Formation of students’ dialogue skills during learning a foreign language

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Department of Foreign Languages Sumy State University

Formation of students' dialogue skills during learning a foreign language

Nefedchenko О.І., PhD in Pedagogy, Instructor

Aleksakhina T.O., PhD in Philology, Instructor

A highly qualified specialist, having a number of professional skills in his arsenal, including the ability of using dialogue (conversation, discussion, polemic), will always be in demand on the European labor market. It is heuristic education that makes it possible to form the necessary dialogue skills in students, and to promote the development of professional qualities of the individuals: initiative, independence, the ability to cooperate, creativity, flexibility of thinking. A heuristic educational dialogue is a friendly cocreation of an instructor and students, during which the questioning activity of those who study is constantly initiated.

In the article, based on the results of theoretical and experimental research, the groups of basic skills of the application of heuristic educational dialogue were determined, and pedagogical conditions were established that ensure the effective formation of these skills, namely: using of heuristic education as a basis for the formation of professional motives and skills, professional and creative student activities; using of heuristic techniques for the formation in future specialists of the skills of independent construction of a heuristic educational dialogue in theoretical training and practical activities; creation and using of a set of diagnostic tools for self-assessment and assessment of the students' level of formation of the skills of applying heuristic educational dialogue. For the constructive using the dialogue in educational and professional activities, it is important to master discursive behavior, which is manifested in the intellectual, emotional and volitional spheres of the individual.

Mastery of verbal and non-verbal techniques of active listening - a subtle feeling and insight into the essence of the content of the dialogue.

The appearance of the subject of communication, his facial expressions, the distance between the communicants, the intonation with which the speaker's attitudes are manifested are no less important components of dialogical interaction, as are the lines or types of questions that are saturated with the discussion process.

Key words: a heuristic educational dialogue, techniques of heuristic education, questioning activity, dialogue interaction, cognitive questions, educational product.

Формування у студентів діалогових умінь при вивченні іноземної мови

Висококваліфікований спеціаліст, маючи в арсеналі низку професійних умінь, серед яких уміння застосовувати діалог (бесіду, дискусію, полеміку), буде завжди затребуваний на європейському ринку праці. Саме евристична освіта дає можливість як формувати у студентів конче необхідні діалогові вміння, так і сприяти виробленню професійних якостей особистості: ініціативність, самостійність, уміння співпрацювати, креативність, гнучкість мислення. Евристичний навчальний діалог - це дружня співтворчість викладача і студентів, під час якої постійно ініціюється запитальна діяльність тих, хто навчається.

В статті на основі результатів теоретико-експериментального дослідження було визначено групи основних умінь застосування евристичного навчального діалогу, а також установлено педагогічні умови, які забезпечують ефективне формування цих вмінь, а саме: застосування евристичної освіти як основи для формування професійних мотивів та умінь, професійно-творчої діяльності студентів; використання евристичних технологій для формування у майбутніх фахівців умінь самостійного конструювання евристичного навчального діалогу у теоретичній підготовці і практичній діяльності; створення й використання комплексу діагностичного інструментарію для самооцінки й оцінки рівнів сформованості у студентів умінь застосування евристичного навчального діалогу.

Ключові слова: евристичний навчальний діалог, технології евристичного навчання, запитальна діяльність, діалогічна взаємодія, пізнавальні запитання, освітній продукт.

Introduction

dialogue skills foreign language

Formulation of the problem. An important place among professional skills is the ability of using a heuristic educational dialogue (in the form of a heuristic conversation, discussion, polemic, etc.) when studying various subjects, in particular, a foreign language. The specified approach defines the orientation towards mastering the logic of the educational dialogue as the leading one in the education of students, as it provides more complete opportunities for creative mastering of knowledge, increasing the level of independence in students' mastery of knowledge and skills, promotes the development of such important professional qualities of the individual as independence, initiative, creativity, flexibility of thinking, etc. Based on the analysis of the philosophical-methodological, psychological-pedagogical studies of A. Khutorskoi, P. Kopnin, G. Honcharenko and others, this is possible in the conditions of cognitive-creative, i.e. heuristic education, which can be characterized as completed an innovative educational system aimed at creating the necessary conditions for the development and creative self-realization, self-growth of the personality of the future professional. Heuristic education is considered as a new type of educational activity, in which the priority is the cognitive-creative and professional-creative activity of its subjects, which rely primarily on heuristic dialogue, interactive dialogue interaction, the result of which is the creation of educational products with the necessary criteria and diagnostic characteristics. Heuristic educational dialogue is a parity dialogic co-creation of an instructor and students, a teacher and pupils, during which the questioning activity of those who study is constantly initiated, with the aim of building a coherent group of heuristic questions for the development of thinking, discovering the truth and creating an educational product in the form of new knowledge, skills, values, methods of activity. The heuristic educational dialogue differs from the traditional type of dialogue, in which the authoritarian rule of domination of questions and directives of the mentor (teacher, lecturer, manager, etc.) is usually asserted.

