Disadvantages of using websites to learn foreign languages



Due to the growing popularity of the use of information technologies in almost all spheres of human life, there is a growing demand for high-quality and effective websites and mobile applications to facilitate human activities. This process is the same touched on education in general, and the study of foreign languages ​​in particular. One of the main advantages of using websites and mobile applications are intuitive navigation through the Internet resource, ease and clarity of presentation and assimilation of information, quick access to the necessary materials.

The relevance of the topic of the thesis is associated with a significant dissemination of information resources for the study of foreign language and lies in the need to introduce Internet technologies in educational process in universities.

The research problem is the possibility of using websites and mobile applications in teaching a foreign language.

The object of research is the process of teaching a foreign language.

Keywords: foreign language, memorization, feedback, educational process, computer-assisted education, mobile apps.

Like all approaches, methods and means of teaching a foreign language, using websites and mobile applications has its own merits and limitations. Let's start with the advantages of using information technologies in education. The use of Internet resources contributes to the development of speech skills and professionally significant competencies. A large number of authentic, constantly updated materials allows students «to be in a virtual language environment»: to read, see and hear samples of modern foreign speech and use them in own speech. A variety of types of authentic texts, for example, news feeds, newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, reviews, etc. will allow choose the most interesting and relevant materials for students, as well as will introduce students to «various forms of foreign language computer-mediated communication».

As E. V. Voevoda noted in her article, the Internet provides students «an opportunity for intercultural communication, which contributes to overcoming stereotypes and the development of socio-cultural student tolerance. Most of the students are positive about the fact that with the advent of the Internet, the possibility of communication has increased significantly with native speakers, which additionally motivates them and ultimately “has a beneficial effect on their language training”.

According to S. K. Omarova, with the help of mobile learning, you can solve a number of problems related to teaching a foreign language: mobile technology can provide instant access to all the necessary information, thereby increasing the reading ability of students on foreign language, as well as due to the possibility of listening to the studied material in a foreign language, listening skills are trained, not breaking away from the main activity, and portability allows you to solve the problem of saving workplace and space. Another specialist in this problem, O. A. Obdalova, says that “to realize more fully their intellectual and creative potential” possible with the use of computer technology in the process of studying foreign language, and at the same time the teacher can create conditions for wide use of the interests and inclinations of students in the educational process.

Internet technologies develop skills that are important not only for owning foreign language. First of all, it is connected with mental operations: synthesis, analysis, comparison, abstraction, comparison, verbal and semantic forecasting, etc. Thus, skills and skills formed with the help of Internet technologies go beyond foreign language competence even within the framework of the “language” aspect”.

The Internet develops social and psychological qualities learners: their self-confidence and their ability to work in a team(if you choose the right means); creates an environment conducive to learning atmosphere, acting as a «means of interactive approach». Multimedia tools allow you to arouse increased interest and more emotional attitude of students, which has a positive impact on memorization of educational material, compensates for the shortcomings of attention, enhances the educational aspect of learning.

According to K. V. Kapranchikova, on the basis of information and reference Internet resources, including online encyclopedias, catalogs, Internet media, virtual tours of museums, galleries, theaters, cities. The author suggests «to organize search and research work students, to develop their cognitive activity, learning skills in cooperation, as well as the ability of independent learning activities. The interactivity created by ICT not only creates real, life situations, but also “forces to adequately respond to them through a foreign language”. The use of information technology, according to N. A. Sharova, contributes to the promotion of the principle of «student autonomy”, which allows “implementing promising methods”, for example, design methodology. The use of Internet resources in modern teaching methods foreign language is associated with «solving the problems of individualization learning, its intensification and optimization”. In the methodology, individualization is understood as an approach to learning, with which takes into account the types of perception, thinking and memory students. The educational process is intensified thanks to the organization favorable conditions for mastering the language, increasing interest in work, individualization of classes, motivation. Learning optimization implies saving time, creating conditions close to the language environment, which is a favorable factor for achieving the goal of learning.

