Elena Nadejdina

At present time, technical higher educational establishments of the Russian Federation have to respond quite actively and promptly to the reforms in the system of education. Ever-changing federal state educational standards of higher education define the necessity of conceptually new approaches to the problems of the education content as well as the ways of their solving. The problem of choice of course books for teaching English at a technical university is not just the exception but is of great importance, as one of the main employer requirements to a competitive engineer is well-developed linguistic competence aimed at successful social and professional communication. Thus, the aim of presented research is to analyze the structure and contents of Russian and foreign course books and their correspondence to modern course book criteria developed by the authors after having observed the opinions of some methodologists as well as taking into consideration the own experience in this area. The notion of a course book is formulated in the paper, the research results to the selection of the content and structure of a modern course book are demonstrated. The authors present some positive aspects of analyzed foreign and Russian course books in accordance with federal state educational standards of higher education and specificity of a technical university. During the research work the authors were using the analytical method (quantity and quality analyses, interpretation of the received results, formulation of conclusions and practical recommendations). The research results are presented in the form of formulated criteria and requirements to both structure and content of a modern English course book, in the form of positive aspects and comparative characteristics of Russian and foreign course books, as well as in the form of some recommendation to their use. Practical relevance of the analyses conducted is authors’ try to search for the solution of the problem of choosing the appropriate course book structurally and contextually aimed at successful development of linguistic, social, cultural and professional competences of a future engineer.

One of the main objectives of improving the process of foreign languages learning in a technical university is to increase the emphasis on the professional training of future specialists who will be able to solve professionally oriented tasks. The relevance of the topic is determined by the possibility of increasing the efficiency of studying foreign languages with the aim of developing professional competence based on the information and communication technologies. The use of ICT in the educational process is considered as a process of organizing computer based educational environment where the main aim of communication is to develop professional competence of students efficiently. The peculiarities of using information and communication technologies in the teaching process of Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics (TSUCSR) Foreign Languages Chair are considered in the article. The research is based on general scientific and theoretical methods that allow analyzing and summarizing the methodological and pedagogical literature of Russian and foreign authors. The article describes the experience of using information and communication technologies in the teaching process of the Foreign Languages Chair (TSUCSR), on the example of one of the courses developed in the educational environment Moodle. As a result of the study, the experience of using the educational environment Moodle was described, which makes it possible for teachers to attain several objectives: a) to use electronic versions of educational and teaching aids; b) to provide additional material; c) to conduct tests and questionnaires; d) to fulfill tasks for training practice-oriented language skills related to production and research activities. In addition, the authors of the article have identified the main goals and objectives for further adjustment and planning of training courses which develop not only linguistic, but also professional competence of future specialists. The article may be interesting for the scientific and pedagogical staff of educational institutions planning to use information and communication technologies in the educational process.