Cultural aspect of teaching students a foreign language based on video blogs

Urazaeva Nailya PhD in Philology Associate professor, Department of Romano-Germanic Philology and Translation, Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University 455000, Russia, Chelyabinskaya oblast', g. Magnitogorsk, ul. Pr. Lenina, 26, aud. 224 nailja-urasaewa@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Komisarova Liudmila Sergeevna Graduate student, Department of Linguistics and Translation, Nosov Magnitogorsk state technical university 455000, Russia, Chelyabinsk region, Magnitogorsk, Lenin ave., 26, office A16 lyudmila-komisarova@mail.ru

Despite the fact that socio-cultural competence is one of the components of communicative competence, recently it has been defined as an independent goal of education, related not so much to communication skills in a foreign language, but rather to willingness and ability to live and interact in the modern multicultural world.

In the XXI century, there is an increasing trend in higher education, such as the use of Internet technologies in order to form and develop students' socio-cultural competence in a foreign language. Using Web 2.0 services, namely, blog technologies, the process of developing socio-cultural competence is faster ^[3]. When integrating information and communication technologies (ICT) into the educational process, students easily solve problems such as overcoming the language barrier, acquiring communicative and intercultural competence, as well as the problem of synchronous and asynchronous communication with representatives of a foreign language culture. Blog technology fully allows asynchronous communication with native speakers of a foreign language, thereby facilitating the process of integration into a foreign language culture and the development of communication skills.

In this article, we will look at the example of the German language, how video blogs can be used both as a means of improving the level of proficiency in a foreign language, and the formation of socio-cultural competence, background knowledge about the traditions, peculiarities and culture of the country of the language being studied.

The relevance of this article is due to the role of communication technologies in modern life and, in particular, in the learning process, the increased interest of the younger generation in video blogs ^[1], as well as the use of German as a research material. The involvement of German-language material allows us to consider how a non-English language, which is most closely associated with the use of new communication technologies, manifests itself in a new communication environment ^[18].

The purpose of the article was to study the possibilities of developing students' foreign language communication skills using the developed technology of using video blogs as a means of teaching speaking in German classes in higher educational institutions.

The object of this research is the educational process of the German language at the university. The subject of the study is the process of learning to speak German in German language classes using video blogs as a means of teaching speaking.

Research methods: theoretical analysis, descriptive research method, analysis, interpretation and generalization.

In the process of learning foreign languages at the university, one of the main tasks of the teacher is to stimulate the cognitive activity of students. To solve this problem, the teacher can use blogs as a means of forming the socio-cultural competence of students, taking into account their individual abilities, as well as the level of proficiency in a foreign language.

In the process of mastering the German language, knowledge about the realities, customs, customs, traditions of the country of the language being studied, knowledge and skills of communicative behavior in acts of speech communication, skills and abilities of verbal and nonverbal behavior included in the content of national culture are formed due to the socio-cultural component of teaching a foreign language. The socio-cultural component, as the most important link in education, has great potential in terms of introducing students to the dialogue of cultures, familiarization with the achievements of national culture in the development of universal culture.

With the socio-cultural approach, such concepts as "the socio-cultural context of language learning" and "the socio-cultural context of language learning" have entered the terminological field of Russian language pedagogy. ^{[14, p. 60]}

The socio-cultural context is a social and cultural environment in which a representative of a particular culture grows and lives, forming a certain model of his behavior under the influence of the social environment. Sociocultural competence is formed as an integrative characteristic of a person and manifests itself in the presence of knowledge in the field of different types of social culture.

