Materials for English learning for the students of medical specialties

Abstract

The current stage of development of Ukraine's international relations with other countries requires a revision of the foreign language teaching process in higher school. Special emphasis should be paid to the effectiveness of foreign language learning. The expansion of international contacts highlights the need for training a specialist who can communicate with representatives of other countries not only at the domestic level, but also in professional activities. First of all, this concerns specialists in those professions in which there is intercultural communication (international internships, participation in international conferences). The English learning process of many Ukrainian medical colleges and universities is mainly based on non-authentic materials. Few studies have been conducted to explore the implications of authentic and non-authentic materials in learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP), for medicine in particular. The current study explores students’ perception of these resources in learning medical English. In order to optimize the learning process, a comparative analysis of English language manuals for medical professionals was made. The data were obtained on the basis of a questionnaire filled out by medical students of two universities. The students were required to assess different aspects of both authentic and non-authentic materials. The ultimate goal of the analysis is to determine the educational efficiency of the afore-mentioned textbooks and the students’ motivation for English learning. Analyzing the effectiveness of training future medical specialists for professional communication, the following methods were used: descriptive, statistical and empirical methods: observation, testing, and questionnaires. The findings showed that the participants had positive attitudes toward using authentic resources and that they preferred them to non-authentic ones. Authentic resources provide a beneficial effect on the development of students’ language skills in their professional area. The prospects of further studying in the in-depth analysis of different ways of optimizing English language proficiency.