Organizational and Methodological Aspects of Developing Profession-Oriented Foreign Language Didactic Resources in a Technical University

Abstract

The present article features the organizational and methodological aspects of developing profession-oriented didactic resources in English, i.e. textbooks or teaching manuals, for students of technical specialties in order to improve their work-related competencies. The authors see the interaction between the department of foreign languages and the technical departments as an organizational and methodological dominant. They outline the development principles, content, types of exercises, and various activities. The new generation profession-oriented textbooks, created by the joint efforts of linguists and technicians, contain elements of a computer-based learning environment in its lingua-didactic apparatus. This contributes to a more efficient mastering of the content. Such textbooks follow the methodology of Content and Language Integrated Learning rather than that of English for Specific Purposes. The new manuals are highly specialized, which encourages students to pose questions. In addition, they contain creative cognitive tasks that improve special knowledge in the technical sphere.