Exploring the Effects of Blended Learning using WhatsApp on Language Learners’ Lexical Competence

In the wake of COVID-19, online learning has achieved new dimensions and affected all fields of education. As such, one of the emerging fields of ELT is Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL). The proposed study adapts the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to identify factors influencing students’ behavioral intention towards WhatsApp for enhancing lexical competence. Three constructs, namely, performance expectancy, social influence, & hedonic motivation, are adopted from the original model, and two new constructs: perceived relevance and collaborative learning are added. A questionnaire was administered to 203 undergraduate students from select Institutes in Rajasthan. Smart-PLS (ver. 3.2.9) and IBM SPSS (ver. 26) are used for data analysis. Empirical testing confirms the significant relationship of social influence (?=.274, p=.002), hedonic motivation (?=0.639, p=.000), and perceived relevance (?=0.138, p=.035) with the behavioral intention to use WhatsApp for enhancing lexical competence; and performance expectancy and collaborative learning are proved as insignificant predictors of behavioral intention. The findings should aid decision-makers in developing ELT practices and teachers in opting for innovative approaches for the benefit of language learners. The originality of the study stems from the inclusion of external factors in the UTAUT model. The ramifications for MALL theory and practice have been examined in light of these findings.

THE PECULIARITIES OF TEACHING WRITTEN TRANSLATION IN THE FIELD OF LAW

The article also considers theoretical concepts: translation texts of different branches, the substance of legal translations, the concept of “complex of exercises”, types of exercises for teaching of writing translation. The significance and role of the field of law in translation studies were also formulated. The article considered and formulated what competencies need to be developed by future translators to work in this field. After studying the theoretical aspects, the most successful and optimal complex of exercises was selected according to all the principles, which are necessary for teaching of written translation in the field of law. It consisted of three groups, but this classification was supplemented by another group of exercises, so a total of four groups were obtained. It should be emphasized that these exercises should be performed clearly in the order in which they are presented in the article, as it is necessary to follow the principle of consistency. The article presents a complex of exercises, which is designed to teach a written translation in the field of law. It is divided into four groups: preparative exercises, exercises for formation of skills, exercises for development of skills and exercises for improvement of skills and abilities. This complex of exercises is designed according to the principles of structure and consistency, exercises are arranged according to the level of difficulty, from the easiest to the most difficult. Through the use of this complex of exercises, students will acquire the basic concepts of the field of law, gain background knowledge about the legal systems of Germany and Ukraine and will be conversant in this field. In addition to knowledge, students will be able to develop the skills and abilities they will need for their future profession. This complex of exercises is aimed at the formation and development of such competencies as information within the competence approach, lexical and translation competencies. Exercises are not presented in full, only partially. All of them are described in detail and have a clear goal, examples of most exercises are shown in the article. Exercises are made in German, although in the whole complex they are also duplicated in Ukrainian. You can follow this example of exercises for development of exercises for other profession. Key words: information competence, lexical competence, complex of exercises, legal translation, written translation, principles of consistency.

Teaching family vocabulary during Ukrainian language lessons (communicative approach)

The relevance of the study derives from the modern objective reality, which is represented by lack of attention to family lexical nominations of family members, the features of the names of communication lines and situational options for the latest use; identifying factors for improvement of interpersonal contacts; fostering a culture of mutual support, etc. (communicative approach). The purpose of the study is to theoretically substantiate and experimentally verify the effectiveness of this model and the chosen approach for the development of family lexical competence in high school. Research methods were theoretical (comparative and systematic analysis of philosophical, methodical, psychological, didactic and sociological literature); empirical (analysis of conceptual scientific principles of school education and universal ideas about family nomination, observation, comparison, survey (conversation, questionnaire for teachers and students), study and generalization of pedagogical experience); practical (problem-searching, modeling, pedagogical experiment, mathematical statistics, including quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results of experimental training). They allowed for comprehensive analysis of the problem and influenced it. Ivano-Frankivsk Vocational College of Vasyl Stefanyk at Precarpathian National University served as the basis for the experiment. The study discusses the implementation of the proposed methodological model (communicative approach) in high school and proves the effectiveness of application.

