Communicative activities to enhance oral production in the EFL classroom

Introduction. Speaking is considered one of the most difficult skills to be developed in class when teaching a foreign language. Therefore, teachers need to look for alternatives to enhance learners’ oral production. In this regard, Communicative activities (CA) play a fundamental role in language teaching due to the fact they provide them with opportunities to use language as in real situations. Objective. The main goal of this research is to provide a general overview of Communicative activities to enhance oral production in the EFL classroom. Methodology. This article was based on the qualitative approach. A descriptive - documentary research was carried out through an extensive bibliographic literature review about the main principles of the Communicative Approach, communicative activities, types of CA, and speaking. Results. Results from the reviewed research investigations show that they are quite useful for teachers and learners since CA facilitate learners’ oral production employing the interaction among classmates and teachers. Conclusion. Besides, Communicative activities encourage learners to develop their language competencies due to the dynamic in which these activities are carried out in the EFL classroom.

The Implementation of Communicative Language Teaching Approach in Selected Secondary School: Nepalese Teachers' Perspective

Throughout the history of second/foreign language teaching, several methods and approaches have been developed. Among them, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been a popularly practiced method in the modern context as there are a large number of teachers around the world who claim that they are using CLT. However, previous studies revealed that there is a discrepancy between their claim and their performance in real practice. Therefore, this research aims at exploring the perceptions of Secondary-level English teachers towards the CLT method along with the activities they use and the challenges they encounter. Using a qualitative descriptive inquiry, a close-ended questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the four purposively selected teachers teaching in public Secondary-schools in Kanchanpur, Nepal. In addition, an interview protocol was used with Four of the teachers. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers had positive perceptions towards the CLT method. However, the present study also highlighted that the teachers did not involve many communicative activities which are essentially needed for the successful implementation of the method. This study further exposed that the participants seem encountered several challenges while implementing the CLT method which is quite similar to the challenges faced by the teachers in the region. These results emphasized that the teachers should try to contextualize and maximize communicative activities amidst the challenges.

ORGANISING COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES EFFECTIVELY IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN CAN THO CITY, VIETNAM / TỔ CHỨC CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAO TIẾP HIỆU QUẢ TRONG DẠY NGỮ PHÁP TIẾNG ANH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG Ờ THÀNH PHỐ CẦN THƠ, VIỆT NAM

This study was conducted to investigate the effective organization of communicative activities in the periods of teaching English grammar skill. The site of this study was High school Teacher Practice-Can Tho University, in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The questionnaire and semi-structured interview protocol were the two main tools in gathering data from students and teachers of English at a high school. First, the research analyzed the problems of organizing “communicative activities” in teaching English grammar in high school. The problems related to teachers’ communicative method preference, the deep knowledge of communicative activities, and methodology compromise between teachers and students. They also were the noise and disorder acceptance, readiness for hard work, and the deep knowledge of English and wide understanding life. Moreover, role play is the challenge for weak students and the requirement for them. The troubles concerning with a structure were the most difficulties for students. On the other hand, this study found that noise, disorder, grouping were some suggestions for more effective communicative activities. Besides, furniture and seating arrangement, choice of genres and topics of game, monitoring and time limitation also were the best solutions for better communicative activities in teaching grammar. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0901/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

EFL Students’ Perceptions and Attitudes toward Using Communicative Activities in CLT Classroom

In this study, the effects of using the communicative activities in communicative language teaching (CLT) classroom to improve students’ speaking performance and reduce their difficulties in speaking skill were investigated. Classroom action research (CAR) was considered as the research design. A quantitative method was followed in this study. The researcher intended to improve the students’ speaking ability by using the Communicative Language Teaching Method, communicative activities. The teaching and learning process was divided into ten cycles and was carried out in ten weeks. Each cycle consisted of four interconnected stages: Planning, Action, Observation, and Reflection. Overall, students favored activities that provided a competitive classroom environment and led to a high level of classroom participation. The findings revealed the effectiveness of speaking classes because students were significantly more satisfied with their speaking ability after the interventions. Statistically significant differences were found in students’ perceptions and attitudes toward using communicative activities.

