IV. Kárpát-medencei Oktatási Konferencia

Előadó: Szabó Fruzsina - Dr Buda Mariann - Dr Polonyi Tünde - Dr Abari Kálmán - Dr Pusztai Gábor

Szabó Fruzsina: Debreceni Egyetem, angol-német szakos nyelvtanár, PhD hallgató
Dr Buda Mariann: főiskolai docens, Debreceni Egyetem, Pedagógiai Tanszék
Előadás absztrakt:
The purpose of our project is to develop online digital material for classes 5-6-7 in English and Dutch, which will display features of innovation and novelty. There is no digital website or course-material currently online supporting and facilitating foreign language teaching. Our project focuses on digital material instead of the conventional combination of book and workbook. We promote engagement, learning autonomy, communication-centred language learning and a form of education that relates to new generations of pupils.
In our project we plan to facilitate the learning process of pupils from socially and economically disadvantaged background. ICT and digital material will contribute to the improvement of the learning styles of these pupils. We do believe that their engagement will be enhanced and the change in their motivation related to learning and foreign languages can be observed. We are developing course-material that helps pupils to acquire skills necessary for 21st Century education and employment, as well as bridge the gap between different social groups in education. We also plan to extend the application and the introduction of the course-material in many Hungarian schools
Research supports our stances on enhancing motivation and promoting engagement. We believe that pupils from disadvantaged background can embrace learning too. Language pedagogical and psychological research underlines the theory that successful language learning and teaching has various factors: apart from adequate methodology, students’ active role and involvement is emphasized. We have organised our course-material around four major factors: communication, cooperation, self-regulation and intercultural values.
In this paper my aim is to introduce our project, the structure of the course-material as well as to highlight the current research findings, the introduction of the pilot material, the challenges and pitfalls of writing digital course-material. I will present the first research, its methods and preliminary results that explored the current status of teaching foreign languages in disadvantaged schools specifically. The questionnaire focused on the following questions: what kind of problems do teachers face in their school? What kind of attitude towards learning and English do students exhibit? We are examining the issue of general wellbeing of teachers and students at their school; the survey also explores the most important aspects of attitude and motivation among both teachers and pupils.