Business games and roleplays.

Their participants have a deal with the model which is close to real professional activity. The whole complex of industrial relationships is modeled. The participants have an opportunity to become the leader of some company or its department. This gives opportunity to find out more about relationships within the company, the functions of the staff of the company and also the whole result, which can be acquired in the course of the suggested actions.

Practical value of business games are as follows:

• The conditions of study are close to reality in practice;

• In the process of modeling of real to life situations there happen the development of habits and skills in the sphere of professional activity;

• Roleplays allows to integrate the acquired knowledge according to chosen speciality;

• The participants of business games have an opportunity to practice their knowledge, habits and skills in the course of game without risk;

• In the conditions of credit technologies of teaching, when the role of independent study is increasing, business games is an ideal mean of arising interest to the professional activity and increasing their professional competence.

First what should be done before the beginning of business game is to prepare the scenario of the game, to define the rules of the game, accurately to define the functions of the participants and their actions.

Business games has several stages:

1-st stage.Preparation to the game. Study of the situation or the problem and collection of necessary information.

2-nd stage.The process of game organization.

3-rd stage. The analysis the situation, its discussion, making conclusions and assessment of the results.

In the process of the game the students acquire the following skills and habits:

• Logical understanding of the game situation;

• The determination of the content of the necessary information, which is needed for problem solution, its collection and analysis.

• The establishment of links between different spheres of future professional activity.

• The work in groups, collective solution making

• Usage of elements of scientific research, processes and phenomena on the base of systematic approach.

The important factor of the successful organization of games and roleplays is informational support, the constituent parts of which are:

• - the official description of information for the modeling of game situation

• - the criteria of game results ‘ assessment

• - the filling forms and tables for completion, instructive materials, documents of planning and organization of game

Case Study is one of the main technologies of business education. It appeared in the beginning of the 20^th c.in the School of Business in Harvard University. American cases are a little bit different from European.They are more in volume (20 - 25 pages of text). In Europe Cases is shorter in 1,5-2 times and doesn’t have the only one solution. While using this method it is necessary to escape extra arguments, to dominate in the discussion The work out of the Case is evaluated very highly. There are two types of Cases: ‘Field’ (based on real factual material) and ‘ artificial’. The following method is based on the analysis of real and hypothetical situations, concrete events, containing one or the range of problems from business practice. Students are suggested to find the effective algorithm of business-structure organization in the given situation, leading to the problem solution. The more Cases are discussed the more experiences students gain to cope with similar situations.

Students task – analyze the situation, formulate the problem, suggest the solutions and choose the best one.

The aim of Case Study – to learn student to analyze the information, formulate the problems, choose the alternative ways of solution, evaluate them, find the suitable variant and make programme of actions. Case Study has two stages:

Stage 1. Participants are given Case and time for reading and acquisition of the material. Teacher can give some questions to the participants for stimulation of the discussion

Stage2. Teacher suggests to the participants s to discuss the case.Students should answer the questions of the teacher or express their opinions about the best solution. Answers and conclusions should be thoroughly grounded by the participants. At the end of the discussion the teacher suggests to draw conclusions from facts and arguments of the Case.

Advantages of Case Study:

1) Demonstrate the existence of alternative solutions

2) Demonstrate how the same facts can be differently interpreted by the range of people with the similar aims

3) Teach students to evaluate the consequences of the taken solutions

Case Study is an instrument with the help of which the theoretical knowledge are applied to the solution of the concrete practical tasks. It assists to the development of the critical thinking, links the theory with practice. Analysis of the Case allows students to formulate the model of problem solution, which can arise during their professional activity. Nowadays Case Study is one of the popular methods for better qualification of leading staff. The Case is often used as a mean of selecting the best business qualities in the course of job interview. This method is widely known for the education not only Marketing, Management but Foreign Language as well.

Project work

Project work offering the student an opportunity to put into practice what has been learnt through formal teaching. For a project to succeed, a good working relationship needs to be established. The students must be able to co-operate not only with each other but also with a teacher. Groups who are accustomed to student-centred activities will find project work an extension of a familiar approach, rather than an innovation.

