THE LESSON STUDY METHODOLOGY IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

ABSTRACT

The article analyzes the possibilities of using the Lesson Study methodology in the context of professionally oriented teaching of a foreign language to students. The structure of the method implementation is presented, its didactic advantages, features of its adaptation to language education are outlined, taking into account the professional orientation of training future specialists in the field of linguistics, and the main difficulties of its adaptation to teaching a language at a university are identified. The importance of Lesson Study as a tool for improving the quality of education and developing students' professional competence is emphasized.

Keywords: Lesson Study, professionally oriented foreign language, joint planning, pedagogical reflection,  learning experience.

Introduction

Modern Language Education seeks to combine traditional academic approaches with innovative teaching methods that contribute to the development of professional and communicative competencies of students. One of these methods is the Lesson Study technique, which is successfully used in pedagogy to analyze and improve learning experience. In the context of preparing students of the specialty linguist for professional activities, the Lesson Study methodology allows you to purposefully build an educational process based on specific professional tasks.

Lesson Study is a type of pedagogical study that is designed, conducted, monitored and analyzed by a group of teachers in order to improve the effectiveness of the lesson. The methodology includes the formulation of the goal and planning of the lesson, the direction of the training session, the ways of collective control and data collection, the stages of analysis and reflection, if necessary, repetition of the test, taking into account corrections. This approach is based on the principles of joint learning, reflection and continuous improvement of learning experience.

Teaching a foreign language within the framework of language specialties involves mastering scientific and business vocabulary, styles and genres of professional communication. To this end, Lesson Study makes it possible to effectively use the modeling of situations of professional communication, i.e. business negotiations, translations, interviews, presentations, works with original texts (scientific articles, annotations, instructions, etc.), metalinguistic reflection, i.e. discussion of language norms, translation decisions, the formation of terminological difficulties.

The relevance of the introduction of Lesson Study in professionally oriented foreign language teaching is determined by a number of factors, namely:

- increasing the requirements for professional training of graduates of linguistics. Mastering a foreign language in a professional context (translation, academic communication, business communication) requires deep and purposeful training beyond general courses.

- the need to personalize the learning process. Lesson Study allows you to create flexible educational models adapted to the specific needs and challenges of students and quickly adjust them.

- the need for pedagogical interaction. The introduction of the Lesson Study system contributes to the development of cooperation between teachers, the formation of a unified methodological approach and the exchange of effective experience in teaching foreign languages.

- integration of innovative approaches to higher education institutions. Lesson Study as a research-based teaching method is in line with current trends in pedagogy.

Thus, the use of Lesson Study is a timely and effective solution for improving the quality of teaching linguistic students and developing their professional language competence.

Discussion

Modernization of Kazakhstan's education system involves the education of a person who is ready not only to live in New, changing conditions, but also to actively influence the realities of life and change for the better, training teachers of a new generation. Lesson Study is a pedagogical approach that characterizes a special type of study of activity in the lesson, aimed at improving knowledge in the field of teaching practice.

The results of the introduction of the Lesson Study methodology into the practice of professionally oriented foreign language teaching demonstrate its high pedagogical value. Planning a joint lesson and subsequent analysis of their implementation will allow teachers to more accurately determine the goals of training, take into account the real difficulties of the learners, systematically update the educational material, taking into account the professional orientation of training.

The Lesson Study method is effective for teachers in planning together, monitoring together, and developing a shared understanding of learning by making changes to Lesson Planning. As a result of joint work, the teacher can see the difficulties and opportunities of the student. The introduction of new approaches to teaching and learning opens the way for the creative and professional development of both the teacher and the student, which is one of the ways to form an innovative professional worldview in practice.

Lesson Study is distinguished by its emphasis on group cooperation and the sustainable development of pedagogical competencies. This contributes to the formation of a community that jointly solves methodological and substantive problems, improves qualifications and integrates them into the mentoring system. It turned out to be especially important that Lesson Study helps to transfer the material obtained in the learning process to a deeper understanding of their learning process, rather than a formal presentation. Teachers who participated in the Less study clarify that students have increased activity, improved quality of completing tasks, and improved professional communication skills in a foreign language. The main goal of Lesson Study is to study the impact of teaching methods on the quality of students ' assimilation of the material.

Mastering a foreign language in the context of teaching students involves not only communicative competence, but also knowledge of professional vocabulary, genre features of texts, terminology and norms of academic communication. If we clarify the effective ways of Lesson Study: first, to combine language and professional skills.

For example, develop lessons aimed at using a foreign language in a professional environment, summarize, translate, write a resume, etc.; secondly, analyze the success of the implementation of original materials, that is, monitor, evaluate how interested and understood students are in professionally oriented texts; thirdly, develop students ' critical thinking. Lesson Study helps students analyze speech situations, problem situations and situations of intercultural communication, and its implementation consists of special stages for teachers(Table 1.).

