Theory of foreign language teaching

e) individual work in programmed instruction, when each pupil can work with the programme he receives either through visual or auditory perception at his own pace.

The principle of visualization has always been very important for language learning since the gaining of knowledge begins either with sense perception or with what has been formerly perceived, that is, with previous experience. Visualization, as it is understood here, may be defined as specially organized demonstration of linguistic material and language behavior characteristic of the target language with the purpose of helping the pupil in understanding, assimilating, and Utilizing this in connection with the task set. Since pupils acquire a second language in artificial conditions and not in real life, as is the case when children assimilate their mother tongue, visualization should be extensively used in foreign language teaching. Through visual presentation of the material and the pupils' observation of language behavior of native speakers they acquire the necessary habits and skills in spoken language, namely, in intonation, word usage, and grammar. Visualization allows the teacher to create natural conditions for pupils' oral practice and “free conversation”. Visualization can be utilized in teaching various aspects of the language: phonology, vocabulary, and grammar, and in developing different language skills: hearing, speaking, reading, and writing.

Soviet psychologists distinguish various kinds of visualization. For instance, B.V. Belyaev suggests the following classification for visualization.

In this connection V.A. Artemov writes: «Для классификации существующих и вновь возникающих видов наглядности при обучении иностранным языкам существенны следующие различающие их признаки:

1) объектная - образная;

2) предметная - изобразительная;

3) перцептивная - мнемическая;

4) реальная - схематическая;

5) однорецепторная - многорецепторная;

6) чистая (синтетическая) - опосредованная (аналитическая);

7) комплексно-языковая - аспектно-языковая;

8) театрализованно-поступочная - кино-поступочная.

Например, диафильмы содержат наглядность: объектную, изобразительную, перцептивную, реальную (схематическую), однорецепторную (зрительную), синтетическую (аналитическую) и аспектную - и вовсе не содержат наглядности поступочной»

The extensive use of audio-visual aids and audio-visual materials the teacher of a foreign language has at his disposal nowadays, together with the use of carefully selected and graded linguistic material, create favorable conditions for teaching pupils to understand the foreign language when it is spoken and to speak it themselves. This is the first step when dealing with beginners. Hence the methodological principle may be formulated as follows:

In teaching a foreign language at schools it is necessary to follow the oral approach as it is the one that allows the pupil to deal with the language in its primary function -- as a means of communication.

In teaching foreign languages other didactic principles such as the principles of systematic teaching, of consecutiveness, of accessibility, of durability, are used. (See “Methods of Teaching English in Secondary Schools” by I.E. Anitchkov, V.N. Saakyants. M. -- L., 1966, p. 47--55.)

The foreign language syllabus is the main document which lays down the aims and the content of teaching foreign languages in schools. A school, like any other educational institution, has a curriculum which states the subjects to be studied, the number of hours (periods) allotted to the study of each subject, the sequence in which the subjects are introduced.

We have different types of schools which differ in curricula. The main three are the ten-year school, the specialized school or the school with a number of subjects taught in the foreign language, and the evening school.

In the ten-year school the foreign language is taught for six years. Pupils begin to study it in the 5th form and finish in the 10th form. The number of hours allotted to the study of the subject is 560 of the essential course and, in addition, about 200of the optional course in the senior stage (see the syllabus).

In the specialized school pupils learn foreign language lore nine years beginning in the 2nd form and completing the course in the 10th form. The total number of hours allotted to a foreign language is 1500 (see the syllabus).

In the evening school a foreign language is an optional subject and as such it should be taught for three years (in the 9th, l0th and 11th forms). The number of hours allotted to the study of a foreign language is 315 (see the syllabus). Consequently, in the curriculum one can find where (in what forms) a foreign language is studied, how many periods a week and the total number of hours that are allotted to its study. The aims and the content of the teaching as well as the method of instruction are stated by the syllabus.

The syllabus, therefore, is a state document which lays down the aims of teaching, the extent of the knowledge, habits and skills pupils must acquire the sequence of topics which constitute the academic content of the subject. The syllabus is an essential document for every teacher, and he is responsible for the fulfillment of its requirements. The teacher cannot make alterations in the syllabus. The syllabus is uniform for all the teachers working in schools of the given type.

The syllabus includes:

l. The explanatory note. Here the teacher will find the aims of foreign language teaching in school. He will also find some suggestions as to the approach to teaching oral language, reading, and writing, vocabulary, and grammar. Besides, in the explanatory note he will find some indications about pupils' independent work, homework, i.e., what a home task must consist of and how much time it should take to be done; how to keep a record of pupils' progress in a foreign language and, finally, how to carry on extra-curricular work in a foreign language at school.

2. These labs itself. The teacher will find the requirements for the command of knowledge in English (German, French), i.e., pupils' habits and skills in hearing, speaking, reading, and writing; topics for every form (5, 6, etc.) for speaking and reading, the amount of class periods for every form.

