Development of the program "Method of projects" in the organization of independent work of schoolchildren at the senior stage of learning

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Introduction

The use of the project method in the independent work of students in extracurricular activities is not only an effective way to form a number of competencies, but also allows you to form a high level of independence in their use. It is the skills of independent implementation of project activities, possession of methods, technologies and methods of its implementation that provides training at the stage of education in high school for future specialists of a new generation. The implementation of projects at the senior levels of schooling, in extracurricular activities in English is effective due to the fact that at this stage adolescents have developed such cognitive processes as thinking - visual-figurative, discursive and heuristic, and also at a high level. cognitive interest in relation to the surrounding world. Teachers, bearing in mind this basis, can choose the topics of projects both within the school curriculum and outside it. We also believe that in the project for adolescents, it is important not only to achieve academic goals, but also to approbate students of various social roles, which is their age-related need - it is important for a teenager to satisfy the need for self-identification, which will allow him to master a certain social role. Continuing and deepening the ideas of taking into account individual psychological characteristics, it is important for an English teacher to take into account the gender characteristics of high school students when organizing project activities in independent work. Girls more than boys have developed visual-figurative thinking than boys, who differ from them in a higher level of abstract-logical thinking. These features allow the project participants to select roles: boys are better at searching, analyzing grammatical and syntactic structures, and girls are more inclined towards visual activity. Also, girls are more interested than boys in the semantic analysis of words. Thus, it is important for the successful implementation of project activities with adolescents to bring the subject of the project closer to their interests and implement it through independent work.

In our opinion, the use of the project activity method in extracurricular activities in the English language allows you to effectively form both lexical and grammatical skills as a result of independent study of foreign language material in the preparation of presentations, wall newspapers, Internet sites, as well as effectively form meta-subject universal learning activities that allow you to effectively implement learning activities. The ability to independently obtain the necessary information, as well as to use a foreign language in situations of presenting project results, allows one to form fluency in English speech.

Literature review

According to the Federal State Educational Standard of General Education, the subject results of mastering the educational program are:

1. development by students of the elements of socially mediated experience, which is expressed in specific actions;
2. development by students of social experience, which allows solving learning problems in narrow subject areas;
3. development by students of the amount of knowledge, skills and abilities that can be applied in applied situations;
4. experience of practical solution of problem situations;
5. experience of independent realization of creative activity [16].

As educational outcomes for the main professional educational program for high school students, the following skills and abilities are indicated:

1. skills acquired by students in the course of independent study of the English language that are specific to certain areas of it (vocabulary and grammar, syntagmatics and paradigmatics, etc.);
2. independent implementation of activities that allow students to receive educational results;
3. the ability to transform the experience gained in various situations of independent search and project activities.

The subject results of learning English in high school are associated with the implementation of "communicative competence" - the study of the educational program is aimed at the formation of a number of competencies that are part of the communicative competence.

In our work, a program has been developed aimed at organizing project activities of a linguistic orientation in English in the course of independent work in extracurricular activities on the way to its implementation, the following educational results will be formed:

1. Speech competence - for the formation and development of communicative skills, students in situations of independent implementation of foreign language speech activities in the course of project implementation, we selected tasks that involve obtaining information necessary for project implementation in English in speaking situations (dialogues, plot- role-playing games, etc.);
2. development of students' ability to implement various ways of expressing their own thoughts in English in situations of real foreign language speech activity;
3. language competence - in order to master new language means of the English language, we have selected topics that are in strict accordance with various areas of applied implementation of communicative activity;
4. sociocultural competence - involves the formation of students' knowledge about the national and cultural characteristics of the behavior of native speakers in situations of speech and non-speech activity, which can occur both in their native country and abroad. For this, country studies projects have been selected, which consider toponyms, unique features of English-speaking countries, and speech features of native English speakers in these countries.

Materials and methods

The study is based on the analysis and comparison of different kinds of experience on the problem of the research; pedagogical observation of the educational process; study and generalization of pedagogical experience; experimental work.

