THEORETICAL STANDPOINTS OF DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ FOREIGN WRITING SKILLS BY MEANS OF “TWITTER”

Abstract

The article highlights the basic theoretical principles of using social networking "Twitter" as an additional tool for developing students' foreign writing skills, analyzes the current literature on the use of "Twitter" in education, and describes additional opportunities for teaching students writing in a foreign language. The purpose of the article is to prove that Twitter is an effective tool for teaching students to write in a foreign language. The structure of social networking service Twitter is analyzed, as well as its advantages for learning a foreign written language are outlined. The essence of the concept of "micro blog" in the scientific literature is considered and its features for teaching foreign written speech are highlighted. The didactic features and corresponding methodical functions of Twitter service are revealed, namely interactivity, conciseness, clear focus on the addressee, linearity, contextuality, research potential, hypertext structure. The list of writing skills which are developed on the basis of Twitter has been determined. A step-by-step algorithm for improving students' writing skills based on Twitter has been developed, which includes organizational, preparatory, procedural and evaluation stages. Examples of practical tasks using "Twitter" service are given. These tasks can be offered to students for using both in class and for individual work. The use of Twitter cannot replace traditional teaching methods, but can create a new environment and opportunities in the process of developing students' foreign language writing skills; Twitter service has become an important educational tool that can be successfully used in foreign language teaching.