TECHNOLOGIES OF USING BUSINESS GAMES FOR TRAINING DISCUSSION SKILLS IN ENGLISH

Abstract

The article defines the concept of “discussion” and justifies the importance of teaching discussion in a foreign language, particularly its effectiveness in developing discursive skills. These skills include the ability to analyze facts and events, justify one’s intentions and actions, provide examples and arguments, and draw conclusions. Attention is focused on the use of interactive technologies, especially business games, which not only enhance students’ motivation to learn a foreign language but also encourage the production of speech, the defense of personal viewpoints, and, consequently, the involvement of participants in professional communication.

The study involved 56 undergraduate students majoring in Secondary Education (Ukrainian Language and Literature), with an additional specialization in English Language and Literature. A program was proposed for the development of students’ oral discursive speech in English based on business games. The diagnostics of discursive skills formation included the assessment of four functional components: the ability to formulate one’s point of view, provide arguments, identify the interlocutor’s position, and offer critique.

The article presents an analysis of the results of implementing the discursive skill development program in the training of future philologists. The findings support the claim that business games, as a form of group interaction, contribute to building team cohesion and positively influence the development of students’ oral discursive speech. It was established that certain pedagogical conditions promote the development of oral discursive communication through business games, namely: the creation of an active communicative environment; and the design of business games based on participants’ interests, motivations, and intellectual abilities.

The technology for developing oral discursive speech through business games is built upon communicative-activity, communicative-cognitive, and interactive approaches, as well as the principles of communicativeness, interactivity, awareness, and problem-orientation. The study provides arguments for the feasibility of integrating business games into the educational process as an effective tool for developing students’ discursive speech and preparing them for future professional activity.