Results

Within the framework of the developed program, the following educational results were formed and evaluated for the following competencies (Table 1):

 

Table 1. Ways of formation of educational results

Educational results	Ways of formation
Develops communication skills in productive activities (in speaking and writing)	Conducts a dialogue (questioning, exchange of opinions, motivation for action, etiquette dialogue, answers to listeners' questions when defending the project), monologue (public defense of the project), writes an essay, knows its structure, knows and knows how to use introductory phrases in essays and dialogues
Develops the ability to carry out independent planning of one's own utterance	Prepares for the defense of projects, prepares answers to possible questions from students
Able to independently carry out their own verbal and non-verbal behavior	Leads discussions during the group development of the project, presents intermediate and final results of the project, carries out public defense
Independently systematizes the material studied earlier	Independently prepares a project, carries out independent search activities, analysis and synthesis of the selected material
Forms an idea of ​​English-speaking countries and the use of toponyms	Carries out a project aimed at developing socio-cultural competence (country studies projects, the purpose of which is to study English-speaking countries and the cultural characteristics of native speakers)

 

Explanatory note:

1. The program of extracurricular activities in English is aimed at the formation of foreign language speech competence, the importance of the formation of which is enshrined in the Federal State Educational Standard. The formation of foreign language speech competence and its components is carried out in the course of independent work performed on project activities aimed at the formation of subject and meta-subject educational results. During the course of the program, students will have to complete a series of projects in English. In the course of work, students independently, showing search activity, regulative and personal universal learning activities, with the advisory support of an English teacher, carry out their projects, working individually and in groups.
2. The use of the program developed by us will effectively overcome the language barrier through the use of situations of real foreign language speech activity in the course of independent work. Also, the implementation of the project method in independent work in extracurricular activities of a linguistic orientation in English allows you to form an initiative position of a student, which is consistent with the position of a researcher who independently searches for a solution to a problem situation based on the internal motivation of educational activities.
3. This program has been compiled taking into account the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of the OO, takes into account the age characteristics of students and their interests, and is focused on active, activity-oriented, student-oriented teaching of the English language.
4. The relevance of the program developed by us is due to the fact that it satisfies the high level of cognitive needs of high school students, and also allows you to eliminate the contradictions between the working conditions in the classroom system and the needs of students in independent creative activity.

Course content

The program for implementing the method of projects in extracurricular activities in English contains 3 sections:

Section 1 – the formation of speech competence;

Section 2 – the formation of language competence;

Section 3 – the formation of socio-cultural competence.

During the implementation of the educational program in English, the following tasks are solved.

Educational tasks:

1. these include expanding the vocabulary of students, getting to know toponyms and colloquial expressions, as well as learning new vocabulary for students related to regional studies, colloquial expressions, phrasal verbs;
2. development of students’ skills that are included in the zone of actual development - these include reading, speaking, listening and writing skills;
3. development of students’ skill of independent search and systematization of information in text format, development of the ability to use the studied information to draw up their own statement on the problem under study.

Developing:

1. development of students' abstract-logical thinking, divergent and heuristic thinking, as well as cognitive processes of the psyche - memory, attention, perception;
2. development of students' creative thinking and its indicators - speed, accuracy and fluency;
3. increasing students' motivation to learn English, as well as the formation of internal motivation for learning it, the formation of a responsible position of students in relation to learning a foreign language.

Educational:

1. formation of the internal active position of the researcher and diligence in the implementation of the project;
2. the formation of such personal qualities as independence and diligence among students;
3. formation of a personal position among students, which is internal and provides for active involvement in the performance of educational work in a group and individual format;
4. formation of a tolerant attitude towards another culture and representatives of this culture.

The purpose of the program "Project Method": the formation of a number of competencies, namely, speech, language, sociocultural in high school students when implementing the project method of linguistic orientation in the course of organizing independent work in extracurricular activities in English.

In accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of OO, the main object of assessing subject results is the ability to solve educational, cognitive, educational and practical tasks based on the studied educational material, using methods of action corresponding to the content of educational subjects, including meta-subject (cognitive, regulatory, communicative) actions.

Methodical recommendations for teachers:

1. to study the most relevant objects, objects and phenomena in project activities for the formation of cognitive abilities and thinking in students, taking into account their age characteristics;
2. to form methodological piggy banks, which will be differentiated according to the subject matter, as well as methodological foundations that allow project activities to be carried out in extracurricular activities in the English language. These measures allow for effective and quick selection of projects for various purposes (development of speaking, listening, writing skills, as well as language, speech and socio-cultural competence);
3. to use an individually differentiated approach, taking into account the gender and psychological characteristics of younger students in projects in extracurricular activities in English, as well as their abilities and inclinations, which will increase the effectiveness of the educational process.

