6.1.3. Structure of an exercise

Mastering language material for its further use in any language activity requires performing exercises. Exercises are purposeful interdependent operations performed in the sequence of increasing language and operational difficulty. The succession of speech habit and skill formation is to be taken into account, as well as the character of real-life speech acts.

Prof. Salistra defines an exercise as a purposeful, specifically organised reiteration of operations aimed at mastering these operations, at improving their performance technique. Salistra points out three main phases in the structure of an exercise:

1. the phase of receiving the instruction;

2. the phase of following the instruction with or without the model and its fulfilment (performance);

3. the phase of controlling or self-controlling its correct fulfilment (monitoring).

I

Exercise

t is noteworthy that the second and the third phases (performance and monitoring) take place simultaneously, as illustrated below.

1. Instruction

Task

2. Model

Fulfillment

3. Control

Self-control

6.2. Different approaches to the problem of classification of exercises

One of the major problems in the methodological theory of TEFL is the establishment of principles, or criteria, of classification of exercises, which may serve the basis for constructing different systems of exercises. The problem of typology of exercises is closely connected with such methodological questions as:

• filling up exercises with language material, which must constitute their basis. The latter is connected with language material selection and the degree of difficulty of the language input under training;

• determination of the character of exercises depending on language input and particulars of habits and skills developed;

• choice of the most effective technique corresponding to the methodological objective of the activity;

• taking into account the stage of teaching, organisational form and situation of the activity performance;

• distribution of exercises according to the stage of speech habits and skills formation;

• optimum correlation of exercises in speaking, reading, writing and listening comprehension, as well as a number of other questions.

Numerous opinions of methodologists on these questions result in various approaches to the problem of classification of exercises. Such a situation causes isolation of different basic criteria when compiling the typology of exercises. At the same time, it leads to terminological variability in defining types and kinds of exercises. In general terms, various points of view may be brought up to the following.

1. I.V. Rakhmanov and V.S. Tsetlin consider due regard for the peculiarities of language communication the main criterion of the typology of exercises. Thus, we have language and speech exercises. Language exercises are aimed at mastering the habit of using separate language items. Speech exercises utilise all previously assimilated knowledge, habits and skills. Language exercises provide speech habits and language knowledge for speech exercises. Consequently, language exercises should precede speech exercises, for the learner’s attention is concentrated on the language form while doing language drills. At the same time, performing speech activities attracts the learner’s attention to the content of utterances. Language exercises in this approach are also called preparatory because they prepare the learner for speech activity. The correlation between language and speech exercises at the initial stage of teaching is 45 to 55. The level of a developed speech skill allows for shifting this correlation up to 30 to 70.

2. According to E.I. Passov, language and speech exercises may be opposed along the line of habits and skills. He distinguishes between two types of speech exercises: 1) the exercises of the lower type are called simulative communicative; 2) the exercises of the higher type are called (purely) communicative. Simulative communicative exercises serve forming and developing speech habits. Communicative exercises serve the improvement of speech skills.

3. T.N. Nikulina distinguishes between two types of exercises according to the criterion of the learner’s voluntary attention being attracted to the language form. In her opinion, the learner’s attention concentrates on the language phenomenon while performing a language exercise. In speech exercises, the learner’s attention is not concentrated on the language form.

4. B.A. Lapidus suggests distinguishing between non-speech and speech exercises. According to Lapidus, no strict boundaries between language and speech exercises can be found in the following aspect. Speech exercises must be aimed at some definite language material because they, too, serve deep language material assimilation. At the same time, attraction of the part of voluntary attention to the language form is characteristic of both language and speech exercises. Hence, Prof. Lapidus suggests that one should define the types of exercises in accordance with the real speech qualities possessed.

5. Another point of view is based on considering operations of speech actions in mastering a foreign language. Here we mean operations in understanding (recognition of speech items, their correlation with the context and situation) and reproduction of speech material and its combinability in accord with a related speech situation. Such operations are connected with speaking and are characterised by productive combinability. This approach comes back to the works by Harold Palmer. H. Palmer tried to unite various exercises of mechanical character (drills) and different creative exercises into a harmonious system under the title of Oral Approach. He distinguished between two large groups of exercises: 1) purely receptive types of work and 2) receptive and productive forms of work. The latter included a) reproduction; b) simulated conversation and c) natural conversation. However, it should be noted that Palmer’s typology of exercises and particularly its psychological basis has become out of date now. Moreover, Palmer did not practically take into account TEFL specific character.

