Use of digital tools in English teaching

Abstract

The article presents the comprehensive analyzes of digital technologies and online tools that can be used to train all four language skills. Moreover, a survey of about 200 students of educational level “bachelor” and “master” of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics and the E.О. Paton Institute of Materials Science and Welding was carried out to get data about students’ level of English language and level of their language skills. An analysis of their answers regarding the level of mastery of language skills and the subject of tasks for the development of each type of language skills are also shown in the questionnaire results. The topics of tasks for training each type of language skills were divided into three categories – general English, general technical and specialized texts. The survey drew attention to the course in which the student is studying. The first courses of bachelor’s degree are more characterized by the choice of general English topics for training language skills in a foreign language, and the master’s degree students for each type of language activity in most cases chose highly specialized texts and information, due to the level of professional knowledge and terminology in native and foreign languages). After analyzing the results, it became possible to treat and select the most convenient and useful online tools for developing tasks for training reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. An overview of free versions of platforms that can be used in the process of teaching a foreign language, namely Google Classroom and Google Forms, Wizer me, Nearpod.com, Classtime.com has been done. All types of free tasks that can be created on the basis of these platforms are considered, the available types of tasks for each type of language activity are listed. In addition, examples of the use of digital tools such as Kahoot. com, Quizlet.com and Wordwall.com are provided, as well as cases and conditions of their appropriate use.