Reading. The pupil must be able:

-- to read aloud correctly and understand both familiar and new texts based upon the language material already assimilated;

-- to divide the text he has read into sense units; to find the answers to the questions in the text.

Writing. The pupil must be able:

-- to write questions and answers (within the language material and topic already covered);

-- to write dictations (within the material assimilated).

Approximate topics for speaking and reading:

1. School. Coming to school. The description of a classroom. School things. At the foreign language lesson. To be on duty. Going home from school. After classes.

2. At home. A room. My house. My family. Playing in the yard.

3. A town and a village. The description of a street.

4. Physical culture and sports. Winter and summer sports.

The requirements concerning pupils' knowledge of vocabulary and grammar, phonology, rules of reading and spelling.

In the syllabus, therefore, the teacher will find all the instructions concerning the knowledge he must impart to his pupils, the habits and skills he must develop, etc.

The textbook for every form should correspond to the syllabus. When the programme requirements are changed, textbooks should undergo all necessary changes as well.

Questions for Discussion:

1. Compare the syllabi for different types of schools as to what they have in common and in what they differ.

2. There are three main aims in teaching a foreign language in schools. Name them and say whether you consider them justifiable. Support your statement.

3 What is the content of teaching? Do authors whose works you have read interpret it adequately? Give some examples.

4. Compare several approaches to the fundamental principles foreign language teaching should be based upon and name the specific principles which, you think, must be observed in teaching this subject in schools.

5. Are aims, content and principles interrelated? If so, show this interrelation.

Methodological recommendations:

Lecture delivering is tended to the students' development of the professional creation and self-education activity.

The quality of the lecture and its delivering depends on a range of factors: the lecture's social activity, desire to work and socialize with the students, teaching skills, general and professional level of culture, intellect, knowledge and behavior norms.

One of the professionally significant features of the lecturer is his / her speech etiquette: oral and written. During the oral presentation of the lecture the language pronunciation, grammar norms should be observed alongside with the expressive non-verbal means as: intonation: accent, pausation, gestures etc. Interactive method of teaching students-lecturer / presupposes setting problem questions, ability to listen and understand the students and to answer the students' questions.

Writing summary: A summary is the expression in a condensed form of the principal content of any piece of writing. In other words the summarizer should briefly render the main idea in his own words.

Writing reviews: there are a lot of review types. These writing strategies are for you to follow in your review writing:

Give a brief summary of the plot.

Recommended Literature:

All of the following books offer up-to-date views of teaching English:

1. Gower, R., D. Phillips, and S. Walters. 1995. Teaching Practice Handbook (2^nd edn.). Oxford: Heinemann.

2. Harmer, J. 1991. The Practice of English Language Teaching (2nd edn.). Harlow: Longman

3. Scrivener. 1994. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann

4. Ur, P. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

LECTURE 6. TEACHING PRONUNCIATION. THE IMPORTANCE OF CORRECT PRONUNCIATION IN LANGUAGE LEARNING

The aim of the lesson:

- to develop innovative approaches and technologies for effective acquiring of communicative skills and habits

Objectives:

- to have SS share information and express their standpoints

- to help SS learn and practice in a friendly, non-threatening atmosphere

- to motivate SS effectively verbalize their thoughts and ideas

The first impact of any language comes from the spoken word. The basis of all languages is sound. Words are merely combinations of sounds. It is in these sound sequences that the ideas are contained. Listening is the first experience; the attempt to understand accompanies it. The acquisition of good pronunciation depends to a great extent on the learner's ability of listening with care and discrimination. One of the tasks of language teaching consists in devising ways to help the learner “and” the unfamiliar sounds. The hearing of a given word calls forth the acoustic image of that word from which a meaning is obtained. Therefore teaching pronunciation is of great importance in the developing of pupils' hearing and speaking habits and skills.

Teaching pronunciation is of no less importance in the developing of reading and writing habits and skills, since writing (or what is written) is a graphic representation of sound sequences. In reading the visual images become acoustic images. These are combined with kinesthetic images, resulting in inner speech.

Wrong pronunciation often leads to misunderstanding. For example, when a speaker or a reader replaces one phoneme with another he unintentionally uses quite a different word, in this way altering the sense of what he wanted to say. For example, white instead of wide; it instead of eat; pot instead of port, etc.

Every teacher must understand how important the teaching of correct pronunciation is.

The difficulties in English pronunciation usually experienced by Russian-speaking pupils

Any language has its specific phonic system. This is true for English as well. The sounds of English are not the same as the sounds of Russian, though there are, of course, some sounds which occur both in English and in Russian.

They are many difficult sounds in English for Russian learners, [w], [р], [и], [r], [?:], [ou], [е?] for example. To Russian-speaking pupils the combination of sounds [иs], [рz] which occurs in English at the end of a word (months, clothes) is strange and they find great difficulty in pronouncing a word with this sound combination. The same may be said about the sound [rj]. In English it comes in the middle or at the end of many words: English, think, song, sitting, longer and presents a lot of trouble to pupils to produce it correctly as there is no sound like this in the Russian language.

