Moral Education In Foreign Language Training Of Future Naval Officers

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of improving the quality of the moral education of future naval officers by means of foreign language training in the military educational establishments. The topicality of the problem under study was confirmed by the method of questioning the cadets of the higher naval educational institution on the importance of material and moral values when choosing a motive for taking up the military service. The definition of the term "moral education" obtained as a result of the content analysis was given, and a set of the moral feelings, qualities, and values that are formed in cadets in the course of foreign language training were identified. On the basis of the analysis and generalization of practical experience of foreign languages teaching at the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after P. S. Nakhimov (Sevastopol), the authors identify the content and organizational elements that most effectively affect the moral growth of students. It is recommended to include topics that promote global, cultural, territorial and personal values into the content of Foreign Language academic discipline. In addition to traditional organizational forms, such creative activities as elements of museum pedagogy in the form of a virtual museum and a virtual tour, involvement of students in independent search and research work, as well as presentations of cadets-representatives of various ethnic groups and religions about their traditions, poetic fights-battles, competitions for the best essay in prose, comprehension of the basics of the journalist's work, and others are highlighted.

Keywords: Foreign language trainingmoral educationpolitical correctnestolerance

Introduction

Modern society is undergoing significant social, economic, cultural, technological changes associated with the modernization of all spheres of human activity, including military one. In this regard, the requirements for training future naval officers who should be able not only to solve a wide range of professional tasks at the international level, but also to carry out their activities in various spheres of public life, taking into account the moral and legal norms adopted in society, to comply with the principles of professional ethics, as well as to interact with representatives of foreign states, demonstrating respect for their historical heritage and traditions, tolerance to another culture, are changing.

Problem Statement

However, as the teaching practice and analysis of scientific publications show, at present the content and organization of cadets foreign language training in educational institutions of the Ministry of defense of the Russian Federation demonstrate the need to improve the moral component, which is confirmed by the results of a survey of the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after P. S. Nakhimov cadets, carried out to determine their motivation for joining the military. 148 cadets were questioned: 1st year cadets – 15; 2nd year – 21; 3rd year – 42; 4th year – 70. Of these, the spiritual and moral motives (the continuation of the military dynasty, patriotism, love for the Motherland, love for the sea, service) were indicated by 57 men / 38.6%; the motives of material character (social guarantees, prestige and status of the profession and career growth) are prevailing in the answers of 91 men / 61.4%, which indicates that material values dominate over moral ones, and, consequently, the problem of moral education of future naval officers is topical.

Research Questions

In order to solve the problem of improving the moral component of foreign language education of cadets, it is necessary to determine:

• what main moral qualities, feelings and values should be developed in the process of future officer education in modern conditions in accordance with the requirements of the society, the state, the individual;

• how to develop and improve these moral values in the cadets of naval schools through foreign language training.

Purpose of the Study

The paper´s aim will be realized through adopting the hypothesis that foreign language is not just a teaching subject, but it is considered as one of the essential instruments of moral education in a higher naval educational establishment.

Research Methods

At different stages of the research, theoretical methods of synthesis, critical analysis, interpretation, generalization, content analysis were used to determine the essence of the problem, specify the basic concepts of the study and systematize documents and printed sources. Empirical methods of observation and questioning allowed to confirm the topicality of the work, as well as to identify the ways to solve the problems under study. The methodological basis of the study was axiological, convergent and system approaches.

Findings

In recent years, the national scientific research of moral education problems in the context of foreign language training has been conducted at an interdisciplinary level. Thus, psychologists Kudinov, Kudinov, Kudinova, & Belousova (2018) consider the typology of value orientation of students from the standpoint of the axiological approach; sociologists Starchikova, Moshchenok, & Shakurova (2017) investigate the influence of a foreign language on the formation of the worldview and spiritual values of youth; representatives of linguists Dunaeva & Vetchinova (2014) study the possibilities of the cultural component of moral education development through foreign language training based on the communicative approach; pedagogues Golovko, Shtetz, & Samoylenko (2017) consider the essence of the students’ functionally competent personality in the modern innovation environment, Lokteva (2014), Kagileva (2017) highlight in their writings the property of language to contribute to the development of such qualities as tolerance and political correctness. Foreign researchers consider the issues of innovative methods of moral education by means of multimedia technologies within the museum pedagogy (Rose, 2014), and intercultural communication (Kun, 2013), etc. Foreign pedagogical science defines three models of moral education in higher military educational institutions: bag-of-virtue, values-clarification and virtues-ethics models (Yu, 2016; Kun, 2013; Lee, 2006). Based on the fact that in modern military education the leading positions are occupied by competence-based, personality-oriented and activity-based approaches, and taking into account the practical orientation of future naval officers foreign language training, we consider the virtue-ethics model to be the most relevant for this study, which implies that “virtue is a quality that people acquire through practice, and proficiency in this quality guides people to morality” (Yu, 2016, p.26).

The key concept of this study is the term “moral education”. The content analysis of 45 interpretations of the term, presented in the normative legal base of the Russian Federation, encyclopaedic sources, articles and dissertations in the field of general, military and Orthodox pedagogy was conducted. As a result, the following definition was derived: moral education of future Navy officers is a process of purposeful interaction of its objects and subjects in the interests of effective formation and development of cadets’ universal feelings and qualities as well as inherent ones in an officer as a representative of a special social group, interiorization of higher values, moral culture, norms and traditions of the military community. Moral education has a convergent nature and combines professional-ethical, state-patriotic, religious, cultural-aesthetic components. The content analysis of the discussed concept also allowed to reveal that moral values include cultural, cultural-territorial, religious, universal, life-meaning, national, state, family, inner ones, which is also confirmed by the content of the Concept of Moral Development and Education of the Citizen of Russia Personality (Danilyuk, Kondakov, & Tishkov, 2009).

