Project method in the formation of socio-cultural competence at the lessons of foreign languages.

Kurmanova Asem Kazbekovna, 4th year student Eurasian National  University named after L.N.Gumilyov Astana, Kazakhstan                                                  Project method in the formation of socio­cultural competence at the lessons of foreign languages. Modern   conception   of   the   foreign   languages   education   is   based   on theintegrated   teaching   language   and   culture   of   the   studied   language.   Thus,   in teaching English it is necessary to strenthen its socio­cultural component and make a transitfrom factological introduction of the material to the value­oriented one.In our   opinion,   semiotic   approach   has   a   great   potential   in   the   development   of students’   socio­cultural   competence.   At   the   English   lessons   students   should learnabout   the   semiotic   method,   they   should   be   taught   semiotic   reading, opportunities of semiotic analysis of different texts should be demonstrated. Development   of   students’   socio  ­  cultural   competence   presupposes: understanding of the fact that all people show culturally ­ conditioned behaviour; realization  that   social   differences   (age,   sex,   social   class,   place   of   living,   etc.) greately influence the way people speak and behave; formation of tolerant attitude to other cultures;familiarization with conventional behaviour of different cultures representatives in various situations; realization by students of their own cultural behaviour   and   acquiring   skills   to  analyze   it;  development   of   the   ability   to recognize cultural connotations and decode them; teaching students to recognize, distinguish   and   productively   apply   cultural  codes   for   the   best   results   of communication; improving students’ ability to define how their own socio­cultural belonging influences their behaviour and teaching them to correct their own acts according to situations. At the English lessons we propose to analyze both culture in the whole and its  separate parts (ideas, cultural products, cultural behaviour). There are three main  groups of exercises, which help us to do it:  Exercises that help   to   develop   the   sence   of   cultural   context   and   give   students   background knowledge:   recognizing   cultural   images   and   symbols,   working   with  cultural products (souvenirs, money, headlines, poems, etc.), exploring values andattitudes, exploring   song   lyrics,   analyzing   associations   and  cultural   artefacts,determining contextual clues. Exercises that help students to learn reading visual signs. These tasks help students to read and interpret cultural signs in foreign products, analyse stereotypes,decode messages, understand non­verbal means of communication.The most   important   are   tasks   where   students   are   proposed   to   compare culturalexperience of the country of studied language and the one of their own culture. Such exercises presuppose making cultural commentaries, analysing of the spiritual   and  commercial   values   of   both   countries,   comparing   connotative meanings of the sign indifferent cultures, explaining cultural behaviour, etc.In the process of teaching English considerable attention should be paid to thestudy of cultural codes and their semiotic analysis. It will help students to acquire proper socio­cultural competence, background knowledge and communicatesuccessfully with representatives of other cultures.  The modern socio­cultural situation provides new opportunities and prospects for cooperation with foreign countries, promoting the dialogue of cultures as a comparison, interaction and understanding of other cultural values. In this regard, the socio­cultural aspect has become a priority in teaching foreign languages. Any training,   as   is   known,   is   a   process   of   transferring   the   culture   to   a   younger generation in a certain volume and different manifestations, which contributes to the formation of the personality. In this process, language is one of the means of cultural transmission. In modern conditions, one can not speak of the formation of a full­fledged person without taking into account the development of his socio­ cultural competence [1]. The formation of socio­cultural competence by means of a foreign language is aimed at developing the world outlook of students and preparing them to study the history of mankind, their country and their people, to realize themselves as carriers of national values, to develop the communicative culture of students and their spiritual potential [2]. Socio­cultural competence determines the success of communication between students and representatives of foreign culture, allowing them to feel confident in a foreign environment. Socio­cultural competence consists of two aspects: linguistic and   informational.   The   linguistic   aspect   includes   teaching   a   foreign   language (studying language and culture through language) and sociolinguistics (using the language  in  various  social   situations).  Information  aspect   includes   information about   culture   (culture   achievements,   etiquette,   clothing,   cuisine,   values  and customs) and regional studies (information on geographical location, climate, state structure, economic and political system, etc.) [3]. The subject of regional studies is the totality of information about the country of the studied language ­ its social and economic structure, customs, traditions, culture of the people whose language has become the subject of study. Information of regional character broadens the horizons of students, forms tolerance among them   ­   the   quality   that   is   necessary   for   the   modern   person,   promotes   the development of communicative and sociocultural competence among students. In   the   middle   of   the   XX   century   a   new   scientific   discipline   appeared   ­ lingvostranovedenie   ­   regional   geography­oriented   linguistics,   which   studies   a foreign language in comparison with the native language. Linguistic culture was originally interpreted as a field of methodology, related to the study of ways to familiarize students with the reality of the country of the language being studied. In the 1990s, the content of linguistic culture was clarified, which was interpreted as a methodological discipline that realizes the practice of selecting and presenting in the educational process information about the national and cultural specifics of the speech communication of the native speaker with the goal of forming a socio­ cultural competence [4]. Scientists N.D. Gal'skova and N.I. Gez singles out the constituent parts of communicative competence that are foreign­language, which, in the linguistic­ cultural understanding, includes knowledge, skills and abilities with a national and cultural meaning:  linguistic­cultural knowledge of the national peculiarities of the studied language and the formation of skills of operating with means of communication