The sounds of English may be arranged in three groups: vowels, double vowels or diphthongs, and consonants. There are twelve vowel sounds in English: [э], [e], [ж], [o], [u], [A] and [?] may be considered as short, but their actual lengths vary to a limited extent in the same way as those of [i:], [a], etc. For instance, the vowels of [bit] bit, [let] let, [fut] foot are shorter than those of [bid] bid, [led] led, lead, [wud] wood. There is a modern tendency in South-Eastern English to lengthen some or all of the traditionally short vowels [1], [e], [ж], [o], [u], and [A] in many situations. Words like fit and feet, cot and caught wood and wooed are, or may be, distinguished by vowel quality only, instead of by a complex of duration and quality.

“Some authorities, writes D. Jones, consider the state of tension of the tongue to be an important factor in the production of various vowel qualities, and they distinguish tense vowels from lax vowels; the li:] of [li:p] leap has a tenser articulation than the [1] of lip, and that the [u:] of [bu:t] boot has a tenser articulation than the [u] of [fut] foot. This can be tested by placing the finger against the outside of the throat about half way between the chin and the larynx. When pronouncing the vowel of [lip] this part feels loose, but when pronouncing the vowel of [li:p], it becomes tenser and is pushed forward”.

Therefore such opposites as [i:] -- [i]; [u:] -- [u]; [?:] -- [?] are different in quality, not only in length.

There are double vowels and diphthongs in English. Some of these diphthongs are strange to Russian-speaking pupils because they do not appear in their native language: [ou], [е?], [э?], [o?], [ju?]. Pupils are tempted to substitute for them English monophthongs or sounds from their own language. The following vowel sounds have been found to be particularly difficult for Russian-speaking pupils: [ж] which is often confused with [e]; [a:] which is substituted by Russian [a]; [?:] which is replaced by [o:].

English consonants also present some trouble to Russian pupils, first because there are sounds which are quite strange to pupils, for example, [р], [и], [w], [h], then because their pronunciation changes depending on the position in the words. In final position voiceless consonants have strong articulation (white), voiced consonants -- weak articulation (wide). Therefore in teaching pupils how to pronounce consonants in final position the teacher should emphasize the strength of articulation and density of voiceless consonants and weakness of voiced consonants. For example, in Did you...? the second [d] differs from the first [d] in the weakness of articulation. The sound is hardly pronounced and heard.

Consonants may vary in length. In this connection D. Jones writes that when final they may be observed to be longer after short vowels than they are after long vowels... The [n] in bent is much shorter than that in bend; the [1] in gulp is shorter than that in bulb. The teacher of English should know this to be able to help his pupils in pronouncing words as close to the pattern as possible.

The content of teaching pronunciation

Pupils should study English literary pronunciation which constitutes received pronunciation. This is the language of radio, TV, theatres, universities and schools. In our schools we teach pupils literary pronunciation which is characterized by: (a) clear stress in all the rhythmic groups, (b) clear pronunciation of the sounds, for example, give me and not gimme admitted by colloquial English; (c) typical abbreviations in auxiliary words: it's, won't, doesn't, can't, shouldn't, etc.

Proceeding from the aims and objectives the foreign language syllabus sets out, pupils must assimilate:

1. The sounds of the English language, its vowels and consonants. They should be able to articulate these sounds both separately and in different phonetic contexts.

3. Stress in a word and in a sentence, and melody (fall and rise). Pupils must be able to divide a sentence into groups and intone it properly.

I `don't `know what his `native language is. `Do you `speak `English?

Only when pronunciation is correct, when all main phonic rules are strictly followed, can one understand what one hears and clearly express one's thoughts in English.

The teacher, therefore, faces the following problems in teaching pupils English pronunciation:

1) the problem of discrimination; i.e., hearing the differences between phonemes which are not distinguished or used in the Russian language and between falling, rising, and level tones;

2) the problem of articulation, i.e., learning to make the motor movements adequate to proper production of English sounds;

3) the problem of intonation, i.e., learning to make right stresses, pauses and use appropriate patterns;

4) the problem of integration, i.e., learning to assemble the phonemes of a connected discourse (talk) with the proper allophonic variations (members of a phoneme) in the, months, hard times;

5) the problem of automaticy, i.e., making correct production so habitual that it does not need to be attended to in the process of speaking.

How to teach pronunciation

In teaching pronunciation there are at least two methodological problems the teacher faces:

1) to determine the cases where conscious manipulation of the speech organs is required, and the cases where simple imitation can or must be used;

2) to decide on types of exercises and the techniques of using them.

