On October 23, 2019 in the framework of the cooperation agreement between the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication and KSU “Gymnasium No. 45” the first lesson was held in TED Talks Club, organized to develop the skills of speaking, listening and public speaking in English among pupils of 8-11 grades. For this purpose, a program of variative, professionally oriented special course “English for Academic Purposes” for grades 8-11 was jointly developed using authentic TED Talks videos. The video footage was selected in accordance with the school’s program so that students could record the material they are learning in English lessons.
The first lesson was an introductory one. Students learned what a TED Talks conference is, how the videos from these conferences will help them improve their language skills. They also tested how well they can perceive English speech by hearing. English subtitles were included for those who still find it difficult to understand the fast spoken language of a native speaker. Fortunately, there were almost no problems with understanding what was said in the video, except for specialized vocabulary.
In spite of the fact that only one hour was allocated for the class, the students managed to do a lot. Before and after watching the video, the students were asked questions on the topic. Most of the students actively answered the questions, and some even entered into discussions with the teacher. Also during the lesson, the new lexical structure was dismantled, which was actively used by the pupils during the discussion.
During the reflection, it was revealed that the pupils were satisfied with the lesson, they were interested and ready to work further and expand their knowledge. A program for this purpose has already been developed: students will be given different tasks based on TED Talks videos, and there will also be group and pair work tasks. Thus, TED Talks videos are an excellent tool for teaching English for academic purposes.
Thus, the first introductory class in the circle was a success.
Student of the group IN-17-1k Pisareva Tatiana
Senior lecturer of FL & IC Department A.N. Kalizhanova