Vocabulary Learning Strategies: The Case of English for Business and Financial Reporting

Among the essential challenges faced by students in foreign language learning processes is vocabulary learning. Lexical competence has been acknowledged as critical to the use of language in which the students’ inadequate knowledge of the vocabulary causes problems in learning a second language. Therefore, learners require being educated with vocabulary in learning strategies when learning a second language. Contemporary research has not scrutinised to the fullest the categories of strategies of vocabulary learning used by learners who are majoring in Accounting. The main objective of this research was to understand how students use vocabulary learning strategies. For that, we adopted a qualitative approach, based on open-ended individual interviews with fifteen learners. The strategies that were concluded include the monolingual and bilingual dictionary use, usage of several media of English language, learning a word by specific texts, and application of new words in everyday conversation, interrelated to memory, strategies of metacognitive, and determination. These are common strategies and have keenly been used by students.

Subsystem of exercises and tasks for prospective engineers lexical competence in professionally oriented reading development

The article describes a subsystem of exercises and tasks for the formation of English language lexical competence in professionally oriented active reading for students of the field of knowledge 19 Architecture and construction, specialty 192 Construction and civil engineering. The stages of the formation of English-language lexical competence in professionally oriented active reading are determined and characterized: 1) acquaintance, 2) automation, 3) application. To form this competence, we consider effective the following methods of active reading: Know- Want-Learn (KWL), SQ3R (Survey, Questions, Read, Recall, Review) and examples of exercises and tasks performed at each stage of working with authentic texts. The subsystem of exercises and tasks is described and implemented at the pre-text, text and post-text stages of work. All educational information for the formation of lexical competence in English reading is accompanied by an authentic visualization which we understand as conditionally technical (drawings, figures, photographs, diagrams, charts, graphs, videos, etc.). Authentic visualization of educational information is developed as a supplement to textual material for better understanding and perception information on the specialty and complements it. The organization of the stages of lexical competence formation is taken into account during the developing the exercises and tasks.

Methodological approaches to the formation of professionally oriented english lexical competence in speaking in future specialists of hotel and restaurant business

Methodological approaches to the formation of professionally oriented English lexical competence in speaking in future hotel and restaurant specialists are selected and revealed, and the principles of this process are substantiated. The essence and structure of professionally oriented English lexical competence in speaking of future specialists of hotel and restaurant business are formulated. The preconditions of vocabulary use, including terminological, are considered. It has been found, that the production of oral speech is impossible without the perception and understanding of oral speech by ear. The following approaches are described, which provide methodical and methodological substantiation of the process of formation of professionally oriented English lexical competence in speaking in future specialists of hotel and restaurant business, such as: communicative, interactive, student-centric, sociolinguistic. The peculiarities of formation of professionally oriented English lexical competence in speaking in future specialists of hotel and restaurant business on the basis of the communicative approach are outlined. The educational materials, used in the application of the communicative approach, are investigated. The interactive discourse, which is a type of communicative activity, is considered. The principles, on which this process is based, are analyzed: general methodological principles (situational; communicative activity; communicative value; immersion), specific principles speech clichés, parallel activation of visual and auditory channels of information perception). Recommendations for the optimal combination of classroom learning and extracurricular learning, including independent work with the help of network technologies using video, audio and text materials, are given. Learning outcomes are formulated on the basis of the student-centered approach, attention is focused on students' skills and competencies. On the basis of the sociolinguistic approach, the creation of educational situations for the purpose of reproduction of scenarios of professionally oriented communication of experts of hotel and restaurant business is provided. It is concluded, that the formation of professionally oriented English lexical competence in speaking in future hotel and restaurant professionals on the basis of communicative, interactive, student-centric, sociolinguistic approaches will ensure the effectiveness of this process

