PODCAST AS EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY FOR FORMING AUDITIVE SKILLS IN THE PROCESS OF TEACHING UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE TO FOREIGN STUDENTS

Abstract

Background. Educational and methodic potential of modern technologies, in particular podcasting, is still not presented and respectively used within the methods of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language and needs to be carefully analyzed with the following linguodidactical description.  

Purpose: argumentation of practicability to use the podcasting technology for forming auditive skills in the general context of motivated acquiring Ukrainian language by foreign students.

Main tasks: to create series of certain podcasts and describe algorithm of work with them; to define advantages of this technology.     

Methods: theoretical – analysis of academic and methodic literature about teaching foreign language listening; research, systematization and generalization of previous methodic experience; modelling of teaching process for foreign audience; and empirical – observation of listening process; discussions; analysis of verbal and written tasks fulfilled by foreign students; testing of auditive skills and their development; experiment.     

Results. The article describes the algorithm of work with podcasts in foreign audience. As an example was used an audiotext, included in the series of educational podcasts, created by Ukrainian magister students for listening by foreigners. The podcast was created with respect to requirements to auditive skills of foreigners on language proficiency level (B2). The educational podcast became a particular training site for further watching a video and getting acquainted with an authentic phonic text containing colloquial and slang elements. The sequence of phonic texts presented to foreigners made it possible to develop a guess as new information was given subsequently in small pieces (from simpler to more difficult text). Using audiotext with video, from one side, should keep interest to subject matter thanks to its informational applicability and, from other side, “adapt” them to quicker television speaking.  

Discussion. Listening on certain lessons in Ukrainian on advanced level is a leading type of language activity being simultaneously a tool for learning to speak, read and write. Podcasts as a special type of audiotexts of different styles let teachers and students solve complex tasks of teaching and learning foreign language in compliance with work programs for language courses of study. It deems to be future-oriented to create series of educational podcasts with lexical, grammar and communication tasks within “Program of Ukrainian as Foreign Language (levels A1-C1)”, with a possibility to use them while “Practical Course of Ukrainian Language” under Bachelor educational and professional program “Ukrainian Language and Translation (for Foreigners)”.     

Key words: auditive skills, podcast technology, Ukrainian language