CONTINUOUS CASE STUDY AS AN EFFECTIVE METHOD OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING BY FUTURE ENGINEERS

Abstract

The present paper addresses the issue of teaching foreign language as an indispensable course at university. One of the demands to the training of future engineers is to prepare them for solving professional tasks and situations. A continuous case study method is one of the forms of problem-based learning which allows teachers to model fragments of future professional activity, its multicultural context. We suggest a continuous case study method as a powerful tool for modelling real professional activities, which contributes to the formation of professionally oriented English-language competence of future engineers. In our article, we aim to reveal the essence and stages of using the method of continuous case studies at English classes. We outlined the following methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, systematization, inference, observation. In order to verify our statement, we conducted a continuous case study on the topic “Refutation of inaccurate information on technical operation and repair of lifting mechanisms at the enterprise”. As shown by the results of our research, a continuous case study method is a way of development of a professionally oriented English-language competence of the future engineers by involving them in solving imaginary professionally oriented problems through simulated engineering environment. It has been found that the use of a continuous case study method in the course “Practical Course of Foreign Language for Professional (Scientific) Purposes” contributes to the improvement of the future engineers’ professionally oriented foreign-language competencies in listening, speaking, reading; professionally oriented sociocultural, linguistic, educational, strategic and pragmatic competencies.