THE USE OF VIDEO MATERIALS IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO STUDENTS IN HIGHER TECHNICAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Introduction

Video materials used in the learning process are understood as one of the types of technical teaching aids that provide the function of transferring information, as well as receiving feedback in the process of its perception and acquisition with the aim of further developing certain skills and competencies in students in English lessons. The aim of teaching a foreign language at a technical university is to create conditions for the formation of communicative competence necessary for foreign language activities to study and comprehend foreign experience in the main and related fields of science and technology, as well as for the implementation of cultural and professional communication. The realization of this goal depends on the content of training, on the use of appropriate methods and teaching aids.

Methodology

The usage of video in English lessons contributes to the individualization of teaching and the development of motivation of students to speak on the lessons. The specificity of video materials, as a means of teaching English, provides communication with real subjects that stimulate almost genuine communication: students seem to become participants in all situations, they solve “real” life problems.

Despite the active usage of video materials in the process of learning foreign languages, their diversity, the presence of a large number of video courses in foreign languages, the method of working with video materials has not yet been sufficiently developed.

As T. P. Leontyeva emphasizes, “Videotext has the advantage that it combines various aspects of language interaction. In addition to the content side of communication, the video text contains visual information about the place of the event, the appearance and non-verbal behaviour of the participants in communication in a particular situation, often due to the specifics of the age, gender and psychological characteristics of the speaker's personality”[9].

Using video in the classroom helps to solve the following tasks:

• increasing the motivation of learning;

• intensification of learning;

• activation of students;

• independent work of students;

• increasing the quality of students' knowledge;

There are three main types of video materials that can be used in teaching a foreign language for professional communication. Firstly, these are specially developed educational videos included in the set of modern educational and methodological complexes. The main advantage of these videos is that they are understandable and designed for learners with an appropriate level of language proficiency. They are not authentic, so it is recommended not to overuse them, since authentic materials have a number of advantages over materials accompanying teaching materials [3]. In addition, video materials, a rather expensive product, and the modern market for educational products offer a limited selection of them in comparison with textbooks.

There are practically no video materials that meet the needs of students (for example, for those who need a foreign language in such spheres of professional communication as information technology, mining, chemical engineering, nuclear physics, etc.).

Available video materials are on second place, i.e. a range of videos that are easy to buy or rent. These are feature films, comedy shows, documentaries about wildlife, educational programs, etc. Here you need to choose a film that will be understandable to students and will meet educational goals. However, in this case, we must not forget about copyright, which is important not to violate.

The third place is taken by programs recorded from television channels, which are called off-air programs, i.e. programs recorded directly from the air. These are news programs, documentaries, or educational programs. In this situation, you need to remember about the level of language proficiency of students and choose programs taking into account their duration and compliance with the language level of students. The advantage of these videos is that it is easy enough to record something interesting for any level of learners. Many teachers of a professional foreign language note the importance of authentic materials due to the fact that they are not originally intended for learning a foreign language. One of the main advantages of using authentic materials drawn from the student's subject area is that they change the “balance of power” within the classroom. As noted by M.K. Phillips and C.C. Shettlesvers, “the teacher is no longer an undisputed authority in the discussion and must recognize the competence of students in the professional field ” [5].

While using videos on foreign language lessons, two types of motivation develop: self-motivation, when the video material is interesting in itself, and motivation, which is achieved by the fact that the student will be shown that he can understand the language he is studying. Learners will truly experience positive emotions when they understand the material for native speakers. Students note that a professionally oriented foreign language is not unattainable for them, and this can serve as the basis for the further use of authentic materials in the classroom. It seems that students are more interested when they see the use of the foreign language being studied in real situations of professional communication. This is more motivating than any other factor. This brings satisfaction and gives confidence in one's own strengths and desire for further improvement. It is necessary to strive to ensure that students receive satisfaction from the video precisely through understanding the language, and not only through an interesting and entertaining plot.

Properly prepared video material can encourage students to speak, for example, in a role play [2] or discussion. The next reason is the complete authenticity of the language material - it is not oversimplified, the characters speak with an accent typical of a particular locality, and the language material is modern in the sense that common expressions and idioms are used. The visual information (body language, gestures, clothing) presented in the video helps students understand language and situations better than using audio alone. We share the point of view of J. Harmer [3] that the paralinguistic language enables students to see beyond what they hear and interpret the text more broadly.

It is necessary to form certain requirements that should be met when selecting video material. These criteria include:

- Authenticity of the material - the video must be voiced by a native speaker.

