Focus on Language Education and Research

Focus on Language Education and Research is an international forum for both invited and contributed peer reviewed articles that advance language education at all levels and current issues and challenges for research educational practice in the teaching, learning, and assessment.

The journal publishes a broad range of papers covering best teaching practices, experimental results, contemporary teaching issues.

The journal is directed to those concerned with the functioning of language education, including universities, graduate and professional schools. It is of primary interest to institutional researchers and planners, faculty, college and university administrators.

Types of content:

  • Relationships between policy, theory and practice
  • Pedagogical practices in classrooms and less formal settings
  • English learning/teaching in all phases, from early learners to higher and adult education
  • Policy and practice in Russia
  • Classroom practice in all its aspects
  • Classroom-based research
  • Methodological questions in teaching and research
  • Multilingualism and multiculturalism
  • New technologies and foreign languages

In addition to original research articles, the journal publishes case studies and reviews of books, media, software, and other relevant products.

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Current Issue

Vol 4, No 3 (2023)

Cover Page

Articles

Learner-centered techniques: history and practice of implementation in English language classes in secondary school
Ilyina S.S.
Abstract

The article is focused on the use of learner-centered techniques in foreign language education. The researcher suggests the authorial teaching activity, based on the development of personal qualities of students during the study of program material in the English language classes. The recent research has shown that the implementation of learner-centered techniques in the educational process contributes to improving students' motivation, communicative skills, and the development of social and personal qualities, developing their communicative skills and social qualities, and ensuring a better quality of learning process.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):5-19
pages 5-19 views
Developing lexical skills using the flashcard method among the students of the 6th grades of the lyceum
Raksina M.I., Agapova D.V.
Abstract

This article discusses the ways of developing lexical skills of the sixth grade students at the lyceum. The research is aimed at giving a detailed description of the flashcard method, analyzing the use of the flashcard method in teaching new lexical units in the lessons of the English language. The researchers also sought to develop and test a set of flashcard based exercises aimed at the developing of lexical skills in the English lessons in the sixth grade. The theoretical significance of this research lies in a complex theoretical justification of the expediency of using the flashcard method in the developing of lexical skills in English language lessons in the 6th grade at the lyceum. The practical significance lies in the development of a set of exercises that can be used to develop lexical skills of the 6th grade students at a English language lesson at the lyceum. The importance of adaptation of the flashcard method in relation to teaching vocabulary to 6th grade students at the lyceum is that the simplification of its employment at foreign language lessons will make its use more widespread and will help maintain learning motivation, attention, and improve the material aquisition. The authors used such general scientific methods as analysis and synthesis, theoretical interpretation, study and content analysis of publications on Teaching English as a Second Language, psychological and pedagogical literature, study of the practical experience of teaching English, as well as trial training followed by quantitative and qualitative analysis of the obtained data and the evaluation of the achieved results. Subsequently, a set of exercises based on the material of the module 2c "My Neighbourhood" of the educational package "Spotlight 6" used at the lyceum was developed and tested. The above mentioned set of exercises was based on the implementation of the flashcards method.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):20-40
pages 20-40 views
Communication model in terms of linguocultural transformations
Pestova V.V., Gashimov E.A., Akhidzhakova M.P.
Abstract

In this article, communication is considered from the perspective of linguistic and cultural background, which undergoes significant transformations under the influence of extralinguistic factors. It also touches on strategies in matters of intercultural interaction. Intercultural communication is the interaction of two code systems that require decoding, taking into account the mental component of any ethnic group. The article discusses aspects of study of linguocultural codes, including also linguistic–need specificity since the need for effective communication is currently at the top stage of personal development and the formation of productive interpersonal and interethnic contacts. The authors suppose that the formation of a consistent model for studies of mental cultural codes, their integration into the corresponding national linguocultural codes from the perspective of global processes and in correlation with linguistic-need aspects of professional communication in various discursive spaces is required. In this regard, researchers have made an attempt to analyze and systematize the components of this model. Its subsequent creation will make a significant contribution to linguocultural, linguosemiotic, linguocognitive approaches to discourse studies. In addition, the authors pay significant attention to the transformation of impacts on Russian-speaking linguistic and cultural background caused by both internal and external sociocultural processes. Based on a large number of studies, the possible causes and sources of changes in key cultural vectors and the corresponding mental and linguistic codes are studied. The authors of the article prove that studies of transformations of linguistic and cultural codes should take into account digital and socio-political aspects of communication, as components of a broad and pragmatic understanding of culture. Communication strategies are likely to become universal and applicable to any linguistic and cultural background in terms of institutional discursive space. At the end of the article, the authors suggest some further prospects for constructing a model of linguocultural transformations based on studies of linguistic means and speech techniques in various types of discourses, taking into account linguocultural specifics and high dynamics of sociocultural transformations.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):41-57
pages 41-57 views
国俗词语 [gosu ciyu] as an integral component of teaching Chinese as a foreign language
Varakina M.I., Isakova E.S.
Abstract