ПОКРАЩЕННЯ ЯКОСТІ НАВЧАННЯ У ВИЩІЙ ШКОЛІ: ФАКТОРИ ТА МЕТОДОЛОГІЯ

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors and methods enhancing the quality of learning in a university setting. It is pointed out that an overcritical attitude towards learners’ incompetent public performance may cause anxiety and hinder their learning. However, group participation facilitates developing students’ self-expression and life skills. Traditional views on teaching are evaluated with regard to the latest pedagogical trends.The methodology of the paper relies on observation of the educational process, theoretical analysis of common and emerging frameworks for teaching English as a second language in a university setting, as well as synthesis, and generalization of research literature findings.The paper demonstrates how a traditional framework for teaching English as a second language can be modified to accommodate learners’ needs and investigates how innovative methods and technologies affect teaching of a foreign language and development of students’ foreign language competence. It is shown that lessons incorporating pre-communicative and communicative activities can be structured differently. The key to successful learning by a group of students is to take into consideration the quality of tasks and to present materials in a flexible manner to the learners.Our examples are based on fundamental principles, such as a variety of tasks, repetition and internationalization of the content. For warm-up or pre-communicative activities, we choose tasks preparing students for speaking and building their language competence. A number of “silent” activities enable learners to perform more or less simultaneously in order to lay the foundation for their internal language representation in an atmosphere free from anxiety and distraction. After completing exercises, students are expected to utilize previously learned grammar and vocabulary in their speech.In conclusion, we reiterate that successful learning takes place when external and internal factors are accounted for. Modern technologies are an effective extension of in-class learning for improving students’ pronunciation, enriching their vocabulary, and developing their speaking and writing skills.Key words: foreign and second language learning, principles of learning, approaches, technology-enhanced learning, the sequence of tasks. Метою статті є визначення факторів і підходів, які сприяють підвищенню якості університетської освіти. Зазначено, що занадто критичне ставлення до неправильних відповідей студентів в аудиторії може спричинити бентежність та сповільнити навчання. Проте групова діяльність уможливлює розвиток самовираження та життєво важливих навиків. Традиційні погляди на навчання оцінюються з огляду на новітні тенденції.Методологія роботи ґрунтується на спостереженнях за навчальним процесом, теоретичному аналізі загальних та новітніх моделей навчання англійської мови як іноземної в університеті, а також на синтезі та узагальненні матеріалу.У статті показано, як можна модифікувати традиційну модель для вивчення англійської мови як іноземної, щоб задовольнити потреби здобувачів, та досліджено, як інноваційні методи та технології впливають на викладання іноземної мови та розвиток іншомовної компетенції студентів. Заняття, яке включає домовленнєвий етап та власне мовленнєвий етап, можна структурувати по-різному. Ключовий момент полягає у врахуванні характеру завдань та гнучкості у навчанні здобувачів.Наші приклади ґрунтуються на фундаментальних засадах, таких як різноманітність завдань, повторення та індивідуальне осмислення змісту. Для домовленнєвого епапу ми дібрали завдання, які готують студентів до мовленнєвої діяльності та формують їхню мовну компетентність. Низка завдань, які виконуються мовчки, має на меті відносно одночасне їх завершення, закладає основи внутрішньої мовної репрезентації в умовах, позбавлених бентежності та відволікання уваги. Очікується, що після виконання завдань студенти використовуватимуть засвоєну граматику та лексику у власному мовленні.У висновках наголошується на тому, що навчання є успішним, коли до уваги беруться зовнішні та внутрішні фактори. Сучасні технології є ефективним продовженням аудиторної роботи, яка дає змогу покращувати вимову, збільшувати словниковий запас, а також розвивати навики усного та письмового мовлення.Ключові слова: вивчення другої мови як іноземної, принципи навчання, підходи, цифрові технології навчання, послідовність завдань

You Don’t Fool Me: On Scams, Scambaiting, Deception, and Epistemological Ambiguity at R/scambait on Reddit

With a focus on the online phenomena of scamming and scambaiting, this article explores users’ communicative activities on Reddit’s r/scambait subreddit. Drawing on a representative corpus viewed through grounded theory, we establish the basic categories of posts and then unpack those further to reveal the deceptive practices being undertaken by both scammers and scambaiters, as well as Redditors’ untruthfulness in their fabricated posts. The analysis reveals that the r/scambait subreddit exists as a site of humorous entertainment arising from various forms of deception. Scammers’ deceptive strategies are depicted as amusingly naïve and inefficient, while scambaiters’ deceptive messages targeted at scammers demonstrate great creativity and wittiness. In both cases, scammer-victims are disparaged for being immensely gullible or downright stupid; and Redditors earn online plaudits for submitting the most upvoted posts. Our significant finding is that posts such as those at r/scambait should never be taken at face value due to their inherent epistemological ambiguity, to which the users choose to remain oblivious or indifferent. Furthermore, on a general plane, this study indicates a potential shift in the emic understanding of the concept of “scambaiting” from a punitive measure and an educational instrument to a creative practice geared toward posters’ kudos and users’ joint humorous experience through “baitertainment” and “scamusement.”

NEED-MOTIVATIONAL COMPONENT OF COMMUNICATIVE ACTIVITIES OF MEDICAL STUDENTS OF VSMU

Objectives. To study the need-motivational component of the communicative activities of medical students of VSMU and to analyze the dynamics and gender differences in the indices of levels of need and motivational orientation in communication. Material and methods.We examined 527 students of the medical faculty, there were 386 second-year students (117 boys and 269 girls); 141 sixth-year students (28 boys and 113 girls) from all of them. The study of the need for communication was carried out using the methodology of Yu.M. Orlov «The need for communication». To study motivational orientation in communication, we used the methodology «Diagnostics of motivational orientations in interpersonal communications» (I.D.Ladanov, V.A.Urazaeva). Results.The students demonstrated the dominance of the average level of the need for communication and motivational orientations in communication, which is considered to be optimal. The dynamics of the indices of the levels of the need for communication is considered as conditionally positive, and the levels of motivational orientation - as positive. The revealed patterns are most typical of young men. Conclusions.The patterns of the need for communication and communicative orientations (including their dynamics) identified by us can be explained by the quality of the humanities education of students, as well as the influence of the information and educational environment of VSMU on the personal growth of students of the medical faculty, on the formation of their communicative competence.

