Integration of toponymy into digital linguistic education

Integration of toponymy into digital linguistic education Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2647, 040034 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0104085 Published Online: 01 November 2022 Irina Martynenko and Oksana Zlobina AIP Conference Proceedings 2647, 040034 (2022); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0104085 © 2022 Author(s). 2647, 040034 Integration of Toponymy into Digital Linguistic Education Irina Martynenkoa) and Oksana Zlobinab) Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL), Moscow, Russia a) Corresponding author: irineta@rambler.ru b) ok-format@mail.ru Abstract. The article deals with the integration of toponymic material into teaching regional and cultural linguistic aspect in modern conditions. The use of information and communication technologies in connection with the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has been making adjustments to the educational process. The authors show what techniques can be used in this case to optimize a foreign language lesson focusing on place names as an integral part of the lexical composition of any language. INTRODUCTION Modern education is impossible without computers and the Internet. Nowadays one can get an education without opening a single paper textbook. The main source of communication, completing assignments, searching and reading sources has become a smartphone, tablet and the Internet. Distance education allows to implement various educational and professional programs that are available in remote areas. The main principle of distance education is the use of virtual contact for interaction between a teacher and a student. Also, the basis for obtaining education remotely is not only independent work, but working contact and communication with the teacher, receiving advice in the amount necessary for understanding the discipline. In addition to the Internet, an important technology is the transmission of educational content, e-manuals, presentations, textbooks and lectures to students. The interactive functionality of an electronic textbook, for example, meets the requirements of a modern approach to working with information, allows the user to take notes and bookmarks, attach their own files with additional materials, constantly expanding the environment of the electronic textbook. In the methodology of teaching foreign languages, regional linguistic studies have always been considered as an essential aspect. Toponymy, the science of geographical names, occupies an important place among the topical issues of modern linguistic and regional studies. However, despite the fact that toponyms have always been an integral part of the lexical composition of any language, study of them, even on the higher education level, is not always given sufficient attention. Therefore, knowledge of toponymic vocabulary and its aesthetic resources often causes difficulties for students, while it is precisely due to toponymic issues that the linguistic background knowledge of students can be significantly expanded. The article aimed at showing possible variants of combining modern educational technologies and teaching toponymy as an integral part of the linguistic aspect. METHODS Scientific research in the field of toponymy and their coordination in Russia today is carried out in a number of linguistic centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences: in the Institute of Linguistics (group of onomastics), in the Russian Geographical Society (toponymic commission), in the toponymic laboratory of the Ural University. Toponymic research is actively carried out all over the world: in Bulgaria, Germany, Georgia, Poland, Hungary, the Proceedings of the II International Scientific Conference on Advances in Science, Engineering and Digital Education AIP Conf. Proc. 2647, 040034-1–040034-4; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0104085 Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4238-2/$30.00 040034-1 Czech Republic, Slovakia, the USA and many other countries. Once every 3 years, international congresses of onomastic sciences (ICOS) are held, where toponymic problems prevail. Research on toponymy is published in the journals “Beitrage zur Namenforschung” (Germany), “Names” (USA), Onoma (Sweden). As in the rest of the world, in Russia in recent decades, special attention has been paid to regional toponymy [18]. For the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, an attempt was made to recreate the toponymic picture of the northern capital in its stage-by-stage historical development over three centuries existence in the “Toponymic Encyclopedia of St. Petersburg” [9]. At the moment, not a single Russian university prepares narrow specialists in toponymy. In this respect, the situation is better in the Republic of Azerbaijan, where compulsory courses “General Toponymy” and “Toponymy of Azerbaijan” have been introduced at the faculties of many universities. For example, at the Azerbaijan Higher Military Academy named after Heydar Aliyev (Baku), Baku State University and the Academy of the Ministry of National Security of Azerbaijan. In general, toponymy is a complex scientific discipline that requires a specialist to have good linguistic training and breadth of knowledge in related fields of science - history, archeology, ethnography, geography, folklore, mythology, etc., as well as the ability to develop their own aspects and principles of material analysis. Digital learning in the context of the pandemic has put teachers all over the world in a new environment: distance learning based on Zoom, Teams, Skype, etc. platforms is fundamentally different from the face-to-face mode familiar to everyone and makes its own adjustments. The purpose of this article is to show how a teacher can diversify the presentation of linguistic and cultural material based on toponymic data in remote online teaching. As an example, we present the research on the US Hispanic place names [10] integrated into the lesson plan of Spanish language in a university. RESULTS In the course of studying the topic “The history of the USA”, students get acquainted with the history of the discovery of America and the conquest of the American land by Europeans, with the concept of toponymy and place names and the history of their origin, get a general idea of the typology of English and Spanish geographical names. The main method of transferring linguistic and cultural knowledge here