Nataliya К. Dmitrieva

The need of the modern society for highly qualified and competent specialists, reflected in the regulatory documents of the Federal State Educational Standards, imposes new requirements on contemporary universities in regards of the master’s degree graduates’ professional training. They encompass the students’ ability to conduct research work in a foreign language both in the oral and in written forms; readiness for scientific discourse through research results’ publications in highly rated journals. One of the imperatives in cited publications is the structured abstract’s design based on key points’ content when written in a foreign language. However, a course of the foreign language academic writing is not included into the list of compulsory disciplines for master degree programs. As practice shows, students do not have the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to independently design a foreign language abstract for a scientific article. This fact is conditioned by the lack of the special pedagogical system aimed purposefully at the foreign language academic writing skills development. The goal of the study is to develop a modified pedagogical technology supporting independent work of the master’s degree students executing a foreign language abstract for a scientific text. The author rationalized the need for the modified pedagogical support technology development based on the analysis of documentary sources and research literature on the problem, questionnaires, diagnostic tests and public assessment of the students’ academic activity results. The pedagogical support technology modification features were revealed on the ground of the theoretical basis of "academic writing", interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches. The modified technology stages are presented and described in the article. Methodological materials for training and diagnostic assessment of the students’ independent activity results are characterized. The theoretical significance of the study lies in detailing and rationalization of methodological approaches that form the basis of the modified pedagogical support technology for master’s degree students’ independent work. The practical significance of the study is conditioned by the possibility of employing presented modified technology in all areas of master’s degree students’ training aimed at academic writing skills development.

The relevance of the study is determined by society's need for sustainable development in the regions of the Russian North and, consequently, for the preparation of highly qualified specialists, including teaching staff. Since the competence-based approach is fundamental for defining the goals, content, and assessment of educational activities, the degree of a teacher's professionalism is determined by the level of formation of competences necessary for educational activities. The aim of the study is to develop a matrix of northern competences for foreign language school teachers. Based on the competence-based approach, the definition has been expanded and a matrix of northern competences for school foreign language teachers has been developed during the research. To identify the level of northern competences formation, a survey was conducted among 88 teachers who teach foreign languages in schools in Petrozavodsk and some northern districts of Karelia. The results of the study showed that the level of unique northern competences formation among foreign language teachers in the Republic of Karelia is different. It was found that the degree of formation of four key components of unique northern competences varies between teachers in Petrozavodsk and those in other districts of Karelia. The level of subject competence is higher in Petrozavodsk; the level of methodological competence is similar, but it is slightly higher among teachers working in Petrozavodsk; the level of ICT competence is the same; the level of reflective-evaluative competence is comparable, but teachers in schools and districts of the republic show significantly lower levels of satisfaction with their pedagogical results. The theoretical significance of the study lies in clarifying and expanding the content of professional competence for foreign language teachers in Northern and Arctic zones of Russia through the development of a matrix of northern competences for school foreign language teachers. The practical significance of the study is that its results can be used to work out a professional development program for school foreign language teachers in the regions of the Russian North, create a corpus of texts based on foreign-language ethnocultural material and corresponding educational workouts, and synchronize the sociocultural content of the educational-methodological complex for foreign language disciplines with topics from the general education program.