Research analysis. Summarizing the research of foreign and native scientists (M. Barbalis, P. Freire, A. Khutorskoi, A. Aleksyuk, N. Guziy, O. Kondratyuk, V. Lozova, M. Lazarev, O. Savchenko etc.) made it possible to prove the need to transform the traditional educational process into a heuristic one, based on the heuristic (Socratic) dialogue as an irreplaceable primary source and component of heuristic thinking, cognition and learning, which meets the needs of modern times, promotes creative self-realization and self-growth of the personality of the future professional (A Maslow, K. Rogers, S. Kulnevich, A. Khutorskoi, etc.).

The purpose of the article is to research formation of students' dialogue skills during learning a foreign language.

Presenting main material

The concept of “the ability to apply heuristic educational dialogue” is characterized as the ability formed in the activity to construct and to use various forms of educational heuristic dialogue as an integral system of creative actions that ensure parity of communication, mutual perception, mutual understanding and effective dialogic interaction of educational subjects for the creation and evaluation of educational products - new knowledge, skills, values, ways of thinking and activity.

On the basis of a systematic analysis of the Branch Standard of Higher Education, the Concept of the “New Ukrainian School”, the groups of basic skills the using of heuristic educational dialogue, which modern students should master, are defined, namely: the ability to ask essential cognitive questions; the ability to formulate a logical series of questions for the development of thinking, the creation of a specific educational product; the ability to interact in an interactive group; the ability to diagnose questioning activity and dialogic interaction.

On the basis of a structural and logical analysis of the theoretical and practical aspects of professional training of students, it was established that the pedagogical conditions that ensure the effective formation of the skills of using heuristic educational dialogue are as follows: 1) using of heuristic education and its techniques as a basis for the formation of professional motives and skills, professionally - creative activity of students; 2) using of heuristic techniques for the formation in future specialists of the skills of independent construction of a heuristic educational dialogue in theoretical training and practical activities; 3) creation and using of a set of diagnostic tools for self-assessment and assessment of students' ability to use heuristic educational dialogue.

The leading methods of mastering the theoretical material are defined as the author's version of the “direct action lecture”, where heuristic dialogue (based on the methods of professors B. Korotyaev and M. Lazarev) and independent work of students on assimilation of theoretical knowledge, controlled by instructor, occupy a significant place. In addition to “direct action lectures”, the formation of the ability to apply heuristic dialogue occurs in students in the process of implementing such forms of educational activity as interactive search in small creative groups, presentations of their findings, friendly discussions, professional training and coaching, business games, etc.

One of the main tasks of the instructor can be singled out to acquaint students with the techniques of heuristic education, the peculiarities of asking a series of cognitive questions during dialog interaction (the main component of heuristic dialogue). Students, using a series of heuristic questions aimed at revealing the purpose, tasks of cognitive activity, means and methods of solving them, mastered the skills of formulating and reformulating an actual and significant educational goal for each and the tasks corresponding to it.

For the effective using the dialogic interaction during the discussion, students must possess discursive behavior that manifests itself in the intellectual, emotional, and volitional spheres of the individual. As for the intellectual sphere, it is the ability to focus attention for a certain time, to keep in memory the received information, to analyze, to make conclusions. A condition for successful dialogical interaction is also education of the emotional sphere - communicators must be patient, tolerant of each other, calm, balanced, polite, and respect the opinion of others. Volitional traits are manifested in the ability to choose an appropriate way of communication with other interlocutors - for a real dialogue it is important to: respect the right of others to express their own point of view; be able to encourage interlocutors by questioning, leading questions, interested exclamations, looking, etc.; tactfully interrupt the interlocutor if necessary; show courtesy when “crossing remarks”; follow the rules so that everyone has the right to speak.

