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Abstract: The article presents an analysis of the characteristics of teaching “Professional foreign language” to Master’s students in a non-linguistic university. It contains a review of Russian and foreign literature on the organization and methodological support for educational process and discusses ways of improving professionally-oriented foreign language communicative competence of non-linguistic Master’s students. On the basis of the survey and oral interview answers of 1st year Master’s students who specialize in economics, the authors present a “portrait” of a Master’s degree student, analyze their learning needs, demands and experience of using English in professional activity, and determine the degree of necessity for oral and written English language skills in the process of solving professional tasks. The results of the study have confirmed the low level of both oral and written English proficiency of the respondents. The students found listening and speaking tasks to be most difficult, whereas reading and writing were rated among less challenging tasks. The analysis has demonstrated that the majority of the respondents (67%) have never used English for completing their professional tasks. 36% have experienced difficulties when applying for a job or solving professional problems in the workplace, caused by their inability to carry out oral or written communication in English. The results of the survey show that all English language skills (writing, reading, listening, and speaking) are in high demand for about 30% of master's students, including both employees working for international and for the Russian medium-sized and large companies. No statistical correlation between the workplace of the respondents (international or Russian company) and their experience in using English for completing professional tasks was found. The article also presents a language training plan, consisting of a business game, digital story and cooperative learning method, each of which is aimed at meeting Master’s students’ needs, revealed in the survey. The implementation of the plan may allow developing Master’s students’ professional foreign language communicative competences by participating in various activities and events including Youth Economic Forum. The results obtained can serve as a stepping stone for a further detailed study of the ways to increase motivation to learn a foreign language in the circumstances when the demand for its usage at workplace is relatively low.

About the author(s) :

Elena N. Makarova

Ural State University of Economics (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4439-5521

 

Nadezhda A. Goncharova

Ural State University of Economics (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3193-5864

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 16.03.2023; date of publication: 30.06.2023

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