In the conditions of rapid integration of Ukraine into the international scientific and educational space, the study and teaching of foreign languages, especially English – the language of international communication – is not only a component of basic education, but it also becomes an urgent need.
Knowledge of foreign languages is the key to success in today’s world, where communication in foreign languages and processing of vast amount of information is becoming increasingly important. The interest in learning foreign languages is traditionally great, because, paraphrasing a well-known saying: one who speaks languages owns the world.
As the old saying goes «As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being». That is, the more languages you know today, the better.
English is the official language of international business and trade, the Internet and technology, science and the arts. According to statistics, 80% of the business language space is occupied by English. Each of us is getting to speak it more often at work and leisure.
Every foreign language opens up new opportunities for us, making our spiritual world richer. When speaking a foreign language, a person automatically moves to a higher social level, as he/she becomes a competitive applicant for a high-paying job.
According to Mariia Voloshyn, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages, over the last few years in Polytechnic there is a significant increase of the level of knowledge of foreign languages among students, as evidenced by the results of annual tests. She also said that the University and the Department of Foreign Languages closely collaborates with the British Council, compiling study programs and tests, as well as selects additional study materials on their recommendation, so that they meet all international standards. The main purpose of cooperation with the British Council is to increase students’ communication skills. Therefore, teachers practice role-playing games with students. Only relevant and useful discussion topics are selected for students, which are divided into two groups: those who are for and who are against, which allows them to master the art of speaking and to expand their vocabulary. In such games students can overcome their fear of speaking in a foreign language.
Mariia Kushnir, the third-year student of IHSS, said that «in spite of the high level of English, I had a fear – a fear of speaking in a foreign language. Due to the games, no criticism (in contrast to school classes) and constant encouragement in the class, I started speaking in a few lessons. Therefore, I believe that such methodology works and has positive results».
During their study at Polytechnic, students undergo special tests to determine the level of knowledge: at the beginning of the study to divide students into groups, and at the end – to evaluate the level of knowledge that students acquired. It is worth noting that, unlike other universities, Polytechnic has high academic achievements among students in foreign language studies, which is reflected in the annual reports. According to Mariia Voloshyn, the main key to increasing the level of foreign language skills among students, is that teachers try to work with students as productively as possible including into lectures interesting and informative activities. According to Roman Meleshko, a fourth-year student of IJPS, this method helped him a lot.
Thus, students are eager to attend such an interesting lesson and learn something new and useful. Mariia Voloshyn informed that the attendance of foreign language classes among students is increasing every year, which cannot but rejoice, because it means that the methodology works.