- Compliance of speech with the requirements and norms of the literary language and

- A clear and high-quality image, as it is the basis for visual perception of the communication situation.

- The optimal length of the video clip, since working with audiovisual information for more than three minutes overloads the human brain's operative memory and thus disrupts the perception process. In these cases, it is recommended to divide the material into fragments;

For effectiveness of the process of teaching English with the help of video materials a systematic and rational use of video in the classroom is necessary. Preference is given to videos that are short in length, ranging from 30 seconds to 5-10 minutes, and it is believed that 4-5 minutes of video demonstration can support the intense work of a class for an hour. This is due to such a specific feature of video materials as the density and richness of information. For this reason, it is more appropriate to use a short passage for intensive study.

- Compliance of the material with the speech abilities of students (accessibility principle).

The implementation of work with the language on the basis of video materials has the goal of developing, first of all, language skills of communication:

1) Grammar: the practice of using the tenses of the English language, prepositions, etc.;

2) Listening: developing listening for gist and specific information (names, dates, numbers);

The stimulus for this is the tasks for active viewing of video materials, focused on the development of the skills of perception and understanding of speech by ear.

In the given lesson, work with a video clip is presented, aimed at developing the skills of dialogical speech.

For this, the technique has a wide range of exercises aimed at:

- restoration of the dialogue, presented in the video episode, based on individual remarks received by each student;

- restoration of the missed lines of one of the characters;

- correlation of each of the replicas received by the trainees before watching, with a specific character; and others.

3) Speaking: Video also plays an important role in the development of creative unprepared dialogical or monologue speech (giving opinion, role-play, developing and practice of discussing etc.);

4) Writing:

Development and practice of expressing one’s opinion or writing an article in a foreign language.

Working with videos involves three main stages:

1) pre-viewing: motivation of students, preparation for assignments, repetition of lexical material;

2) while-viewing: ensuring understanding of the content of the video, developing the student's language competence, taking into account his real capabilities;

3) after-viewing: the use of video material to develop the student's communicative competence.  

The effectiveness of the video lesson depends on how the students react to watching the video. For this, special techniques for working with video material are proposed, namely [4]:

- watching a video without sound: the students and the teacher discuss what they see, what train of thought it prompts them, and assume that the characters are actually speaking. Once all the assumptions are made, the students watch the video again. Were they right?

- "freeze" the image: the teacher pauses the video and asks the students to guess what will happen next. Will they be able to guess?

- division of the group into two subgroups: the first subgroup is sitting

with their backs to the screen, the second subgroup - with their backs to it. The first subgroup describes to the second subgroup what is happening on the screen.

Of course, there are many other ways to work with video material.

The successful use of video is guaranteed at almost all stages of the process of learning a foreign language:

• For the presentation of language material in a real context;

• To consolidate and train language material in various communication situations;

• To develop the skills of verbal communication;

• For teaching foreign language culture and identifying intercultural differences.

Results

The use of video in English lessons today is an integral part of the learning process and a real help in the work of a teacher. Its use not only contributes to an increase in interest in learning the language, but also broadens the horizons of students. Watching video is more comfortable and enjoyable - this also contributes to better assimilation and memorization of the material. Thus, we can conclude that the introduction of video into the process of teaching foreign languages helps to solve many problems:

1. While working on a video, all four communication skills can be involved: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Viewing authentic videos helps to create speech patterns that serve as a reference for speech activity and thus contribute to the development of speaking skills. It focuses on listening, the most difficult aspect of learning a foreign language.

2. Using videos in English lessons allows students to develop a contextual guess and broaden their minds. They have the opportunity to learn about the history, traditions, and customs of the people of the country of the target language.

3. The video serves as an incentive to learn foreign languages. Students get the opportunity to apply and expand their knowledge on unfamiliar authentic material. When learners realize that they are able to understand a foreign language authentic speech, their self-esteem and motivation to study the subject increase.

Conclusion

It is important to give students the opportunity to learn a foreign language in context, to understand its use in real-life situations. The work is based on exercises in commenting, discussion, interpretation of the issues raised in the video material, problems without reliance on verbal stimuli. Among these exercises, of particular interest are: interviewing, discussion, "round tables", role-playing games, dramatization, raising your own problematic questions on the problem raised in the video material (to organize a discussion), expressing your own opinion on the problem and etc. The use of video materials in the classroom is an interesting and entertaining tool, because this increases the motivation of students to learn a foreign language. However, it must be remembered that the teacher will need much more time and effort to prepare a video lesson.