Adopting the Discovery Method to Develop Linguistic Competence Among International Students: Experience from Russia and Belarus

Abstract

The article addresses linguistic competence and the importance of its formation for academic and professional purposes. It also posits that linguistic competence is an important part of the communicative one. The Discovery Method is proposed as a privileged tool when teaching international students to apply the norms and rules established in a language. In this article the authors give a number of reasons why this method should be used, and how to apply it during English teaching process in a class. The research is based on the data collected during English and Russian classes and is conducted in three universities by means of observation, discussion, interview, and questionnaire. The article proposes a set of 3 tables of descriptors to assess the student’s linguistic competence in three types of class activities: translation, writing, and reading. It also introduces a framework of exercises for teachers who wish to use the Discovery Method. Theoretical ground has been set for further research, focusing on the results of using the Discovery Method for linguistic competence formation.