UDC 37; 372.881.111.1
INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING FOREIGN
LANGUAGES THE STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL SPECIALTIES
Sumtsova O.V.
The work presents various ways of Internet technology application in teaching foreign languages the students of technical specialties at the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University. The aim of the research is to draw out the most perspective application of the Internet resources in foreign language teaching. Also the special attention is paid to the organization of students' self-directed learning by means of the worldwide network. This problem is vital in the light of reducing the academic hours for the discipline «Foreign Language» at TPU. But, in spite of the reduction, modern graduates' second language skills must meet the international requirements which are becoming higher and higher from year to year. It is possible to solve this problem using certain reliable Internet sites which are at teachers'and students'disposal. Working with these sites, students are able to compensate a lack of class hours. Moreover, the teacher' personal site is considered. The site was created both for work with students and cooperation with colleagues.
Keywords: foreign language learning, communicative approach, Internet technologies, classroom training, students' self-directed learning, communicative competence, teacher's personal site.
ИНТЕРНЕТ ТЕХНОЛОГИИ В ОБУЧЕНИИ ИНОСТРАННЫМ ЯЗЫКАМ СТУДЕНТОВ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИХ СПЕЦИАЛЬНОСТЕЙ
Сумцова О.В.
В данной работе представлены различные способы применения Интернет технологий в обучении иностранным языкам студентов технических специальностей в Национальном Исследовательском Томском Политехническом Университете. Целью исследования является выявление наиболее перспективного применения ресурсов Интернета в обучении иностранному языку. Особое внимание уделяется организации самостоятельной работе студентов с помощью международной сети. Данная проблема особенно актуальна, так как в ТПУ произошло значительное сокращение академических часов, запланированных на дисциплину «Иностранный язык». Однако, несмотря на данное сокращение, требования к владению иностранным языком у современных выпускников технических вузов растёт год от года. Решение этой проблемы возможно с применением проверенных на практике образовательных сайтов. Работая с данными ресурсами сети Интернет самостоятельно, студенты могут возместить нехватку аудиторных часов. Более того, в статье рассмотрен персональный сайт преподавателя ТПУ. Сайт создан не только для работы со студентами, но и для сотрудничества с коллегами.
Ключевые слова: изучение иностранного языка, коммуникативный подход, Интернет технологии, аудиторное обучение, самостоятельная работа студентов, коммуникативная компетенция, персональный сайт преподавателя.
Needless to say, the modern world community needs initiative, competent specialists possessing a whole complex of intellectual, creative and communicative skills. They should orientate themselves in information space, be able to work with colleagues from all over the world, analyze information, generalize ideas and make conclusions. Creative skills assume the ability to generate ideas, to involve knowledge from other professional areas, to find a great variety of problem solutions and thus to predict all the possible consequences of the professional activity. And finally, communicative competence of a modern specialist is closely concerned with the ability to communicate in native and foreign languages, to listen to and to hear the interlocutor, to give reasons for the point of view, to express the thoughts laconically and concisely, to possess a high standard of speech.
Without doubt, the knowledge of at least one foreign language is essential for people who want to succeed in any career. A transition to the information society demands a complete personality development. It means that foreign language teaching should be carried out with the use of modern technologies at higher education institutions.
Nowadays the top purpose of foreign language learning is the communicative competence acquirement. Modern students must be taught mostly how to use the foreign languages in real- life professional situations and apply their knowledge in practice but not just language
system and grammar structures. Therefore, the main teacher's task is to provide necessary conditions for practical foreign languages acquirement. A professional pedagogue has to choose such teaching approaches that would allow each student to show his activity and creativity.
Moreover, it should be noted that the successful synergy of the teacher and the student depends on the learning process organization in many respects. It is well-known that the teacher is usually more active at classroom training, but students play more or less passive role while the most advanced stage of their activity often appears at students' self-directed learning.
It should be mentioned that students' self-directed learning plays a significant role in the whole process of foreign language learning. Certainly there are some reasons. First of all, the academic hours for the discipline «Foreign language» have been decreased since 2008 at most technical universities of Russia. And Tomsk Polytechnic University is not an exception. As for TPU, it is necessary to clarify the situation. More than ten years ago the University was involved in the so-called experimental foreign language learning. It meant that all the students were supposed to learn a foreign language during the whole period of studying at the University. Also, the academic hours for the disciplines «Foreign Language» and «Professional Foreign Language» were from five to ten hours a week depending on the study year. Generally, the students of TPU had learnt a foreign language for five years. But the outcome was not satisfactory: only few graduates spoke a foreign language fluently and became bilingual engineers. Unfortunately, most of the students did not become specialists processing the good
knowledge of English or German. So, the Foreign Language Program has been changed a lot since that time.
Nowadays, the students of TPU study foreign languages four academic hours a week and only for two years. Needless to say, classroom activity does not give the expected results of learning because of insufficient quantity of the academic hours. And, as a result, the most graduates' foreign language skills do not meet the international requirements and standards. That is why students' self-directed learning cannot be overestimated.
But, as a matter of fact, «self-directed learning» is not always independent, perspective and fruitful. The teacher's role is essential in organization of this activity. Only when students' self-directed learning is well prepared by the teacher, it will be absolutely successful. Therefore it is very important to consider the problem of preparing students for their independent activity and organization of their self-directed learning so that they will be interested in work, and get a result satisfaction at the same time.
Modern generation of students is the generation of information technology. Professional activity of future specialists will be closely concerned with ever-changing and perfective computer and Internet technologies. For that reason, not only classroom training, but also students' self-directed leaning must be organized by means of computer and Internet technologies.
Talking about the main advantages of students' work with computers, it is necessary to mention its indisputable benefits: the possibility of individual approach realization, the instant feedback, and great opportunities for using authentic language materials, the impartial assessment of students' results, the subsequent analysis of
students' work, the trainees' activity caused by the interactive form of work. A student usually works with a computer independently so he has the possibility to control his own actions. Besides, dealing with computers, students feel emotional comfort as there is no negative outside impact for example, from his teacher or peers.
Undoubtedly, the Internet is one of the greatest inventions of all time. And today many scientists talk about a new culture of teaching concerning the Internet technology application. Within the last several years the Internet has become a magic window to knowledge. Besides the students' participation in various linguistic tasks such as reading, writing and listening activities, the Internet changes their lifestyle and the work on the whole. Moreover, it also changes a way of thinking and learning. The Internet is a special sign and symbolical environment. It means the Internet helps to objectify human mentality. The mentality seems to be projected on space of the Worldwide Network, it becomes visible, it starts to cooperate with other participants of the virtual dialogue, and thus there is a great possibility of more successful and motivated foreign language learning.
As it has already been mentioned before, the main purpose of foreign language learning is the communicative competence formation and all the other aims and tasks are usually realized in the course of the main purpose implementation. The communicative approach means training to communicate and to form the ability of intercultural interaction that is a basis of the Internet functioning. The Internet is absolutely useless out of communication. The Internet is the international and intercultural society, whose activity is based on electronic communication of millions people around the world, speaking at the same time. It is the biggest in size and number of the
conversation participants. A model of real communication is created when the students learn foreign languages with help of the Internet. No matter if it is classroom or self-directed learning.
From a didactic point of view, there are much more advantages of applying the Internet in teaching foreign la
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