Interrupting the interlocutor is considered impolite and is possible only with a short reply or a question, provided that:

- something is unclear (please explain or paraphrase)

Eg. Excuse me, but I didn't quite understand; Can you show me on the map?

- in case of disagreement, the question of permission to express one's own point of view is raised

Eg. Excuse me, can I just show you? Can I add something?

-attempts to encourage the speaker.

Eg. Follow my instructions and everything will be perfect. You are capable.

The principle of politeness involves the demonstration by communicators of interest in the discussion, which is manifested in the techniques of active listening both verbally and non-verbally. Verbal interest in the conversation is demonstrated by the use of methods of encouraging the interlocutor:

a) using short replicas: I see. Sure. Yeah. Of course. Exactly! Really? Oh?;

b) using an auxiliary verb to form a question: Did you? Are they? Have you? Should I?

c) repeating a keyword or phrase:

A: Every student should do all tasks before exam.

d) asking questions that involve more detailed coverage of the problem:

A: In Latin America, Asia and Africa people have eaten insects for thousands of years. Insects are rich in protein, low in fat, and easy to farm.

e) demonstration of understanding by calling out- Mmmm.

Non-verbal active listening is manifested by a nod of the head, directed at the interlocutor with an interested look.

Questions, interrogative sentences direct the dialogue in accordance with the proposed problem, allow clarifying the previous statements of the communicators, and also invite all present to take part in the discussion.

The Synectic method is widely applied during our classes as an effective way to activate students. One way to use this method is to divide students into groups (three or four in each group). The instructor proposes some situations, for example “imagine that you are a doctor, a patient comes to you with a high temperature, chills, stomach pain and general weakness. What should you do?”. Students have not only to solve the task, but try to be polite, kind, encourage the patient, support him, demonstrate their understanding of patient's problem.

One more effective method we apply is brainstorm. The instructor writes on the board the history of the disease, describes in details the symptoms and certain features (age, gender, marital status, occupation of the patient and duration of the disease). The task of the group is to determine the patient's diagnosis with the help of different kind of questions. Brainstorming is especially effective in study groups where the level of communication skills is not high. This method increases their motivation, allows them to be actively involved in problem solving, find non-standard solutions.

When considering intercultural factors in the conduct of a dialogue-discussion, we inform students, that there is a need to consider the taboos present in the relevant culture, by which we understand moral social norms or requirements for behavior that are based on the ideas accepted in a certain society [1, p. 261]. Taboo topics are a key element of every culture, and in order to fully engage in dialogue, it is necessary to be aware of what topics are acceptable in a given society and what are not. Speaking about various taboos within the framework of English national culture, it is possible to conditionally highlight groups of “forbidden” topics for conversation: personal and intimate life; profit and salary; illness and death; politics; religion.

The first topic “personal and intimate life” is decisive and leaves its mark on all other topics, since the priority of business conduct of the conversation is characteristic of English society, and therefore the inadmissibility of touching on personal issues in the conversation. Any prohibition exists within the framework of a certain culture and, accordingly, only applies to people of a certain nationality. The communicative behavior of representatives of the East Slavic linguistic and cultural community is characterized by the following features: sociability, emotionality, dislike of formal, etiquette communication, priority of informal communication over business, admissibility of discussing personal problems, “collectiveness” of communication, love of evaluating people, events in the process communication [4, p. 104-105]. Therefore, teaching should take into account this difference in the culture of English-speaking and Slavic peoples, in order to be concise when it comes to tabulated topics, in order not to put the interlocutor in an uncomfortable position.

In addition to speech etiquette, a participant in an intercultural discussion-dialogue should also take into account non-speech etiquette - a system of signs used in the process of communication in each specific situation, which differs from language means and the form of detection [6]. Non-verbal means not only duplicate, reinforce or replace speech communication, but also confirm or deny information, supplement the content of the statement, emphasize especially important moments of communication, control and regulate this process. Ignorance of these stereotypes can cause interference with native culture and misunderstanding between representatives of different cultures.

These non-verbal signs are quite diverse and include several subsystems, among which the following are particularly important for participation in intercultural discussion: 1) proxemics - the organization of space and time of communication, which combines such characteristics as the distance between communicants, time; 2) optical-kinetic subsystem, which includes the appearance of the subject of communication, facial expressions, pantomime and body movements; 3) visual contact; 4) the extralinguistic subsystem, which includes intonation, with the help of which the speaker's attitudes are manifested [1]. Let's try to analyze these subsystems.