Table 1.

Stages of implementation of Lesson Study in teaching a foreign language

Advantages of implementing the Lesson Study method: through the development of the group, the learning content is improved, the methods used are adapted to the specific professional needs of students, the edagogical interaction of teachers and the culture of mentoring are developed.

At the same time, certain difficulties were also identified: significant time costs for preparation and analysis, the need for methodological training of teachers, as well as the need for institutional support were noted. These factors require attention when expanding the approach to the institutional or departmental level. The main need is the formation of students ' communicative competence, that is, a high level of proficiency in a foreign language, the ability to analyze and improve teaching activities, the ability to recognize cultural differences and use them in teaching.

Result

Of particular importance is the emphasis on practice-oriented training of future teachers, the development of their professional competence. One of the innovative approaches that is actively used today to improve the quality of teaching and the development of reflective learning practices is Lesson Study. The relevance of the Lesson Study method for future Foreign Language teachers lies in the need to develop their methodological competencies, the ability to select and adapt teaching methods.

Due to its structure and focus on the collective understanding of pedagogical actions, Lesson Study directly contributes to the development of all these areas. The correctly planned and implemented method teaches future foreign language specialists to analyze the lesson, notice mistakes and find ways to correct them, master the methods well and evaluate their effectiveness, lead them to work in a team, accept other people's opinions, learn from each other. In the educational process, practice-oriented work is carried out with specific lessons, students and situations.

Let us dwell on one example of the implementation of the Lesson Study method in teaching a foreign language:

Students form groups. Theme: "Past Simple". Together they develop lessons on grammar and vocabulary. Together with the teacher, they, predicts and discusses possible difficulties, typical mistakes of students. One student conducts the lesson in a group, the rest observe and record how the students in the group behave. After the lesson, a discussion is held and the strengths and weaknesses of the lesson are analyzed. Taking into account the comments, the lesson is worked out and another student re-conducts this lesson with another group.

Hence the conclusion: it should be noted that through observation and discussion, students have learned to evaluate activities not only as performers, but also as analysts, and their confidence and understanding of the teaching method increases. As part of the introduction of Lesson Study into the educational process of the university, teachers and students jointly develop and analyze lessons. The goal is to improve teaching methods and improve teaching skills. As a result, we can see an improvement in the quality of students ' knowledge and the development of research skills. Students began to conduct lexical dictionaries and show activity in interdisciplinary communication. This will help improve understanding of the subject and develop language skills.

The Lesson Study method can be used to develop students ' motivation through game tasks. It takes into account the psychological characteristics of students, helps to avoid repetitive tasks, and monitoring their reactions during the game process gives valuable data that cannot be obtained through regular frontal exercises. Participants better understood their role in the learning process and began to use language games and digital resources more flexibly.

Thus, Lesson Study has proven its effectiveness in professionally oriented foreign language teaching and can be considered as a promising tool for developing the competencies of both the student and the teacher. However, regular implementation requires organizational support and professional training of participants in the educational process.  This new method provides not only an increase in the effectiveness of individual lessons, but also the development of a pedagogical culture of cooperation and a steady improvement in teaching in higher educational institutions.

Conclusion

The Lesson Study method opens up wide opportunities for linguistic students to improve the process of teaching professionally oriented foreign languages. It is flexible in training, purposeful and focused on the specific professional experience of future specialists. The implementation of this method requires organizational training, but in the long term it significantly increases the effectiveness of the educational process. Lesson Study contributes to the development of methodological, communicative and reflective skills of future teachers. Joint lesson planning and analysis will help identify effective teaching methods and adapt them to the needs of students. Participation in Lesson Study increases the motivation of students, their interest in the lesson and contributes to their professional growth.

Thus, in the learning process, there was a need for effective use of modern interactive teaching methods, guided by the methodology of developing managerial, informational, cognitive, communicative social, personal, civic, technological competencies of students. Since the main purpose of the Lesson Study is the effective use of interactive methods to improve the quality of education, methods of active learning were used during the lesson. The dialogue method, pair, group work, identification, the use of the Lesson Study method in order to create an atmosphere of cooperation and language training gave a great impetus to the interest of students.

In conclusion, the main concept of the Lesson Study method is cohesion. Because through joint planning, joint supervision, joint analysis, a joint opinion on learning is formed. In this case, we compare the aspects of learning not only from the point of view of our position, but also the actual lesson that we observed during the Lesson Study with the lesson that we planned. This motivates us to realize things that we ourselves usually do not care about, ignore. There are no frozen principles in Lesson Study, we just need to strive to find our way around the scope of this method.   Therefore, Lesson Study allows the teacher to be aware of everything in their work and take into account the needs of each student in their life experience.

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