Implementation of modern approaches to teaching a foreign language to engineering students

Abstract

Problem. Modern higher education puts forward new requirements to the process of training future professionals whose competitiveness is determined not only by deep professional knowledge and skills of their flexible application but also by readiness to solve professional problems in a foreign language environment, ability to easily integrate into the European educational space.Goal. The goal of the present paper is to study modern approaches to teaching a foreign language to engineering students and their implementation in teaching students majoring in "Materials Science" of the Mechanical Faculty of Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University. Methodology. The purpose of the present research and specifics of the object under study determined using synchronous-descriptive method with elements of comparative analysis which contributed to the comprehensive study of the problem. Results. At the present stage of the development of higher engineering education, system-structural principle of teaching in combination with a communicative approach, as well as an interdisciplinary approach should be recognized as the leading methods of teaching a foreign language to students of non-languistic specialities. Originality. A new textbook “English for Welding Engineers”written for students majoring in "Materials Science" of the Mechanical Faculty of KhNAHU has been presented and described for the first time. Practical value. Practice proves that a properly selected professionally-oriented authentic text together with a set of lexical and grammatical exercises developed on the basis of this text play a significant role in teaching a foreign language for professional purposes, contributing to the diverse and holistic formation of the students’ linguistic and professional competencies. In order to successfully complete these tasks, teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages of KhNAHU have created a new textbook “English for Welding Engineers” and continue their work on writing and updating other educational materials for students of all faculties and specialities.