Modernity poses high requirements to teaching practical application of a foreign language in everyday communication and the professional sphere. The article attempts to analyze one of the new directions in the methodology of teaching a foreign language in a modern computerized world, which affects the implementation of educational tasks at all levels of education and dictates the need for using Internet resources. The didactic possibilities of the effective application of the web-quest technology in teaching of professionally-oriented foreign language are analyzed.
The modern age of information technology makes absolutely new demands, both for the graduate and for the higher educational system. The competitiveness of a specialist in the labor market largely depends not only on professional competence, but also on the ability to adapt to changing work conditions that require the mastery of innovative technologies. The consequence of these transformations is the replacement of information-objective educational approaches of education by personality-oriented, creative-developing ones.
One of the researchers of the new paradigm of modern education I.A. Zimnyaya notes that this global objecttive of ensuring the entrance of a human into the social world has caused the need to raise the question of such a phenomenon as the result of the formation collectively with its motivational-value and cognitive components [1].
Consequently, there is an evident justification of the process of reviewing the national-level objectives of the higher educational institutions with a reorientation on competence education, designed to provide preparation of modern specialists with a developed individual style of self-educational and professional activity and a system of competencies that would enable them to effectively realize their intellectual potential in a market economy, solving professional problems at a high level of success [2]. For the implementation of this process, it is necessary to understand the principles on which the modern competence education is based.
The main principle of higher professional education is the principle of professional orientation, because its purpose is to prepare the future specialist for professional work. It implies both the formation of the social and psychological orientation of future specialists for professional activities, as well as interdisciplinary connections in the organization and content of education in the university.
A new stage in the understanding of professionally directed instruction in a foreign language is now dictated by the changed social mandate of modern society. Being included in the world educational context, the national system of education and language education, in particular, reflects the general world trends. Dynamically developing integration processes in the world community have led to an increase in the role of foreign languages in various fields of activity. The process of preparing students for intercultural communication in other languages in the sphere of professional communication presupposes the consistent formation of the relevant competencies necessary for students in their professional activities.
Studying the principle of professional orientation of education, M.I. Mahmutov came to the conclusion that it presupposes a peculiar use of pedagogical means that ensure a given level of mastering knowledge and skills provided by the curricula by the students, and at the same time the successful formation of the interest to the profession being mastered, the value attitude towards it, and the personal qualities of the future specialist. Didactic means providing the implementation of the principle of the professional orientation of education include such elements as the use of non-standard approaches, methods and forms of teaching [3].
Another principle on which competence education is based, the principle of problematicity in teaching. The modern way of life is characterized by a multiplicity of aspects and rapid changes, so the specialist is required to have researching competence. It is not enough to include research methods in educational practice. It is necessary to form and develop students' culture of research activity and the ability to implement it throughout life. The development of the ability for independent research lies at the core of professional qualities, it aims at continuous self-education, which provides professional development and adaptation to changes. Modern technologies in teaching a foreign language not only create an opportunity for effective language learning, but also are the means of increasing and broadening the professional knowledge of students necessary to realize themselves in their chosen specialty.
An inseparable principle of competence education is the principle of informatization. Information support for the educational process is impossible today without the use of computer tools and educational Internet resources. Infocommunication technologies are a tool for active human development. Hence, it is necessary to consider the principle of creativity. It assumes an orientation toward the creative beginning of educational activity and promotes the development of the creative potential of the personality of the future specialist: imaginative thinking, intuition, creative imagination. These qualities enrich the perception of the students, make the process of assimilation of educational material more holistic. Learners master new ways of receiving knowledge, skills, acquire abilities to work with any kind of information, as a result are formed the skills of independent, critical and creative thinking.
Among the various innovative educational technologies focused on the formation of foreign professionalcommunicative competence, the web-quest technology differs in that the learning activity of the students is of a project nature, assuming the receipt of a concrete (practical) result and its public presentation [4]. Developed by American educators V.Kh. Kilpatrick and E.W. Kolingsom project technology has had a great impact on the educational system of the XX century.
Among foreign researchers describing the method of projects can be named the works of T.March, T.Hutchinson and others [5, 6]. Their research emphasizes that project technology facilitates the integration of students' knowledge from different fields in solving one problem, promotes the development of skills for their application in practice, takes into account the interests, needs of students, which has a positive impact on the motivational sphere, and contributes to the development of cognitive needs and creative abilities of the students.
According to the interpretation of Klimova A.V., the web-quest is a specially organized research project based on ideas of problem-project and research teaching, integrating a certain set of forms, methods and techniques that promote the development of information and analytical skills, and carried out primarily through the Internet-resources [7]. The word "quest" (search, adventure) is a game, implying the player's achievement of a specific goal (to carry out the task or actually the "quest"), using his own knowledge and experience, as well as consulting with the participants of the quest.
B.Dodge identifies 3 principles of classification of web quests: By duration of implementation: short-term and long-term. By the subject content: mono-projects and inter-subject web quests. By type of tasks performed by the students: retelling task, compilation task, mystery tasks, journalistic task, design task, creative product task, solution of controversial problems or consensus building (consensus building tasks), persuasion task, self-knowledge task, analytical task, judgment task, scientific tasks [8].
In order to achieve maximum efficiency, web quests should be created according to a special "formula" and include the following mandatory parts:
- Introduction – a brief description of the subject of the web-quest, including the problem, situation and background
- Task – the formulation of the problem task and description of the form of presentation of the final result, which is of interest to the
- Necessary resources – sources of information necessary for the implementation of the task (Internet resources and any other sources of information, web documents, e-mail addresses of experts on this issue, which can be consulted via the Internet, network databases, printed educational literature, ).
