Teaching English to Pre-School Children and Children in a Primary School

     Lecture 15 
 

     THE CYCLE OF LESSONS AS THE MECHANISM OF THE

      EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. 

Plan: 

1. The cycle of lessons as mechanism of the educational process.
2. The first stage.
3. The second stage.
4. The third stage.

     Among many conditions, which are necessary for the achievement of any educational purpose, the knowledge of the process of mastering is one of main. During the education to speaking the description of the process of mastering of a speech material is necessary, because it gives to the teacher an opportunity precisely to imagine the basic marks on the ways to the planned purpose, basic tasks of each pieces of a way, the major means of the performance of these tasks. Differently, the knowledge of the process of mastering of a speech material provides competent basically organization of the education.

     Thus first of all it is necessary to recollect, that the skill is based on skills - lexical, grammatical, pronouncing. Certainly, in process of speaking all three kinds of skills are merged together or, speaking differently, lexical, grammatical and pronouncing of the side of speaking are indissoluble. But such solidity arises not at once, not by itself. That it to achieve, it is necessary any of the sides alternately to put forward on the foreground and to take possession of it. It is quite clear, that it is impossible, for example to form lexical and grammatical skills simultaneously.

     All said convinces that the occurrence of skill at mastering by any doze of the speech material is possible only after the formation and the accumulation of skills. Hence, at first there should be a stage of work, during which the specified kinds of skills are formed, then - the stage, on which develops speech skill.

     Thus, it is worth while to allocate three stages of work above the speech material:

     1) Stage of formation of speech skills;

     2) Stage of perfection of speech skills;

     3) Stage of development actually skills.

     The planned three stages of work is not pieces of all course of the education, and stages, periodically repeating during the course, through which each time there passes the certain doze of a speech material. The process of education (mastering), thus, gets the cycle character, and three stages of the cycle becomes the mechanism of the educational process. Such cycle also provides a quantitative gain, and main, steady increase of a qualitative level of the speech skill.

     The first stage.

     The first stage, as a rule, has two sub-stages: the formation of the lexical skills and the formation of the grammatical skills. We have written “as a rule”, as at the senior step of the education, when all necessary grammatical phenomena are already mastered, grammatical sub-stage can and to not be. The lexical sub-stage can be absent, if there are no new lexical units. As to “phonetic” sub-stage, it is not switched on in it on the rights of the independent sub-stage. It is explained to that pronouncing skills are formed at an initial step of training, then there is a perfection of the pronouncing skills. And the perfection can occur during the formation of lexical and grammatical skills, for this process is impossible without pronouncing a speech material. It is important to notice, that such approach allows saving precious educational time.

     The work at the first stage passes on the basis of an oral advancing. It means that at the first stage there is no work above the text. The new lexical material and the new grammatical phenomenon so to say, are withdrawn from that text, on the basis of which there will pass work at the second stage, and are acquired everyone on sub-stage, without the presentation of the text. All exercises of the first stage oral, though visual and impellent reinforcements take place. They are carried out as record on hearing and perusals micro-texts, made specially.

     It is necessary also to note, that the contents of the micro-texts and exercises at the first stage (as well as texts on subsequent) is constructed on the basis of the principle of novelty. At the first stage the conditional and speech exercises are carried out, as they allow to form skills of due quality.

     The second stage.

     The second stage is a stage of the perfection of skills and it is carried out at the work above the text. The text, which is used at the speaking training at the given stage, we conditionally names by colloquial text, as on the character he essentially differs from the texts intended for reading training. If the text for reading is an embodiment of especially written speech with all by its features, syntactic complexity, the colloquial text is the same oral statement, but fixed in writing.

     In the colloquial text, as a rule, there should not be a new lexical material, which would not be acquired at the first stage (or in the previous themes). It is the obligatory precondition of the performance of a task of the given stage – the perfection of skills.

     It is necessary first of all to remember, that the text not end in itself, the work at the given stage is conducted not to remember its contents and material. To remind of it is necessary, because very much often all work above the text is reduced to reading it, answers to questions and retelling (in a class or house). Even if the schoolboy will learn the text and then will reproduce it, it will not result in the perfection of skills, especially to the development of speech skill. That is why the colloquial text should be only substantial base for the statement of the pupils. The ideas contained in the text, should serve an occasion to the dialogue.

