Using interactive methods in teaching the Kyrgyz language to students in universities

Бюллетень науки и практики / Bulletin of Science and Practice

In modern conditions in the Kyrgyz Republic, more and more attention is paid to the study of the Kyrgyz language. This applies to all spheres of the country’s life, and especially to those where the Kyrgyz language is the key to the development of social, economic, scientific and cultural relations. From January 1, 2020, office work in the Kyrgyz Republic switched to the Kyrgyz language. Active work is underway in this direction in the country; all civil servants, regardless of nationality, have begun to be tested for knowledge of the state language, and a secretariat has been created at the National Academy of Sciences, which is involved in the translation of terms and documents.

On July 17, 2023, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov signed the law on the state language, which obliges all civil servants to use the Kyrgyz language in their work. According to the new version of the law, it will also be mandatory to use the Kyrgyz language in 11 areas and directions, such as the work of government agencies, document management, judicial proceedings, international treaties, geographical names, as well as education, science, culture and the media. In the private sector, the volume of broadcasting is at least 60%. In particular, Kyrgyz is becoming mandatory in computer program interfaces, at public events, in advertising, on transport and in consumer services. Deputies, employees of the National Bank, employees of internal affairs bodies, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, notaries, teachers and medical workers will speak Kyrgyz in the performance of official duties. The law emphasizes that Kyrgyzstan "adheres to the principle of the free use of languages by representatives of all ethnic groups living on its territory and guarantees the creation of conditions for the development of these languages" .

In this regard, university graduates are subject to additional requirements regarding proficiency in the Kyrgyz language in their professional activities. This determines the need to search for new constructive ideas to solve the problem of optimizing and intensifying learning the Kyrgyz language, gaining new knowledge and improving the level of language training. To achieve a high level of proficiency in the national language, fundamental language training in higher education is necessary. Therefore, it is extremely necessary for a teacher to master the latest methods of teaching the Kyrgyz language, special educational technologies and techniques in order to optimally choose one or another teaching method to achieve the main goal – mastering the Kyrgyz language by a student at a professional level. At the same time, the main problem remains the passivity and inertia of students in the learning process, since not all, even the most modern pedagogical technologies, methods and tools can fully ensure high activity of educational and cognitive activity of learning subjects [1].

Modern higher school is faced with the problem of forming an active position of the individual, creating motivation and interest among students. Therefore, the processes of intensifying educational and cognitive activity in higher educational institutions, taking into account the specialization and characteristics of educational programs, are one of the priority areas for improving the educational process [2].

The Kyrgyz language at a university is of great importance for the formation of a comprehensively developed and competent specialist. In the process of working on professionally oriented texts, students receive new information and systematically expand their terminological vocabulary. The practice of teaching the national language in universities indicates an insufficient content base and basis of available teaching aids, unification of tasks for mastering terminological vocabulary in the Kyrgyz language. This circumstance indicates the need to create real learning conditions so that each student can fully use and reveal their individual potential. To the greatest extent, this is facilitated by training in a specific sublanguage of a specialty, which is the ability to mobilize a system of knowledge, skills, abilities, mental and personal qualities necessary for the perception of new information, the assimilation of foreign terminological units, their use in oral or written speech. The formation of professional communicative and linguistic competencies occurs through the replenishment and expansion of the necessary vocabulary of students, which is a set of techniques and efforts that mobilize mental stimulants to search for conditions and opportunities to fill the lack of knowledge, skills and abilities. Such strategies and effective techniques need to be guided to students in a targeted and systematic manner. Interactive methods are primarily focused on active communication and interaction of students with the teacher and among themselves [3]. In the process of this interaction, it becomes possible to organize a special educational space that promotes the involvement of all subjects of the educational process in active and creative learning of the Kyrgyz language.

Let's present some interactive methods of teaching the Kyrgyz language and non-traditional organizational forms of teaching interconnected with them. Thus, the game method of teaching the Kyrgyz language involves conducting classes in the form of role-playing/business games and quizzes. The discussion method of language teaching uses classes in the form of debates, round tables, seminars “Microphone”, “Press”, “Aquarium”, etc. Creative methods of teaching the Kyrgyz language contribute to creative search, self-expression and self-development in classes with elements of dramatization, when conducting thematic evenings dedicated to learning languages and cultures. Computer methods of teaching the Kyrgyz language involve holding virtual conferences, forums and webinars.

Interactive learning partly solves another significant problem. We are talking about relaxation, relieving nervous stress, switching attention, changing forms of activity, etc. In this understanding, interactive learning as a form of the educational process is truly capable of optimizing the essence, content and structure of pedagogical interactions. What is the technology of interactive learning? By interactive learning technology, we understand a system of ways to organize interaction between a teacher and students in the form of educational games, guaranteeing pedagogically effective cognitive communication, as a result of which conditions are created for students to experience a situation of success in educational activities and mutual enrichment of their motivational, intellectual, emotional and other spheres. It is important to skillfully guide the teacher to achieve the set educational goals.

