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ANDRAGOGICAL FEATURES OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
FOR ADULT LEARNERS
Davletova A.А.
Nukus, Uzbekistan
Scientific researcher, Berdakh Karakalpak State University
Summary.
This article analyses the works of many scientists studying the problems of
andragogy, a science dealing with the specificities of adult education. A teacher plays an
important role in a learning process, whose main task is to plan a course so that adult
learners can achieve by the end their goals. Therefore, various communicative methods
in teaching adult learners are used to develop speaking, reading, listening and writing
skills, as well as to form a number of competencies necessary for professional activities
and process of communication in a foreign language. The main objective of this article is
to find the effective ways, methods and strategies in teaching adult learners.
Key words:
education, foreign language, adult learners, andragogy, educational
program, andragogical principles of teaching, teaching method, communicative
approach, gaming technology, gamification, brainstorming.
Introduction
Knowledge of the language is one of the aspects of a competitive specialist, so an
increasing number of organizations, enterprises and firms attract their employees to learn
foreign languages. In the educational environment, on the basis of growing requirements
in training specifically for an adult audience are being developed new methods that allow
in a short time to achieve required level of knowledge.The search, development, and
successful implementation of new methods of teaching an adult audience is an urgent
task of the system of additional education and higher educational institutions. The
development of a pedagogical model for teaching a foreign language to adults is a
complex process, the specifics of which are dealt with by science - andragogy. This term
was first proposed by the German historian of education K. Kapp. In the 70s, andragogy,
as an independent science, spread in the works of such scientists as M. Knowles, R.
Smith, P. Jarvis, S.I. Zmeev, T.E. Zmeeva, A.A. Macarena.
Language andragogy is “a section of the methodology of teaching foreign
languages, revealing the age-specific features of the formation and development of the
communicative competence of adult students, as well as effective ways of pedagogical
management of this process”. When learning a foreign language, motivation plays an
important role for an adult audience, which “allows you to understand and clearly
formulate the goals of a foreign language, and also affects the ability to memorize and
master the language as a whole” [4]. Undoubtedly, the adult audience also has difficulties
in the process of learning a foreign language, among which are:
- the influence of personal experience of learning a foreign language. An adult can
develop his own vision of the learning process, which is based on school and university
experience. So, for example, many adults do not perceive modern communicative
teaching methods, where language acts as a way and means of communication in various
life situations, preferring the grammar-translation method;
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- social responsibilities. The life of an adult is burdened with household, family,
professional concerns, so often he does not have time to learn a foreign language, which
requires constant investment of time and effort;
- material difficulties. Not everyone can afford to additionally study foreign
languages by attending courses in which the learning process takes place not only under
the supervision of a teacher, but also a language environment is created, which allows
you to master the language material faster and better;
- selectivity in the study of language material. Often, adults study only the
language material that is necessary for the implementation of their practical and
professional activities. This also applies to the types of speech activity.
- different levels of training. Often the residual knowledge of adults is different, so
in the classroom in groups there are those who learn the material faster. However, this
can also have a negative impact on the learning process, as residual knowledge can be
erroneous. Practice shows that it is quite difficult to get rid of this kind of deep-rooted
errors and false ideas;
- professional status. The teacher is often faced with the fact that the professional
status of an adult student determines the process of communication and ways of
communication. Also, professional status plays an important role in the choice of
assignments by the teacher;
Based on all of the above, it is necessary to conclude that the teacher should take
into account the factors affecting the quality of perception and assimilation of
information in an adult audience, in addition, take into account psychological
characteristics and apply certain appropriate methods of work.
According to E.V. Krivonosova, psychologists identify significant features of
adult learning, among which the following can be distinguished: the desire of adults to
learn should come from themselves; adults study only what is relevant for their
professional activities; adults learn by doing; obtaining new knowledge is closely related
to life experience; assessment negatively affects the learning process.
According to G.R. Abirova, individualization of teaching an adult audience is
explained by the fact that «an adult often feels the need for attention to himself, the desire
to be noticed». Therefore, in the classroom it is very important to create conditions where
the student can prove himself and his skills as a professional, as well as prove his point of
view and life position. The teacher should focus on the achievements of students, not
focusing on their knowledge and professional skills. To do this, it is necessary to possess
such qualities as: conflict-free, adaptability, intercultural communication skills, speech
initiative.
Based on the practice of teaching foreign languages to an adult audience, we
would like to suggest some effective teaching methods:
1)
game technology that allows simulating a real situation of communication,
where the communicative, creative and professional skills of the student are involved.
The following types of games can be attributed to gaming technology: grammar, lexical,
phonetic, communicative, role-playing, business.
2)
Gamification is the concept of applying game methods and techniques to
non-gaming activities such as learning or work. The entire learning process or its
individual stages can be represented as a game in which students reach a certain level,
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moving to the next one, becoming more and more involved in the process. The essence of
this technique is to involve students in the learning process, in which he can feel
satisfaction from his achievements. A vivid example of such technology is the interactive
services mentioned above.
3)
case method, in which the student needs to understand real situations of an
economic, social, business and professional nature in the language being studied, suggest
possible solutions to the problem and choose the most appropriate option. This method
promotes the development of thinking skills, information processing, cooperation and
decision making.
4)
round table, where participants will be asked to discuss some contentious
issues, express and prove the correctness of their point of view, and hear other
participants in the conversation
5)
brainstorming, which is based on the use of life experience of students to
find solutions to the identified problem. This method reveals not only the communication
skills of students, but also teaches teamwork, forms extraordinary ideas and actions.
Conclusion
Thus, after analyzing the works of many authors who write about the ways and
methods of teaching a foreign language to an adult audience, we would like to conclude
that there are a number of psychological and social barriers that hinder the learning
process, such as age, way of thinking, lifestyle, profession, however, it is worth noting
that it is adults who have a clearly defined goal in learning, strong motivation, the ability
to independently organize their learning process, which, on the contrary, increases their
interest and desire to learn a foreign language. Therefore, the teacher needs to organize
the educational process in such a way that the student can achieve the goal. The
methodology of teaching an adult audience is based on a communicative approach to
teaching, which uses various methods of posing a problem situation, finding ways to
solve it and the main concept of which is to create various types of communication
models, while using not only a number of already existing skills and abilities of the
student but also developing new ones.
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