foreign language, mobile applications.

Електронні ресурси як додатковий інструмент для вивчення німецької мови

Анотація

electronic resource learning language

Сьогодні життя кожної людини знаходиться під впливом науково-технічного прогресу. Так школярі можуть отримують домашні завдання у Google Class або у вигляді повідомлення в одній із соціальних мереж. Студенти активно застосовують свої мобільні телефони для спілкування, пошуку та обміну інформацією, фотозйомок та відеозаписів. Тому постає питання доцільності застосування мобільних телефонів у навчальному процесі. Випуск фірмою Apple планшетів iPad зумовив появу за кордоном цілого практичного напряму щодо їх застосування в навчальному процесі початкової, середньої та вищої шкіл, а також спричинив велику кількість розробок навчальних додатків до цих пристроїв. Саме тому постає питання раціонального застосування електронних ресурсів для вивчення іноземних мов.

Існує низка мобільних додатків, які призначені як для вивчення основ німецької мови так і для поглиблення вже існуючих знань. Деякі додатки призначені спеціально для дітей. Кожен може обрати електронний ресурс відповідно до віку та рівня знань. Більшість додатків є у вільному доступі і їх можна легко завантажити на телефон або планшет. В статті поданий опис мобільних додатків таких як „Deutsche Welle", “Goethe-Verlag”, „Phase6“, „Hallo Deutsch Erwachsene“,“DeutschAkademie”. До того ж наведені їх основні функції та можливості застосування.

Мобільні додатки можна використовувати як додаткове тренування. Але щодня студенти користуються друкованими або електронними словниками. Тому у статті також зазначені переваги та недоліки застосування електронних словників у процесі вивчення німецької мови. Стаття містить рекомендації для застосування електронних ресурсів на заняттях і для самостійної роботи студентів.

Крім того, у статті висвітлені результати опитування, провели викладачі Чорономорського національного університету ім. П.Могили Корягіна А.Ю. та Ворона Т.О. Тема дослідження: «Застосування електронних ресурсів на заняттях з іноземної мови. Думка викладача. Думка студента.» Опитування проводилося серед 15 викладачів та 103 студентів. Результати дослідження подані у вигляді рисунків та діаграм.

Ключові слова: німецька мова, електронні словники, вивчення іноземної мови, мобільні додатки.

Urgency of the research

The use of mobile phones in various spheres of life has become the norm over the past ten years. However, the use of mobile devices for learning is just beginning to develop. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the frequency of use of electronic resources by teachers and students for language learning.

Problem of the article

Despite technical progress, most teachers do not use online resources to learn German. Therefore, the article describes the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile applications and electronic dictionaries.

Results and discussions

With the advent of computers and their expansion in the 20th century, the idea of introducing new technologies into education began to be considered. In 1982, Grid Systems commissioned NASA to create the world's first Grid Compass laptop. Therefore, in the 90's foreign scientists conducted basic research in the field of mobile learning (works by T. Anderson, M. Charles, M. Avery, D. Attevel, M. Ragusa and D. Traxler). The emergence and formation of mobile learning systems in Ukraine has only just begun.

People are using and will continue to use computers and laptops, but with the rapid growth of mobile devices, the way they are used is changing. As a personal device, smartphones are very suitable for personal non-formal learning. The user determines which programs to use and how to use them. In turn, foreign language teachers should only encourage and promote student autonomy and provide opportunities to combine classroom learning with independent student work. But keep in mind that smartphones are an expensive device, and not everyone can afford it. And this fact teacher cannot ignore [1, p. 2].

This was the situation in the world in 2011, but today it has changed dramatically. Smartphones have become so affordable and easy to use that even children of primary school age enjoy the benefits of these devices. For each student, the cellphone is their own space, a symbol of freedom and access to the necessary information 24 hours a day. Although teachers often view the smartphone as a distraction during class, it is a part of modern life. That is why the main task of teachers is to involve students in the usage of cellphones for educational purposes.

There are many applications that are aimed at learning foreign languages. Most ofthem are free, but there are of course paid versions. There is a growing trend to create an online application for many sites. In this way, users can get faster and easier access to the necessary information or service. That is why mobile applications for learning German should be considered.

The first application is called “Goethe-Verlag”. It offers courses for beginners (levels A1-A2), which are also available as a mobile application that is easy to download. Initially, only the first 30 lessons were free, and for 70 had to pay. Now the whole course is free. This application will help you learn German at the beginner level.