«Gosu Ciyu» has always been one of the serious difficulties in teaching foreign languages, since these words usually do not have corresponding lexical analogues in the vocabulary system of the language being studied, and are the so-called non-equivalent vocabulary, since they have cultural and historical correlations. In this regard, it seems difficult to explain to students the lexical meaning of this concept. Indeed, in the field of teaching Chinese as a foreign language, Chinese and foreign scientists have conducted many studies devoted to the definition of the concept of «Gosu Ciyu» and methods of teaching «Gosu Ciyu», however, we still cannot give a single, universally accepted definition of «Gosu Ciyu», and propose a methodology for teaching this block of vocabulary that would not be questioned as the only correct one. In the article presented to your attention, the concept of «Gosu Ciyu» should be understood as lexical units that have connections with many spheres of modern society, namely, politics, economics, history, and culture. «Gosu Ciyu» includes lexical units that are inextricably linked with the customs and traditions of the country and reflecting national and cultural characteristics, that is, «Gosu Ciyu» are words containing a national component, carrying information about the national culture of the people, allowing one to analyze the word from the standpoint of the cultural background. «Gosu Ciyu» reflect not only the cultural traditions of China, but also a type of cultural worldview based on the general cultural, hhistorical, and social experience of the Chinese nation, views on life existing in Chinese society, and the centuries-old values of the Chinese people. Currently, they often talk about the need for a cultural approach to language teaching. For the methodology of teaching the Chinese language, this is a relatively new phenomenon, and is not yet sufficiently reflected in the methodological literature. Despite the enormous interest in the Chinese language, in the realities of Ancient, Old, New and Modern China, most foreign students have a basic understanding of the national customs of China, however, they often lack a deeper understanding of cultural phenomena and national-cultural characteristics of China. Therefore, at present, we see it as important to focus not only on the direct teaching of the Chinese language, but also on the study of Chinese national customs and vocabulary, reflecting the mental constants of the Chinese people. Issues of teaching a foreign language have been deeply studied in theoretical and general pedagogical terms. We would like to consider the methodological aspects of teaching words with a national-cultural component. According to the authors of the article, teachers of Chinese as a foreign language need to pay more attention to this issue and improve methods of teaching Chinese, which will make it possible to place a serious emphasis on the study of «Gosu Ciyu», since, precisely, knowledge and understanding of words with a national-cultural component will help students realize features of ethnic thinking, national and cultural specifics of the Chinese people, the close connection of the lexical layer of language and culture. In the modern, rational, and pragmatic world, interest in the study of «Gosu Ciyu», as metaphorical units with their inherent national-cultural component, is growing and deepening. Just like centuries ago, «Gosu Ciyu» enchants, they are enigmatic and mysterious, they unexpectedly turn out to be relevant in the 21st century, in a society of technocracy and unbridled technical progress, humanity continues to find in them food for the soul and mind. Metaphorical units with their inherent national-cultural component are one of the biggest difficulties for foreign students when learning Chinese. The uniqueness of vocabulary reflecting national culture lies in the uniqueness of the reality that it relays and the peculiarities of cultural connotation. The «Gosu Ciyu» study showed that non-equivalent vocabulary in the Chinese language, conveying the characteristics of the national culture, directly reflects non-verbal reality, recording and conveying natural features, customs, attitudes of people and social systems of different eras. Based on the above, we would like to emphasize once again that when mastering the Chinese language, it is necessary to deeply explore the layer of language that has ideological, spiritual, moral, and value potential. Mastering lexical material of this kind will allow us to achieve an understanding of culturally significant aspects of the surrounding world, and directly, the sociocultural processes occurring not only in China itself, but also in the countries of the Confucian area, and the heuristic potential of ritual (礼li) in the modernization of this region.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):58-83
pages 58-83 views
Understated EFL course workload as a factor of inefficient language training at non-linguistic university
Fedorov I.E.
Abstract

