Development of pupils’ functional literacy through technologies of problem and dialogue training

Resourcefulness, ingenuity, ability to unusual situations, problem vision, mobility, flexibility of mind, information and communicative culture, and often – sense of humour, ability to compromises, to creative of information and its competent use in practice, self-responsibility, inquisitiveness, activity, courage, aspiration to opening new – key parameters of the modern personality.

The changes happening today in education are directed to formation of functionally developed personality: ensuring self-determination of the personality, creation of conditions for self-realization. It demand from the teacher of transition from traditional methods of training to new. In this regard there was a need of use for educational process of the new educational technologies assuming research activity of the pupil at a lesson. The foundation of functional literacy is laid at elementary school.

There is a need to use in educational process new educational technologies assuming activity of the pupil at a lesson. One of such technologies is the technology of problem and dialogical training.

Dialogue is a special kind of discourse that enables people with different perspectives and worldviews to work together to:

-Dispel mistrust and create a climate of good faith

-Break through negative stereotypes

-Shift the focus from transactions to relationships, creating community

-Make participants more sympathetic to one another even when they disagree

-Prepare the ground for negotiation or decision making on emotion-laden issues

-Expand the number of people committed to decisions on challenging issues

To explain dialogue we contrast it with debate, a more common form of discourse. Both are essential in decision-making, but they have different purposes. Debate is about winning; dialogue is about learning.

Dialogic teaching is not just any talk. It is as distinct from the question-answer and listen-tell routines of traditional teaching as it is from the casual conversation of informal discussion. Thus:

Dialogic teaching is not the speaking and listening component of the teaching of national curriculum English under another name.

• It attends as closely to the teacher’s talk as to the pupil’s.
• It is a comprehensive approach to talk in teaching and learning across the whole curriculum.
• It is grounded in research on the relationship between language, learning, thinking and understanding, and in observational evidence on what makes for truly effective teaching.

A dialogue consists of a series of lead-response units. The significant feature of a lead-response unit is that the response part may, and usually does, serve in its own turn as a fresh inducement leading to further verbal exchanges, i. e., lead   ►    response   ►    inducement   ►   response.    A response unit is a unit of speech between two pauses. It may consist of more than one sentence. But the most characteristic feature of a dialogue is that the lead-response units are closely connected and dependent on each other. The lead is relatively free, while the response depends on the first and does not exist without it.

—      Where is the book?

—      There, on the shelf.

In teaching dialogue we should use pattern dialogues as they involve all features which characterize this form of speech.

There are three stages in learning a dialogue:

(1) receptive;

(2)   reproductive;

(3)  constructive (creative).

1. Pupils «receive» the dialogue by ear first. They listen to the dialogue recorded or reproduced by the teacher. The teacher helps pupils in comprehension of the dialogue using a picture or pictures to illustrate its contents. They listen to the dialogue a second time and then read it silently for better understanding, paying attention to the intonation. They may listen to the dialogue and read it again, if necessary.
2. Pupils enact the pattern dialogue. We may distinguish three kinds of reproduction:

Immediate. Pupils reproduce the dialogue in imitation of the speaker or the teacher while listening to it or just after they have heard it. The teacher checks the pupils’ pronunciation and intonation in particular. The pupils are asked to learn the dialogue by heart for homework.

Delayed. After pupils have learned the dialogue at home, they enact the pattern dialogue in persons. Before calling on pupils it is recommended that they should listen to the pattern dialogue recorded again to remind them of how it «sounds».

Modified. Pupils enact the dialogue with some modifications in its contents. They change some elements in it. The more elements (main words and phrases) they change in the pattern the better they assimilate the structure of the dialogue:

—      Will you help me, sonny?

—      What shall I do, Mother?

—      Will you bring me a pail of water?

—      Certainly I will.

The use of pictures may be helpful. Besides pupils use their own experience while selecting the words for substitutions.

The work should not be done mechanically. Pupils should speak on the situation. As a result of this work pupils master the structure of the pattern dialogue (not only the contents), i. e., they can use it as a model for making up dialogues of their own, that is why pattern dialogues should be carefully selected.

The first two stages aim at storing up patterns in pupils’ memory for expressing themselves in different situations, of course within the topics and linguistic material the syllabus sets for each form.

3. Pupils make up dialogues of their own. They are given a picture or a verbal situation to talk about. This is possible provided pupils have a stock of patterns, a certain number of phrases for starting a conversation, joining in, etc. They should use those lead-response units they have learned in connection with the situation suggested for a conversation.

At the third stage the choice of stimuli is of great importance, as very often pupils cannot think what to say, though they know how to say this or that. Therefore, audio-visual aids should be extensively utilized.

Rule for the teacher: In teaching dialogue use pattern dialogues; make sure that your pupils go through the three stages from receptive through reproductive to creative, supply them with the subject to talk about.

In teaching speaking the problem is what form of speech to begin with, and what should be the relationship between monologue and dialogue. This problem may be solved in different ways. Some methodologists give preference to dialogic speech in teaching beginners, and they suggest that pupils learn first how to ask and answer questions which is mostly characteristic of a dialogue, and how to make up a short dialogue following a model. Pupils are taught how to make statements, how to combine several sentences into one utterance in connection with an object or a situation offered. As to the relationship between monologue and dialogue, it should vary from stage to stage in teaching speaking in schools. In the junior stage (5—6 forms) dialogic speech, the time which allows the teacher to introduce new material and consolidate it in conversation, must prevail. In the intermediate stage (7—8 forms) dialogue and monologue must be on an equal footing.

In the senior stage (9—10 forms) monologic speech must prevail since pupils take part in discussion and, therefore, express their thoughts in connection with a problem or retell a text read or heard. To sum it up both forms of speech (monologue and dialogue) should be developed side by side with preference for the one which is more important for pupils’ progress in learning a foreign language at a certain stage.

In school teaching only one structure of dialogue is usually used, i.e., question — response. More than that, pupils’ dialogues are artificial and they lack, as a rule, all the pecu­liarities mentioned   above.

In teaching dialogue in schools it is necessary to take into account these peculiarities and give pupils pattern dialogues to show what real dialogues look like.

In conclusion we would like to say that, dialogic teaching is an approach and a professional outlook rather than a specific method. It requires us to rethink not just the techniques we use but also the classroom relationships we foster, the balance of power between teachers and taught and the way we conceive of knowledge. Dialogic teaching is an approach and a professional outlook rather than a specific method. It requires us to rethink not just the techniques we use but also the classroom relationships we foster, the balance of power between teachers and taught and the way we conceive of knowledge.

Thus, use of dialogue forms at lessons allows us to develop functional literacy, and to form as a result the competence-based focused personality, including communicative and social adapted.

Zhakayeva A.S.
Sadybekova G.K.
Zharkenova U.M.
KGU Secondary School No. 29 “Palmira”
East-Kazakhstan region, city of Semey