     Certainly, expressing the attitude to read (heard), the schoolboy can (and must!) to use the material of the colloquial text. But he can not (and does not must!) to retell the text, for all environmental with the text are familiar. Expressing the attitude, the pupil carries out each time any new speech task, and consequently, he will need different speech units: and what contain in the text, and what he has acquired earlier. Thus, the combination of the speech material will be carried out. Due to the combination also there is a perfection of skills of possession of the speech material.

     It is necessary to notice, that the combination here is appreciably limited as against those on the following, third stage. The restrictions these are imposed by necessity to improve possession by the certain and the concrete speech material. Therefore, the planning of the work with the colloquial text, it is necessary to provide “purposeful collision” of skills acquired at the first stage, with earlier acquired. So, if at the first stage the past time of the verb is acquired, it is necessary to include in exercises of the second stage such tasks, which would force the pupil in the statements to oppose this time to other past or past - present and future. In this case the perfection of skills of the possession of the temporary forms will go on a way of their differentiation, such important quality of skill, as stability will become stronger.

     Similar occurs and with the pronouncing skills.

     As to perfection of the lexical skills, it will be more successful, than the plenty of combinations, connections will be “acquired” with this or that word. That is why it is extremely important to include in exercises of the second stage those words from a stock of the pupils, with which help it is possible to form combinations on the basis of words acquired at the first stage.

     The perfection of speech skills at the second stage is carried out also due to the visual reinforcement: the pupil reads the text, then, in connection with the tasks, is compelled repeatedly to look through it that promotes storing.

     Thus, if to express essence of the second stage in brief, it consists in the following: the transformation of the material of the colloquial text and its combination with acquired earlier with the purposes of expression of the attitude to the contents of the colloquial text.

     Using a known terminology, it is possible to say, that at the second stage the prepared speech of monologic character develops.

     The third stage.

     At this stage all qualities of speaking as activity and as product develop.

     The specificity of work at the given stage consists that the speech material and it is used in completely new situations, for the decision of new speech tasks, more difficult both with psychological, and from the linguistic points of view.

     The visual verbal support here, as a rule, no. The illustrative support serve only stimulus to speaking and direct speech not in substantial, and only in the semantic attitude. Any supports take place only at the initial stage of the development of skill.

     If at the of perfection stage of skills the discussion goes within the framework of one problem, here are desirable of the semantic coordination of the given problem with others or with parts of the same problem.

     The main feature of this stage is also that teaching to the dialogue in its dialogical, group and collective form here is carried out.

     At the third stage speech exercises are carried out, which the main characteristic is the motivated expression of the ideas, that is possible only at original situation, at the presence of the speech and thinking tasks and other factors, about which was already spoken above.

     The described cycle of work is structural unit of the educational process. The cycles are repeated, the certain doze of the speech material accustoms to each of them, and the speech skill with each time is improved, yet will not achieve the level, to which all necessary characteristics are peculiar.

     Each stage consists of the certain stages of work, which observance basically is necessary. The quantity of the lessons in the cycle depends on the step of the teaching and from quantity of the material.

     In each cycle it is supposed to acquire any one grammatical phenomenon and from 30 up to 60 lexical units, basic weight from them is at lexical lessons, some words in addition is at the lesson of the second stage. Thus, for mastering 1500-2000 lexical units (quite sufficient for dialogue) and necessary grammatical phenomena is required about 30 cycles, that is no more than 240 lessons - time, with which any educational institution has. 

     Control questions: 

1. What’s the cycle of lessons as mechanism of the educational process?
2. What first stage is in the educational process?
3. What The second stage in the educational process?
4. What The third stage in the educational process?

Recommended literature: 

1.Кудрицкая М.И.  Методика работы с видеоматериалами  на занятиях по практике речи  английского языка. АКД, Алматы, 2001.

2.Гальскова Н.Д. Современная методика обучения иностранным языкам., М., 2000.

3.Зимняя И.А.  Психология обучения иностранным  языкам в школе.-М., 1991.