Teaching a foreign language through professionally - oriented texts

SUMMARY

Any foreign language should be studied according to the needs of a specific profession, i.e. the acquisition of language skills should be professionally oriented. This article focuses on the main criteria for the selection of the text topics possessing necessary practical benefits. The texts should be selected very carefully and thoughtfully due to the general language and its values.

Key words: effective study, professional skills, knowledge, communicative activity, training, multivalued derivatives, productive skills.

Introduction

The study of any foreign language in higher educational institutions is an integral part of a complex program of training of modern specialists. Therefore, the solution of effective study issue can be only through intensification of educational process increasing motivation to study a foreign language and development of students‘ professional skills, which, in its time, has a positive effect on language competence. Nowadays, specialists have to get acquainted with a large volume of printed information in a foreign language and to process the data, so language skill has become a helper, and a special means of mastering information. Each year, the importance of scientific information is significantly increasing; the volume of world‘s scientific literature is enlarged. With the rapid development of science, there is an issue of effective study of a foreign language and mastering this knowledge by specialists.

Foreign language is necessary to study according to the needs of a specific profession, i.e. the acquisition of language skills should be professionally oriented. The program of English training for higher educational institutions requires the ability to read a special literature in original with the purpose of accumulation of necessary professional information. This is namely the goal to study reading in a foreign language, contributing to the development of professional competences of future specialists. Studying reading techniques, a student has the opportunity to get knowledge of his profession deeply. Teaching reading in a foreign language is very important in medical institutions, because in the process of reading, the problems of practical, educational and professional values can be successfully solved.

The practical value of reading is in the sphere of professional interests of future specialist; in addition, students improve their general knowledge of a foreign language. This training allows not only getting information, but also gives the possibility to master other types of speech activity. With regard to the educational value of reading, this process involves not only the perception of text‘s content; it is always linked with additional task to communicative effective tasks. Professionally directed study of a foreign language can contribute to the formation of a future specialist, which requires knowledge about the activities of medical authorities in different countries. Gaining new knowledge about medical sector of the country, a student becomes more intelligent in the field of his specialty that deepens analytical perception of the surrounding world. Educational value of reading is mental, moral, esthetic and ideological.

The implementation of reading principle as a cognitive process provides a number of requirements that are directly related to reading materials and methods of work on the development of productive skills of reading. They includesuch requirements as deep understanding of texts, awareness of their practical importance, degree of accessibility, promoting the solution of certain tasks that require the ability to compare facts and events, as well as the analysis of linguistic phenomena in the texts, if you experience some difficulties in understanding the content.

Special attention should be paid to the selection of texts‘ topics. When selecting text topics, we must comply with medical orientation, but the text must be specific in content, quality characteristics and features. One of the main criteria for the selection of reading material must be its practical benefits. Practical knowledge of a foreign language is in graduates‘ using the acquired language knowledge in their real communicative activity that is determined by the specifics of future specialist‘s work. The selection of language material depends on specific conditions: study objectives, type of speech activity, level of training, period of training, structure of the material that is selected.

The selection of texts for reading should be determined by the purpose of foreign language training and actual capabilities of students. They should be selected very carefully and thoughtfully due to the general language and its values. It is necessary to take into account the need to develop communicative competence, to enter into educational material concept that will promote the development of students‘ professional skills.

At the initial stages of reading literature in original, the principle of availability has the particular importance. Linguistically, there should not be many difficult points to translate, as well as a large number of rarely used terms. Reading the original texts, students must rely on linguistic theory, which is based on student‘s potential vocabulary. As it is known, potential vocabulary consists of international, multivalued derivatives, complex, convertible words and phraseological units. When students get used to the original texts and become better oriented in the structure of sentence, they refer to dictionary less frequently, which significantly increases the efficiency of work with a text and contributes to the development of productive reading skills.

Conclusion

Thus, in conclusion I would like to generalize the main principles:

1. One of teacher‘s primary objectives should be making reading process and tasks enjoyable for the students. The reading class must always involve them fully and never be allowed to turn into —busy work.”
2. Make students aware of the purpose of their work. This will increase their sense of involvement and allow them to become more active learners (their cognitive awareness increasing).
3. Always focus on thinking process and not on the —right answers.” The answer itself matters far less than how a student comes to an answer. Encourage students to take the same approach by frequently asking —Why?” or —How can you tell?” or —How do you know?” As students are required repeatedly to articulate answers to these questions, they become more conscious of their own thinking process.
4. Ask students to work in pairs whenever possible, especially on Comprehension Skills exercises. Talking about exercises and explaining their reasoning can reinforce students‘ awareness of process and purpose. It also facilitates language acquisition.
5. Emphasize the importance of guessing the meaning of words from the context. Students should be discouraged from using dictionaries during their reading class or while doing their reading homework.
6. When students work individually, allow them to work at their own pace. In these exercises, speed should be encouraged, but each student must determine what that speed will be. Faster students should not have to wait for slower group mates, and slower readers should not feel too much pressure or they may become anxious and incapable of comprehending.

References:

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   1. 1. Orel, V. Professionally oriented texts in a foreign language is an integral part of modern specialists‘ training / V. Orel, S. Ye. Tregub. - Zaporizhzhya: ZaporizhzhyaStateMedicalUniversity.