Group work is not new and is well known to everyone. We often use small rotating groups in our classes. For example, within the framework of the 1st course topic "Noun. Gender, number, case.", we practice the work according to the following scheme: stage 1 — an advanced task, collecting information according to a certain plan about the noun; stage 2 — work in small groups: grammatical categories of the noun. Students share the information they find, systematize it; stage 3 — work in small groups. Each student brings information about his part to the entire team of the group; Stage 4 — compare the completed tables, supplement the material, exchange opinions, prepare mini-messages about the noun.

Below is a list of the technologies used for interactive learning of the Kyrgyz language:

The “Aquarium” technology is somewhat like a performance, where the audience acts as observers, experts, critics and analysts. A few students act out the situation in a circle, while the rest observe and analyze. Studying the topic of "Dialogue", we try to offer an "aquarium dialogue": the text of the dialogue can be any, for example, a conversation between the prosecutor and the defendant in the courtroom. The task of the actors is to convey the appropriate mood, emotion, character trait, and the task of the audience is to notice, explain their conclusions, say what they were based on, what guided them.

The use of “Brownian motion” technology involves students moving throughout the class in order to collect information on the proposed topic. The topics “Hobbies”, “Family”, “Clothing”, “Home”, “Shop” are often used, while simultaneously practicing all kinds of grammatical structures. Each participant receives a sheet with a list of questions and tasks: “Find out how many people in your group like chocolate ice cream?” or “Who is wearing a pink T-shirt today?”, “Who has a desk by the window at home?” The teacher helps formulate questions and answers and ensures that the dialogue between students is conducted in Kyrgyz. Sometimes we also use a form of interaction called “Take a Position.” A statement is read and students must go to the poster with the word “YES” or “NO.” It is advisable that they explain their position. As a logical continuation, can use group work.

When using the Decision Tree technology, the group is divided into 3 or 4 subgroups with the same number of students. Each group discusses the issue and makes notes on its “tree” (a large sheet of paper), then the subgroups change places and add their ideas to their neighbors’ trees, without criticizing or correcting those already on the sheet. You can change groups in a circle, you can stop at a certain number of “advisers”. The host group processes the additions, proposes its final decision on this issue, and holds a discussion, which sometimes develops into a debate between the parties (especially when discussing some controversial or controversial issues). A decision tree can be used when discussing the pros (one group) and cons (second group) of an issue.

The “Carousel” technology, like many interactive technologies, is borrowed from psychological training. Students usually really like this type of work. Two rings are formed: internal and external. The inner circle has students sitting still facing the outer circle, and the outer circle has students moving around the circle every 30 seconds. Thus, they manage to talk through several topics in a few minutes and try to convince their interlocutor that they are right. Etiquette dialogues, topics such as “acquaintance”, “nationality”, “conversation in a public place”, etc. are excellently practiced. The guys are talking enthusiastically; the lesson is dynamic and productive.

The “Brainstorming” technology, which needs no introduction and is very much loved, has firmly taken up residence in our classrooms. It perfectly stimulates creative activity. Participants in the discussion are asked to express as many possible solutions as possible, including the most fantastic ones (the time for discussing the problem is usually limited to 1-5 minutes). Then, from the total number of ideas expressed, the most successful ones are selected that can be used in practice. Perfect for discussing problematic issues (health, sports, youth, education system) [5].

When using the “Unfinished Sentence” technology, the student is asked to read an unfinished sentence and quickly continue it with any words, the first thought that comes to mind. Sentences begin very vaguely, so the guys have almost unlimited opportunities to finish it. They relate to various areas of life and can cover any topic. We use the “Group Story” technology quite often. Each student adds one sentence to an already started story. At a certain signal (after a minute), the sheet with the unfinished story is passed further around the circle. The stories are unexpected and funny. The list of technologies used and quite suitable for use can be continued indefinitely — these include debates, discussions, seminars and, of course, games. There are a huge number of forms of role-playing games in Russian language lessons: presentations, interest clubs, interviews, correspondence travel, round tables, press conferences, excursions, fairy tales, reports, etc. These are just a few examples of the use of interactive technologies in teaching the Kyrgyz language to students. We emphasize that these technologies can significantly intensify the learning process and become a condition for improving the quality of learning [4].

To summarize, it should be noted that it is advisable and justified to use interactive methods in the process of training future specialists, since they are promising technologies in teaching the Kyrgyz language and define dialogue as the leading form of educational and cognitive interactive interaction. This involves the integrated use of interactive methods, means and forms of teaching the Kyrgyz language, selected according to the principles of communication and cooperation, in order to achieve optimal results.

Interactive learning also leads to the development of professional and personal qualities of students, including increased activity, critical thinking, development of abilities to argue their opinion, increased responsibility for decision making, formation of the ability to cooperate and teamwork, development of the ability for further self-education, then has all the qualities that a modern specialist should have. Before choosing teaching methods, a Kyrgyz language teacher must be guided by those specific objectives of the educational process, the results of which meet the requirements for the formation of specific practical skills of students. Practical tasks that are based on interactive technologies make it possible to effectively study educational material.

Thus, conditions are created for learning the Kyrgyz language at a qualitatively new and high level and for using these developed skills in practice. Students learn to communicate in the Kyrgyz language, participate in discussions, use grammatical structures, and activate their active (passive) vocabulary in the process of communicative activities. Thus, the use of interactive technologies in the educational process helps students achieve a smooth transition from acquiring lexical speech skills to including them in independent communicative activities at a higher professional level.