The article deals with the problem of development of cognitive independence in the process of teaching and learning foreign languages. It also analyzes the main principles of school education at the present stage, paying special attention to the teaching of foreign languages, gives a definition of independent work, and also considers possible ways of organizing it and the prospects for using the necessary language skills and skills in junior schoolchildren as a means of development.
Keywords: independent work, autonomous work, cognitive independence, self-organization, secondary linguistic personality
Today foreign language education is very vital in Uzbekistan as the processes of intercultural integration at the national and international levels are responsible for the modernization of the content of language education. In accordance with the program requirements, a foreign language is considered as a tool for the bicultural development of the personality, which fosters the formation of schoolchildren.
One of the goals of teaching foreign language at school is the formation of a «secondary linguistic personality». Teaching «language and culture» prepares the child for real situations of foreign language communication. In the event that a child often finds himself in a foreign language environment and is faced with the need to own a foreign language, the motivation for learning increases dramatically.
At present, there is a stable interest in the early learning of foreign language. In the junior school you can lay the foundation for a successful educational activity in the future and for the initial formation of a secondary linguistic personality.
The peculiarities of junior school age are the plasticity of the natural mechanism of language acquisition, imitation abilities, curiosity and the need for new knowledge, the absence of a language barrier, which can positively affect the assimilation of the proposed linguistic material. The informative and educational value of early foreign language learning is also important. On the basis of a foreign culture, the child is more aware of the culture of his own country by comparing them in the process of learning the language. Thus, we can talk about adherence to the principles of interdisciplinary learning.
Along with this, it is possible to talk about the rejection of the idea of forming exclusively subject knowledge, in this connection the principle of developing the potential of students, their abilities, abilities and personal motivation becomes a priority. It's no secret that the «ability to learn» allows you to go beyond the existing knowledge and helps the subject of learning to independently seek and find solutions to all new educational and life problems. However, experience shows that the work of the system, which would allow to fully educate a fully developed student, ready to take responsibility for setting and achieving educational goals, is not established.
Students with absolutely unformed skills of independent or autonomous work (up to the inability to use an explanatory dictionary) are trained, so necessary for the further development of professional competencies. In our opinion, the problem lies in not always correct principles of constructing educational activity at the earliest stages, such as the elementary school. The question is natural: how can the situation be improved?
Today, the modern approach to school education dictates the following key requirements: the development of students' independence and ability for self-organization, as well as readiness for successful cooperation in the learning process. The inclusion of independent learning activities in the learning process of the foreign language allows developing the ability of younger schoolchildren to adapt quickly to various conditions and independently find solutions for a number of educational, in particular, communicative tasks. At the age of five to seven years, children experience a transition from the predominance of gaming to the leading educational activity [5, 252]. The key to success may be the creation of conditions for a milder change of one activity to another. In our opinion, there can be several solutions to this problem. It seems expedient, for example, to involve information and computer technologies, which can significantly expand the field for independent activity, increase motivation. However, this topic has not been fully studied yet. At the same time, the organization of independent educational activity of junior schoolchildren allows the teacher to solve several important tasks at once. One of the serious problems of schooling is that the teacher is forced to focus on the student, showing average results, because of which children with higher or lower achievers «drop out» of the learning process. Strong students can not effectively develop their abilities, and the weak — to catch up with «middles». In the course of independent work, it is easier for the teacher to take into account the individual level of different students and differentiate tasks, thereby enabling children to develop in the right direction and at the right pace. The above-mentioned principle of targeting the average result caused a negative effect in the form of a large number of school leavers, whose academic potential is not disclosed, and led to the need to find effective solutions to this problem. There is a tendency that the emphasis in the learning process is, firstly, on the personality as a subject of activity, and secondly, on attracting the latest achievements in the field of educational technologies that make learning the foreign language more differentiated and dynamic. Within the framework of independent educational activity, it is possible to effectively develop the skills necessary for further participation in both autonomous and collective learning activities. For a full study of the problem it is important to give definitions to the basic concepts. The key is to identify the differences between independent work and self-study. To date, there are several approaches to the concept of «independent work». For example, Shamova regards independent work as a form of organization of educational activity; There is a goal, a specific task, a form of expression of the result and verification is defined [3, 176]. Usov, in turn, regards independent work as a method by which students acquire knowledge and, in particular, mastering concepts, mastering skills and solving a number of educational problems (education of activity, independence) [4, 123]. Zharova in her studies notes that independent work is «such a method of teaching, with the help of which students under the guidance of the teacher and on his instructions independently solve the task at a special time allocated for it and, by exerting efforts, are encouraged to independent activity, culminating in definite results " [6, 84]. In addition, the author identifies three levels of independent activity: copying, reproducing and creative. The separation depends on how well the student is able to use the knowledge gained. Briefly, these levels can be described as follows. At a low level, the student performs actions on the finished model (copying). The average level (or active-search) means that the student is free to use the knowledge gained in the standard situation. The teaching task is put in this case by the teacher, but the student independently plans its solution. The younger schoolboy learns to deal more freely with the material available, sets out briefly the main ideas in his own words, can paraphrase without needing blind copying. Achieving a high level (or intensively creative), the student is able to successfully apply the knowledge gained in an unusual situation. Such a process can be referred to as the transfer of assimilated models to real-life situations. In a number of studies, independent work is viewed as a means by which the teacher engages students in independent cognitive activity, purposefully organizes and manages this activity. This gives us grounds to consider independent work as a method of studying the new, consolidating the passed and testing knowledge, abilities and skills of students, assuming the use of a book or alternative teaching aids as a source of knowledge, and when fixing and verifying knowledge — independent performance of differentiated tasks.