The inculcation of these values requires the formation of certain feelings and qualities of the individual. In the educational process of military educational establishments basic characteristics of the defender of the Motherland, the officer-leader and educator of subordinates, including patriotism, honour, duty, citizenship, responsibility, courage, mercy are traditionally cultivated. At the same time, in the modern paradigm of intercultural foreign language education, the formation and development of such qualities as political correctness – a tool for eliminating the discomfort and hostility of the environment (Klatt, 2003), tolerance – preparedness for understanding and dialogue with others, recognition and respect for the right to difference (Kagileva, 2017), provided that authenticity is preserved – the personal ability to express itself through self-knowledge, to create a clear and meaningful perspective (Cranton & Carusetta, 2004). According to the conducted sociological survey, 66% of respondents believe that learning a foreign language contributes significantly to the inculcation of moral qualities and feelings, affects the formation of an individual picture of the world and at the same time serves as a means of its description and verbalization, which determines the spiritual values and world outlook of the individual (Starchikova, Moshchenok, & Shakurova, 2017). Thus, it is necessary to analyse and identify the most effective ways to increase the moral component of servicemen foreign language training.

Sharing the point of view of Lokteva (2014), we consider the selection of the content of foreign language training as an effective means of stimulating the personal growth of the cadet. Thematic components of the content of Foreign language subject should be the problems that have:

• global value: people and national cultures; problems of war and peace; environment; global communication networks, Internet; latest technologies and a man;

• cultural and territorial value: country, region, city, ethnic composition, religious and cultural traditions, historical heritage;

• personal value: personal qualities, household, family, social and professional activities.

All these thematic components are reflected in the curriculum of the academic discipline Foreign Language at the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after Nakhimov in the following topics: “Military Political Blocs of States”, “Sevastopol. Historical and Memorable Places”, “The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation. History of Formation and Development”, “Acquaintance with National Cuisine”, “My Biography. Family”, “Cadet’s Working Day”, “Leadership in the Military Control System”, “Development of Personality and Qualities of a Serviceman”, etc. Referring to moral education, the topics of global and cultural-territorial character are aimed at revealing such qualities as tolerance and political correctness, which will allow to avoid negative manifestations of ethnocentrism and cultural centrism (Mambetova, 2016), and personal topics are directed to the development of authenticity and self-determination.

At the next stage, we will consider the organizational forms of disclosure of the above mentioned content of foreign language training in a military educational establishment. Kan (2013) offers a number of organizational activities in foreign language classes for the formation of moral qualities: Home Town Food Show, Idioms Comparison, Foreign Crafts Exhibition, Discussion of Cultural Differences, Interview with a Foreigner, etc. The empirical analysis of the experience of cadet foreign language training at the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after P. S. Nakhimov allows to enlarge the list with regard to state-patriotic orientation of military education and regional features. As the school is located in the region with a large number of monuments and museums (the Black Sea Fleet Museum, Museum of the Heroic Defence of Sevastopol, the Military Historic Museum of Fortifications, Balaklava Underground Submarine Museum, and others) dedicated to the military past, museum education, which, according to Rose (2014), requires museum educators to recognize that each visitor is an individual learner and simultaneously a member of multiple collective communities that he or she identifies with, acquires great potential. At the same time, traditional visits to museums should be brought to a new high-tech level through the use of innovative organizational forms, such as a virtual museum and a virtual tour (Ustyuzhanina, 2017).

Individual research work within the Scientific Society of Cadets is also an effective organizational form of moral education. It allows to use intensively the opportunities of “developing education” aimed at the improvement of the student's personality through the use of flexible problem-based learning, case study method, creative information technology and individual work of students intended to develop the skills of information search in a foreign language, work with Internet resources such as text pages, web pages, video and audio files, presentations. Thus, the cadets of the Black Sea Higher Naval School named after P. S. Nakhimov prepared dozens of speeches and presentations on state-patriotic topics, including: “Women in the Crimean War”, “The Battle of Alma”, “Balaklava Battle”, “Uniforms and Weapons in the Crimean War”, “The Battle of Sevastopol 1941-1942”, "Military Photographer Vyacheslav Mikosha”, “The Legendary Submarine Malyutka”, etc.

In addition, the complex of extracurricular, and leisure-cultural activities, which are recommended to be more intensively introduced into the process of foreign language training in a military educational establishment, contains staging of secular receptions and official events with the opportunity to practice the skills and knowledge of military ethics, etiquette, manners of behaviour in society and speech manners; demonstration of instructive and promotional, as well as illustrative movies; video and slide presentations by cadets-representatives of different ethnic groups and religions on their traditions; poetic battles and competitions for the best essay in prose; introduction into the basics of the journalist work, and others.

The practical significance of the presented research is confirmed by its wide approbation and implementation of the methodological system not only in the framework of higher military school, but also in the conditions of Humanitarian and Pedagogical Institute of the Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education "Sevastopol State University" during the educational process and in the organization of educational work with students. This indicates the universal nature of the study and the wide possibilities of its application in the higher education system.

Conclusion

Thus, the process of moral education of future naval officers has as its goal the development of such qualities and feelings of an individual as patriotism, honour, duty, citizenship, responsibility, courage, compassion, tolerance, political correctness and authenticity for the formation of the ability to perceive cultural, cultural-territorial, religious, universal human, life, national, state, family, inner values. This is facilitated by the purposeful selection of content and creative organization of foreign language training of cadets with the introduction of innovative forms, methods, information and communication technologies.

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