PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES

Abstract. This paper deals with current difficulties of psychological barriers to communication that occur in high school foreign language classes, as well as approaches and recommendations for minimizing and overcoming them.

Keywords: to overcome, psychological barriers, mistake, foreign language, obstacle, misunderstanding, negative experience

The problem's urgency is defined by the fact that globalization is becoming a more significant component of our society, and foreign language learning is becoming increasingly popular. Students in high school experience a variety of challenges and mistakes while learning a foreign language. These are psychological barriers.

The most complete theoretical understanding of the "psychological barrier" is given by R. H. Shakurov, who proposed a new theory of psychological barriers, within which he gives the following definition: "The psychological barrier is external and internal obstacles that resist the manifestations of the subject’s life activity, functioning" [4]. Psychological impediments are given special focus in E.F. Zeer's research. The scientist is referring to psychological barriers that produce professional disorganization, unhappiness with activities, asthenic experiences, emotional stress, nervous breakdowns, and interpersonal disputes [2]. According to H.A. Podymov, the psychological barrier is an internal obstacle reflected in a person's consciousness, expressed in violation of the semantic correspondence of consciousness and objective conditions and methods of activity [3]. Many psychologists and teachers have been interested in the issue of psychological impediments to learning a foreign language, indicating its importance and relevance. Psychological obstacles that arise in various domains of professional activity are explored, and classifications of psychological barriers are proposed in the works of E. P. Ermolaeva, B. D. Parygin, A. A. Goncharova, and A. K. Markova. A special focus was placed on the investigation of the various types of psychological barriers: semantic, emotional, and psychological barriers in communication, as well as psychological barriers in educational activities.

All psychological barriers, in our opinion, can be divided into three subtypes, which are clearly displayed in the table.

Table 1

Subtypes of psychological barriers in communication

To study cases of language anxiety and psychological difficulties in foreign communication, we interviewed 30 high school students (15 male, 15 female) using the FLCAS language anxiety scale (Table 2).

Table 2

Distribution of cases of language anxiety and psychological difficulties

According to the results, male students are more afraid of interpersonal foreign communication than female. In the process of work, 54% of boys and 46% of girls are afraid of getting a negative assessment. However, boys worry less during the educational process than girls: 40 and 60%, respectively. The proportion of girls who are afraid of the final monitoring is higher - 70%, against 30 of boys.

The results of the study showed that male students feel a stronger fear of negative evaluation, as well as direct communication, than women. Nevertheless, the proportion of girls who are afraid of a negative assessment is not too far behind that of boys. However, girls worry more about the final results of their studies than young people; we believe that this is due to the degree of diligence and responsibility in their studies.

Thus, psychological language barriers are both internal (personal – depending on character, temperament, cognitive abilities, motivation; related to brain specifics, fear, and past failures) and external (features of interaction in a team; the need for forced communication; distinctive features of the presentation of the material; the personality of the teacher). In addition, O.G. Barvenko identified the following barriers: "macrosocial, microsocial, subjective and barriers caused by the psychological characteristics of the process of learning a foreign language. The latter include barriers of fossilization, interference, communication techniques, assimilation and application of knowledge in a foreign language, communication barriers"[1].

It is vital to provide students with suitable learning environments; we are not only referring to technical factors, but also to a positive psychological atmosphere and specific methods. It is not acceptable to have a system of severe control, personal humiliation, unreasonable demands, or bias.

Taking into account the evolution of several sorts of speech activity (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), the two most difficult in terms of overcoming psychological obstacles were aural perception of foreign language speech (listening) and public performances in a foreign language (speaking).

The following activities based on foreign language teaching techniques were used: constructive training for grammatical assimilation, exercises for the development of monological and dialogical speech, exercises for the development of writing abilities, the ability to lead a conversation, and so on.

Within the framework of the research, the following methods of overcoming psychological barriers were used: "brainstorming", gaming technology, maintaining a language portfolio, a method of solving problems and a method of analyzing concrete examples. In our opinion, these methods contributed to the success in achieving the goal, since they were chosen taking into account what psychological barrier was to be overcome as a result of learning a foreign language.

Thus, we have studied the features of the main groups of psychological barriers that arise in the process of mastering foreign language speech: cognitive, communicative, emotional and personal. The statistically significant data obtained as a result of the study confirm that the technology of overcoming psychological barriers in the process of learning a foreign language is effective and contributes to achieving success in mastering a foreign language.