Koryakovtseva emphasizes that the introduction of independent work is the key to the development of «cognitive independence of the student (cognitive activity, mental independence, mental activity)" [1, 22]. This indicator is a key factor in the personal development of learning a foreign language as part of the learning process, but which allows subjects to effectively carry out independent and active educational and cognitive activities. Development of cognitive independence for today is seen as a priority for us, as it allows us to maximize the personal potential of each student, and therefore meets modern educational requirements. And the earlier this process is started, the more active and successful the learning activity will be at the subsequent stages in the concept of lifelong learning. Independent learning activity, in turn, is more complex and is not limited to self-fulfillment of tasks given by the teacher. Within its framework, the student acquires new knowledge in the course of self-planning of his own activity, individual selection of means of solving assigned tasks; a benchmark in this case is a given result or an independently set educational goal. In our opinion, in a situation when society needs free and creative people who are able to acquire, allocate, evaluate and apply information, develop new ways of solving certain problems, the problem of forming the ability to be practically independent, independent work at the initial stage of training is particularly vital. But in this regard, there is a need for an optimal method and selection of funds for the organization of independent work of schoolchildren in the process of learning foreign language at the initial stage.
Now there is an active search and development of new technologies designed to make this process more effective. This trend seems to be promising for further studies. A modern approach in educational psychology that views teaching as an activity implies that knowledge, on the one hand, and knowledge and skills — on the other, do not exist separately. On the contrary, they are inseparable from each other, there is an inextricable. Thus, the following task becomes urgent: students should not acquire knowledge, and then develop skills and skills of their application; on the contrary, the teacher should create prerequisites for the conduct of such activities, in which a certain amount of acquired knowledge is pre-determined, and conditions for their application are created. P. I. Pidkasisty writes that tasks or a system of educational tasks play an important role in the educational activity. Any cognitive task is perceived by each student individually, subjectively [2, 67]. At the same time, the task is not an object of educational activity; it is only a link between the subject of knowledge, that is, the student, and directly the object. The presence of a specific task and the need for its solution serve as a prerequisite for the conduct of educational activities. But in the course of learning, changes occur both in the subject and in the object of cognition. The student improves his skills, cognitive abilities, satisfies cognitive needs, which makes it necessary to set new cognitive tasks. The very nature of cognitive activity undergoes changes, and at the same time — the structure of the object of cognition. It follows that even the number of correctly given answers to the questions of the control task does not reflect the amount of knowledge acquired by each individual student, the degree of development of his cognitive abilities, because both are closely related to the individual process of solving cognitive tasks [2, 134]. In addition, in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the intensity of education, due to the high activity of the information space around us.
In conclusion, it can be said that at the present stage, the personally oriented approach seems to us to be the most promising from the point of view of the development of an independent active personality, tuned to the effective achievement of one's own cognitive goals. The use of modern educational technologies and providing access to a wide range of educational resources can not only make the learning process more effective at all stages of continuing education, but also create in younger schoolchildren an initially correct attitude to independent learning activity, and also instill in them interest in intellectual development.
References:
- Koryakovtseva N. F. Theoretical bases of the organization of studying of a foreign language to pupils on the basis of development of productive educational activity: a comprehensive school: the dis.... Dr. ped. Sciences — Moscow: MGLU, 2003. — 426 p.
- Pidkasistyi P. I. Independent cognitive activity of schoolchildren in teaching. — M.: Pedagogy, 1980. — 240 p.
- Shamova T. I. Modern means of evaluating the results of schooling: educational-methodical manual — M.: The Pedagogical Society of Russia, 2007. — 212 p.
- Usov A. V., Vologodskaya Z. A. Independent work of students in physics in secondary school. — M.: Enlightenment, 1981. — 224 p.
- Vygotsky, L.S. «The Problem of Age», Op.: — T. 4. — M.: Pedagogy, 1984. — P. 244–268.
- Zharova L. V. To teach independence: a book for teachers. — M.: Education, 1993. — 205 p.
