USING EDUCATIONAL AND NON-EDUCATIONAL VIDEO GAMES AT ENGLISH LESSONS

The paper considers a relatively new type of polycode texts – computer games, the study of which seems not less relevant due to their high popularity among students and the active use of game methods and techniques in modern teaching practice. Along with films and songs, computer games form the content of the Polycode methodological complex, developed by Samokhin for use at English classes. Within this complex, the games are intended not so much for teaching and assessing knowledge as for methodological diversity and encouraging students at the end of a successful term or academic year. The authors proceed with classifying all video games used in the educational process into two large groups: educational and non-educational. The second group forms the basis of the proposed video game methodology, since these games are characterized by the dominance of the entertainment component over the educational one. However, an educator should consider their potential ineffectiveness in teaching grammar and the highly possible presence of violence, pornography, “toilet” humour and other factors incompatible with the requirements of pedagogical ethics. The authors advise English teachers to use video games not more than twice a year, which is due not only to the objective specifics of these programmes, but also to the peculiarities of their perception by the representatives of the older generation – parents and grandparents of today's students.