Some researchers believe that information technology have the following didactic abilities:

— “visibility by expanding the possibilities of presenting educational information» color, graphics, sound allow you to recreate real picture of the world. In the case of mobile applications, the student has the possibility of visual learning anywhere in the world; feedback between the user and the program, website or mobile application, which allows the student to choose material of interest, amount of information, method of study, pace of work, frequency of classes, etc.;

— simplified system of testing, control or self-control, organization of educational activity management. With the help of Internet technologies, checking the knowledge of students takes a small amount of time and effort on the part of the teacher;

— the possibility of repeating poorly learned material. Student can himself return to a topic or lesson that causes difficulty for him, and quickly, visually and effectively repeat the topic, which will not force the teacher dwell on it separately and waste the time of other students;

— the ability to «save, transfer or analyze any volume data” using modern data collection systems. Information technology allows «to carry out synchronous and asynchronous learning of students, providing tools for creating and delivering courses, lessons, materials, for tracking ratings and providing feedback to both individual students as well as groups. Availability of visual material, audio and video support allow learners to understand the content of the text without the need understanding of each individual word. Another area where technology support is very tangible is project Job. Teachers always try to motivate students to explore the world around itself through language. Involvement of students in the work on the topic, which they are interested in or topics that are studied by other subjects — this is a great way to improve their skills and abilities. Informational technology makes it possible no matter where you are learning in the world. Teachers and students can study online to read or listen to material from various fields of interest to learner to engage in writing or speaking about what they are to themselves discovered, learned, and told to other students in the group who located anywhere in the world.

In her work, S. V. Titova argues that mobile technologies (or mobile applications) allow you to best organize how autonomous or independent, and group training, provided development of training courses, programs and assignments in mobile formats. Mobile apps also help increase motivation learners through the use of familiar technical means. To build a complete picture of the use of information technologies, it is necessary to take into account the existing shortcomings of this method education. One of the disadvantages of Internet technologies in education is related to the fact that “it is impossible to predict which phonetic, grammatical, a student will make a stylistic or semantic mistak.

Such errors will be discovered only during oral conversation with teacher, or when testing. Consider two more negative aspects of student use Internet resources at the university and at home when doing homework. First, the language of most material written primarily for use by adults may be difficult to understand students on their own. Secondly, for students there is the potential to find material on the Internet that is undesirable for them in terms of ethics and morality. Computer-assisted education can be considered a one-way form of communication because the student is working independently, while the teacher acts as a guide learning. Therefore, it is worth dealing with the shortcomings in terms of form communications.

The methods of presenting information on the Internet differ markedly from those that the teacher can use in their classes. In most cases “information (including foreign vocabulary or grammatical forms) is remembered not only due to its memorization, but also due to the conditions its introduction”. So the words entered with the help of pictures or animations are remembered much better than dry text on the screen computer. It is good if the student is aware of the form in which he should look for information, and ideally, if he knows how to do it. Otherwise there will be practically no benefit from using Internet resources. One of the most significant shortcomings of computer technology is “the appearance of conditions for the passivity of students”. On lessons foreign language, from the point of view of a communicative approach, the most important- this is the ability to talk, using various skills and knowledge. Until then computers, websites and mobile applications cannot perform function of the interlocutor (in the full sense of the word), with the help of information technology, it will not be possible to teach speaking, which is the main objective of the foreign language program.

In cases of independent work of students related to learning writing, understanding audio text or printed text “may controversial points”. In these situations, the student does not the opportunity to ask the teacher about the mistake, as there is no feedback. If the program does not provide an explanation controversial points, then gaps in understanding the material can accumulate. It's no secret that situations may arise when a senior a teacher who knows the subject in all aspects and is able to teach any student is faced with the problem of mastering modern technologies that “would allow them to introduce into the traditional form learning tasks based on mobile technology, use already existing learning apps for mobile devices, provide interactive support of the educational process” In the course of the research, it turned out that teachers completed the lesson and did not always checked whether all students learned the material of the lesson. Some teachers did not give enough time for students read or complete the given task. Thus, teachers gave more focus on presentation slides. During class observed a number of students who actively competed, while the rest were silent and did not cope with the given tasks.

Teachers did not pay enough attention to students who read slower than their peers. Therefore, it cannot be unambiguously stated that additional material was successfully mastered by all students. The intensification of the educational process, due to the «increase informative capacity of classes and acceleration of the pace of learning activities due to using the possibilities of the media and communication” can lead to an unacceptable increase in educational information in the classroom. On the other hand, information overload emotional excitement associated with this, deceptive momentary performance improvement directly behind the computer screen dangerous for both the mental and physical health of the student and teacher.

The result of the work is a collection of methodically valuable websites and mobile applications for learning a foreign language, as well as methodological developments using materials from Internet resources, that help increase students' interest in learning English language, broaden their horizons and increase the amount of knowledge and skills. The practical value of this work lies in the possibility use in practice of methodological developments created on the basis of materials taken from websites and mobile applications, and a promising area for further research in terms of studying this problem. The prospect of the study is that the created methodological development using websites and mobile applications can and should be applied in the further study of a foreign language.

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