The Problem of Teaching Students to Reveal and Understand Non-verbal Signals in the Works of English Literature

Apply

The Problem of Teaching Students to Reveal and Understand Non-verbal Signals in the Works of English Literature

Journal Title: Science and Education a New Dimension - Year 2017, Vol 0, Issue 128

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of teaching 3rd year students majoring in English to reveal and understand non-verbal signals in the works of English literature. It is outlined that the importance of forming intercultural competence which helps to estab- lish and maintain the “dialogue of cultures” depends on the usage in the communicative process of both verbal messages and non- verbal signals (cues). The latter are believed to bear even more information than verbal messages. The article is aimed at generalizing methodic approaches to teaching students to comprehend non-verbal signals in English fiction and to specify the difficulties of such teaching connected with the particularities of the process of understanding in general and the process of understanding of fiction in particular, non-verbal signals (cues) as the object of understanding and the characteristics of the 3rd year students majoring in English as the subject of understanding. The author generalizes the main features of the process of understanding, characterizing it as multi- layered and multi-dimensional. The process of decoding the meaning of a non-verbal signal (cue) represented in the text by means of a nomination becomes even more complex. A reader has to consider first the double form of a non-verbal cue (its nomination and the very form of the sign) and then the information it implies. The article proves that it is necessary to develop the ability to identify a non-verbal cue in an excerpt of text it is investigated within and to link it with the rest of the events of the whole text, the ability to deduce the implicit information represented by a non-verbal cue (to match the existing background knowledge concerning a non- verbal signal with all its possible meanings in context and to compare the meaning of a non-verbal signal with the context). The author suggests the idea of using frames while teaching students to understand non-verbal signals in texts. The model of the notion of a non-verbal cue is visualized in the article identifying the spheres a non-verbal sign can be associated with. The problem of acquir- ing background knowledge is touched upon in the work. The types of background knowledge necessary for grasping the meaning of non-verbal signals are singled out, among which psychological knowledge, historical and cultural knowledge and biographical knowledge of the author. The article also overviews the influence of fragmentary “clip thinking” on students’ real ability to read the text in detail, to elicit the main thoughts of the text, to meditate on its ideas and topics, to comprehend it, to evaluate and later use the information received.

Authors and Affiliations

M. V. Duka

Keywords

Розвиток самоосвітньої компетентності учнів в інформаційно - освітньому середовищі бібліотеки професійного навчального закладу

У статті з’ясовуються сучасні прогресивні напрями діяльності бібліотеки навчального закладу. З’ясовується можливість поєднання зусиль бібліотечних і педагогічних працівників задля розвитку творчого по...

EP ID EP521373
DOI -
Views 119
Downloads 0