Socratic dialogue in teaching foreign languages

Abstract

As one of the innovative methods Socratic Dialogue helps students to understand ideas enhancing their intellectual, creative and communicative potential as well as self-confidence in their ability to reason. At the same time, when used in a foreign language setting Socratic Dialogue method encourages students to learn and use a very specific vocabulary and complicated grammatical structures. Aim of the study The article considers the use of Socralic Dialogue method in teaching English at university level. It looks into the aims, procedure and criteria of the Socratic Dialogue method. Materials and methods Literature analysis, observation, case study of a class discussion Special attention is paid to questioning technique that helps to structure student's thought from the unclear to the clear, from the unreasoned to the reasoned, from the implicit to the explicit. The article also gives a summary account of a class discussion on the question "What does active citizenship mean?" Conclusions Socratic questioning techniques work within a structured discussions that raise basic issues, pursue problematic areas of thought, help students discover the structure of their own thoughts and also help them to develop clarity, accuracy, and relevance in thinking. Socratic Dialogue deserves a closer analysis in a foreign language classroom. The skill of Socratic Dialogue discussion should be fostered because it is valuable both in leaching foreign languages and in professional development.