Mind maps and their usage to develop students' foreign language skills and competence
2012
Ate, I., Turiba University, Riga (Latvia) | Liepina, K., Turiba University, Riga (Latvia)
The topicality of this article is connected with the necessity to acquire foreign languages more effectively. Nowadays people face rapid changes and new challenges connected with globalization processes, extension of the labour market and a multicultural environment. These changes and challenges create new tasks for lecturers- to be aware of new approaches how to improve the teaching of foreign languages at the tertiary level, analyze one’s own experience and compare that with the experience of other countries, and help students to acquire new “learning strategies”. Analysis of the theoretical literature shows that young people have well-developed cognitive abilities such as perception, thinking, memory and thinking operations – analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization and classifying. Creating mind maps reflects the process of perception. The creating of mind maps does not promote a passive learning and learning environment, on the contrary it activates the learning environment and the study process. Concepts help to classify and arrange ideas/thoughts, and mind maps connect the right and left cerebral hemisphere. The ability to memorize information can be significantly improved because process of creating mind maps resembles the memory process. Concepts, images and key words are used, and connections are formed between concepts. Creating mind maps develops thinking and students learn to arrange concepts and ideas into systems. When we are thinking we use words and concepts, which are arranged into schemes or models. The authors offer several ways how the implementation of mind maps in foreign language teaching and learning creates links between the previous and new knowledge, stimulates students to take active part in the study process and develops students’ foreign language skills and competence.
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