Modular Training In Forming Socio-Cultural Competence Of Non-Philological Students

Abstract

The article is devoted to the organization of modular training in the structure of the educational process - a universal bachelor's degree of university students’ professional training. The article defines modular training. The author reveals the main goals and objectives of modular training at the present stage of education. The definition of a universal baccalaureate is given. The author outlines the basic structure of the universal bachelor's degree applied in the educational process of the University. The article presents historical data on the organization of modular training in general. The author gives an example of the main stages that determine the process of modular foreign language teaching. The content of the article exposes the semantic concepts of the structure of the module program, based on the content of the principal educational program Foreign Language. Federal and State Educational Standard. The article describes the main stages of modular training in the Foreign Language academic track used at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. The effectiveness of modular training of universal baccalaureate in the structure of the University is determined as one of the methods of organizing the educational environment, which makes it possible to implement a personality-oriented approach, managing the learning process of each student.

Keywords: Modular traininguniversal baccalaureatetraining elementindividual approachmain educational program

Introduction

In the modern world, the development of modern education plays an important role. Emendating the purport and composition of the educational system differs noticeably from generation to generation. This course is directly bound with the society's demand for highly qualified specialists.

The final amendments in the educational system clamors for conversion to the direction of education, its composition, modes and approaches to the teaching process itself. The further evolution of our country in all spheres of society relies essentially on the intellectual development of people, their literacy and education in any framework.

Problem Statement

The begetter of the paper provides a sample of the main stages that determine the process of modular foreign language teaching, reveals the semantic concepts of the module program structure based on the content of the main educational program. The article describes the basic phases of modular schooling in the Foreign Language track of training.

The effectiveness of modular training of universal baccalaureate in the structure of the University is determined as one of the methods of organizing the educational environment, which potentiates to realize an individual-oriented touch, managing the learning process of each student.

Research Questions

One of the central issues of this study is a module, or modular, program consisting of several related modules. The authors try to answer the question how to apply this form of education in higher education in the development and formation of socio- cultural competence of students of non-humanities specialties.

Purpose of the Study

The aim of present-day education is to teach a mature professional in the scope of market contacts in public and professional fields (Malyuga et al., 2018; Radyuk & Pankova, 2017; Samokhina, 2019). The quality and obviousness of the education system involve equable changes in the freedom of teaching planning, pace, place and time in the conversion of the new education system. Many Russian universities apply different ways to improve the system: endorsing the information environment of training, designing new training substance, changing the learning act itself in the composition of planning the educational process (Smirnova, 2016). Developed by universities, new conditions for making people ready for life form new claims for a specialist.

Research Methods

The idea of modular contemplation was born in the late 1960s and quickly found its enclosure in English-speaking countries. Over time, investigators in our country took an interest in modular training as well.

They considered that the objective of modular training is to create an auspicious environment for individual development by designing supple learning content that should meet the individual requirements of the student, while constructing an individual curriculum. Modular training is a way of forming the educational process based on block-based delivery of educational information.

At the Chair of foreign languages of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, preschool education is successfully used in the process of forming socio-cultural competence among students of non-philological specialties.

Let's move on to a brief review:

a) the structure of the proposed model;

b) the nature of the materials used;

c) types of tasks that are relevant to training tasks.

The model consists of three interconnected modules related to the stages of forming the socio-cultural competence. Module 1 corresponds to the preparatory stage, from which the work on building the socio-cultural competence begins. Module 2 is the main system-forming block of the model. This is the main stage of training, where students acquire a complex of background knowledge and modern realities, identify national and cultural features of speech and non-speech behavior of representatives of a particular language community, master the ability to organize communication in conformity with social standards and rules of interaction typical of official communication. Accordingly, module 3 - the final one - involves the use of socio-cultural competence skills in speech activity. This is a stage of improving the CCM, independent creative activity, and autonomous work of the student to further study the problem.

The subject content of the work at each stage is a subject of cultural nature, not related to the specialty. The task of the first stage (module 1) is to prepare for the perception of linguistic information and partly cultural content of video materials that are the object of work at the main stage of the model (module 2).

