PROBLEMS IN ACQUIRING SYNTACTIC UNITS OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE WHEN TEACHING CONTRASTIVE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN

Abstract

Introduction. The article substantiates the importance of mastering syntactic units of spoken language when teaching contrastive grammar of English and Ukrainian. It has been established that the role of syntax in communicative activity lies in the speaker’s ability to quickly formulate and modify utterances during communication, adapt to changes in the grammatical and tense forms of verbs during the exchange of remarks with an interlocutor, and select the necessary lexical and grammatical means to respond appropriately to a message.

The aim of the article is to identify problems in acquiring syntactic units of oral English speech when teaching contrastive grammar of English and Ukrainian languages.

Methods. The research involved the use of theoretical methods (literature analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction), which made it possible to clarify the current state of the problem under study and identify issues in the acquisition of syntactic units of spoken language.

Results. The paper identifies the following issues regarding the teaching of syntax within the course “Contrastive Grammar of English and Ukrainian languages”: partially developed ability to perceive and recognize syntactic constructions during listening, as well as insufficient rhythmic and intonational skills required for reproducing them in communication; incorrect interchange of the relative pronouns “which” and “that”, “who” and “whom”, as well as the preposition “like” and the conjunction “as”; inaccurate translation of sentences containing formal and emphatic “it”; the use of adverbs instead of adjectives; and the use of verbs with indirect objects without the preposition “to”. These issues guide university teachers in finding new methods and techniques for explaining the material, identifying grammatical topics that are difficult to understand, and encouraging learners to analyze and correct errors in the communication process.

The authors outline the key causes of difficulties in mastering syntactic units of spoken language: increased anxiety among learners, lack of time to listen to syntactic constructions, insufficient attention to the development of communication skills, limited realization of creative potential when constructing utterances, insufficient hours allocated to improving skills in the situational use of syntactic units, and fragmented cultural knowledge.

Originality. The scientific novelty lies in the identification of issues in the acquisition of syntactic units of spoken language in the process of teaching the contrastive grammar of English and Ukrainian.

Conclusion. The appropriate use of syntactic units (phrases, sentences, supra-phrasal units, and texts) enables the transmission of ideas that are comprehensible to the audience. In turn, the identification of problems in teaching syntax contributes to the determination of grammatical topics that are difficult to understand, the optimization of methods and techniques for presenting material, the minimization of native language interference.