SYNTAX IN TEACHING THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: TOWARDS THE PROBLEM OF WRITING THE COURSE CONTENT

Abstract

The article analyzes the problem of writing the content for the course on the methodology of teaching the syntax of the Ukrainian language as a foreign language for philology students. The course is an essential element in the respective educational program for training future teachers of Ukrainian as a foreign language. The theoretical framework of the research is based on linguists’ works dedicated to syntactic topics. However, the basic language competencies in syntax, which are presented in «Standardized requirements: levels of proficiency in Ukrainian as a foreign language», are core for this course. The article also substantiates the need to expand on and detail some topics, taking into account the goals of student learning and practical challenges (word order in a sentence, stylistic means of syntax, syntactic synonymy, etc.). One of the frequent causes of errors in syntactic structures, already at the initial stages, is the imposition of the grammatical system of the native language, or the intermediary language, on the Ukrainian language. Cross-language analogies will facilitate learning and help avoid mistakes. Syntactic structures are not viewed as learning objectives, but rather serve as resources and models that can be used to express a certain meaning. The training aims to develop the ability to use these communicative constructions. At a high level, it is recommended to intensify and diversify the repertoire of syntactic structures with which a foreigner can express their thoughts and emotions, to provide alternative grammatical forms to express the same meaning. The communicative and functional syntax is considered a priority in the methodology of teaching the syntax of the Ukrainian language as a foreign language, since the ability and skills to verbalize thoughts are formed in the process of active use of constructions. Dialogue-centric and text-centric approaches are also efficient at various stages of learning. In teaching the syntax of the UFL (Ukrainian as a foreign language), we suggest combining different levels of analysis of syntactic units: formal-and-grammatical, semantic-and-syntactic, as well as communicative. As the analysis demonstrates, they are not opposed, but mutually complement each other. The perspective of this study is the development of a system of communicative exercises that will help students improve and enrich their speech. Key words: syntax, syntactic unit, method of teaching syntax, Ukrainian language as a foreign language, content language competence.