Another application for learning German is “Phase6 Hallo Deutsch Erwachsene”. It was developed for immigrants who have started a new life in Germany. This application is available for free. The training material is designed for beginners. The children's version of this application is called "Phase 6 Hallo Deutsch Kinder".

Another useful resource for learning German is “DeutschAkademie”. This application allows users to practice by level (A1-C2). It tracks learning statistics and includes 22,000 grammar and phonetic exercises and over 800 hours of online interactive courses. At the forum, German teachers can answer questions, and the whole course is based on the European Basic Documents for Languages. However, this application is intended for practice and is not the main learning tool.

The next important resource for learning German is “Deutsche Welle”. The site contains up-to-date information for learning German. In addition, the training material is divided into levels of difficulty: from the easiest A1 to the most difficult C1. We offer to consider in detail the tasks for different levels.

The site offers a video novel for beginners. Such videos help to expand the student's vocabulary but also promote the use of new words and phrases. After watching each series, students are invited to perform additional online exercises. Therefore, immediately after completing the tasks, everyone can evaluate their results. Thanks to multimedia materials, students practice listening and learn the pronunciation of German native speakers.

For students who have an intermediate level of language, the site contains texts on various topics. In this way, students can read the text, translate it and complete the task. Most texts are also available in audio format. The “Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten” section will be interesting for students who master B2 and C1. With the help of the above-mentioned section, students have the opportunity to receive up-to-date information about events in Germany and in the world, as well as to improve their knowledge of the German language. A great advantage is the variety of topics and additional audio).

The “Deutschlandlabor” section will be of interest to students who are mastering or improving the A2 level. Two presenters provide information on the German mentality, the peculiarities of life in Germany. The information is presented in video format. Each series is dedicated to a specific topic. After watching a short video, students are asked to complete 9 tasks. The tasks are built in such a way as to get the most out of it. Thus, students practice the perception of German by ear and the use of new lexical units. In addition, during the exercises, students have the opportunity to listen to the speech of native speakers. It improves their pronunciation and language comprehension. Exercises are focused on replenishing vocabulary. Therefore, students are asked to organize pictures and concepts, concepts and their interpretations and complete the missing words.

Online assignments are ideal for students to work independently. At the end of each task there is an opportunity to check the correctness of execution and pay attention to errors. After completing all the exercises, the program automatically calculates the correct answers and provides them as a percentage.

The „Deutschlandlabor ” application is an integral resource in online learning, as the teacher does not need to check the work of each student, but simply view screenshots of their results. The above materials can be used both directly in the classroom and or for self-study. The information posted on the site relates to various spheres of life. It can be used during classes in the main language, second foreign and practical courses in translation and interpretation (simultaneous and consecutive translation can be practiced).

During the study of the German language, texts on various topics are processed, so there is usually a lot of lexical material that is not included in the student's vocabulary. The necessary words can be found in printed dictionaries, but, unlike electronic ones, there are not enough examples of their use. In addition, searching for a word takes much less time when using an electronic dictionary. The weight of the printed dictionary in any case exceeds the weight of the mobile phone and the price of the paper dictionary varies according to the number of words and the subject of the dictionary. Many online dictionaries are completely free and even have mobile applications. One of the biggest advantages of electronic dictionaries is, of course, that you can listen to any word or even sentence. This is a great support for beginners.

However, we should not forget about the shortcomings of electronic dictionaries. First, they have the widest functionality with Internet connection. A stable network is, unfortunately, not in all higher education institutions. Secondly, when a student works with the phone, he is constantly distracted by messages on social networks or other notifications. And then it is difficult to control each individual listener. Third, there is a great difference between an online dictionary and an online translator: while students need to take notes, to learn new words, others can use an online translator and spend the time for a chat with friends in one of the social networks. In order to avoid such situations, a teacher should either provide a list of words and not show the whole text, or make sure that students remove mobile devices from the desk and translate the proposed text sequentially. If the text is of easy or medium difficulty, teacher offers to do simultaneous translation. In this way, students will not have time to use the ready-made translation, but will be able to rely only on their knowledge and studied material.

