PHOTOVOICE TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING THE DISCOURSE COMPETENCE OF THE FUTURE FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Abstract

Discourse competence is one of the key components of communicative competence in forming a future teacher’s secondary linguistic identity. A narrative based on visualization (photovoice) or photo-narrative is a relatively new phenomenon in pedagogical practice. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of Photovoice technology in developing the discourse competence of future teachers within their linguistic education. The study involved 72 third-year students of the “Foreign Language: Two Foreign Languages” educational program as part of the "Language for Specific Purposes C1" course. The research methods included both qualitative analysis of written works (narrative writing based on students’ own photo cases), interviewing, and statistical analysis of the obtained data. The pedagogical experiment consisted of several interrelated stages (introductory, main, and final) carried out in two groups -  the experimental group (EG) and the control group (CG) - involving the use of Photovoice in various contexts (photo-case exchange, photo-case self-reflection). In the experimental group, a significant improvement was observed in the coherence and cohesion of written texts, as well as in the activation of logical and structural connections in oral speech. Qualitative analysis revealed increased levels of students’ reflexivity, critical thinking, and initiative during photo-case discussions. The results confirm that the Photovoice technique contributes to the development of discursive competence and can be integrated into the training of future foreign language teachers. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that Photovoice is, for the first time, considered as a tool for the purposeful formation of discursive competence of future teachers in Kazakhstan.