Teaching English pronunciation in schools should be based on methodological principles described in Chapter III. This means to instruct pupils in a way that would lead them to conscious assimilation of the phonic aspect of a foreign language. The teacher instructs his pupils to pronounce sounds, words, word combinations, phrases and sentences in the English language. Pupils must become conscious of the differences between English sounds and those of the native language. This is possible provided the foreign sound is contrasted with the native phoneme which is substituted for it, e.g.: E. [t]-R. [T]; E. [n] - R. [H]; E. [h] -R. [X]

3. By using sound symbols [ж] -- [e]; [р] -- [и]. Pho netic symbols do not teach the foreign sounds. They emphasize the difference in sounds and in this respect they are a valuable help. To teach pupils how to pronounce a new language correctly in a conscious way means to ensure that the pupil learns to put his organs of speech into definite positions re quired for the production of the speech sounds of this language.

A person learning a foreign language unconsciously continues to use his muscles in the old ways and substitutes the phonemes and the intonation of his native tongue, e. g., he pronounces zis instead of this, or veal instead of wheel; Do `you `speak `English? instead of `Do you `speak English? He does not even notice his mistake.

In learning pronunciation great use should also be made of imitation. Pupils learn to pronounce a new language by imitating the pronunciation of the teacher. Since young people's ability to imitate is rather good it should be used in teaching pronunciation as well. Indeed, there are sounds in the English language which are difficult to explain, for example, vowels. The teacher is often at a loss how to show his pupils the pronunciation of this or that vowel, because he cannot show them the position of the organs of speech while producing the sound.

Pupils pronounce first in unison, then individually, and then in unison again until the teacher sees that they can pronounce the sound, the word with the sound, and the whole sentence correctly. When asking individuals to pronounce a sound, a word, and a sentence the teacher first tells bright, then average, and finally slow pupils to pronounce what is required for the latter to have an opportunity to listen to the sound, the word, and the sentence pronounced again and again. The secret of success is neither in theory (explanation) nor in practice alone, but in practice informed by theory.

Exercises used for developing pronunciation skills may be of two groups: recognition exercises and reproduction exercises.

Recognition exercises are designed for developing pupils' ability to discriminate sounds and sound sequences. Indeed the assimilation of correct English pronunciation by Russian-speaking pupils depends to a great extent on their ability to aud. In auding the reference is solely to language perception. The ability to aud is developed if the teacher uses the aural-oral method and the oral approach method in teaching the language. In our schools we use both the aural-oral method when the oral introductory course is conducted and pupils are taught only hearing and speaking, and the oral approach and oral presentation mainly in the eight-year school when pupils get acquainted with linguistic material first by ear. Pupils should have ample practice in listening to be able to acquire the phonic aspect of the language. It can be done:

a) by listening to the teacher pronouncing a sound, a sound combination and sensible sound sequences, i. e., words, phrases, and sentences with comprehension of what they hear (visual perception of the teacher when he produces English sounds and sound sequences facilitates auding);

b) by listening to the speaker from a tape-recording or a record without seeing the speaker. This exercise is more difficult for pupils as their auding is not reinforced by visual perception.

The following techniques may be recommended to check pupils' ability to discriminate sounds, stress and melody.

Reproduction exercises are designed for developing pupils' pronunciation habits, i.e., their ability to articulate English sounds correctly and to combine sounds into words, phrases and sentences easily enough to be able to speak English and to read aloud in this language. A few minutes at each lesson must be devoted to drilling the sounds which are most difficult for Russian-speaking pupils.

In studying English pupils usually make mistakes in pronunciation, often repeating the same mistakes again and again. The teacher should bear this in mind and either began the lesson with pronunciation drill or use pupils' errors as the point of departure for the drill. For example, pupils have made mistakes m interdental sounds while reading aloud. After the text has been read the teacher asks them to pronounce both individually and in unison the following words: this, that, with, without, other, another ..., thing, think, thin, thick, thought.

Of course the teacher takes those words pupils are familiar with. More often than not the teacher should begin a lesson with pronunciation drill. This does not mean, however, that its place should be strictly fixed. The teacher may turn to pronunciation drill whenever he wants to draw his pupils' attention to the phonic aspect of the material they deal with and in this way teach pupils correct English pronunciation.

The words are arranged into three groups in accordance with the sound each one ends in:

[t] [d] [d]

wash -- washed open -- opened want -- wanted

thank -- thanked close -- closed skate -- skated

work --worked live-- lived recite -- recited

stop -- stopped smile -- smiled rest -- rested

The teacher's principal concern is to make sure that every pupil can articulate English sounds correctly and pronounce words, phrases and sentences as close to the pattern as possible; hence pupils' learning by heart the material included in a phonetic drill (rhymes, proverbs, poems, songs, dialogues) is not the main aim. The main aim is pupils' correct pronunciation with regard to sounds, stress, rhythm, and melody. If tape-recording is used, the material should be recorded so that pupils can first listen to the speaker, then repeat in imitation of the speaker during the pauses long enough for pupils to reproduce it. When recording the material for classwork, therefore, it is necessary to take into account not only the time for producing sounds or sound sequences, but for organizing the class to pronounce it during the pause. So pauses should not be too short.