is commentary, explication. We propose to transfer these materials and techniques into Power Point presentations. FIGURE 1. An example of a Smart Art exercise 040034-2 The etymology of the names of American cities is extremely fascinating and can serve as a motivational base for students to work independently when preparing presentations. For example, students learn that the state of Florida owes its name to Juan Ponce de Leon, Columbus’s companion, conquistador. In 1512 he received permission from the Spanish king to go in search of lands north of Cuba. Having equipped three ships at his own expense, in early April 1513 he reached the northeastern coast of Florida, which Ponce de Leon took for an island. He declared the island a Spanish possession and named it La Tierra Florida (“blooming land”), either in honor of the Easter Flower Festival (Pascua Florida), since the “island” was opened just before Easter, or because of the rich vegetation of Florida. Different versions of the origin of the peninsula can be arranged in the form of several Power Point slides, surrounded by an introduction and conclusion. It is also advisable to use a variety of materials of a visual and textual nature: maps, tables, diagrams, crosswords, photographs, postcards, etc. The presentation of regional geographic realities attracts attention, activates speech and thinking activity. In our opinion, in the educational process for the development of language guess, memory, logical thinking, creating positive motivation, it is reasonable to use the following tasks: An exercise of the Smart Art type, which may look like in Fig. 1 and be used to activate the studied vocabulary in relation to Hispanic toponyms of the United States at a teacher’s demonstrated screen. Using the Moodle platform, one can place an exercise like Quiz on the university platform and provide students with a link to complete it. Students pass a computer mini test, which the teacher does not need to check: the system will do it automatically, and the student will know the result immediately. The teacher can also see the number of correct answers of each of the trainees online. The complexity of the process for the teacher is reduced. Here’s an example of such Quiz assignment: Choose the right answer: 1. The first American land discovered by Columbus was: a. Central America b. Florida 2. Buena Vista is situated in: a. California b. Michigan 3. Florida means: a. freezing b. windy 4. The town of Valdez in Alaska is named after: a. a Spanish pirate b. captain of the Spanish Royal Navy 5. Mexican–American war ended with the victory of: a. Mexico b. the USA c. Texas c. New Mexico c. blooming c. a Christian Saint c. Indians At the final stage, students individually or in small groups prepare and defend online a project on the topic “Hispanic Place names of the USA” using a screen demonstration. As a part of the lesson plan, a task to be performed in a micro group can be a discussion. Students are divided into session rooms. Each group is given one idiom, the meaning of which must be found and explained. Online mode is convenient here by completely isolating micro teams from the rest of the group. Here is an example: Find the meaning of the following idioms: • What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas • Nevada gas • California dreaming. DISCUSSIONS During the 2020 pandemic, the development of digital education in general and distance education technologies in particular have undergone significant progressive changes. Mainly, two main approaches to the organization and conduct of educational activities in universities have been formed: interdisciplinary and integrative-contextual. The basics of digital processing of education were the digitalization of the economy as a whole, which led to a change in the labor market, in educational standards, the identification of the process of forming new professional competencies and is focused on reorganizing the educational process, modernizing teaching methods and didactic mechanisms all over the world. An interdisciplinary approach in global digitalization is basic for modeling the educational process. At the same time, the practical implementation of the competence-based approach in higher education poses new urgent tasks in 040034-3 connection with the imperative conditions of the pandemic, in which universities are forced to work in 2020-2021 and on. It is no coincidence that recently the number of studies on the problems of higher education has sharply increased in Russia, in particular, on the issues of solving the problems of online education[10-13]. However, despite harsh modern conditions for the education system, the shown model of an online lesson in linguistic and cultural studies demonstrates a number of advantages of the online learning: a teacher can automate the process of checking assignments, it is more convenient for students to complete assignments in small groups, visual material in Power Point presentations is perceived better. CONCLUSION The practice of teaching foreign languages confirms the effectiveness of including linguistic and regional toponymic material in the learning process, since it contributes to the assimilation of elements of a foreign language culture, increases the cognitive activity of students, expand their general and philological horizons, form positive motivation for learning a foreign language. Teaching linguistic and cultural aspect online during the Coved-19 pandemic, along with obvious inconveniences, has several positive factors. Distance education is a creative process of meaningful and independent development of a person. Intrinsic motivation of the student is necessary, first of all, to ensure control by the teacher and self-control. We are sure that distance education will take its rightful place in the system of training and hope that all contemporary problems will be successfully resolved. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. G. Musanov, “Toponymy of the Upper Kiluz'e”, PhD thesis, Yoshkar-Ola, 1999. G. L. Shcheulina, “Semantic and ethnolinguistic analysis of the toponymy of the Upper and Middle Don region”, in Linguistic Domestic Studies, edited by V. I. Makarov, G. P. Palchun (Yelets, 2001), vol. 1, pp. 195–212. G.V. Zvezdova, “Dialect as a source of hydronymic names (based on hydronyms of the Lipetsk region)”, in Linguistic Domestic Studies, edited by V. I. Makarov, G. P. Palchun (Yelets, 2001), vol. 1, pp. 212–219. D. 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