Within the framework of the decade of science dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the university on April 9, 2021 an online international scientific seminar entitled «DISTANCE LEARNING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES TEACHING: BEST PRACTICES» was organized and held by the Philology Faculty’s Foreign Languages Department of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Practitioners from the countries of near and far abroad exchanged experience in foreign languages teaching and identified the prospects for the further development of distance learning in foreign languages in realizing the quality of teaching and the conditions for improving it at the HEI.
The work of the seminar was opened by the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Doctor of Law, Professor Ye.A. Ongarbayev. Yerkin Anuarovich greeted the participants of the international seminar, presented them with the rankings of the university in 2021 and noted that distance learning is a motivating factor in the foreign languages study, contributes to the achievement of personal, meta-subject, subject learning outcomes and, ultimately, the achievement of the goal of foreign languages teaching: the formation of foreign language communicative competence.
The introduction of information and communication technologies in foreign languages teaching reveals a pedagogical problem. Pedagogical science is faced with the task of methodological mastering of existing modern teaching aids, researching new technical means that are promising in foreign languages teaching.
Dean of the Faculty of Philology, Associate Professor A.B. Beisenbai thanked the organizer of the scientific event, Head of Foreign Languages Department, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor J.E. Sagimbayeva, as well as the moderator of the seminar, associate professor D.K. Kurmanayeva, greeted the participants of the seminar and keynote speakers and expressed confidence that the work of the international seminar will take place in the mainstream of the experience exchange in training specialists with foreign language knowledge for the development of priority sectors of the economy, and will become another help for the development of further close cooperation with our foreign partners.
The key speakers were professors, specialists in the foreign languages teaching field in non-linguistic educational programs from the UK, Hungary, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Debra Myhill - Professor of Education, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and International Studies, President of European Association for Learning and Instruction, Vice-President of United Kingdom Literacy Association (University of Exeter, United Kingdom) outlined the pedagogical thinking underpinning the development of a three-hour online teaching session for Masters students on ‘Writing for Different Audiences. Debra devoted her speech to the analysis of practical aspects, software tools used to conduct this session, dwelled in detail on the levels of personal, socio-psychological, professional, methodological teachers’ development during distance learning of academic writing.
Zsofia Sziraki, teacher of Hungarian as a foreign language, representative of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign and Foreign Economic Affairs of Hungary (Budapest, Hungary) presented information on the use of video materials in Hungarian classes as a foreign language.
Using specific examples, the speaker showed how she uses original videos in her classes, which allow students to develop a linguistic guess, broaden their horizons and, in general, serve as an incentive to learn foreign languages, help to learn more deeply the history, traditions, and customs of people of target-language countries.
Valieva Fatima Ivanovna - Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (St. Petersburg, Russia) in her report: "Foreign languages Teaching in a distance format under lockdown conditions: psychological and methodological aspects" noted that the COVID pandemic -19 became a test for humanity as a whole and a test of flexibility and the ability to quickly mobilize under unforeseen difficult circumstances, forced to analyze and revise what happened, its prerequisites, consequences and actions taken by various systems, including educational ones.
Report by F.I. Valieva aroused particular interest in the psychological and some methodological aspects of the transition consequences to the distance learning format for teachers and students: Did the transition to the distance learning format affect the sustainability of teachers in general? Did the age groups of educators differ in terms of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there a relationship between the individual psychological characteristics of educators and the factors affecting their work during the COVID-19 pandemic? Is there any relationship between teacher and student burnout? The speaker shared the results of a study aimed at studying the relationship between individual psychological indicators, data on the results of telecommuting in a remote format during a pandemic, components of the professional burnout scale (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced professional achievement), procrastination and decision making. Foreign languages teachers at higher educational institutions in Moscow and St. Petersburg acted as a representative sample in the research. The study involved 62 teachers and 120 students.
Rakisheva Aray Shansharovna, Associate Professor of the English Department, M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University (Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan), within the framework of her speech on the topic: “Using digital tools to motivate online students online students to learn” noted the special role of using digital technologies in distance learning classes, and also held a master class on the use of platforms such as Leaningapps, Worldword, Behind the news, Voice of America, etc., both in online classes and also in motivating students to work independently.
Tussupbekova Madina Zhambyrbaevna, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Department drew the attention of the seminar participants to the advantages and enormous opportunities of distance learning, such as comfort (learning at any time); flexibility (independent choice of the pace of learning); variety (a large number of training programs); accessibility (access to training wherever there is access to a computer). The speaker provided an overview of modern tools for providing learning in a digital environment.
Ustelimova Natalya Anatolyevna, Associate Professor of Foreign Languages Department, spoke on the topic "Formation of speaking skills in English online classes". In her report she considered the concept of "speaking", its types and conditions under which the formation process would be more effective. For the audience, methods and techniques were presented that the teacher actively uses in her classes, namely, a mental map, podcasts and wiki site. The speaker shared her experience of working on Microsoft Teams platform and provided recommendations on the formation of online speaking skills in English classes.
The seminar resulted in recommendations of participants on the correctness of creating uniform methodological platforms, the generalizing significance of which will form the basis for improving the of foreign languages teaching and teaching of non-linguistic specialties in terms of distance learning, globalization and digitalization.
