Teaching ukrainian phonetics to high school students in preparation for final assessment

Background. The article discusses the teaching of phonetics in preparatory courses for final exams in Ukraine. Both National Multidisciplinary Testing (NMT) and External Independent Testing (EIT) evaluate students' phonetic competence as a component of their overall competence in the Ukrainian language. Test takers are expected to demonstrate mastery in various topics, including classification of sounds, alternation, assimilation, simplification of sounds, stressing words, means of melodiousness, defining syllables, etc. Teachers who prepare students for their final exams face challenges, such as limited time and gaps in students' background knowledge. Therefore, there is a need to devise effective strategies for test preparation in alliance with programme requirements. The article focuses on developing the study model to enhance phonetic competence through an action-oriented and systematic approach. Purpose. The study explores the efficacy of the strategy designed to develop phonetic competence in high school students in preparation for the final assessment in Ukraine (NMT/EIT). Methodology. The study was piloted with 27 students of the preparatory department at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. The experiment involved comprehensive sampling and further analysis of overall outcomes and individual task results to assess the methodology's effectiveness. The results of the final test were processed by the case method; that is, the test outcomes were analysed in general and for each task in particular. Results and discussion. The use of various types of phonetical exercises based on action-oriented and systematic approaches led to improving students' recognition, replication, and mastery of phonetic nuances. The research suggests that prioritising inductive reasoning and connecting language study with communicative practice should be core principles, especially in time constraints. Systematisation may be achieved through incorporating a block learning technique along with explanatory and illustrative methods. Further research should focus on developing methods of teaching phonetic assimilation and alternation.