Keyword: «engineering university»

Quite recently, we could see students of engineering universities to neglect such subject as a foreign language completely. The students were not motivated to study this subject absolutely, they felt it was not among the basic subjects that would be useful in their future life and work. Now we can observe the opposite trend. The world is changing and it issues new challenges. Now a highly qualified specialist is not only an expert in his field, but he is also presumed to know at least one foreign language. The learning of languages now becomes interesting not only for those who study the humanities, but also for students who have basic technical disciplines. In this regard, the article discusses those requirements that the society sets for future specialists (based on the Federal Education Standards and professional standards) on example of the Ural State University of Railway Transport students.

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the growing need for the digital transformation of modern education, since it is this condition that makes it possible to effectively develop professional skills in students, including learning foreign languages. Digital technologies are an undeniable assistant in the process of developing communicative abilities, enriching intercultural experience and ensuring easy adaptation of students to new language environment. The aim of the study is to analyze the prospects for using immersive technologies in teaching foreign languages to students of engineering universities. The authors provide a comparative analysis of existing approaches to defining the concept of “immersive technologies”, their classification and didactic potential based on the world experience. The main components of an immersive educational environment and its advantages are presented. The use of immersive technologies in teaching foreign languages is justified. A range of problems related to the implementation of immersive technologies in the teaching practice of Russian universities has been identified. It is concluded that it is necessary to develop methodological support for the successful implementation of immersive technologies in the educational process. The method of surveying teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages helped find out their attitude towards immersive technologies. The theoretical significance of the article is in the detailed development of the main tenets of the immersive approach in education, which, without a doubt, contributes to expanding the knowledge of the teaching community in the field of digital methodology. The practical significance is associated with the prospects of using these technologies in the educational process of universities and the possibility of applying research results to create methodological support for disciplines, including foreign languages. It is in this direction that the team of authors plans to continue their work. The results of the research may be interesting for a wide range of scholars and teachers of foreign languages and can be used when giving courses on topical issues of applied linguistics, as well as methods of teaching foreign languages.