The space around a person (individual space of communication), within which its participants are, is of great importance for the flow of communication. Elements of proxemics are distance, personal space, position. In the discussion, the distance between the interlocutors is determined by: for a discussion in pairs, triads, a spatial zone (personal zone) is characteristic - from 46 to 120 cm; for a group discussion (social zone) - from 120 to 360 cm. For Ukrainian culture with its inherent Slavic camaraderie, it is necessary to take into account the necessary distance during intercultural dialogue-communication.

Regarding the position or posture of the interlocutors during communication, a person's friendly mood is usually expressed by a slight tilt of the body forward, especially when sitting. A lack of sympathy for another can be read if the addressee sits with his legs crossed, his arms are also crossed on his chest, the body is thrown back.

Empathy method or “method of personal analogy” is very interesting, useful but difficult in applying. Students have to imagine themselves in the place of another person. Their task is not only to get necessary information but to make their dialogue pleasant (smile, look straight into one's eyes, don't constantly move body, don't stand or sit down closely to your interlocutor, don't speak on “forbidden” topics). With the help of this method, lexical units are activated, communicative skills are formed and communicative culture is enriched. It is important to emphasize that all proposed situations should be realistic to prepare students for their future professional life.

When participating in a discussion with representatives of English-speaking countries, students should also take into account the peculiarities of the organization of their nationally determined discourse: the message should be logical, consistent, correspond to the topic, all its elements are verbalized; rules and laws, which are fixed in writing, are not subject to free interpretation depending on the context. Therefore, before the start of the discussion, the topic and purpose of the discussion are usually presented, roles are assigned, the time allocated for the discussion is regulated, definitions are given to the terms that will be encountered during the discussion, that is, the course of the conversation is generally predictable.

In the West, and especially in the English-speaking environment, a smile is a sign of culture, it is a tradition, a custom to show that you have no aggressive intentions. This is a way of formally demonstrating to people their belonging to a given culture, a given society [5, p. 241]. “Keep smiling” is a feature of the American national character, a motto of the American way of life, which teaches not to give up, no matter what, not to show others that something is wrong with you. In Slavic culture, a smile is a manifestation of good feelings, a positive attitude, it is a natural reaction to favorable circumstances, it is not conditioned by culture [5, p. 247].

Since university students are potentially participants in English-speaking intercultural communication, the peculiarities of communication in the discussion between representatives of Ukraine and Great Britain were considered. Norms of speech behavior and etiquette are determined by national identity. For the culture of the British, the principle of politeness, which is aimed at softening the categoricalness of the statement, is of particular importance. This is achieved by reducing the universality of the expressed opinion, limiting it to the framework of the speaker's personal experience by using I think, I believe, I suppose at the beginning of the statement; reorientation of the modal characteristic of the statement from real to possible using the words perhaps, probably, maybe; in case of disagreement with the point of view of the interlocutor, using techniques of indirect disagreement (replacing the statement with a question - Are you sure that...; partial agreement before expressing the opposite point of view - I agree with you that... but.; using descending-ascending tone with the specified techniques, which is the most tactful way to express disagreement, etc.). The interactive behavior of the participants in the discussion is manifested in the ability of the communicators to be tolerant of each other, to respect the right of others to their own opinion, to encourage the interlocutors through questioning, leading questions, as well as the ability to follow the rules, tactfully interrupt the interlocutors, when necessary, etc. In addition, the principle of politeness involves taking into account taboos existing in the relevant culture, that is, topics that are unacceptable for discussion in a certain society. For example, for the English national culture, the topic of “personal and intimate life” is taboo, since priority is given to business conversations, and therefore discussion of personal issues is unacceptable.

Conclusion

Trying to lead Ukrainian higher education to the European level, our task is to educate a future specialist of a high level, to form, in addition to professional qualities, dialogue skills, which are absolutely necessary at all stages of his career growth. The ability to conduct an interview, to behave in a team with colleagues, with clients, with patients is formed gradually using ready-made dialogues, dialogue cliches, watching video content, and solving situational problems. In our opinion, it is heuristic education, with its ideas and techniques, that gives students freedom of thought, a sense of comfort and interest in class. Young people see by their own example that the truth is born during a group discussion of the problem. The teacher's task is to teach how to correctly select cognitive questions during dialog interaction, to help master discursive behavior, to show the importance of observing the rules of non-speech etiquette using the examples of the national culture of different countries.

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