ISSUES IN MODERN INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT UNIVERSITIES

The authors focus on the issues of current interest in the practice
of teaching foreign languages to university level students.
Nowadays the whole process is lead by both the Federal
Government Educational Standards and the use of information
and communication technology. The article highlights such
aspects of this technology as project activity, the development of
critical thinking and multilevel teaching.
Within the format of philological studies paradigm the authors
adhere to anthropocentric approach to teaching academic
disciplines to university level students. In context to these
circumstances personality features of the teacher appear to be in
the limelight, as they account for the expected level of teaching
and the depth of the discipline’s profile, as well as the connection
of the latter with other branches of the humanitarian study. The
article looks into current information and communication
technologies and views them as applicable to multilevel teaching.
As foreign language classes present a classical educational
pattern, its characteristics are viewed in terms of the subject «A
practical course of a foreign language». Due attention is given to
practical creative tasks that imply the use of the corresponding
project elements and require a quest for historical, economic,
sociological and other data.
As a result, project culture provokes creative thinking, the
students’ ability to take part in hypothetical discussion of social
and cultural realia and their ability to form prognosis concerning
probable solutions.
The technology of critical thinking vividly shows that it results
from the project technology. The final product cannot succeed if
not grounded in the text to be reproduced by the participants.
Illustrations and comments are indispensable here. These come to
life at the expense of the technical means and media devices. The
article argues the technology of critical thinking can be
successfully employed at the stage when the students are working
out the material content components or when they decide how
detailed the narration, or how big its volume.
The authors refer to a variety of methods to be used. This is
particularly intricate when issues of a foreign language culture
are being dealt with. Final questions, charts and essay writing,
role play and brainstorm are just a few of the issues here.
All the above mentioned methods are part of a didactic system as
they aim at working out a set of humanitarian values related to
different students’ activities, speech activity included. Multilevel
teaching appears to be one of such methods. When applied in a
Secondary school classroom it results in less advanced students
getting more help from the teacher. More advanced learners also
appear at an advantage, as the teacher is free to structure the class
correspondingly and meet their requirements. The above
mentioned features enhance the chance for the students to
experience the so-called educational success.
The authors conclude by saying that the technology of multilevel
teaching can be used in a University level classroom with certain
reservations. Whereas Secondary school level requirement,
expectations and materials are same for all the students,
University level requirements as well as teaching materials reflect
not only the specific interest of the students, but also the level of
their advancement. Thus, language groups of different levels can
function within one year of studies.
Key words: information communication technology, project
activity, critical thinking, multilevel teaching.