Keyword: «vocabulary learning strategies»

In the rapidly changing conditions of both the educational and work processes, independent learning skills are more a necessity than a desirable requirement for its participants. The relevance of the problem under consideration is determined by specific requirements associated with English language teaching at a particular non-linguistic university where the students are supposed to have a high level of language proficiency and the academic load implies a large amount of independent work during vocabulary acquisition. Moreover, a growing trend towards shift to online learning calls for building students' autonomy skills. Therefore, the article aims at description of development conditions of learner autonomy to promote English vocabulary acquisition in non-linguistic students. The study was carried out from the perspective of constructivism learning theory which holds that knowledge is constructed by human upon foundation of previous experience and in an interaction with other people. Furthermore, the basis of the lexical approach is used which puts emphasis not on a large amount of exercises aiming at a complete vocabulary acquisition, but on the practice spread over time. The analysis of the academic literature made it possible for the author to identify the basic components of learner autonomy geared to expansion of students' English vocabulary – giving students control over their learning, use of student-centered approach, mastering vocabulary learning strategies and self-reflection skills, building peer-assessment skills, use of collaborative learning, raising motivation, teacher's facilitative style. The discussion of each component is accompanied by hands-on recommendations. The theoretical significance of the research lies in the fact that the seven identified components make up the model of formation of learner autonomy that fosters revisiting teacher-student relationships and empowering them with freedom of choice and more responsibility for their learning. The practical significance of this article lies in the possibility of conducting effective work with foreign language vocabulary by means of learner autonomy and tailoring its components to the learning goals and objectives of language courses.