Didactic modeling for teaching technological university students the rules of foreign language texts reading

Abstract

Objectives. The work set out to develop didactic models for teaching French reading rules to first-year students from scratch, followed by a choice of the appropriate model to use in teaching.

Methods. The application of didactic models developed using tools such as regression analysis and mathematical theory of learning along with an experiment on the application of the obtained models in groups of French language learners “from scratch.”

Results. Three obtained models of studying 48 French reading rules over 4, 8, and 16 weeks with 12, 6, and 3 rules per lesson respectively, along with a review of the rules learned in the previous lesson, are presented for comparison and analysis. The influence of various factors such as students’ linguistic abilities, their levels of anxiety, previous language learning experience, etc., on the effectiveness of all three models were also taken into account. Based on the results of these analyses, the optimal learning model was chosen.

Conclusions. The average student learned reading rules more efficiently during an eight-week course when the rules were regularly reviewed at each lesson until the end of the semester. When studying reading rules for 16 weeks, students failed to review some material at the end of the semester, with fewer rules being reviewed in lesson. During a four-week study, students confused the rules and had difficulties to remember them due to cognitive overload. In the presence of adverse factors (weak ability and motivation, lack of independent work, etc.) training results were low regardless of the model chosen. On the contrary, under favorable conditions (good abilities, motivation, etc.) the learning model was turned out to be unimportant.