Project work has been described by a number of language educators, including Carter and Thomas (1986), Ferragatti and Carminati (1984), Fried-Booth (1982, 1986), Haines (1989), Legutke (1984, 1985), Legutke and Theiel (1983), Papandreou (1994), Sheppard and Stoller (1995), and Ward (1988). Although each of these educators has approached project work from a different perspective, project work, in its various configurations, shares the following features:

1. Project work focuses on content learning rather than on specific language targets. Real world subject matter and topics of interest to students can become central to projects.

2. Project work is student centered, though the teacher plays a major role in offering support and guidance throughout the process.

3. Project work is cooperative rather than competitive. Students can work on their own, in small groups, or as class to complete a project, sharing resources, ideas, and expertise along the way.

4. Project work leads to the authentic integration of skills and processing of information from varied sources, mirroring real-life tasks.

5. Project work culminates in an end product (e.g., an oral presentation, a poster session, a bulletin-board display, a report, or a stage performance) that can be shared with others giving the project a real purpose. The value of the project, however, lies not just in the final product but in the process of working toward the end point. Thus, project work has both a process and product orientation, and provides students with opportunities to focus on fluency and accuracy at different project-work stages.

6. Project work is potentially motivating, stimulating, empowering, and challenging. It usually results in building student confidence, self-esteem, and autonomy as well as improving students’ language skills, content learning, and cognitive abilities.

The length of time spent on a project work will, clearly, depend on the amount of time available and on the nature of the project work. But, however, long or short the project may be, it will pass through certain stages of development these are:

1. Stimulus. Initial discussion of the idea – comment and suggestion. The main language skills involved: speaking and listening, with possible reference to prior reading.

2. Definition of the project objective. Discussion, negotiation, suggestion, and argument. The longer the total time available for the project, the more detailed this phase will be. Main language skills: speaking and listening, probably with some more note-taking.

3. Practice of language skills. This includes the language the students fell is needed for the initial of the project, e. g. for a data collection. It is also introduces a variety of language functions, e. g. introductions, suggestions asking for information, etc., and may involve many or all of the four skills (particularly writing, in the form of note-taking).

4. Design of the written materials. Questionnaires, maps, grids, etc., required for data collection. Reading and writing skills will be prominent here.

5. Croup activities. Designed to gather information. Students may work individually, in pairs or in small groups, inside or outside the classroom. Their tasks will include conducting interviewers or surveys, and gathering facts. All four skills are likely to be needed.

6. Collecting information. Probably in groups, in the classroom. Reading of notes, explanation of visual material, e. g. graphs. Emphasis on discussion.

7. Organization of materials. Developing the end-product pf the project. Discussion, negotiation, reading for cross-reference and verification. The main skill practiced, however, will be writing.

8. Final presentation. The manner of presentation will depend largely on the form of the end product – chart, booklet, video display or oral presentation and on the manner of demonstration. The main skill required is likely to be speaking, but could be backed up by other skills.

Projects can also differ in data collection techniques and sources of information as demonstrated by these project types: Research projects necessitate the gathering of information through library research. Similarly, text projects involve encounters with ‘texts’ (e.g., literature, reports, news media, video and audio material, or computer-based information) rather than people. Correspondence projects require communication with individuals (or, business, governmental agencies, schools, or chambers of commerce) to solicit information by means of letters, faxes, phone calls, or electronic mail. Survey projects entail creating a survey instrument and then collecting and analyzing data from ‘informants’. Encounter projects result in face-to-face contact with guest speakers or individuals outside the classroom. Projects may also differ in the ways that information is ‘reported’ as part of a culminating activity. Production products involve the creation of bulletin-board displays, videos, radio programs, poster sessions, written reports, photo essays, letters, handbooks, brochures and so forth.

Performance projects can take shape as staged debates, oral presentations, theatrical performances, food fairs or fashion shows. Organizational projects entail the planning and formation of a club, conversation table, or conversation-partner program.

Whatever the configuration, Projects can be carried out intensively over a short period of time or extended over a few weeks, or a full semester; they can be completed by students individually, in small groups, or as a class; and they can take place entirely within the confines of the classroom or can extend beyond the walls of the classroom into the community or with other via different forms of correspondence.