THE ROLE OF ROBINSONIAN SKILLS IN SUCCESSFUL BLENDED LEARNING FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article evinces the importance of blended learning in the field of foreign languages in higher education, defining a series of Robinsonian skills and techniques which lie at the basis of professional language learning. What the author calls Robinsonian skills, lay the groundwork for an individual?s desire and conscientious efforts to learn and make progress in terms of language acquisition and brush-up, once motivation has been aroused and enhanced at an early age. The present paper finds its legitimacy in the idea that in the field of foreign languages, quality and efficiency can be guaranteed by traditional course practice complemented with e-learning. The argument is that language is a living entity, evolves in real-life contexts of communication in line with the progress of humankind, and can be properly acquired through traditional teaching and conversation practice. Language teaching does not only involve transmitting a series of rules and principles, but practicing them in various contexts of communication so that the learner could consciously think in the new foreign language system. Developing language awareness presupposes one?s contact with real life language patterns and experiences which cannot be entirely provided by online environments. Based on the assumption that motivation is first and foremost achieved in a face to-face teacher-student encounter starting from an early age, as far as foreign languages are concerned, the article argues for a necessary blended learning approach of foreign languages for long-life use under any contextual circumstances provided by the labour market. The paper enlarges upon the prerequisites of logical learning in the field of foreign languages, on translation practice as a type of effective learning experience, on composition practice in a foreign language. Successful e-learning depends on motivation to learn and to be part of a different culture, which must be experienced in classroom courses and in simulated real-life contexts for fluency and accuracy, as well as in virtual environments for permanent brush-up. E-learning constitutes an incentive and a challenge for learners of foreign languages. Computers enhance the grain of motivation to learn. Language teachers appeal to e-learning tools as optional opportunities for quality assurance in the present day Digital Age. Using e-platforms and software at appropriate moments for effectiveness and quality assurance should be considered on a par with the instructor?s pedagogical abilities. The role of the teacher / tutor will be evinced as paramount in the student?s evolution in a different culture represented by a foreign language.