It is impossible to underestimate the role that can be played by sound film loops, records, tape playback devices in teaching pronunciation. Each of these aids:

1) allows speech to be reproduced with correct pronunciation and intonation in particular;

2) permits the same text to be repeated several times for pupils to have an opportunity to listen to it again and again;

3) makes it possible for the teacher to develop his pupils' abilities to understand English spoken at various speeds;

4) helps the teacher in developing his pupils' ability to speak;

5) gives pupils an opportunity to listen to texts read by native speakers.

When working with these aids in the classroom the teacher must be well prepared for the work. He must listen to the material himself several times in order to know the text from all points of view and, first of all, from the point of view of its phonic aspect. He studies the text and marks the difficulties for pupils' listening comprehension, namely, sounds, sound combinations, stress, or melody. Then he writes out the difficult points from the text to draw pupils' attention to them and, in this way, to help pupils to overcome the difficulties they may have in auding the text.

Pronunciation is a skill that should be developed and perfected throughout the whole course of learning the language, that is why we insist that the teacher should use pronunciation drill during the lesson, irrespective of the stage of instruction.

As to how mistakes must be corrected the following may be suggested:

1) the teacher explains to the pupil his mistake and asks him to pronounce the sound, the word, or the sentence again, paying attention to the proper position of the organs of speech for producing the sound, for example, [6] (he should bite the tongue between the teeth and blow air out at the same time), or the word `development' with the stress on the second syllable, or the sentence with the rising tone;

2) the teacher corrects the mistake by pronouncing the sound, the word, the phrase, or the sentence in which the mistake has been made and the pupil imitates the teacher's pronunciation;

3) the teacher asks the pupil to listen to the tape-recording or the record again and pronounce the word or the sentence in the way the speaker does it; thus through comparison the pupil should find the mistake and correct it.

There are, of course, some other techniques of correcting pupils' phonetic mistakes. Those mentioned above, however, can ensure the development of self-control in the pupil which is indispensable to language learning.

Constant attention to pupils' pronunciation on the part of the teacher, whatever the stage of teaching аs results, as a rule, in good pronunciation habits and skills of pupils.

Young teachers are inclined to expect immediate results and soon they stop teaching pupils correct pronunciation as a hopeless task. No doubt they forget their own imperfections and do not know that pronunciation can be taught only by a long, patient, and persistent effort throughout the whole course of study.

Questions for Discussion:

Correct pronunciation is attainable when teaching a foreign language at school.

1. What is meant by connect pronunciation?

2. What does a teacher need for teaching pupils pronunciation successfully?

3. Why is pupils' pronunciation far from being satisfactory?

4. What should a teacher do to improve pupils' pronunciation?

Activities:

1. Prepare pronunciation drill for one of the lessons for junior, inter mediate, and senior stage to show the difference in material and in tech inquest of conducting the drill.

2. Examine one of the lessons of a Pupil's Book and a Teacher's Book and shows how pupils are taught to pronounce correctly.

Methodological recommendations:

Lecture delivering is tended to the students' development of the professional creation and self-education activity.

The quality of the lecture and its delivering depends on a range of factors: the lecture's social activity, desire to work and socialize with the students, teaching skills, general and professional level of culture, intellect, knowledge and behavior norms.

One of the professionally significant features of the lecturer is his / her speech etiquette: oral and written. During the oral presentation of the lecture the language pronunciation, grammar norms should be observed alongside with the expressive non-verbal means as: intonation: accent, pausation, gestures etc. Interactive method of teaching students-lecturer / presupposes setting problem questions, ability to listen and understand the students and to answer the students' questions.

Writing summary: A summary is the expression in a condensed form of the principal content of any piece of writing. In other words the summarizer should briefly render the main idea in his own words.

Writing reviews: there are a lot of review types. These writing strategy is for you to follow in your review writing:

Give a brief summary of the plot.

Recommended Literature:

All of the following books offer up-to-date views of teaching English:

1. Gower, R., D. Phillips, and S. Walters. 1995. Teaching Practice Handbook (2^nd edn.). Oxford: Heinemann.

2. Harmer, J. 1991. The Practice of English Language Teaching (2nd edn.). Harlow: Longman.

3. Scrivener. 1994. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann.

4. Ur, P. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

foreign language grammar speaking writing

LECTURE 7 TEACHING VOCABULARY. THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING VOCABULARY

The Aim of the lesson: - to increase motivation and retention

- to develop the students' communicative skills

Objectives: - to provide a vehicle for critical thinking and problem solving

- to encourage collaborative social skills

- to help them verbalize their thoughts

- to motivate to speak, analyze and express their points of view

To know a language means to master its structure and words. Thus, vocabulary is one of the aspects-of the language to be taught in school. The problem is what words and idioms pupils should retain. It is evident that the number of words should be limited because pupils have only 2--4 periods a week; the size of the group is not small enough to provide each pupil with practice in speaking; schools are not yet equipped with special laboratories for individual language learning. The number of words pupils should acquire in school depends wholly on the syllabus requirements. The latter are determined by the conditions and method used. For example, experiments have proved that the use of programmed instruction for vocabulary learning allows us to increase the number of words to be learned since pupils are able to assimilate them while working independently with the programme.

