There is no magic in learning a foreign language!
The content of foreign language teaching is fundamentally different from the content of teaching other subjects. If for the latter the basis of the content of teaching is the assimilation of concepts, acquisition of knowledge, theт in teaching a foreign language the main answer to the question ‘What to teach?’ is speech skills and abilities, providing the possibility of practical use of the language.
The curriculum at Al-Farabi University includes the study of English as a compulsory subject for all students pursuing a major in any of the institution's academic disciplines. The purpose of this article is to familiarise first-year students with the English study program they will cover during their initial year at university. In compliance with the university program the English course lasts for 2 semesters, 3 hours per week with 2 midterm exams and 2 final exams after the end of the semester.
Our mission in the English Language Learning Program at Al-Farabi University is to help our students to achieve their personal and academic goals by providing high-quality English language instruction in a warm, welcoming, inclusive, and friendly environment, while also bringing valuable and diverse global perspectives to the University.
The primary objective of the university foreign language teaching program is to develop students' communicative competence and intercultural communication skills. As a rule, students come with divergent English levels and our task before the academic year to group them by their English competence level since for teachers it presents difficulty to meet the language needs of students at different proficiency levels in the same class period.
The University study program aims to develop all four skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening which are the key elements in the teaching and learning English and develop grammar, pronunciation and lexis skills. Successful acquisition of these skills will enable students to utilize English in actual communication situations, and they will be able to think, judge, and to express themselves appropriately.
The principal method we apply in teaching our students is communicative language teaching methodology. The main purpose behind communicative language teaching methods is to prepare students to be confident communicators in different real-life contexts, through repetitive oral practices and student-student cooperation.
Our Foreign Languages Department has the teaching staff who are truly devoted to their profession. They dispose a big combination of effective teaching strategies that give their students more opportunities to perform better in class. And provided that students are industrious , zealous, motivated and are persistent in their goal to master a foreign language and with alll these qualities successfully complete the University program they can be sure to achieve the following skills : in reading they can demonstrate understanding of the main points in special texts on familiar and unfamiliar topics to a satisfactory level of comprehension; identify and demonstrate understanding of key information and points of view on a variety of topics in a range of text types such as original articles and argumentative texts; in writing they can write about a variety of familiar subjects well enough for others to understand the text; can express opinions and ideas in online correspondence and respond to those of other people; can write a variety of essays: describing problems and solutions; in listening they can demonstrate understanding of main ideas and some details of straight forward factual information in clear standard speech; can demonstrate understanding of the main points of spoken interactions and extended discussion; can demonstrate understanding of lectures, audio and audio-visual material on familiar and some unfamiliar topics; in speaking they can enter unprepared into conversations on familiar topics; can give and seek personal opinions when discussing various topics; can deliver clear, coherent prepared presentations; can take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining views.
In conclusion , we must inform our Al-Farabi students of the following: We explicitly state that foreign language acquisition is a complex, multidimensional process. Every student should bear in mind that learning a foreign language is a complex, time-consuming task that requires dedication, perseverance and hard work. These are the qualities that facilitate success in the acquisition of a foreign language.
There is no magic in learning a foreign language!
Zh.Dosmagambetova,
K.Zhirenshina,
Foreign Language Department
