“English for special purposes” for non-linguistic specialties: experience of distance learning

Abstract

The article is devoted to one of the most pressing problems of Ukrainian education in current conditions - the transition to distance learning at all levels of the educational process. The authors analyze the effectiveness of distance learning to improve the quality of teaching the discipline “English for Special Purposes” for non-linguistic specialties online. The study identifies some common advantages and disadvantages of distance learning, highlighted by Ukrainian and foreign researchers. Data and conclusions of experiments on the effectiveness of educational institutions in connection with the mass transition to distance learning in 2020 are presented. A separate period of learning foreign languages in a distanceformat is studied. In order to analyze the effectiveness of distance learning, questionnaires are developed, the questions of which allowed giving an overall assessment of the distance learning process, its technical capabilities, and the peculiarities of learning a foreign language online. A general analysis of the success of the discipline “English for Special Purposes” in the period of full-time and distance learning is performed, being reflected in the charts and graphs. This study allowed us to analyze some features of distance learning a foreign language, evaluate its effectiveness in general, and identify significant advantages and disadvantages from the student’s point of view. The questionnaire results served as a basis for the development of recommendations to the teaching staff to study the difficulties that arise when learning a foreign language in a remote format. The authors concluded that it is necessary to further improve the educational process by using innovative learning technologies and expanding educational opportunities for distance learning.