The vocabulary, therefore, must be carefully selected in accordance with the principles of selecting linguistic material, the conditions of teaching and learning a foreign language in school.

Scientific principles of selecting vocabulary have been worked out.1 The words selected should be: (1) frequently used in the language (the frequency of the word may be determined mathematically by means of statistic data); (2) easily combined (nice room, nice girl, nice weather); (3) unlimited from the point of view of style (oral, written); (4) included in the topics the syllabus sets; (5) valuable from the point of view of word-building (use, used, useful, useless, usefully, user, mage).

Difficulties pupils experience in assimilating vocabulary

Learning the words of a foreign language is not an easy business since every word has its form, meaning, and usage and each of these aspects of the word may have its difficulties. Indeed, some words are difficult in form (daughter, busy, bury, woman, women) and easy in usage; other words are easy in form (enter, get, happen) and difficult in usage. Consequently, words may be classified according to the difficulties pupils find in assimilation. In methodology some attempts have been made to approach the problem.

The analysis of the words within the foreign language allows us to distinguish the following groups of words: concrete, abstract, and structural.

Words denoting concrete things (book, street, sky), actions (walk, dance, read), and qualities (long, big, good) are easier to learn than words denoting abstract notions (world, home, believe, promise, honest). Structural words are the most difficult for Russian-speaking pupils.

In teaching pupils a foreign language the teacher should bear this in mind when preparing for the vocabulary work during the lesson.

Psychological and linguistic factors which determine the process of teaching vocabulary

Words are elements of the language used in the act of communication. They are single units, and as such cannot provide the act of communication by themselves; they can provide it only when they are combined in a certain way. Sometimes separate words may be used in the act of communication, however, for example:

— You have relatives, haven't you?

— Yes, a grandmother.

The word grandmother is used instead of the sentence pattern Yes, I have a grandmother.

Charles Fries says: “It is not the meaning of the words themselves but an intricate system of formal features which makes possible the grasp of what we generally call `meaning'. Train, boy, house, take -- conveys no meaning. `The boy takes a train to his house' is full of meaning.” He concludes, “The meaning is not in the words themselves but in the words as a pattern”.

Hence there are two stages in teaching vocabulary: presentation or explanation, retention or consolidation which are based on certain psycholinguistic factors.

How to teach vocabulary in school

Presentation of new words. Since every word has its form, meaning, and usage to present a word means to introduce to pupils its forms (phonetic, graphic, structural, and grammatical), and to explain its meaning, and usage.

The techniques of teaching pupils the pronunciation and spelling of a word are as follows: (1) pure or conscious imitation; (2) analogy; (3) transcription; (4) rules of reading.

Since a word consists of sounds if heard or spoken and letters if read or written the teacher shows the pupils how to pronounce, to read, and write it. However the approach may vary depending on the task set (the latter depends on the age of pupils, their progress in the language, the type of words, etc.). For example, if the teacher wants his pupils to learn the word orally first, he instructs them to recognize it when hearing and to articulate the word as an isolated element (a book) and in a sentence pattern or sentence patterns alongside with other words. (This is a book. Give me the book. Take the book. Put the book on the table, etc.)

As far as the form is concerned the pupils have but two difficulties to overcome: to learn how to pronounce the word both separately and in speech; and to recognize it in sentence patterns pronounced by the teacher, by his classmates, or by a speaker in case the tape recorder is used.

If the teacher wants his pupils to learn the word during the same lesson not only for hearing and speaking but for reading and writing as well, he shows them how to write and read it after they perform oral exercises and can recognize and pronounce the word. The teacher writes down the word on the blackboard (let it be spoon) and invites some pupils to read it (they already know all the letters and the rule of reading). The pupils read the word and put it down in their notebooks. In this case the pupils have two more difficulties to overcome: to learn how to write and how to read the word; the latter is connected with their ability to associate letters with sounds in a proper way.

It is difficult to cover all the techniques the teacher may have at his disposal to convey the meaning of new words directly without the help of the mother tongue. There are teachers, however, who do not admit that pupils can understand what a new word means without translating it into the native tongue, and though they use some techniques of the direct method for conveying the meaning of new words, they immediately ask their pupils to say what is the Russian for...? Here are a few examples.

