Abstract:

Under modern circumstances, the guidelines and targets of teaching foreign languages have changed significantly. The principles of communication and authenticity are in the leading position today. This trend is becoming increasingly popular, it proves its efficiency in various types of educational establishments. For the successful mastering of a foreign language, it is important to realize its functional purpose, to see the language in action. In order to ensure these trends, various teaching technologies are used, some of them can be of an informal nature. One of such technologies, or even a separate linguodidactic direction, is edutainment. The ideas of edutainment, despite its controversy and presence of opposition, are gaining popularity in teaching foreign languages.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the role, functions and the peculiarities of edutainment technology use in teaching English as a second foreign language in the process of vocational training of future teachers. The authors believe that the specific nature of foreign language teaching provides sufficient capabilities for the implementation of technology. However, there have not been any long-term purposefully organized practical studies devoted to the identification of consistent patterns and capabilities of edutainment in teaching English as a second foreign language to future teachers. Within the frame of the article, the essential characteristics of edutainment technology are presented, its possibilities and functions in teaching foreign languages are defined, various viewpoints on the problem are generalized, major and the most effective variants of edutainment technology in language education are enumerated.

To confirm the stated theoretical positions, the experimental research project was conducted. Its purpose was to study the features and capabilities of edutainment technology in teaching English as a second foreign language in the context of vocational training of future teachers. The most widely spread and effective linguodidactic tools of edutainment technology were integrated into the process of teaching English as a second foreign language. The undertaken work showed that the edutainment technology can be effective in teaching different aspects of English as a second foreign language to future teachers, enabled to make the conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of edutainment as pedagogical innovation, plan further steps of the research development.

Keywords:

Teaching English as a second language, vocational training of future foreign language teachers, edutainment technology.