К ВОПРОСУ РАЗВИТИЯ КОММУНИКАТИВНОЙ КОМПЕТЕНЦИИ ПОСРЕДСТВОМ ДИАЛОГОВЫХ МЕТОДИК НА КУРСАХ ПОВЫШЕНИЯ КВАЛИФИКАЦИИ «АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ АКАДЕМИЧЕСКИХ ЦЕЛЕЙ»

The system of higher education has experienced significant changes recently. A great number of international students from over 50 countries come to Ogarev Mordovia State University to study for a degree. So, more and more university teachers have to study English for Academic Purposes to be able to interact effectively with English-speaking students, give lectures, conduct seminars and help them integrate themselves into the new community. As a result, formats of advanced training programs are being changed in order to meet new demands. The Institute of Corporate and Continuing Education at Ogarev Mordovia State University provides the English for Academic Purposes programme aimed at improving professional qualification of non-linguists.

The modern goals facing the higher education system require a different approach to be introduced in the teaching process. Today, the emphasis is on developing dialogue skills that can improve the students’ competence in Academic English.

The purpose of this article is to describe new ways of developing academic competence through the introduction of dialogue techniques tested with university teachers taking an advanced training course "English for Academic Purposes". This technology involves selecting best suited statement forms, reasoned presentation of opinions and readiness to perceive new experience through the interlocutor responses.

The problem of dialogue has been widely studied in linguistics and linguodidactics. Many outstanding scientists spoke about dialogue as the most natural medium for communication. For example, L. Shcherba believed that a living idea of language cannot be obtained from the book language as it is too artificial

A great scientific interest in speech activity, including dialogue, was shown by linguistic scientists A. Leontiev

Modern researchers, including Ya. Bazhenova

The authors used a set of theoretical and application methods. Theoretical methods include analysis and generalization, while application methods include questionnaire survey with subsequent analysis and experiment.

An experimental study was conducted at Ogarev Mordovia State University, which included the application of dialogue techniques as efficient means to master Academic English in university teachers, taking the English for Academic Purposes course. The experiment was conducted from October 2022 to April 2023 on the basis of the Institute of Corporate and Continuing Education at Ogarev Mordovia State University. The experiment involved 25 attendees (12 in the first group and 13 in the second group), with English levels A1 and A2. At the first stage of the experiment, an entrance test was provided to determine the level of academic communication skills.

Along with the testing, the attendees were asked to fill in the developed diagnostic questionnaire for a more accurate assessment. The questionnaire helps learn more about the target audience and their expectations of the advanced training course and make the training process personality-oriented.

The questionnaire contained 7 statements:

1. I can deliver a monologue on a particular everyday topic.

2. I can deliver a monologue on a particular professional topic.

3. I can express an opinion and maintain a dialogue on everyday topics.

4. I can express an opinion and maintain a dialogue on professional topics.

5. I can obtain information in English from various sources, systematize and interpret it.

6. I can give a presentation on professional topics.

7. I can interact with the audience in English, answer questions and argue my point of view.

The respondents were expected to evaluate the degree of his/her agreement or disagreement with the statements from 1 to 5. Among possible answers, there were the following:

1 – I completely disagree.

2 – I disagree.

3 – I find it difficult to answer.

4 – I agree.

5 – I fully agree.

The maximum possible score was 35, and the minimum possible score was 7. According to the results obtained, out of 25 people taking the advanced training course, 2 respondents scored 30 points, 5 respondents scored 26-29 points, 17 respondents scored 19-25 points, and 1 respondent scored 9 points. The percentage of those who marked mainly the statements “I completely disagree “, “I disagree” and “I find it difficult to answer” reached 68 per cent (17 people). The survey results are shown in Figure 1. 

Figure 1 - Bar chart representing the results of the survey conducted to help evaluate Academic English communication skills in the respondents before taking the advanced training course

DOI:10.60797/IRJ.2025.152.53.1

The conducted diagnostic research revealed in the attendees insufficient level of the required language competencies in the field of academic communication at the beginning of the training programme and made it possible to make a choice of educational route.

The decision was to train the participants of the first group in the traditional format, according to the syllabus, and those of the second group with the use of dialogue techniques.

The training included tasks for practicing various types of dialogues which contributed to the development of dialogical thinking and, consequently, increase in communicative competence. Based on the intentions of the participants of communication, the authors divided dialogues into three types:

1. A dialogue as an exchange of opinions, news, information on common cultural, social and public topics;

2. A dialogue as an exchange of opinions on some academic issues;

3. A dialogue for the purpose of receiving special knowledge on a professional subject.

Mastering the models of dialogic speech occurred according to the algorithm “from simple to complex”. The attendees of the course demonstrated the gradual formation of the skill of organizing a speech on certain general topics with the assimilation of appropriate conversational clichés. Gradually, they acquired the skill to participate in an academic communication by practicing dialogues aimed at receiving special knowledge on professional subjects.

During the designated period, the university teachers completed 2 training courses of 72 hours each. After the end of training in both groups, the results were evaluated. In the first group, the effectiveness was at the level predicted before the training. In the second group, where dialogue techniques were actively used, the participants showed higher communicative effectiveness, manifested in their ability to build a dialogue using dialogic tactics that they had mastered during the training.

According to the results of the survey, out of 25 participants in the experiment, 3 people scored 33 points each, 10 participants scored 29-32 points, 11 participants scored 26-28 points, and 1 participant scored 12 points. 13 people chose “I agree” and “I fully agree” responses for all statements, which accounted for 52 per cent of the total number of participants, most of whom were in the second experimental group (11 people). The results of the survey at the end of the advanced training course are shown in Figure 2. 

Figure 2 - Bar chart representing the results of the survey conducted at the end of the advanced training course

DOI:10.60797/IRJ.2025.152.53.2

Thus, the university teachers who took the English for Academic Purposes course and participated in the scientific experiment demonstrated high communicative competence, which testifies to the effectiveness of dialogue techniques.

In the dialogue making process, skills of active listening, critical thinking and constructive exchange were developed. The attendees learned to ask clarifying questions, paraphrase and express their ideas clearly and coherently. It should be noted that this is especially important in an academic environment, where accuracy and logical presentation are key factors for success. Close interaction through dialogues helped participants to reduce language barrier, increased their confidence and contributed to improving their Academic English communication skills.

The task included observing the process of developing dialogic speech skills in university teachers taking an advanced training course, analyzing the intensity of this process and proving the effectiveness of the dialogue techniques as a means to improve Academic English communication skills.

Dialogues as a means of improving the communicative competence proved to be an effective way, which was confirmed by the results of the diagnostic study conducted with the help of the diagnostic questionnaire developed by the authors.

The necessity of using dialogues in groups of university teachers taking an advanced training course is obvious, as this type of speech interaction forms their communicative skills and allows them to conduct an adequate exchange of information in a foreign language, thus acting as both a goal and a means of the educational process.