Structurally, sociocultural competence includes general cultural, country-specific and/or regionally marked cultural, linguistic, cultural, sociolinguistic and socio-stratification competencies of a person. Mastering socio-cultural competence in the totality of all its components, highlighted within the framework of the socio-cultural approach, firstly, allows the student:

– to navigate the socio-cultural markers of the authentic language environment and the socio-cultural characteristics of the people with whom he interacts in terms of intercultural communication;

– to predict the appearance of possible socio-cultural hindrances in the context of intercultural communication and to determine ways to eliminate them and be able to apply them;

– adapt to a foreign language environment, following the accepted canons of politeness in a foreign cultural environment, showing respect for the traditions, lifestyle and lifestyle of representatives of other cultural communities;

– to resist cultural vandalism and manipulative influence of the information aggressive communication environment;

– to adequately assess the socio-cultural aspects of their verbal and non-verbal behavior.

Also, socio-cultural competence is necessary for a student of the XXI century to:

– mastering effective ways of representing native culture in a foreign cultural environment / foreign language environment;

– choosing ways, strategies and technologies for self-study of other countries, peoples, cultural and cultural-linguistic communities;

– socio-cultural self-education in any other previously unexplored areas of direct and indirect communication;

– the subsequent cultivation of professionally specialized varieties of socio-cultural competence necessary for the professional life of a person ^[6].

There is a European standard for learning foreign languages, in which sociocultural competence is defined as an aspect of communicative ability concerning those special features of society and culture that are expressed in the communicative behavior of members of society ^[4].

At the same time, the Russian version of education with a multicultural component within the framework of the socio-cultural approach has never been confined only to the European orientation, but has been built and is being built on the principle of an expanding circle of continental cultures in the movement towards the world cultural heritage ^{[12; 13; 14; 15]}.

The formation of socio-cultural competence is carried out in the scientific, practical and research activities of students. The works related to linguoculturology, linguistic and cultural studies are based on familiarity with the realities of the country of the studied language and their country, their study, analysis and comparison. Such works develop the ability to see the similarities and differences between two cultures, to draw conclusions. Due to this, students develop a respectful attitude towards foreign language culture, and they are proud to represent their culture, customs and traditions in the modern world. For the adequate formation of socio-cultural competence, it is worth taking into account the importance of using authentic materials and the criteria for their selection.

There are several requirements:

– authenticity of the materials used;

– information saturation;

– the novelty of the information for the addressee;

– modernity and current historicism;

– taking into account the interests of students (including professional ones), as well as hobbies/ preferences;

– the correspondence of speech utterances to the literary norm of the studied foreign language;

– the regional and linguistic significance of the materials;

– selection and use of educational materials in accordance with the level of foreign language proficiency of students (taking into account the principle of accessibility and feasibility);

– organization of the selected materials in accordance with the principles of the subject and the increase of complexity / difficulties ^{[8, p. 180]}.

Thus, in order to ensure successful communication in German, students need not only to possess the same linguistic means of the interlocutor (phonetic, lexical, grammatical skills), but also general meaningful knowledge about the world ^[7].

Blog technology is the preferred means of forming and developing students' socio-cultural competence and the necessary background knowledge about the culture of the language being studied. The issue of using these technologies has been raised in the works of domestic and foreign linguists ^{[1; 9; 10; 16, etc.]}.

To get to the didactic properties of blog technology, let's first turn to the definition of the concept.

Blog technology is one of the Web 2.0 technologies, thanks to which any Internet user can create and maintain a page with personal information, a blog (from English blog or weblog) in the form of a diary or magazine. Blogs can be presented in different languages. Any blog can be created and moderated by several people, or by one person who posts authentic text material, photographs, audio and video recordings on the page that contain the necessary material about the culture of the inhabitants of the country of the language being studied. After familiarization with the content and structure of the site, the blog visitor can respond to the published text, photos, audio or video recordings by posting comments in the author's blog under his name. Currently, blogs are recognized as a popular Web 2.0 social service because they provide users with the necessary conditions for communication, including intercultural communication, since the audience may consist of people living in different countries of the world.