6. I.D. Salistra distinguishes between two types of exercises: training and speech exercises. His approach is very close to that of Palmer’s. Thus, Salistra’s training exercises are aimed at recognition and reproduction of speech complexes. Speech exercises are aimed at understanding oral and written speech and expressing thoughts in oral and written form. Considering Salistra’s typology, Lapidus notices that as soon as training (language) exercises must be as close to the act of communication as possible, they may be called combination exercises. This is so because in these exercises the process of language material acquisition takes place simultaneously with the development of skill to express correctly one’s own ideas in a target language.

7. M.S. Ilyin puts forward the opposition ‘not-yet speech – speech’. According to this criterion, the types of exercises are analytical and synthetical; non-communicative and communicative exercises.

8. The main criterion of E.P. Shubin is the sequence of mastering operations, which lead to speech activity. Thus, he distinguishes between simulative communicative and true communicative types.

9. P.B. Gurvich considers exercises from the point of view of memory participation in performing activities and logical operations involved in the process of exercise performance. His two groups of exercises are based on: 1) memory (the so-called thoughts-recollections); and 2) self-dependent thinking operations (thoughts-products).

10. At the advanced stage of teaching the degree of preparation for speech communication may be taken into account. According to N.S. Obnosov, this approach allows for the differentiation of exercises at the advanced level as training communicative and natural communicative types. Obnosov’s training communicative exercises serve rendering the content prepared beforehand with or without reference language input given. They may also serve for the use of the language material provided that the speaker himself determines the content of speech. Natural communicative exercises are the speaker’s utterances unprepared in time and unlimited in the use of language input. In this connection, N.I. Gez notices that due regard of the specific character of communicative activity and consolidation of habits and skills allows for differentiating three stages of language input acquisition: 1) preparation of a coherent utterance; 2) production of the prepared coherent utterance; 3) production of a self-dependent unprepared utterances.

11. V.A. Bukhbinder distinguishes between information, operation and motivation exercises. Information exercises provide for comprehension and assimilation of language input. It is the consolidation of necessary information about the language material under study. The language material exists in any exercise and that is why Bukhbinder thinks the term ‘language’ is inappropriate. He maintains that the main peculiarity of information exercises lies in their orientation at realisation and consolidation of language items knowledge, assimilation of which is impossible to start at the stage of operation exercises. Operation exercises develop automatism consolidating operations with language material converting them into habits. Motivation exercises develop speech skills, improve them, provide for motivated use of skills in communication.

12. Sometimes exercises may be distinguished according to the degree of control over students’ operations performed in the exercises. Thus, G.A. Kitaygorodskaya distinguishes between close manipulation, partial manipulation and minimum manipulation exercises. Her intensive method is based on the audio-lingual approach, though the latter is not referred to. So, one of the authors of the audio-lingual method A.C. Newton suggests that it may be helpful to think of classroom activities as falling into at least four major categories: a) completely manipulative; b) predominantly manipulative; c) predominantly communicative; d) completely communicative. Examples of a completely manipulative activity, in Newton’s system, would be drills in which learners merely repeat sentences after the teacher or simple substitution drills. The latter exercise could be made into a predominantly manipulative drill, i.e. it would include a small element of communication. It can be done if the teacher indicated the word to be substituted by showing a picture that suggests the word rather than actually saying the word. Another way is having the students supply the word from their own knowledge or experience. E.g. instead of doing a routine substitution drill, in which the student substitutes in the sentence a cue word given by the teacher, the student may respond with the name of his father’s real profession (My father is an engineer/doctor/merchant/teacher, etc.). In a more advanced class, it might bring in an element of communication to have the students retell, after a lapse of time, a story the teacher has given them. Various kinds of other oral and written activities may become predominantly communicative as they move away from simple repetition and memorisation toward a freer expression of the students’ own knowledge and ideas. Finally, an example of pure communication would be a free conversation among the members of the class.

13. Sometimes classroom activities are thought of as monological and dialogical. M.K. Borodulina and M.N. Minina suggest differentiating exercises according to the form of speech realisation (monological/ dialogical).