Factors to increase the effectiveness of an online foreign language course for young scientists

Abstract

Introduction. The rapid development of digital technologies, online format of the educational process due to the spread of Covid-19 have actualized online learning in universities. The combination of work and postgraduate studies by young scientists, limited time frames, low motivation make it necessary to find the optimal ways to organize the educational process in a foreign language. The considered online course provides young scientists with the opportunity to improve the level of foreign language communicative competence in academic and research fields. Purpose of the article: to improve the effectiveness of the online foreign language course for young scientists. Research methods. The experiment involved 445 first- and second-year graduate students of South Ural State University. To determine the effectiveness of the online course in the program of foreign language study in graduate school and increase the level of foreign language communicative competence the following methods were used: method of pedagogical experiment, method of observation, econometric method of mathematical statistics Difference in Differences (DID). The method of questionnaires was used to identify the educational needs of graduate students. The B.D. Jones's MUSIC® Model of Motivation was chosen as the methodological basis for the redesign of the online course. The relevance and completeness of the strategies of the B.D. Jones's MUSIC® Model of Motivation according to graduate students’ opinions were tested using a parametric Student's t-test with dependent sampling. Results. As a result of the experiment aimed at improving the effectiveness of the online foreign language course for graduate students, positive dynamics in the level of foreign language communication competence of graduate students in the experimental group compared with students in the control group was verified by the Change criterion, which reflects the difference in the results of the PhD Foreign Language Exam of graduate students, recorded by DID: "excellent" – (Change > 12%), "good" – (Change < 9.5%), "satisfactory" – (Change < 2.5%). Discussion and conclusion. It was proved that the identified factors to improve the effectiveness of the online course for young scientists (redesign of the online course, taking into account the educational needs of graduate students) determined the positive dynamics of the level of foreign language communication competence of graduate students.