Peculiarities of teaching English to “Generation Z”

• Leontieva T.I.

  Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
  Vladivostok. Russia
  PhD in Pedagogics, Associate Professor

• Kotenko S.N.

  Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service
  Vladivostok. Russia
  Senior lecturer

Modern pedagogy concentrates on a rapid change of generations and differences between them. The first scholar who paid attention to those differences was McCrindle (Australia). He offered a theory of cyclic change of generations within 80 years. Russian scholars Ye. Shamis, A. Antipov, V. Sandomirsky are developing his theory. In this exploratory study the authors offer their own division of generations according to which today’s students of the first and second years of universities belong to Generation Z because they have grown upgadgeted and computerized. The authors argue that Generation Z is not socialized; its representatives have formed short-range memory and a syndrome of loneliness. They cannot work in teams which fact may eventually ruin their careers. The presentation offers a qualified approach to teaching Generation Z students to the aspect “Home Reading” with the view to eliminating the above drawbacks. Basic attention is paid to forming communication competences, critical thinking, ability to participate in collective discussions, and a skill of taking decisions. A complex of English language teaching techniques for socializing students, developing universal values in them is presented. A combination of traditional and innovative forms of teaching brings the intellectual potential of Generation Z to perfection and eventually results in linguistic and professional competence.

Keywords: theory of generations, desocialization, communicative competence, information technology, “clip thinking”, creative exercises, interactive forms of communication.