Blog technology has the following didactic properties:

– publicity. This technology is used to organize online work between students in German, which will be aimed at developing aspects of the language, such as vocabulary and grammar, types of speech activity (reading, writing, speaking, listening), as well as contribute to the development of socio-cultural competence;

– linearity. Any information in the blog is posted in chronological order by both the author of the blog and the visitors of the blog. Blog technology allows us to develop methods for the development of students' speech skills, in which a special role will be given to the individual work of each participant in a common group project, as well as the organization of network communication;

– authorship and moderation. The author of the blog is one person who defines the purpose, thematic focus of the blog and coordinates the placement of materials. Blog technology has a fairly large methodological potential and can be used to develop types of speech activity in individual and group forms of students' work;

– multimedia. This property determines the possibility of using materials of different formats when creating blog content: text, graphic, photo, video, and audio materials. This contributes to the enrichment of linguistic and socio-cultural material when writing various types of written works such as essays, reviews, reviews, reviews based on blog technology. ^{[16, p. 139]}.

The use of video blogs in German language teaching can contribute to:

– motivation for using the German language to communicate outside of school hours;

– development of reading and writing skills;

– the development of skills in using the German language and the Internet to meet the cognitive interests of students;

– development of skills in using the German language as a means of education and self-education;

– expressing one's own opinion and argumentation when discussing social issues, which is not always feasible when discussing in the audience;

– an effective discussion of the problem under study for the subsequent design of a dialogical or monological statement. ^{[16, p. 152]}.

It is also worth mentioning that, like any didactic tool, blogs have their own selection criteria. S. V. Titova highlighted the selection criteria for both authentic and educational blogs:

– type of multimedia (audio or video);

– duration of recording;

– subject matter (matching the blog to the topic of the lesson and the series of lessons);

– the level of language material;

– type of speech (monologue/dialogue/polylogue);

– perceptibility of the recording (tempo of speech, speech features such as dialects and individual characteristics);

– authenticity (the difference between authentic and educational blogs);

– consistency (search for individual blogs on different topics);

– updating information (periodic updating of blogs on the course) ^{[17, p. 124]}.

Video blogs accumulate material aimed at both visual and auditory channels of perception. Special attention has long been paid to video content in teaching foreign languages ^[11]. The value of using video blogs also lies in the limitlessness of their subject matter. You can choose the right material for almost any topic of interest: hobbies, sports, travel, cooking, holidays, style and fashion, books, family, music, interesting people, organization of a working day or weekend, parenting, psychology, ecology, etc.

Let's consider an example of using video materials of a blogger, which can serve as a means of forming and developing the socio-cultural competence of students of higher educational institutions.

We analyzed the video of blogger Dagi Bee [https://youtu.be/7JSyUQ7awRw ], which was devoted to problems in studies. In the video, you can see that at a fast pace of speech, the blogger speaks intelligibly, pausing, logical and phrasal accents in speech, which greatly simplifies the process of understanding the meaning of statements. For example: "Ich dachte, dass ich heute mal wieder eins für euch drehe und zwar… Probleme…beim…Lernen». The blogger puts phrasal emphasis on the end of the sentence, intonationally, pausing to highlight the last three words, which are the title of the topic of the entire video.

Also, the blogger competently places semantic accents in speech, makes logical pauses in speech, intonationally dividing a sentence into semantic parts, which allows listeners to better perceive German speech by ear and learn to place accents in speech in German on their own. An important aspect is non-verbal communication through facial expressions and gestures.

It is worth noting that the Dagi Bee blog is interesting from the point of view of the lexical component. The analyzed video blog uses a large amount of modern youth slang, which, in turn, arouses interest in learning German among foreign students. As a rule, this aspect of teaching is overlooked, but it seems to be very important for live communication. Examples of slang words and expressions are given below: "Hallöchen!", which translates as "Hello!", "Und ich sage los geht's!" – "And I say: let's get started!", "Gönn dir!" – "Have fun!" or "abgehen" – "celebrate in a big way", "googeln" – to search the Internet", "durch sein" – "to be out of yourself", as well as "abpimmeln", which literally translates as "to loaf around".

The blogger also models situations of everyday communication (for example, with a younger sister who begs the older one to play with her instead of doing homework).