Teacher N. presented the word ball in the fifth form. She had brought a ball. She showed the ball to the pupils and said: This is a ball ...a ball. The ball is red and blue. What is the Russian for `a ball', children? Who can guess? Of course everyone could. They cried: мячик. What is the use of bringing the ball if the teacher turns to the mother tongue? So instead of developing pupils' abilities and skills in establishing associations between the English word and the object it denotes, she emphasized the necessity for the use of the mother tongue in learning the word.

Then she presented the word football. She used a picture in which some boys were playing football. She said: Look at the picture, children. You can see some boys in the picture. They are playing football. What is the Russian for `football'? Who can guess? The pupils were not enthusiastic to answer this question because they probably found it silly. (It does not mean, of course, that the teacher cannot turn to the mother tongue to check pupils' comprehension when he uses the direct method of conveying the meaning of some difficult words not like those mentioned above -- when he is not sure that everyone has understood them properly).

Consequently, the direct method works well provided that the teacher is good at applying visual aids and using verbal means when he explains new words to the pupils. Moreover, he must do it vividly to arouse his pupils' interest in the work performed, and thus to provide optimum conditions for understanding the meaning of the words and their assimilation through the foreign language. Besides various accessories (objects, pictures, movements, gestures, facial expressions, etc.) should be widely used. If the teacher cannot work with visual aids and is not an actor to a certain extent (after all, every teacher ought to be something of an actor), it is he, but not the method, who fails in conveying the meaning of new words.

Retention of words. To attain the desired end pupils must first of all perform various exercises to fix the words in their memory.

Constant use of a new word is the best way of learning it.

For this purpose it is necessary to organize pupils' work in a way permitting them to approach the new words from many different sides, in many different ways, by means of many different forms of work. The teacher can ensure lasting retention of words for his pupils provided he relies upon pupils' sensory perception and thinking, upon their auditory, visual, and kinesthetic analyzers so that pupils can easily recognize the words while hearing or reading, and use them while speaking or writing whenever they need. To use a word the pupil should, first, search for it in his memory, choose the very word he needs, and then insert the word in a sentence, i.e., use it properly to express his thought. Thus correct usage of words means the correct choice and insertion of the words in speech.1

Questions for Discussion:

1. Speak on the principles of selecting a minimum vocabulary.

What, in your opinion, is the soundest criterion?

2. Comment on the main rules in teaching vocabulary.

3. Speak on the possible difficulties a pupil has to overcome when new words are presented. What is the role of the teacher here? Illustrate your answer with several examples.

4. Not all words require the same exercises for retention. Why?

Activities:

1. Prepare a lesson plan for teaching words of different types at the stage of presentation. Use any Pupil's Book you like.

2. Make up a drill on the words presented.

3. Prepare a series of situations to stimulate pupils to use the words presented. Use two forms of speech: dialogue and monologue.

4. Prepare a test on vocabulary (a) for oral testing, (b) for written testing.

Methodological recommendations:

Lecture delivering is tended to the students' development of the professional creation and self-education activity.

The quality of the lecture and its delivering depends on a range of factors: the lecture's social activity, desire to work and socialize with the students, teaching skills, general and professional level of culture, intellect, knowledge and behavior norms.

One of the professionally significant features of the lecturer is his / her speech etiquette: oral and written. During the oral presentation of the lecture the language pronunciation, grammar norms should be observed alongside with the expressive non-verbal means as: intonation: accent, pausation, gestures etc. Interactive method of teaching students-lecturer / presupposes setting problem questions, ability to listen and understand the students and to answer the students' questions.

Writing summary: A summary is the expression in a condensed form of the principal content of any piece of writing. In other words the summarizer should briefly render the main idea in his own words.

Writing reviews: there are a lot of review types. These writing strategy is for you to follow in your review writing:

Give a brief summary of the plot.

Recommended Literature:

All of the following books offer up-to-date views of teaching English:

1. Gower, R., D. Phillips, and S. Walters. 1995. Teaching Practice Handbook (2^nd edn.). Oxford: Heinemann.

2. Harmer, J. 1991. The Practice of English Language Teaching (2nd edn.). Harlow: Longman

3. Scrivener. 1994. Learning Teaching. Oxford: Heinemann

4. Ur, P. 1996. A Course in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

LECTURE 8. TEACHING GRAMMAR. THE IMPORTANCE OF GRAMMAR IN LEARNING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The Aim of the lesson:

- to increase motivation and retention

- to develop the students' communicative skills

Objectives: - to provide a vehicle for critical thinking and problem solving

- to encourage collaborative social skills

- to help them verbalize their thoughts

- to motivate to speak, analyze and express their points of view

In order to understand a language and to express oneself correctly one must assimilate the grammar mechanism of the language studied. Indeed, one may know all the words in a sentence and yet fail to understand it, if one does not see the relationship between the words in the given sentence. And vice versa, a sentence may contain one, two, and more unknown words but if one has a good knowledge of the structure of the language one can easily guess the meaning of these words or at least find them in a dictionary.

