Aims and Principles of Foreign Language Teaching in a secondary school

It is a common knowledge that there are lots of languages in the world, and some of them fall into the category of international languages or languages of wider communication groups, such as English; French, German, Spanish, Russian, Italian and Arabic. All these languages are the official languages of the UN.

English language is very important nowadays. More and more people need English to attend universities and colleges, because now we have an opportunity to get higher education abroad. New ideas in science and medicine happen so quickly that it is impossible to translate everything into different languages. Most articles are published in English. English is the language of international communication in many areas of life: trade, air and sea transport, tourism and sport. Ukraine is establishing closer economic, politi­cal, scientific, and cultural relations with various peoples of the world. International relations are extended and strength­ened through the exchange of scientific, technical, and cultural information. In this situation foreign language teaching is a matter of state significance.

In modern society language is used in two ways: directly or orally, and indirectly or in written form. Thus we distin­guish oral language and written language. Direct communi­cation implies a speaker and a hearer, indirect communica­tion implies a writer and a reader. Hence the practical aims in teaching a foreign language are four in number: hearing, speaking, reading, and writing.

Aims are the first and most important consideration in any teaching. Hence the teacher should know exactly what his pupils are expected to achieve in learning his subject, what changes he can bring about in his pupils at the end of the course, at the end of the year, term, month, week, and each particular lesson, he should know the aims and objectives of foreign language teaching. The changes the teacher must bring about in his pupils may be threefold: practical —pupils acquire habits and skills in using a foreign language; educational — they develop their mental abilities and intelligence in the process of learning the foreign language; сultural — pupils extend their knowledge of the world in which they live. Therefore there are three aims, at least, which should be achieved in foreign language teaching: prac­tical, educational, and cultural.

Practical aims. The foreign language as a subject differs from other subjects of the school curriculum. Whereas the teaching, for instance, of history is mostly connected with the imparting of historical laws and facts which pupils are to learn and the teaching of the mother tongue leads to the mastery of the language as a system (which is already used for exchanging thoughts and feelings) so that pupils will be able to use it more effectively in oral and writ­ten language, the teaching of a foreign language should re­sult in the pupil's gaining one more code for receiving and conveying information; that is, in acquiring a second lan­guage for the same purpose as the native language: to use it as a means of communication.

The nature of the language should also be taken into consid­eration in determining the aims of language teaching. Learn­ing a living language implies using the language ofsounds, that is, speaking. Scientific research gives a more profound insight into the problem. It is not so much the ability to speak that is meant here but rather the oral treatment; in other words, the language of sounds, not of graphic signs (which is usually the case when a dead language is studied) should serve as basic means of teaching.

The length of the course, the frequency of the lessons, the size of groups should also be taken into consideration in adopt­ing practical aims. The amount of time for language learning is one of the most decisive factors in mastering and maintain­ing language proficiency since learners need practice. The more time is available for pupils' practice in the target lan­guage, the better results can be achieved. Moreover, for the formation of speech habits frequency of lessons is a more es­sential condition than the length of the course. It is not necessary to prove (it has already been proved) that intensive courses are more effective than extensive ones, for example, six periods a week for three years are more effective for lan­guage learning than three periods a week for six years.

In foreign language learning all forms of work must be in close interrelation, otherwise it is impossible to master the language. However, attention should be given mainly to prac­tice in hearing, speaking, and reading. Thus pupils must achieve a level in their knowledge of the language which will enable them to further develop it at an institute or in their practical work. The achievement of practical aims in foreign language teaching makes possible the achievement of educational and cultural aims.

Educational aims. Learning a foreign language is of great educational value. Through a new language we can gain an insight into the way in which words express thoughts, and so achieve greater clarity and precision in our own communi­cations. Even at the most elementary level learning a foreign language teaches the cognizance of meaning, furnishes a term of comparison that gives us an insight into the quality of language. When learning a foreign language the pupil understands better how language functions and this brings him to a greater awareness of the functioning of his own language.

