FLIPPED CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY IN ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES COURSE (ON THE EXAMPLE OF FUTURE MANAGERS OF FOREIGN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY)

Abstract

The article explores the ways of adjusting current system of professional training to modern-day challenges and market requirements to the professional activity of international operations managers.The objective is to clarify the progressive approach to educating future managers of export and import operations based on the flipped classroom principle. For that purpose the following issues need to be specified: the topicality, the efficiency and peculiarities of applying the flipped classroom mode to the content to be acquired by students of the aforementioned specialization over the course of their university studies; to specify the types of teaching materials to be applied in view of their future professional activity, and their further integration into the curriculum; to provide recommendations on developing teaching materials using the latest available platforms and resources. The drastic gap between the teaching materials used in the course of professional training due to lack of hands-on professional experience of the university staff, on the one hand, and on-the-job training specialists receive at the expense of their first employer necessitates theoretical research and designing an ESP course that better fits the needs of a modern workplace. Based on the research of Ukrainian educators who advocate for more focused and productive organization of students’ independent study, the article suggests ways of using modern information technologies and tools to improve students’ self-study experience. The article describes ways of implementing the flipped classroom approach to optimize foreign language training for future international operations managers. The article explores the prospects and peculiarities of using the technology in view of the aforementioned specialization. The types of learning content and materials are studied for their further integration into the course for the purpose of maximum approximation to the professional activity of future specialists. The suggested learning materials derived from professional context, such as document templates, trainings, podcasts, printed and online reading resources, success stories and cases, lectures from free online education platforms are analyzed for their use in preparing teaching materials for a flipped classroom. Education management systems are analyzed for their dual purpose as teaching tools and the elements of modern-day professional activity at international companies. The flipped classroom mode proves to be efficient in optimizing foreign language teaching in the course of educating future managers of export-import operations due to several factors: it provides the professional context, allows to role-play the professional activity of a specialist in a foreign language environment, increases motivation for studying disciplines of specialization, it provides the opportunity to integrate specialized knowledge into the course of foreign language for professional purposes. The learning management platforms that are efficient within the flipped classroom learning are a powerful instrument within the modern corporate environment, which students will be able to use once they find their first job. Since LMS are used mainly in the professional context, further research necessitates cooperation with leading employers, specifying the most common topics and directions of learning and development on the job, selection of those that are most promising for integration into the course of teaching future export-import operations managers, and developing recommendations and courses on learning management platforms.