In relation to the chosen topic, this work consists in inferring the general idea of the writer and his work. For this purpose, we offer various tasks aimed at finding the necessary information when reading reference literature (encyclopedias, dictionaries, reference books, catalogs, bibliographies, and prefaces). From the above, it follows that at this stage, the leading place is occupied by printed texts of informative nature.

Module 2 can be called a video module, since this type of media, due to the technical capabilities of audio-visual representation of discourses in a certain social context, is the most effective means of teaching intercultural communication.

In accordance with this, video recordings of similar TV shows on French and Russian television were selected. In the first case, it is a recording of a TV conversation between the famous French TV host and the author of the Apostrophes program B.Beer and the French writer Le Clezio, while in the second case, these are recordings of several TV conversations with Russian cultural figures on the Culture channel. The choice of these materials was determined by the following factors:

- professional and communicative orientation of the learning process: future specialists should be able to conduct a conversation with speakers of another culture.

- the possibility of audio-visual presentation of both speech and non-speech behavior of representatives of different cultures, including the emotional design of statements;

- availability of printed materials in French on similar topics, which allowed us to develop a set of tasks for the formation of CCM skills in the future.

The advantages of authentic video material as a means of teaching are obvious, and they have received quite wide coverage in the methodological literature of both domestic and foreign authors. We will note the most important ones of them: authenticity, the effect of presence and as a result the emotional impact that stimulates the speech, cognitive, creative activity of students, which is especially relevant for non-philological specialties, the display of speech and non-speech conduct of informants in a certain socio-cultural context. The considered training tool also provides an opportunity to create a wide range of methodological developments based on it, depending on the tasks and conditions of training.

Taking into account the complexity of perception of the linguistic information of the video in French, audio recordings, selective written transcription of fragments interesting from both the lingual and cultural standpoint, as well as printed text of excerpts from the writer's works quotes from which are heard during the conversation, were used as additional materials.

At the final stage (module 3), the main materials on which the work on the use of socio-cultural competence in professional communication situations is based are a video film and written texts (published interviews with the writer, critical articles in the press, excerpts from the author's works).

The framework of the article does not permit us to describe in detail the actual method of integrated use of the materials considered on the basis of these modules. In general terms, it can be presented as follows.

Module 1. The work on forming the CCM begins with an introductory conversation of a heuristic nature, during which the concept of the CCM and its components are clarified, its significance for cross-cultural professional communication is determined, the final requirements are formulated, and the procedure and methods of work are discussed.

Then, in the mode of independent work, tasks are offered in the information search, which involve reading reference literature in order to extract the sought-for information about the writer and his work. We should mark that at this stage, the students' knowledge is updated, the skills of viewing, searching and studying reading are further developed, and cognitive activity is activated.

The result of the work is a list of key concepts that reflect the essence of the problem, their interpretation in French and contrastive analysis in two languages based on data from bilingual and explanatory dictionaries.

Module 2. It is in this module that the capabilities of the "video-audio-written text" complex are most fully implemented. This leads to the flexible nature of the methodology (diversity and autonomy of tasks, "freedom" in their selection and presentation), the requirement to reckon for the specifics of all components of the complex. Therefore, module 2 tasks can be carved up into three groups hinging on the nature of the training tool.

Module 3.

Tasks based on video and printed text:

- voicing fragments of a video, in particular the role of a TV host;

- consecutive translation of the conversation's thematic blocks into Russian;

- preparation of a series of additional questions on the discussed issue addressed to the writer, writing a review of the TV movie;

- joint discussion of the terms and scenario of the round table, reading the published interview with the writer and comparing it with the content of the TV conversation;

- independent search and study of additional literature about the writer's work and the human problem in French literature (Gruzdeva, 2016);

- oral reports on the problem, writing a short abstract (synthesis) of the texts read;

- individual reading of excerpts from the author's works with written comments on the socio-cultural context;

- writing essays that suggest a comparative interpretation of the human problem in French and Russian literature and art;