Thanks to the active alternation of comic situations, the blogger engages viewers in the process of active viewing. So, at the end of the video, the viewer can conclude that German students, representatives of a foreign language culture in this case, also tend to procrastinate, get distracted, do their homework in a hurry, which will destroy stereotypes about punctuality and pedantry of Germans. Subsequently, in situations of direct intercultural interaction, it will be easier for students to build communication tactics with students from Germany.

Also, according to the classification of non-verbal communication tools, F. Poyatos ^[5] and supplemented by A.M. Sester ^[2], it is worth mentioning about paraverbal communication, the meaning of which depends on the manifestation of the level of rhythm, intonation and timbre of the voice, which are used to directly convey the utterance. Scientists identify the following means of non-verbal communication, which play a significant role in the process of forming socio-cultural competence:

1. Paralinguistic tools

1.1. Physical qualities of sound (tone, longitude, intensity). For example, the phrase "Ja klar" ("Yes, of course"), depending on these qualities, can convey agreement, disagreement, satisfaction, dissatisfaction or disappointment.

1.2. Emotional sounds (crying, laughing, sighing, yawning, coughing).

1.3. Quasi-lexical elements (exclamations: Ach so, Hoppla! Echt? Ach, nee, Geil! different sounds: Sh, rh, tsch, sch, chs).

2. Kinesics

2.1. Facial expressions and gestures (movements of eyebrows, eyes, hands, types of smiles).

2.2. The degree of freedom of movement (in public transport, in line, while walking, while eating).

2.3. Body position (put one foot on the other, put your hands behind your head, with a straight back, lean slightly forward).

3. Proxemics

3.1. Conceptual (related to the concept of space: here, there, near, far).

3.2. Social (give way, move to the right on the escalator).

3.3. Personal (distance in communication with another person. Depending on the culture and communication situation, the intimate, personal, social and public degree of distance is distinguished).

4. Chronemics

4.1. Conceptual (importance attached to time, punctuality / non-punctuality, concepts of "now", "soon", "fast").

4.2. Social (closely related to the conceptual one: the duration of the visit, business meeting, interview, meal time, duration of the telephone conversation).

4.3. Interactive (duration of greetings and goodbyes, handshakes).

In our study, we consider paralinguistic means and kinesics, since these types of communication are most pronounced in video blogs. Thanks to the active gestures, articulation of bloggers, their facial expressions, as well as gestures, viewers not only have the opportunity to visually capture the features of their behavior, which plays an important role in the study of foreign language culture, but also observe the process of articulation, its features. This allows viewers to imitate, in some cases completely adopt the features of pronouncing authentic speech in German, intonation, as well as independently reproduce individual difficult-to-pronounce sound combinations. The advantage of the video blog is the ability to stop the video recording or return to a certain point from the video in order to replay the fragment of interest again.

Also, it is worth saying that the use of certain facial expressions and gestures makes the communication process clearer, since the interlocutor understands what intentions his conversational partner has in the conversation. In addition, the further intuitive use of certain gestures or facial expressions signals that the socio-cultural adaptation is/has been successful. Special attention should be paid to the difference in gestures in German and Russian, for example, counting on fingers, how to show that a person is not himself, etc.

Summing up, it can be stated that the presence of socio-cultural competence of participants in the process of intercultural communication plays a significant role in the process of interaction. Moreover, mastering socio-cultural competence is the key to understanding the culture of the language being studied.

The proposed means of forming and developing socio-cultural competence in German classes has a significant impact on increasing students' cultural awareness and allows them to form appropriate strategies for verbal and non-verbal behavior in language communication, which leads to effective language acquisition.

Taking into account the above advantages, the blog, as a means of forming and developing socio-cultural competence in German classes, can be integrated into the curricula of universities training specialists working with foreign languages so that students can communicate effectively, which implies the ability to reflect and identify communication features, as well as the ability to choose and implement appropriate communication strategies in speech acts.