Since language is connected with thinking, through foreign language study we can develop the pupil's intellect. Teaching a foreign language helps the teacher develop the pupils' voluntary and involuntary memory, his imaginative abili­ties, and will power. Indeed, in learning a new language the pupil should memorize words, idioms, sentence patterns, structures, and keep them in long-term memory ready to be used whenever he needs them in auding, speaking, reading, and writing. Teaching a foreign language under conditionswhen this is the only foreign language environment, is practi­cally impossible without appealing to pupils’ imagination. The lack of real communication forces the teacher to create imaginary situations for pupils, to speak about making each pupil determine his language behaviour as if he were in such situations.

Teaching a foreign language contributes to the linguistic education of the pupil, the latter extends his knowledge of phonic, graphic, structural, and semantic aspects of language through contrastive analysis of language phenomena. In teaching a foreign language the teacher is called upon to inculcate in pupils the scientific outlook, to prepare the young people for an active partici­pation in production and other types of useful activ­ities.

Teachers of foreign languages make their contribution to the education of pupils, to their ideological education. Their role in the upbringing of the younger generation cannot be overestimated.

Cultural aims. Learning a foreign language makes the pupil acquainted with the life, customs and traditions of the people whose language he studies through visual material (such as post cards with the views of towns, countryside, and people; filmstrips, for example, "Great Britain", "What Tour­ists Can See in London", "Disney Land" films) and reading material dealing with the countries where the target language is spoken. Foreign language teaching should promote puipls' general educational and cultural growth by increasing their knowledge about foreign countries, and by acquainting them with progressive traditions of the people whose language they study. Through learning a foreign language the pupil gains a deeper insight into the nature and functioning of language as a social phenomenon.

It should be said that practical, educational, and cultural aims are intimately related and form an insepa­rable unity. The leading role belongs to practical aims, for the others can only be achieved through the practical com­mand of the foreign language. But to achieve any aim it is necessary to remember about the Methods of teaching. Methods of foreign language teaching is understood as a body of scientifically tested theory concerning the teach­ing of foreign languages in educational institutions. It covers three main problems as: content of teaching, i. e. what to teach to attain the aims; methods and techniques of teaching, i. e. how to teach a foreign language to attain the aims in the most ef­fective way to meet modern requirements.

The aims of foreign language teacher.

Teachers should be encouraged to teach actual communication, not merely structures out of context. In our technologically advanced world the focus is or should be on active learning.In other words,EFL methodology has shifted from a teacher-centred approach to a learner-centred approach taking into consideration the needs of the individual learner,their interests, their feelings and their learning and thinking styles.

Technology cannot be omitted, either. It should be incorporated to reflect our technology-based society.

Last but not least, modern trends aim to ensure that our students become independent learners, become more open-minded, understand and work with others better and work more efficiently by themselves.

As teaching develops, we move towards creating a classroom environment where students can express opinions, evaluate information and begin the process of owning the language.Our students can be trained to listen better, write more clearly and read more carefully.

Our first aim is to develop life-long skills so that our learners can continue their education outside the classroom or indeed any other institution.It’s our responsibility as teachers not only to achieve learning but also to achieve education in order to reach “excellence of thought”.

Recent studies have shown that pupils should be exposed to other subject areas such as Maths, Art Science etc., while learning a foreign language. This is because people learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself. Our aim as educators is also to promote our learners’ environmental awareness.

Teaching a foreign language according to the Common European Framework should reflect our diverse societies.We should provide insight into the culture and way of life of the target language. This will also serve as a springboard for the students to reflect on and appreciate their own culture, thus promoting their own cultural individuality.

We are not only teaching set expressions, grammar and syntax; we are teaching students the nuances of the language, the tone and attitude behind what we read, how to speak and what we listen to.This involes understanding the culture of the target language.A major obstacle to critical thinking is prejudice.Everyone has some prejudices because we all have ideas about what is true, false, right or

wrong. Students need to be made aware of their own value systems and how they influence judgment and decisions. Once students become more self aware, they are able to compare, contrast, analyse, solve problems and share their values with others and thus become better thinkers and contribute to a better society. Developing critical thinking skills fosters a more positive attitude to the learning process and life as a whole.

When our students leave our classrooms, the WAY they think will have far-reaching consequences for the society. It is in our hands to help create this society and this can or be accomplished by raising our students’ intellectual standards and develop their thinking skills.