Tasks based on watching a video:

- initial viewing of the introductory part of the video;

- forecasting the list of topics to discuss;

- viewing several fragments of the film with an eye to test the assumptions put forward;

- viewing and fixing the parameters of the communication situation on a special card;

- viewing only the visual series and analyzing and discussing in French the technique of shooting TV conversations (composition, scenery, lighting, costumes, setting, changing frames, alternating plans: general, medium, large) by filling in the proposed tables;

- viewing and identifying features of non-speech behavior of communicants (facial expressions, gestures, gaze), sequential viewing of fragments of French and Russian videos, and identifying similarities and differences in the organization of discourse and nonverbal behavior of different cultures (French and Russian) using the proposed questionnaire and a special table.

Tasks based on audio recordings:

- listening to unfamiliar fragments of video recordings with different types of tasks;

- questions on understanding the language and semantic information of statements;

- identification of prosodic features of speech in French (tonality, rhythm, intonation, timbre, pauses);

- forecasting possible variants of non-verbal behavior of communicants;

- written transcription of individual utterances and identification of lexical units that are important for understanding the French mentality and culture of the country;

- accurate reproduction of what you have listened to in order to develop your pronunciation skills, etc.

Tasks based on written transcription of the video text and printed texts:

- expressive reading aloud based on audio recording, filling in gaps (from individual words to whole semantic fragments) based on audio text;

- fixing logical and structural connections in the French language both within one utterance and between two or more utterances of the interlocutors;

- identification and written recording of the means used by TV presenters to encourage the interlocutor to speak and their comparison at the cultural level;

- identification of speech communication formulas that implement a certain communicative intent, culturally marked lexical units, and country and language-specific information;

- creating a list of keywords, defining the most important concepts, creating a chain of associations, semantic fields, writing a plan, and summary of a TV conversation.

Findings

Our analysis of the selected video materials allowed us to identify a number of characteristics relevant to resolving methodological issues, namely: short duration (no more than 40 minutes), transparency of the structure (the presence of several thematic blocks), the presence of two permanent interlocutors who are in the same time-spatial circumstances, linear construction of the conversation (TV host - interlocutor), the dominance of verbal information, techniques of filming (editing images and sound, scenery, variation of shooting plans, lighting).

These features of video materials predetermined the nature of the integrated materials that form the "video, audio and written text” complex.

Conclusion

The formation of the competence we are interested in is a complex process that requires the search for and implementation of modern integrated learning technologies in the educational process. A model based on the integration of video, audio and written texts and addressed to senior students of non-philological faculties of non-linguistic universities can serve as a model of one of them.

It should be noted that the peculiarity of the presented model is that the process of forming socio-cultural competence is not carried out in isolation, but in parallel with the work/ improvement of other sub-competencies of communicative competence: language, discursive, sociolinguistic ones, i.e. it is naturally integrated into the educational process.

The proposed model is an open system, creating prerequisites for further integration of modern learning tools using computer programs, CD-ROM and Internet resources.

References

1. Gruzdeva, M. L. (2016). Syllabus as a means of organizing independent work of students. Bulletin of Minin University, 1-1(13), 19.
2. Malyuga, E. N., Krouglov, A., & Tomalin, B. (2018). Linguo-cultural competence as a cornerstone of translators’ performance in the domain of intercultural business communication. XLinguae. A European Scientific Language Journal, 2, 566-582. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2018.11.02.46
3. Radyuk, A. V., & Pankova, V. Yu. (2017). Developing Business English skills using case studies in the framework of multilevel education. Training, Language and Culture, 1(3), 30-38. https://doi.org/10.29366/2017tlc.1.3.2
4. Samokhina, T. S. (2019). Cultures and professional communication in standard situations: differences in communicative behaviour. Professional Discourse & Communication, 1(1), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.24833/2687-0126-2019-1-1-99-110 [In Russ.] 
5. Smirnova, Z. V. (2016). Modernizing the process of preparing University students with the use of modular training. International Journal of Applied and Fundamental Research, 4-4, 827-829.