Basic notions of a system, subsystem, complex, series, cycle, group of exercises Any system is understood as something whole, integer, which, in its turn, is the unity of orderly distributed and interconnected parts.
Thus, N.I. Gez represents the system of exercises as an organization of interconnected operations, distributed in the order of gradual increase in language and operational difficulties with an account of speech habits and skills formation and development with due regard to the character of real-life speech acts.
Methodology usually distinguishes between two types of system of exercises: a general system of exercises and a special, or particular, system of exercises.
The general system of exercises (S) is aimed at language acquisition taken as a whole. S.F. Shatilov defines the general system of exercises as a joint necessity of such types, kinds and varieties of exercises, which are performed in a definite quantity and sequence and, take into account, natural development of skills and habits in different types of language activity. Language activity is the realization of personal communicative skills for communicative intercourse in a given communicative situation. Skill is an individual capacity to communicate in given situational settings. According to Shatilov, the general system of exercises provides for a maximum top level of mastering a foreign language under the set circumstances.
The special system (Ss)is aimed at acquisition of some particular type of language activity. Thus, we may speak of four special systems of exercises: the system of exercises for listening, the system of exercises for speaking, the system of exercises for reading and the system of exercises for writing. Sometimes special systems are called sub-systems of exercises.
In their turn, each of the four sub-systems may include several complexes (C) of exercises for teaching specific skills, e.g. a dialogical skill, i.e. dialogical speech, or a complex of exercises for teaching a monological skill.
Each complex comprises three series of exercises for teaching speech and technical habits. In case of teaching speaking, they are:
exercises aimed at teaching pronunciation habits;
exercises aimed at teaching lexical habits;
exercises aimed at teaching grammatical habits of speaking.
All three series are closely interrelated and interconnected.
Each series consists of a number of cycles for teaching definite habits, e.g. a cycle of exercises aimed at teaching articulation habits and intonation habits of speaking; a cycle of exercises aimed at teaching the syntactical side of speaking; a cycle of exercises aimed at teaching morphological habits of oral speech.
A cycle may fall into smaller groups of exercises aimed at teaching definite language items. A group of exercises allows performing operations with one language item in interconnected sequence. Each exercise included into the group aims at the lexical, grammatical, pronunciation or intonation side of one language item. The concern of an exercise is to perform primary operations with the four sides of the language item. It is to make up operational orientation basis for the formation of a speech habit later on.
A similar structure of the system of exercises may be found in teaching other types of language activity or communicative skills. Graphically the structure of the system of exercises may be represented as follows:
4 Skills
1 or 2 skills
1 specific skill
S peech
h abit
Special side of
s peech habit
1 definite language item
- operations grouped as
i nterconnected sequence
1 side of a language item
- primary operations
Thus, a general system of exercises is structurally organized into subsystems comprising complexes, which in their turn include series. A series consists of several cycles including groups of exercises.