Kuban State Agrarian University holds the status of a leading scientific and educational institution for agricultural industry in Southern Russia. Since 2021, the university has been awarded a winner of the Priority 2030 academic leadership program. Both these factors predetermined its transformation from University 2.0 to University 3.0 model. There occurred several obstacles on the way, though, one of them being low level of the university staff foreign language competency. We believe that developing a complex innovative language training system could improve the situation. Such system would include various internationally acclaimed language courses both for students and teaching professors. First steps towards the innovative system development were taken within the priority Masters Degree programs. While studying the current syllabi and legal documentation under the educational process at Kuban SAU there were discovered several factors of reduction in efficiency of language training. Understated workload of the EFL courses is claimed to be the major one. Meanwhile, scrutinizing numerous federal and international didactic sources proved a dramatic gap between the Russian Federal State Educational Standards and Common European Framework of Reference for Languages requirements and conditions of their implementation with regard to foreign language training outcomes in specific connection with EFL courses workload. Comparative analysis of the abovementioned sources uncovered the fact that Kuban SAU Masters Degree graduates ought to master foreign language at the C1 Advanced level. Admissions assessment of the applicant students displayed insufficient level of their initial foreign language competency rating below B1 Threshold. Further calculations revealed drastic disparity in the given and the required workload of EFL courses which totaled about 17.5 times. Considering this, completing the appointed educational task appears impossible, as well as solving the previously outlined obstacle to the university transformation. We allocate implementing modular design of the priority Masters Degree EFL courses among possible solutions to the highlighted problems. Such courses boast extended workload and a complete set of topical materials both to fulfill the FSES requirements and the CEFR guidelines. An integrated modular course comprises three major parts, including Professional Foreign Language module, Business Communication Skills and Academic Communication Skills modules that allow the students to experience a wide variety of linguistic contexts, and to enhance their foreign language competency within professional, business and academic communities.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):84-108
pages 84-108 views
Technological skills development of ESL-teachers in the system of additional pedagogical education
Korobkova K.A., Levchenko V.V.
Abstract

The training of foreign language teachers in the modern educational system is a complex and multi-stage process involving many auxiliary resources, one of which is the system of additional education. The authors of the article talk about the content of the concept of "additional education" as a more widely applicable structural component of the education system, represented by a set of essential and distinctive components that form this concept on the basis of a system-structural approach.  In the article, the authors provide detailed information about the concept of "additional professional education" in the field of pedagogical activity, which makes it possible to most accurately and in detail consider a narrower concept before and give impetus to a subsequent more extensive study of this concept, to a more detailed consideration of both the specifics of the components and the concept as a whole. The development and improvement of new skills is integrated into the daily tasks of teachers, therefore, there is a need to create conditions for honing acquired skills. Modern educational trends make it possible for teachers to obtain and improve new skills implemented in the course of professional activity and thereby link the system of additional professional and the use of modern technologies in professional activity. The authors of this article aim to consider the experience of training foreign language teachers in the context of the system of additional education, as well as the possibility of developing technological skills in the system of additional education. For a deeper understanding of the built training system and the possibility of integration, the authors consider a more narrowly focused system of additional pedagogical education. The authors will also consider the possibility of interchanging additional professional and additional pedagogical education. In the conclusion of the article, the authors will conclude about the systems of additional education and additional pedagogical education, as well as about the prospects for the development of technological skills in the system of additional professional education.

Focus on Language Education and Research. 2023;4(3):109-125
pages 109-125 views

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