Development of presentation skills and their role in the formation of soft skills among law students

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DEVELOPMENT OF PRESENTATION SKILLS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE FORMATION OF SOFT SKILLS AMONG LAW STUDENTS

Inna BORKOVSKA, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor,

Associate Professor at the Department of English for Humanities National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute» (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Inna ANTONENKO, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences,

Senior Lecturer at the Department of English for Humanities National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute» (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Iryna KOZUBSKA, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor,

Associate Professor at the Department of English for Humanities National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute» (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Abstract

The article examines the development ofpresentation skills and their role in the formation of soft skills among law students. The need to shift emphasis in favor of soft skills in the process of teaching law students has been determined.

The most in-demand skills of the future have been summarized, which also include presentation skills that contribute to the development of creativity, successful teamwork and critical thinking. Justifying the importance of the formation of soft skills in the process of learning English, the role ofpresentation as a powerful educational tool has been discussed.

The essence of the concept of «presentational skills of future lawyers» has been determined and their classification has been presented. A method of two-stage formation ofpresentation skills of undergraduate law students has been proposed. The key aspects of the first stage have been highlighted sufficient formation of students' verbal foreign language skills, preparation ofpresentations as a monologue, evaluation of the presentation according to such parameters as: information content of the presentation, the principle of minimalism and the quality of the performance.

The role of the teacher in the development of presentation skills at the first stage has been highlighted, namely: providing information on the correct structuring of the presentation performance, provision of language material and systems of exercises aimed at the formation offoreign language presentation skills.

The main features of the second stage have been highlighted, where the emphasis is on the post-presentation discussion of the topic, thanks to which the necessary communication skills and motivation for public speaking are formed. Distinctive features include the use of case analysis, as students at this stage have a certain formation of hard skills. The effectiveness of this method has been substantiated, the use of which leads to an increase in the level of soft skills. It has been emphasized that the use of case analysis encourages students to think about solving problems, choose optimal solution options and find convincing arguments to justify their choice.

Methodological recommendations have been provided for the effective implementation of case analysis during the second stage of the presentation skills formation, and an example of a specific case describing the technology of work within the framework of this method has been given.

Key words: foreign language, soft skills, summarizing, case method, critical thinking.

Анотація

Інна БОРКОВСЬКА, кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри англійської мови гуманітарного спрямування № 3 Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут», (Київ, Україна).

Інна АНТОНЕНКО, кандидат педагогічних наук, старший викладач кафедри англійської мови гуманітарного спрямування № 3 Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут» (Київ, Україна).

Ірина КОЗУБСЬКА, кандидат філологічних наук, доцент, доцент кафедри англійської мови гуманітарного спрямування № 3 Національного технічного університету України «Київський політехнічний інститут», (Київ, Україна).

РОЗВИТОК ПРЕЗЕНТАЦІЙНИХ НАВИЧОК ТА ЇХ РОЛЬ У ФОРМУВАННІ SOFT SKILLS У СТУДЕНТІВ-ЮРИСТІВ.

У статті розглянуто розвиток презентаційних навичок та їх роль у формуванні soft skills у студентів-юристів. Визначено необхідність зміщення акцентів на користь м'яких навичок у процесі викладання студентам-юристам.

Здійснено узагальнення найзатребуваніших навичок майбутнього, до яких також відносять і презентаційні навички, які сприяють розвитку креативності, успішній роботі в команді та критичного мислення. Обґрунтовуючи важливість формування soft skills у процесі навчання англійської мови, обговорюється роль презентації як потужного навчального засобу.

Визначено сутність поняття «презентаційні навички майбутніх юристів» та представлено їх класифікацію. Пропонується методика двохетапного формування презентаційних навичок студентів-юристів бакалаврату. Виділено ключові аспекти першого етапу недостатня сформованість вербальних іншомовних навичок у студентів, підготовка презентацій як монологічне висловлювання, оцінювання презентації за такими параметрам, як: інформаційне наповнення презентації, принцип мінімалізму і якість виступу.

Висвітлено роль викладача у розвитоку презентаційних навичок на першому етапі, а саме: надання інформації щодо правильного структурування презентаційного виступу, забезпечення мовним матеріалом та вправ, спрямованих на формування іншомовних презентаційних навичок.

Виокремлено основні риси другого етапу, де акцент робиться на після презентаційному обговоренні теми, завдяки чому відбувається формування необхідних комунікативних навичок та мотивації до публічного виступу. До відмітних рис віднесено і використання кейс-анализу, оскільки у студентів на цьому етапі спостерігається певна сформованість hard skills. Обґрунтовано ефективність цього методу, використання якого зумовлює підвищення рівня володіння soft skills. Підкреслено, що використання кейс-анализу спонукає студентів думати над розв'язанням проблем, вибирати оптимальні варіанти вирішення та знаходити переконливі аргументи для обґрунтування свого вибору.