For instance, one can hardly understand the following sentences without knowledge of grammar even if all the words are familiar: We saw him book a ticket. It made me return home. (It made me happy) because each of them includes some grammar difficulties for Russian-speaking pupils, namely, the infinitive construction in both of them, and an unusual meaning of the familiar words book and make. However if a pupil has assimilated the model of the Complex Object in the English language he will understand that in the sentence We saw him book a ticket the word book is not a noun, it cannot be a noun since him book is a complex object. In this sentence book is an infinitive, therefore, the pupil must look it up in a dictionary under v. In the second sentence the verb make is used in the meaning of since there is the infinitive construction to make somebody do something which the pupil can easily recognize if he has learnt it.

The most common difficulties pupils have in assimilating English grammar

The chief difficulty in learning a new language is that of changing from the grammatical mechanism of the native language to that of the new language. Indeed, every language has its own way of fitting words together to form sentences. In English, word order is far more important than in Russian. The word order in Tom gave Helen a rose indicates what was given (a rose), to whom (Helen), and by whom (Tom). If we change the word order and say Helen gave Tom a rose, we shall change the meaning of the sentence. In Russian, due to inflexions which are very important in this language, we can say Том дал Лене розу or Лене дал Том розу without changing the meaning of the sentence, as the inflexion “e” in the word Лене indicates the object of the action.

The most difficult point of English grammar is the article because it is completely strange to Russian-speaking pupils. The use of the articles and other determiners comes first in the list of the most frequent errors. Pupils are careless in the use of “these tiny words” and consider them unimportant for expressing their thoughts when speaking English.

English grammar must begin, therefore, with pupils' learning the meanings of these structural words, and with practice in their correct use. For example: This is a pen. The pen is red. This is my pen and that is his pen.

Correct selection of grammar teaching material is the first step towards the elimination of mistakes.

The content of teaching grammar

Before speaking about the selection of grammar material it is necessary to consider the concept “grammar”, i. e., what is meant by “grammar”.

By grammar one can mean adequate comprehension and correct usage of words in the act of communication, that is, the intuitive knowledge of the grammar of the language. It is a set of reflexes enabling a person to communicate with his associates. Such knowledge is acquired by a child in the mother tongue before he goes to school. This “grammar” functions without the individual's awareness of technical nomenclature, in other words, he has no idea of the system of the language; he simply uses the system. By “grammar” we also mean the system of the language, the discovery and description of the nature of language itself. It is not a natural grammar, but a constructed one. There are several constructed grammars: traditional, structural, and transformational grammars. Traditional grammar studies the forms of words (morphology) and how they are put together in sentences (syntax); structural grammar studies structures of various levels of the language (morpheme level) and syntactic level; transformational grammar studies basic structures and transformation rules.

What we need is the simplest and shortest grammar that meets the requirements of the school syllabus in foreign languages. This grammar must be simple enough to be grasped and held by any pupil. We cannot say that this problem has been solved.

How to teach grammar

Some General Principles of Grammar Teaching and How to Use Them

Teaching grammar should be based upon the following principles:

1. Conscious approach to the teaching of grammar

This means that in sentence patterns teaching are determined so that pupils can concentrate their attention on some elements of the pattern to be able to use them as orienting points when speaking or wring the target language.

For example, I can see a book.. I can see many books. The man asked for your telephone number. The man was asked for your telephone number.

The teacher draws pupils' attention to the new element in the sentence pattern. The teaching point may be presented in the form of a rule, a very short one it is usually done in the mother tongue.

The rule helps the learner to understand and to assimilate the structural meaning of the elements. It ensures a conscious approach to learning. This approach provides favorable conditions for the speedy development of correct and flexible language use. However it does not mean that the teacher should ask pupils to say this or that rule. Rules don't ensure the mastery of the language. They only help to attain the practical goal. If a pupil can recognize and employ correctly the forms that are appropriate, that is sufficient. When the learner can give ample proof of this ability that he has fulfilled the syllabus requirements.

Rule for the teacher: Realize the difficulties the sentence pattern presents for your pupils. Comparative analysis of the grammar item in English and in Russian or within the English language may be helpful. Think of the shortest and simplest way for presentation of the new grammar item. Remember the more you speak about the language the less time is left for practice.

And not only this: the more the teacher explains the less his pupils understand what he is trying to explain. This leads to the teacher giving more information than is necessary, which does not help the pupils in the usage of this particular grammar item, only hinders them.

2. Practical approaches to the assimilation of grammar. It means that pupils learn those grammar items which they need for immediate use either in oral or written language. For example, from the first steps of language learning pupils need the Possessive Case for aural comprehension and speaking about things or objects which belong to different people, namely, Mike's textbook, Ann's mother, the boys' room, etc. In the senior stage (9--10 forms) pupils need the Sequence of Tenses mainly for reading to be able to understand such sentences as He said he had been there. We hoped Mary would come soon. The learner masters grammar through performing various exercises in using a given grammar item.