DEVELOPMENT OF LISTENING COMPETENCE IN LEARNING GERMAN AT HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: INNOVATIVE METHODS AND TECHNIQUES

Abstract

The article deals with acquisition of listening competence in German as a foreign language classes at higher educational institutions. The authors analyze major studies conducted by scientists in this field. To solve  the set tasks in the research, the following classification of classical (analytical/articulatory, imitative/acoustic, analytical-imitative/combined) and innovative (communicative, personal-activity, competence, level, reflexive and cultural) methodological approaches to the development of learners' phonetic competence is suggested. It is proved that currently, the use of the stated methods in the educational process is of the great interest in the methodology of teaching foreign languages i.e. the combination of classical methods with innovative techniques and Internet resources that, in their turn, contain a huge amount of additional information in various forms. In practice, it was confirmed that the use of innovative techniques and Internet resources in foreign language classes develops learners' competence in listening, helps to increase their motivation and success along with creating favourable conditions for their active self-development.

The paper describes and analyzes modern educational and informational Internet resources in terms of their relevance to the research issue and different levels of foreign language proficiency. The effectiveness of the suggested set of exercises is proved as they provide practice, development and achievement of the new level of learners' listening skills. Pertinent interactive sites and YouTube channels, offering teaching materials and audio samples relevant to the topic of the lesson and the level of learners' foreign language proficiency, are used to create assignments within the frameworks of classical and innovative approaches to the study of a foreign language. It has been shown that the presentation of audio material in a Podcast format is currently the most modern as a Podcast enables practicing and improved comprehension of the German-language interviews on various interesting topics in free time.

It is also proved that the use of mnemonic, multisensory techniques as well as mental maps while doing listening comprehension exercises significantly contributes to the development of learners' competence in listening.