Надано методичні рекомендації щодо ефективного впровадження кейс-аналізу під час другого етапу формування презентаційних навичок та наводиться приклад конкретного кейсу, що описує технологію роботи у рамках зазначеного методу.

Ключові слова: іноземна мова, м'які навички, реферування, метод кейсів, критичне мислення.

Statement of the Problem

The requirements for the knowledge, skills and abilities acquired at the university are significantly modified at an increasing pace. Knowledge of foreign languages is gradually moving from the category of important features of a modern specialist to the category of instrumental abilities and skills, which are necessary to the same extent as ordinary literacy. Knowledge closer to practice and the ability to acquire this knowledge independently throughout life are becoming decisive. It is not for nothing that the most in-demand skills of the future include: active learning, solving complex problems and critical thinking.

It is important for students to master skills in order to get a promotion at work, present a project, receive up-to-date information, etc. and to that, the training of students is due to the improvement of not only the fundamental competencies of their professionalism, but also the soft skills necessary for students of the legal profession.

In the labor market, among social-behavioral and digital skills, we can see the importance of presentation skills. These skills contribute to the development of organization, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, stress management and others.

Research analysis.

General theoretical and methodological issues of the presentation skills formation among students in various areas of training are actively discussed in pedagogical research. In foreign literature, presentation skills are considered as integrative skills, among which are organizational, communicative, design, predictive, the ability to analyze, work in a team, etc. (O. Hargie, C. Saunders, Dickson, S. Smithsons, J. Whitehead). This aspect of professional skills was considered in the Ukrainian pedagogical literature by such scientists as K.O. Koval, Yu. O. Polikarpova, O. B. Tarnopolsky and others.

At the same time, the problem of forming the future lawyers' presentation skills has its own specifics and deserves attention.

The purpose and main tasks of the research is analysis of the presentation skills formation among the future lawyers and the justification of the feasibility of using presentations for formation of soft skills. The tasks of the work included: 1) to substantiate the importance of the soft skills formation and the role of presentation in solving this problem; 2) to clarify the essence of the concept of «law students' presentation skills»; 3) to analyze two stages of the presentation skills formation among bachelor's law students; 4) to describe an example of the presentation skills formation among the law students using the method of case analysis.

Presentation of the main research material

The specific set of skills that can be useful to a lawyer will vary depending on the place of work, responsibilities and purpose, as working in a law firm will require a thorough knowledge of the particular area of law in which the firm specializes. However, the skills of teamwork and effective communication in any company will always be useful in order to clearly explain all the requirements, risks and consequences of proposed decisions. The ability to make presentations to defend your own position is also important, where business communication, critical thinking and negotiation skills are clearly demonstrated.

However, one of the problems in the formation of presentation skills at universities is the lack of special disciplines for preparing and conducting presentations. This problem can be partially solved thanks to English classes, which can include training in presentation skills as one of the types of speech communication. skill educational tool lawyer

The teacher can update his lessons and make them more practical for students with the help of parallel development of soft skills general skills and personal qualities that are necessary in the modern world for most working people. «Soft» skills are also called universal or functional competencies, and the fact of possessing them functional literacy (Koval, 2015: 162). These skills are easily developed in English classes through the use of presentations.

Most of the skills and competencies that legal professionals need to possess are related to the selection, analysis and exchange of information. The ability to make presentations includes elements of all these processes.

Based on modern research, we understand the future lawyers' presentation skills as part of the communication process, where communication skills play a dominant role. We include the following skills among them: 1) searching for information and planning a report; 2) the ability to convert a large amount of text from a written source into a short spoken text; 3) the use of critical thinking in the selection and presentation of material; 4) the ability to take into account the interests of the audience; 5) making an oral presentation; 6) the ability to feel the reaction of the audience to your speech, 7) the ability to feel confident in public speaking.

Let us consider the stages of presentation skills formation in English lessons for future lawyers during the bachelor's degree. The first stage occurs during studing for the first and second years, when the formation of verbal foreign language skills may still be insufficient. However, students are encouraged to prepare a presentation as a monologue, which is possible under the condition that students possess language competences at the appropriate lexical, grammatical and phonetic levels. In addition, in order to build an effective monologue, students need to have certain subject material that they can get in the process of reading (Babiuk, 2019: 39).

At this stage, the discipline «Practical Course of English» is studied, when students learn general English in order to use it in various situations of social, educational and academic communication. The presentation is evaluated according to several parameters, such as: information content of the presentation, the principle of minimalism, and the quality of the performance.

The principle of minimalism is closely related to the ability to make a summary, where, first of all, it is necessary to determine what is important and what is not important in the text, as a result of which, already at the first stage, critical thinking skills are developed. To the principle of minimalism, we also include such a type of presentation as a mini-presentation. This format is almost a full-fledged presentation, but limited in time, with speaking for 1-2 minutes. Making a presentation at this stage should be accompanied by eye contact with the audience and the presence of feedback in the form of questions to the speaker and his answers.