Tools fo ensuring the efficiency of communicative activity of non-governmental organizations (ngos)

Problem setting. The rapid development of modern society requires the creation of new forms of cooperation and mutual understanding and requires new forms of communication, which will be characterized by even greater efficiency, openness, transparency, efficiency and quality. The total penetration of communication into all spheres of public life actualizes its significance and functional role. Modern transformational processes taking place in society necessitate the creation of responsible institutions of civil society, which include public organizations that act as a mediator between the community and the state. The level of public trust in them depends on the effectiveness of communicative activities of NGOs because successful communication is the basis of constructive dialogue between public organizations and society. Recent research and publications analysis. Ukrainian scientists study various aspects of the activity of NGOs, in particular, the development of mass and civil communication, public relations are studied in their works of such domestic scientists as: E. Afonin, V. Bebyk, M. Bilynska, O. Valevskyi, T. Vasilevskaya, N. Hrytsyak, N. Hudyma, V. Hurkovskyi, O. Dmytrenko, L. Klymanska, M. Lohunova, D. Nelipa, I. Panteleichuk, O. Petroye, G. Pocheptsov, O. Pukhkal, V. Rebkalo , V. Rizun, E. Romanenko, A. Savkov, S. Seryogin, G. Sytnyk, S. Teleshun, I. Chaplai and others. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. Understanding the general features and trends of the development of public organizations, as well as the establishment of their effective internal and external communicative activity, require more detailed consideration and detailed study. The paper aims at theoretically substantiating the tools for ensuring the effectiveness of communicative activities of NGOs as a basis for open and rational dialogue in a consolidated society. Paper main body. The issue of improving the communicative interaction of public organizations with government bodies and the media does not disappear from the agenda of either government agencies or public associations. The effectiveness of communication of public organizations in Ukraine depends primarily on the literacy of their communication campaigns, which implies the presence in NGOs of communication strategies, which involve high-level professionals with many years of practical experience. Today, the participation of Ukrainians in the social movement and the trust in the institutions of the third sector and their influence on the development of society and community are growing. The results of the study showed that the efficiency of communicative activities of NGOs directly depends on public confidence in them. Social networks are a unique platform for consolidating different groups of actors based on the commonality of their interests, and as a result of communicative interaction, there is a large-scale synergetic effect. This way of showing civic activity can be considered the most efficient and widespread. The article considers the advantages and risks of the use of social networks by public organizations in the communicative activity of the public sector, outlines several rules of communication in social networks for public organizations. The article states that the effectiveness of communication of NGOs also depends on cooperation with journalists and the choice of audience. The quality of feedback and the level of public trust in NGOs depend on the ability to convey relevant information to the audience in a timely and high-quality manner. We should not underestimate the growing role of public organizations in the consolidation of society, a necessary condition for which is the creation of a single information space. National consolidation will be successful when the state policy in this area is complemented by the activities of civil society institutions, their effective internal and external communication activities. In our opinion, there is a necessity to establish consolidated communication as a process of multifaceted communication within society through various communication channels and tools to strengthen, unite, integrate and pull together society to form a common coherent approach to solving societal problems. Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Effective NGOs, as an element of civil society, are the catalyst for its development. Every NGO, since its inception, seeks to plan its activities in such a way as to achieve its goals in the shortest possible time, to become known, to influence public opinion. This area is an important factor that affects the necessity for communicative interaction between the state and civil society. Among the tools for ensuring the efficiency of communicative activity of NGOs, we consider it appropriate to name: the presence of feedback and the level of public confidence in them; literacy of public communication campaigns; correct use of social networks in the communicative activity of the public sector; establishing active cooperation with journalists; definition of the target audience; use of modern communication formats; selection of communication channels that correspond to the target audience; establishing consolidated communication. Further research in this direction should be aimed, in particular, at an in-depth studying of consolidated communication as a major factor in the consolidation of Ukrainian society.

A NEW APPROACH FOR DISTANCE LANGUAGE LEARNING: COMPARING CURRENT PROGRAMS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF AUDIO EDITING PROGRAMS

The main goal in language education is to develop learners’ skills in oral communication that enables to interact in the target language. Yet, in times of the pandemic, activities supporting the development of communicative competences are difficult to implement, as these activities are arranged mostly for in – class settings with the need of students’ interactive participation. Hence, language education needs to be adapted according to the new circumstances. The aim of this study is to examine how open source audio editing programs can support language education especially in promoting oral competences and implementing communicative activities for in – class language education with social distance and distanced language education. For this aim, open source audio editing programs are examined and compared in view of their features. Within this aim the programs Audacity, Ardour, Ecasound, Jokosher, MusE, Qtractor, Rosegarden, SoX, Sweep and Traverso DAW are examined. Furthermore, on the example of the program Audacity, some useful features for preparing audios in language education are presented. It is recommended to use these programs in language education. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0770/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>