The above description of mobile applications demonstrates the wide variety of applications and online resources. In order to see the practical side teachers of the Black Sea National University named after P. Mohyla (Koryagina A.Y. and Vorona T.O.) conducted a survey in April 2021. It was attended by 15 teachers and 103 students. The nine questions were included in Form 1 (Peculiarities of mobile learning in the study of foreign languages. The teach er's opinion.) Here are five questions that are most relevant to the subject of the article.

Choose the three most important competencies of the teacher

Do you consider it appropriate to use the materials of Internet sites and applications in foreign language classes?

How often do you use materials from Internet sites and applications in foreign language classes?

Do you consider it appropriate to use the materials of Internet sites and applications as a tool for independent work of students in the process of learning a foreign language?

How often do you use the materials of Internet sites and applications as a tool for independent work of students in the process of learning a foreign language?

Among the most important competencies of the teacher was the ability to organize the educational process. Only half of the respondents attribute the use of information technology to the main competencies of the teacher.

It is clear from these observations that 93% of teachers consider it appropriate to use electronic resources in the learning process, but, as shown in Figure 1, only 73.3% use them. Although the vast majority of respondents often use online materials in the classroom, but students do not confirm this answer.

Pic. 1

Pic. 2

Pic. 3

The results of the survey confirm the fact that teachers also want to use electronic resources in the classroom. But on the other hand, they try not to lose control of the exercises. Often students can show the same result on different phones. That is why it is important to control the work of students and be attentive during their work. Also positive is the fact that all teachers from time to time use electronic resources in the classroom. This is also confirmed by Figure 1.

On the other hand, the student's answers must be taken into account. That is why they also took part in the survey. The following questions were included in Form 2 (Peculiarities of mobile learning in learning foreign languages. Student's opinion).

Do you consider it appropriate to use materials from Internet sites and applications in foreign language classes?

How often do your teachers use materials from websites and applications in foreign language classes?

How often do your teachers use the materials of Internet sites and applications as a tool for independent work (as homework) in the process of learning a foreign language?

What kind of materials do you prefer to study a foreign language?

The results of the survey have shown that 95% of students consider it appropriate to use electronic resources in foreign language classes. 60% of respondents say that teachers sometimes turn to online materials.

Figure 2 shows that over 94% of students would be happy to do homework in the form of online exercises. However, only 31% of respondents say that they often receive tasks on electronic resources, as shown in Fig.3. The great majority of the surveyed students are really interested in using electronic resources to learn a foreign language. But it should be remembered that any electronic resources are only an additional tool, not a basis for language learning.

After a detailed review of Fig. 3 the question arises: why in the XXI century do teachers still prefer homework from printed textbooks to online exer cises? After all, checking homework often takes up a significant part of the classroom, and online assignments significantly speed up this process (it is enough for each student to show a screenshot of the exercise with the results).

According to the results of the student survey, it can be concluded that the vast majority of students from time to time perform online exercises or use other electronic resources to learn a foreign language.

Conclusions

From these facts, one may conclude that Horizon's well-known report on the use of digital media in schools and universities is for a forecast of no more than 5 years. Transformation of the process of learning a foreign language can and will take place only when teaching and learning habits change comprehensively, behavior patterns change or, conversely, disappear and new procedures are developed. All participants must take an active part in the changes. And only in this case the process of learning foreign languages will change in the future.

So, among the large number of applications for learning German, everyone can choose for their level and use the free version. The advantage of such training is that you can do it anywhere and at a convenient time. In addition, an Internet connection is not required - there are standalone versions. The only drawback is that mobile applications for learning a foreign language are an additional practice, not a basic course of study.

All these advantages and disadvantages of using online dictionaries in practical courses of translation and interpretation from German lead to the conclusion that the advantages are usually greater: the speed of information processing, number of examples, availability, number of functions. Given today's realities, not every student has access to printed dictionaries. But keep in mind that monitoring the task is very important, otherwise instead of using the online dictionary, you can get harm from the online translator program.

The survey conducted among teachers and students clearly demonstrates the need for the introduction of modern technologies in the educational process. With the development of new technologies, approaches and methods of teaching foreign languages must change. Teachers must keep up with the times, and therefore use the inexhaustible functionality of mobile phones to achieve the main goal - the effective teaching of foreign languages.

References

1. Godwin-Jones R. Mobile apps for language learning. Language learning & Technology. June 2011, Vol.15, № 2. pp. 2--11.

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