At the first stage, to prepare a presentation, the teacher introduces students to the main types of presentations, provides them with the language material necessary for preparing and competently conducting a presentation, and offers a system of exercises aimed at developing foreign language presentation skills and abilities.

As already mentioned, at this stage, the correct structuring of the presentation speech is of paramount importance, which should consist of four parts: introduction, main part, conclusion, questions plus answers. Each of these parts implements certain intentions of the speaker and includes stereotypical formulas for speech communication. Therefore, it is necessary to teach students how to use metacommunication statements correctly, depending on the presentation stage and speech intentions of the communicants.

At the second stage the third and fourth year of study, students begin to study legal English and therefore the creation of communicative situations for the implementation of unprepared speech becomes relevant. In this regard, the emphasis in the assessment is on speech creation in the post-presentation discussion (during the discussion or debate on the topic of the report). The presentation only stimulates discussion, and is not evaluated as a result of the work performed. The regular use of this type of presentation as a type of activity will contribute to the formation of the necessary foreign language communication skills in students and, most importantly, the motivation necessary for successful professional activity to carry out public speaking is formed.

At this stage, it is advisable to develop not only lively discussions, but also combine presentations with role-playing by assigning certain roles before giving the presentation (for example, a group of 2-3 students is designated as critics, another group as defenders; or the target audience is divided into several groups representing different cultures) (Polikarpova, 2012: 161).

Let us consider the main part of the presentation on the example of a lesson for law students of the second stage, when the discipline «English for Professional Purposes» is studied. At the second stage, as mentioned above, presentations are built not only to provide certain information, but also to organize a discussion. The speaker must know what stages the discussion consists of and be able to use metacommunication means that signal each of them. For example, after providing the main material in the form of a presentation, the speaker uses the functional language of the discussion beginning: Shall we get started? We need to discuss...; Would you like to begin with ...?

During the discussion of the topic, the speaker also takes an active part and can use the following phrases: I agree with you on the whole, but.; I am afraid I cannot agree with you. At the final phase of the discussion, summarizing takes place: Let's see what we've got. On the whole... and the end of the discussion: Thank you for productive discussion. Let's finish there.

As for the development of critical thinking skills, in addition to working on summaries, which students learned already at the first stage, this is helped by such a popular type of educational activity as case analysis. It encourages students to think about solving problems, choose the best solutions and find convincing arguments to justify their choice. If you form these presentation and discussion skills with the help of business communication formulas, you can successfully apply the case analysis method, which is especially important in the practice of lawyers.

The case method differs from other teaching methods in that the case tasks contain descriptions of real practical situations that require solutions. In this method, students quite often offer alternative ways to solve a practical problem, and for legal professionals this approach is as close as possible to legal practice, where in the process of a dispute between parties, each of them has their own version of solving the problem, but you need to invent the one that corresponds legislation. The case method is not aimed at obtaining theoretical knowledge, but at the formation of professional competencies (Kostiuchenko, 2021: 141-142).

Let us give an example of the use of these skills and abilities by law students. The student in the form of a presentation examines the details of the case, and also reveals some issues of legal regulation or analyzes the regulatory framework.. The speaker also presents the terminology, content of the convention, articles of laws, he can even submit a court decision in the presentation. The rest of the students try to solve the problem and present their opinion.

It should be noted that the preparation of cases for students is significantly facilitated by working with the Unified State Register of Court Decisions. In particular, court decisions provide the teacher or student with material for working out and preparing case assignments.

So, the student can independently choose a case on a topic that is of interest to the whole group, or the teacher can recommend sites with a variety of cases.

The content of the case might look like this:

The right to privacy at the university.

A first-year university student was caught smoking in the toilet room. The teacher asked him to show his pockets and backpack. Inside was a pack of cigarettes, paper and a small amount of marijuana. The police were called and the student admitted to selling drugs on campus. His case was brought to court, he was found guilty ofpossession of marijuana and placed on probation. The student appealed the verdict, claiming that the search violated the convention on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The speaker may encourage discussion of the following issues related to this case: the legality of the court's decision, the legal justification for the search of items in pockets, «reasonable suspicion» of university employees, «searches without suspicion». The purpose of this task is to ensure the generation of ideas to solve the specified problem, and students' debates teach them to find the advantages and disadvantages of each of the opponents' opinions, logically explain their own judgments, and develop students' oral speech.

It is obvious that the use of case technologies has a significant impact on the development of critical thinking, provides an opportunity to determine one's own position, forms skills for defending students' opinion, deepens knowledge of the discussed problem (Yarotskyi, 2019: 38).

Conclusions

To sum up, when preparing a future lawyer who, has to not only know the legislation, but also explain, prove and convince, the use of presentations in the form of a monologue at the first stage of training and presentations with case technologies at the second stage should become systematic, since this method of training forms the necessary professional skills. Working on educational presentations is an effective means of developing both soft skills and hard skills.

We see the prospect of further scientific research in the chosen direction in the study of another presentation format poster presentations during master's studies.

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