with the national­cultural semantics;  linguistic­cultural knowledge, skills and abilities that allow to perceive and generate foreign language statements in accordance with the cultural background, nationally­conditioned   situation   of   communication,   speech   task   and   general communicative intention; ▪ ▪ ▪  linguistic­cultural knowledge, skills and abilities that allow to carry out nationally­specific speech and non­verbal communication with native speakers of the   language   under   study   in   accordance   with   the   national   and   cultural characteristics of another's lingvosocium. Such a combination of special lingvostranovedcheskih knowledge, skills and abilities will allow to form a socio­cultural competence and will determine the target level of knowledge of the foreign language being studied and the culture of foreign culture [4]. Thus, linguistic culture and regional studies should serve as a catalyst for students' desire to learn the language, but due to the poorly developed procedural aspect of the work of teachers with such material, the positive potential and the vast opportunities inherent in it are lost. The majority of teachers in acquaintance with extralinguistic data, their fixation and control of assimilation use the same methods   as   when   working   on   ordinary   texts,   while   here   a   special   system   of receptions   and   exercises   that   take   into   account   the   specifics   of   the   proposed material is needed. One of the methods of teaching a foreign language is philological. It is used by teachers who, by their basic education, are teachers of language and literature. Teaching country­specific material with the help of a philological technique ­ this is the linguistic culture [2]. In the modern foreign method of teaching English as a foreign language, great attention is paid to familiarizing foreign students with the culture of Great Britain, the  way  of   life  of   its  people  especially  British   schoolchildren,  directly   in  the process of learning English. We can talk about a certain system of realizing the linguistic­cultural approach in all three levels of instruction. In the first stage (grades 5­6), students learn the implicit (mainly through authentic illustrations) from the first lessons with the individual realities of Great Britain. At the second stage (grades 7­9), the language preparation of students allows them to become more acquainted with the history, culture of the UK, the way of life and problems of British schoolchildren. At this stage in every lesson in the practice   of   speech,   all   learned   speech   actions   are   necessarily   reproduced   in situations of a regional nature. At the third stage (10­11 grades) the previously obtained knowledge about the country of the studied language (communicative­behavioral standards in various spheres   of   communication,   integrative   skills   of   communicating   in   English   in informal   and   official   communication)   is   systematized.   Thus,   at   this   stage,   the ethics of discussion in English are taught when discussing the culture, styles and way of life of people in English­speaking countries [2]. Work   with   projects   and   messages   of   regional   character   is   used   when acquaintance of students with the material, starting from the middle level. This provides a good basis for the repetition and implementation of interdisciplinary links, and also encourages the active involvement of students in the dialogue of cultures   [5].   In   addition   to   general   academic   skills   (systematic   systematic presentation of the prepared material and elementary skills of scientific research), project   activities   contribute   to   the   formation   of   skills   to   use   speech   cliches, frequency   phrases,   certain   grammatical   forms.   In   addition   to   intellectual   and communicative skills, it is very important that through these types of work students develop creative skills. Project activities contribute to the formation of socio­cultural competence at the elementary level when teaching a foreign language at the initial stage. Using the   project   method   in   foreign   language   lessons   helps   to   teach   students   to understand   a   speech   in   a   foreign   language,   inform   the   interlocutor   about themselves, induce the interlocutor to speech behavior, ask questions and answer them,   express   consent   or   disagreement,   desire   or   unwillingness,   approval   or disapproval [5]. In addition, the application of the project method increases the students' interest in the teaching in general and in the study of a foreign language, in particular, by developing internal motivation by transferring the center of the learning process from teacher to student. The project methodology allows individual work on a topic that is of greatest interest to each participant of the project, which undoubtedly entails increased motivated activity of the student. He chooses the object of research, he decides for himself: to confine himself to a textbook (simply by performing the next exercise), or to read other literature. However, often students turn to additional sources of information, analyze, compare, leaving the most important and entertaining [5]. It should be noted that not all students are immediately and easily involved in the work on the project. You can not offer a task that one or another student can not fulfill. Tasks must correspond   to   the   individual   level   at   which   each   participant   of   the   project   is located. It is necessary to help everyone to decide on a specific topic, advise on what to look for and how to present their results. It is this moment that determines the main job of the teacher of English with his students: he discusses the intermediate results, corrects errors in the use of language units. Schoolchildren have a fear of a foreign language, they are better at maintaining its logical system. This kind of work provides many opportunities to apply   the   passed   grammatical   phenomena   and   structures.   Undoubtedly,   the grammatical units of a foreign language worked out in this situation are more firmly fixed in the memory of the student. The use of new information technologies not only revitalizes and diversifies the   educational   process,   but   also   opens   great   opportunities   for   expanding   the educational framework, which undoubtedly carries a huge motivational potential and contributes to the principles of individualizing learning. Project activity allows students   to  act   as   authors,   creators,   enhances  creativity,  expands   not   only  the general outlook, but also contributes to the expansion of linguistic knowledge. The project method has a number of advantages over traditional teaching methods, such as: increasing the motivation of students when learning English, visual integration of knowledge in various subjects of the school curriculum, and space for creative and creative activity. 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