The Use of the Activity Approach in Teaching Foreign Languages in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

The article characterizes the essence of the activity approach in the aspect of learning foreign languages. An analysis of foreign scholars’ recommendations on the implementation of the principle of activity approach to learning was made. The essence of teaching in higher educational institutions, that is to help the teacher to acquire speech competencies for learning foreign languages. The essence of the activity approach principle, which consists of integral training with the active student, is found out. The teacher acts only as a guiding partner, providing advice on the way to achieve the goal. The disadvantages of the activity approach to teaching a foreign language are highlighted: time constraints, insufficient level of students’ basic knowledge and their unwillingness to study entirely student-oriented, during which the student is given full independence in choosing a way to effectively achieve the goal. During the experimental application of the activity approach, we used exercises in teaching vocabulary, grammar, phonetics and reading foreign texts. The essence of teaching methods is revealed, that is divided into three main phases of a foreign language lesson, based on the activity approach: the initial phase, the implementation phase and the analysis phase. Based on the results of the empirical research, a training program that will help to increase the level of knowledge and skills of the respondents of the experimental group was developed, based on educational group and frontal consultation and training for both students and teachers in higher educational institutions.