Managing the Quality of foreign Language Classes

Abstract

The article discusses aspects of management the quality in foreign language classes. It emphasizes that the quality of foreign language teaching is a key factor in successful language and intercultural education and is the result of the interaction of cognitive, affective, and social components. The main theoretical and empirical characteristics of quality foreign language classes are summarized. The factors that determine the quality of foreign language classes include meaningful communication and the use of various social forms of work. Students participate in planning and evaluating lessons, summarizing the stages of learning in their own words during discussions, asking critical and additional questions, linking what they have already learned with new material, using their own knowledge, and thus transferring knowledge. Social forms (individual, partner, and group work) vary as much as the basic forms of learning. The variety of methods should remain consistent with the objectives and content. The repertoire of methods for evaluating a teacher’s work has been analyzed in detail: teacher self-assessment of lessons using a reflection journal, recording on information carriers; student feedback in the form of short comments (flash feedback, traffic light feedback, the “Aquarium” method), impulse questions, (standardized) questionnaires, observation questionnaires, targeted interviews and conversations, assessment of modular work; feedback from colleagues on recordings on information carriers and their discussion, internships, targeted interviews and conversations. Examples of student surveys on the quality of foreign language as an academic discipline are given, and common and distinctive features are analyzed.