Methodological recommendations for students:

1. when preparing a project in the course of extracurricular activities in English, use sources not limited to the Internet: information that is important for the implementation of the project may be contained in printed publications that can be obtained from the library;
2. Actively interact with peers in the implementation of the project: individual contribution to the project is important, but teamwork gives the main result of the project in extracurricular activities in English;
3. It is important to realize that the result of the project is a unique result that reflects the individuality of each project participant in particular and the entire team as a whole. By completing an English language project in extracurricular activities, it is possible to express yourself and find your own unique methods for completing the project;
4. use country-specific material when preparing a project, when compiling a speech, pay attention to introductory words, language clichés, and also pay attention to colloquial expressions used by native speakers, making statements short and concise (It was just the other way round - everything was like on the contrary, I did it on purpose - I did it purposefully, in my opinion - in my opinion, as for me - as for me, etc.).

The use of the course "Method of projects" when performing independent work of a linguistic orientation during extracurricular time on topics related to the English language, allows to activate the creative thinking of students, its divergent and heuristic form, which allows students to independently find ways to implement projects based on knowledge and skills and skills in the field of English related to the zone of actual development in the implementation of projects that belong to the zone of proximal development according to the complexity of learning tasks

Calendar-thematic planning includes nine projects (Table 2).

 

Table 2. Calendar-thematic planning of the program of extracurricular activities "Method of projects"

Developed competence	Kind of activity	Number of hours	Conduct form	Educational Outcome
Speech competence	Project "Modern English in SMS and messengers"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Expresses his thoughts in writing and in oral speech correctly in accordance with the norms of spoken English
	Project “Anglo-American Youth Slang “	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Able to plan his study time, knows colloquial expressions (eg, I did it on purpose, call it even, I will let you off the hook on that, etc.), idiomatic expressions (eg, East or West home is best, All well that ends well, etc.)
	Project "English Speech Forms for Denoting Gestures"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Knows the meaning of gestures used in the UK, draws up a plan for his utterance and follows this plan in verbal and non-verbal behavior
Language competence	Project "Use of abbreviations in spoken and written English speech"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Knows new lexical and grammatical material: how to use Complex Object to express motivation for action, can use participles and various forms of passive voice
	Project "The Influence of Anglicisms on the Vocabulary of the Russian Language"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Knows different ways of expressing his thoughts in Russian and English, understands the similarities and differences between the Russian and English equivalents of the same phrase
	Project "English Grammar Today and Tomorrow"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Able to independently systematize theoretical material, uses an inductive and deductive approach when studying new grammatical material
Sociocultural competence	Project "Guide to London"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Has a primary understanding of the United Kingdom and its capital, knows the phrases from the "How to get there" section
	Project "Political Correctness as a Linguistic Phenomenon in the USA"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Knows the linguistic and non-linguistic features of the behavior of native speakers in the United States, knows politically correct expressions: parent No. 1, parent No. 2, African American, white male, black male
	Project "Peculiarities of English in Canada"	2 hours	Full-time during extracurricular activities (individual and group work during seminars, conversations)	Independently reproduces the speech features of native speakers in Canada

 

Discussion and conclusions

We have developed a program of extracurricular activities of a linguistic orientation in high school when organizing independent work of senior school students, namely:

1. educational results of the program of extracurricular activities "Method of projects" for students of the main school and tools for their assessment were designed;
2. methodological aspects of the program of extracurricular activities "Method of projects" for students of the main school have been developed.

The program is designed in accordance with the requirements for an elective course and consists of:

– explanatory note;

– educational and thematic plan;

– course content by topic;

– information and methodological support;

– methodical recommendations for the teacher;

– guidelines for students.

The practical significance of the work lies in the development of a course of extracurricular activities for older students as a means of organizing independent work on the subject of a foreign language. The course can be used in the professional activities of English teachers. The results can serve as a basis for further scientific work - the development of pedagogical conditions for the application of the project method when working with high school students on the basis of an individually differentiated approach, as well as the development of the foundations for applying the project method outside school hours in high school.

About the authors

Natalia V. Startseva

Samara State Technical University

Author for correspondence.
Email: startseva72@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8466-3762

Cand. Ped. Sci., Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Department

Russian Federation, 244, Molodogvardeyskaya st., Samara, 443016

References

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