Adaptive Learning in Teaching English for Specific Purposes in the Context of Online Education
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Teaching foreign languages for professional purposes in higher education focuses on meeting students' needs in professional communication. ESP focuses on expanding and using vocabulary that is specific to professional activities and communication. However, practice shows that many students face difficulties in mastering the course due to uneven levels of knowledge and motivation. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that students with different levels of training can study in the same group. Adaptive learning takes into account individual characteristics of students, like their knowledge level, emotional state, information processing ability, and motivation, to address these issues. The main goal of adaptive learning is to create a personalized educational experience that adapts to the needs of each student. Various tools are used for this purpose, including adaptive content, adaptive assessment, simulators, and adaptive structuring. Adaptive content allows you to provide students with feedback and additional resources based on their responses, which helps them to learn more deeply. Adaptive assessment changes the level of difficulty of questions depending on the accuracy of the learner's answers, which helps to keep them engaged and motivated. Adaptive assessment training provides students with tasks of varying difficulty levels, allowing them to practice skills until they reach the required level of proficiency. Adaptive structuring involves the use of algorithms and data analysis to continuously improve the learning process based on student engagement and progress. In a specific example of the implementation of adaptive learning based on the discipline “Foreign Language for Professional and Business Communication”, the UЕPA Research and Educational Institute has developed and is testing an online course on the MOODLE platform, which is an auxiliary resource for classroom classes and is aimed at individualizing the learning process and organizing students' independent work. The course allows students with different levels of training to work on the material at their own pace and improve their skills through interactive tasks and additional materials. The online course includes units aimed at developing vocabulary, reading, listening and writing skills. An important aspect is that the course does not replace traditional classroom lessons, but complements them, giving students the opportunity to work through the material in more depth and fill in gaps in their knowledge. Thus, adaptive learning offers promising solutions to improve the quality of education and meet individual student needs, but requires a comprehensive approach to development and implementation, as well as consideration of possible difficulties and challenges.
Authors: O. V. BRYNTSEVA, A. O. PODOROZHNA
Institution: V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4409280905