THE USING OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE
TEACHING AT HIGHER SCHOOLS.
Teacher of the Foreign Language Department of Vinnytsia National Technical
University L.Tulchak.
At the beginning of the 21st century the global processes of social changes
have penetrated in different spheres of society including the sphere of education.
International relations of this country have increased demonstrating its importance
in the world and in Europe. Ukraine is continually going towards the global
educational space. Under such circumstances it’s needed to update the educational
system in the context of globalization taking into account the joining the Bologna
process, the aim of which is to create a single European educational space.
So, researches are being carried out, new educational technologies are
being developed and forms as well as methods of training are being modernized.
According to the national doctrine of education development of the 21st century,
among the important pedagogical issues and tasks there are using of alternative
forms of organization of training and education and development of new
pedagogical ideas for teaching and educational process. Ukrainian education
system needs fundamental changes and new educational approaches among which
there are interactive and information technologies.
In this light it is paid more and more attention to the study of
foreign languages. It should be emphasized that it also applies to all spheres
of life where foreign languages are the basis for the development of
international relations, namely, holding of scientific conferences or
cultural, information and scientific exchange between different countries.
Multi-language support and poly-culture are necessary for a new generation
of Europe and, in particular, Ukraine. New requirements concerning
foreign language mastering are made to graduates of higher schools.
Informatization of education is increasingly gaining importance in
this area and enters a new phase of its development. Therefore, there is a
need to involve new information, multimedia and other computer
technologies into educational process. Consequently, the most relevant question is
that which largely determines the general idea of computer capability including its
destination, role and functions in foreign language teaching. An important method
of improving the level and the process of foreign language teaching at
nonlinguistic higher educational establishments is the use of various techniques
including those that are based on modern information technology and the use of
modern approaches to teaching, new training facilities, technical equipment,
effective means of verification and control of knowledge.
Over the years at higher educational institutions there has been a reduction
in the number of class hours and increase the hours dedicated to the independent
work of students. Gradually the role of teachers in the educational process is
changing. A few years ago a teacher was the main source of information and now
he/she becomes an organizer and a manager, an expert and a consultant of the
independent work of students. Taking it into the consideration it is worth to use
more effective learning tools which would perform informative, forming,
motivating, systematic and controlling functions in the educational process.
Therefore, it is needed to develop and implement the newest computer learning
tools, such as, for example, e-books, e-textbooks, e-methodological guidelines,
multimedia courses, training and testing programs, etc.
To work with the above mentioned requirements one needs to provide the
three components of the process. First, there must be a hardware-software base, i.e.
technological support. Secondly, it is needed to develop appropriate electronic
teaching tools (books, manuals, guidelines or recommendations for use of the
electronic media). And, thirdly, there is a need to retrain teachers.
It is known that the effectiveness of the development and the introduction
of new computer means in the process of foreign language learning at high school
largely depend on consistent conceptual problems of creating e-learning tools both
for out-of-classroom (remote) and for classroom learning. The didactic possibilities
of e-learning tools are carried out to promote:

the formation and development of the different types of skills, namely,
listening skills on the basis of adapted and authentic texts, skills of monological
and dialogical speech, translating and referring skills, reading skills using the
Internet and local networks;

increasing the information capacity and visibility; the expansion of active
and passive vocabularies;

the acquaintance with the lexicology of the modern foreign languages which
reproduce the culture of a particular country, its political and social structure of
society;

the formation of creativity, the development of the creative activity of
students;

the formation of motivation of cognitive activity and needs to use foreign
languages in the interactive dialogue;

the enhancing motivation of independent work of students;

possibilities of individualization and differentiation of student activities
choosing the rate and the amount of training material, the level of its complexity;

the formation of elements of global thinking;

the formation of communication culture;

creation of positive psychological atmosphere during independent work of
students.
In general computer programs and their features can be classified as, for
example: training, supporting, tutorial, manual, supervisory training and gaming. A
major feature of all types of computer training programs is their interactivity,
feedback ability. The feedback ability can be both external and internal. The
external feedback enables a teacher to monitor, evaluate and correct the interaction
between a student and a computer. The internal feedback allows the student to
make certain conclusions about the effectiveness of his/her training activities,
provides the necessary assistance and explanation and if necessary the correct
answer or a way to perform certain actions.
A significant number of e-learning tools are multifunctional. They are
electronic textbooks and manuals that include systematic training material in
accordance with the requirements of the program of foreign language teaching. An
electronic textbook is a means of teaching in the educational system of distance
education, which contain the elements inherent to any didactic system.
Unfortunately, now an electronic textbook greatly is an additional tool in the
educational process organization within the traditional educational system.
However, over time, their functions will be specialized along with the development
of methods for distance education which will certainly lead to the introduction of
new learning technologies. Electronic textbooks and electronic manuals should be
developed at high scientific and methodical levels. Consequently, they should
provide students with needed capacity of information, as well as contribute to the
formation of the corresponding level of the abovementioned skills and abilities for
a specific stage of education. E-learning tools should provide the continuity and
completeness of a didactic cycle of the teaching process provided implementation
of interactive feedback both external and internal.
The following criteria should be involved to create an electronic textbook:
quality, meaningful part, the appropriateness of use of this tutorial, the presence of
a sufficient number of methodological recommendations, the implementation of
this product exclusively by electronic means.
The development of electronic textbooks is one of the leading activities of
higher educational institutions that carry out the introduction of distance learning.
Distance education is a form of training based on the use of a wide range of
traditional and modern information and telecommunication technologies and
technical facilities with full supporting of scientific and methodical materials.
According to the Ministry of Education of Ukraine almost all high schools are
connected to the Internet. Also there are the local networks in each educational
institution graduate school. So, fundamentally important to ensure the possibility
of remote access of students to electronic libraries of any institution of higher
education, not only to the local electronic libraries in accordance with the modern
technology of distance education.
Modern technologies of distance education are divided into the following
forms:
 interactive (electronic tutorials, the latest multimedia, video conference);
 non-interactive (printed tutorials with audio or video components).
It is advisable to use comprehensively the following form of the modern
information and telecommunication technologies for different kinds of activities in
information researches, in experimental and independent educational activities,
particularly in the activities of students for the purpose to process the received
information and gain knowledge and skills. Therefore, it is advisable to combine
hypertext tools (electronic textbooks, manuals, methodical developments),
demonstrating tools (multimedia) and controlling or test tools.
Consequently,
progressive
educators
continue
to
find
innovative
approaches to teaching foreign languages, develop general concepts of distance
education of foreign languages at higher educational institutions. The lack of a
mutual approach to the development of practical methods of distance education
courses of foreign languages is a basic methodological problem of this field. This
problem noticeably slows down the process of introducing distance education of
foreign languages in practice. This is due both to its relative novelty and its
complexity because of overlaying of new information technologies on the same
methodology for teaching foreign languages.
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