- Work order or process – a description of the sequence of actions that will lead the students to the implementation of the
- Evaluation – the description of the criteria and parameters for evaluating the performance of the web quests, which is presented in the form of an evaluation form. The evaluation criteria depend on the type of teaching tasks that are being addressed in the web
- Conclusion – summarizes the results of the study, and provides an installation for further work on the topic.
- Materials used – links to the resources used to create the web quest [9].
Web projecting would be successful if the learners were able to understand the essence of the situation, if not, the resulting product does not meet the goal. Situational inclusiveness is the main essential characteristic of the project's web quest, it is an analysis of the specific situation in relation to which it is created and implemented. For effective work on the web-based technology quest, it is possible to use situations in which students can change the types of projecting. In addition, observations of the process of working on the web-quest technology show that the impetus to the emergence of the idea becomes the emergence of a new subject of learning activity that can arise regardless of the possibility of implementation: new knowledge, new image generates the idea of the project, and the idea is already becoming an impetus to searching for means of implementation and determining the result. Generating a project, the process of implementing it, obtaining a result or transforming the idea – all the elements of the projecting activity are complexly connected with each other.
Thus, the modern understanding of project technology is the awareness of the students of the goal of obtaining knowledge and the possibilities of their application in professional life. The basis of the project activity is the development of cognitive skills of students, the skills of constructing knowledge, using them in practice, an independent and proactive solution of professional tasks and problems.
In addition, using the web-quest technology is achieved another, not less important result: the pedagogical effect of attracting learners to the process of independent knowledge gaining and its application (motivation, reflection, choice, planning, analyzing and evaluating the results of one's own activity). Infocommunication web-quest technology in the process of its implementation performs certain specific functions. Thus, the motivational function is manifested in the development of students' sustainable educational motivation. It activates thinking, motivates learners for activities and is realized through the connection of the web project with the real conditions of professional activity. In addition, the motivation for learning increases when students visually see the real results of their work, are immersed in the project, they are independently executed by the professional roles designed by themselves. This contributes to the formation of readiness for active mental activity, regardless of knowledge and interests.
The information function of the web-quest technology quest contributes to the expansion of the information field of students due to the informational content of the project: the use of media, Internet resources, and survey results as sources of information. Often, projects are planned in such a way that in the course of their implementation, students will do their own work while searching for additional information in various sources. At the same time, by work is meant exactly independent research work. As you know, the research method hardly "fits" into the time frame of the usual lesson, so most of the time for searching, processing and analyzing information, preparing the research results for the presentation in the class is spent in extracurricular hours.
The productivity of mastering a professional activity can be determined by the projecting function. Mastering professional knowledge in the process of working on a web project becomes not only a collection of approaches, but the integrity of the teaching process, determined by the logic of the projecting work and getting the real product of this activity. During the implementation of the web-quest, the projecting skills of students are formed and mastered. They become the properties of the personality of students who are able to perform certain actions under given conditions.
The diagnostic function involves the creation of certain conditions that allow assessing the level of the formation of the student's professional competencies, when comparing the existing level with the normative requirements reflected in the specialty standard. This function makes it possible to identify gaps or inconsistencies in the professional preparation of future specialists and to design actions for their elimination.
Reflexive function contributes to the student's confidence, self-realization and emotional enrichment associated with a sense of the ability to transform reality, the possibility of obtaining, along with the subjectprofessional social result of personal increments. The position of reflexion in projecting is capable of retaining the main semantic center of the project. This is the connection between the intention and the realization of the goal and result. Such connection is carried out with independent decision-making on the selection of means of project implementation, the construction of design stages, and the distribution of responsibilities among the members of the group.
The most important for teaching of professional communication is the communicative function, which contributes to the development of the communicative competence of learners. The potential of using webquests for teaching a foreign language is investigated in the work of E.I. Baguzina and others. Scientists agree that the web-quest technology contributes to the active solution of problems of teaching a foreign language for special purposes [9]. Thus, when discussing a plan in a group, students can be free in their statements, can allow inaccuracies, repetitions, returns to the beginning, they can interrupt each other. Their statements are free and are regulated only by one theme. At the same time, it should be noted that group communication acquires the experience of fulfilling the rules of group collaboration: only one student speaks (if someone else starts speaking, the first one stops); message should be as clear as possible; response to the message should be benevolent; group discussion involves the possibility of asking questions, and the speaker must answer them as accurately as possible. Organizing a group discussion, it is possible to move from the forms of consecutive speeches to answering questions, from "brainstorming" to summarizing.
Thus, the professional orientation of teaching a foreign language, having a complex structure and content, involves the following aspects: 1) the formation of a competent linguistic personality – a carrier of inocultural, linguistic, communicative, cognitive-activity, professional values, knowledge, attitudes; 2) harmonization of interrelated competencies: linguistic, cognitive-communicative, sociocultural and intercultural, professional; 3) stimulating cognitive interest in a foreign language as a means of professional communication and developing a sustainable motivation for learning.
In conclusion, the principle of the professional orientation of education in the context of the competence paradigm of education acquires a dominant character, being realized in expanding the number of different kinds of practices, design works, and teaching and research work of students, in the process of saturating the educational space with active teaching methods. The inclusion of students in the project activity allows transforming theoretical knowledge into professional experience and creates conditions for self-development of the individual, allows realizing creative potential, encourages self-determination and self-realization of students, which ultimately provides the graduates of universities with competitiveness and relevance in the labor market.
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