PROCEDURE FOR COOPERATIVE PROFESSIONALLY ORIENTED WRITTEN COMMUNICATION OF PROSPECTIVE PROGRAMMERS

In the age of information and communication technologies the English language plays a significant role both in oral and written communication. The successful performance of computer programming specialists largely depends on their level of lexical competence, so a university course of English for specific purposes (ESP) focused on its development, can be exceedingly useful in the professional training of prospective programmers. This study aims at investigating the effectiveness of the collaborative professional written communication in ESP classrooms to enhance future programmers’ writing skills as well as improve their English lexical competence. To validate the efficiency of the algorithm, the author conducted experimental teaching of the 5th-year students of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Informatics at Ivan Franko Lviv National University in 2017‒2018 academic year. The stages of the algorithm implemented in order to advance the level of English lexical competence were elaborated. Efficiency of the algorithm has been proved on the basis of the results obtained from pre- and post- experimental assessment of students from experimental and control groups. On a practical level, the participants’ writing skills were examined through an English written test prior to and after cooperative learning activities were provided. Growth rate in students from experimental group significantly exceeded the students’ results in the control group. Thus, the efficacy of the suggested algorithm used for developing lexical competence in computer programming students has been proved. In light of the findings, the researcher indicates that teachers can benefit from applying the proposed methodology for collaborative professional writing in English classes, which may in turn develop students’ writing skills and improve their English lexical competence.

Analiza korelacji pomiędzy nasileniem cech osobowości a strategiami uczenia się leksyki na przykładzie polskich uczących się języka niemieckiego na trzecim etapie edukacyjnym

Developing learners' lexical subsystem is one of the most important tasks of foreign language didactics. The observable turn towards vocabulary (,,Wortschatzwende’’) has contributed to an in-depth reflection on learners' lexical competence, including their strategic competence. The aim of this article is to present results of a correlational research concerning the influence of personality variables (understood according to the Five-Factor Model) on the range and frequency of strategies used by Polish high-school students to learn German vocabulary. The research project described in this article was conducted in April 2021. The polish adaptation of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory was applied to examine the learners’ personality traits. The Polish version of Schmitt's Vocabulary Learning Strategies Questionnaire (VLSQ) was used to investigate students’ preferred strategies for learning German vocabulary. Based on the conclusions from the research, an attempt was made to formulate practical guidelines for foreign language teachers concerning the possibilities of developing learners' lexical competence. The report is complemented by a list of open research questions and problems in this field.

Integration of captioned authentic video materials into the process of forming a foreign language lexical competence

В рамках данного исследования анализируется целесообразность, а также рассматриваются возможные пути интеграции аутентичных англоязычных видеосюжетов различного типа в процесс преподавания иностранных языков в техническом вузе. Исследуются перспективы использования видеоматериалов с субтитрами по сравнению с печатными учебными пособиями, аудиоподкастами или сюжетами без субтитров, как основа повышения эффективности формирования лексической компетенции. Подробно анализируются результаты, полученные в ходе проведения педагогического эксперимента, направленного на разработку и апробацию элементов практической методики, позволяющей не только значительно улучшить навыки рецептивного и продуктивного владения иноязычной лексикой, но и активизировать знания по грамматике, уменьшить состояние тревожности в процессе восприятия на слух, существенно повысить учебную мотивацию. Within the framework of this study, the expediency as well as possible ways of integrating authentic English-language videos of various types into the process of teaching foreign languages at a technical university have been analyzed and considered. The prospects of using video materials with captions, in comparison with printed textbooks, audio podcasts or videos without captions, as the basis for increasing the effectiveness of the lexical competence formation have been investigated. The results obtained in the course of a pedagogical experiment aimed at developing and testing elements of the practical methodology have been analyzed in detail. This methodology allows not only improving receptive and productive foreign language vocabulary skills significantly, but also activating knowledge of grammar, reducing the state of anxiety in the process of listening, substantially increasing learning motivation.