Olga V. Volodina

The relevance of the study is determined by employers' demands for the quality of professional training of university graduates, which means having a set of specialized knowledge and skills, as well as personal and socio-psychological qualities. Foreign language education of students majoring in economics and management is aimed not only at developing professional foreign-language communicative skills but also at developing social skills, such as initiative, proactivity, flexibility, adaptability, creativity, entrepreneurship, responsibility and the other qualities required by the innovative economy. The aim of the study is to consider the pedagogical conditions for the development of cross-curricular competences of future economists by means of foreign language education at university. The study was based on the following methodological approaches: student-centered, subject-to-subject, and systemic activity-oriented approaches with the implementation of the principle of active learning of a foreign language, as well as the principles of problem-based and contextual learning of the studied language. Role playing games, mind mapping, project-based work, discussions, creative tasks, essays and reflective methods were used as the tools for developing the soft skills of the students majoring in the area of training 38.03.01 Economics (specialization «Finance, Credit and Accounting») and 38.03.02 Management (specialization «Financial Management») at the Institute of Economics and Law of Petrozavodsk State University within the framework of the Foreign Language discipline. The diagnosis was carried out through input, current and output control, expert assessment of the argumentation and content of the final group discussions, and self-reflection of students. The results of the study confirm the necessity of active practical learning of a foreign language that involves intensive thinking, communication, and collaboration to develop the social skills of preservice financial management professionals. The theoretical significance of the study lies in substantiating the need to develop cross-curricular competences of economics students through foreign language education at a university. The practical significance of the study lies in the development of a set of pedagogical conditions for the manifestation and development of critical thinking, emotional intelligence, verbal communication and interaction, creativity, flexibility, initiative and other soft skills of future economists in the process of learning a foreign language at a university.

The relevance of the study is determined by the intellectual and cognitive focus of the personal and professional development of qualified specialists on the socio-economic development of the country, increasing the innovative potential and competitiveness of the Russian economy at the global level. Teaching foreign languages to students who are future specialists in the field of finance, entrepreneurship and business management is aimed at developing a set of competences that ensure the improvement of information skills, the manifestation of problematic and critical thinking, rational knowledge, the effectiveness of interaction and communication, the generation of new ideas and non-standard solutions. The aim of the study is to substantiate the specifics of teaching future economists taking into account the cognitive orientation of foreign language education at university. The methodological basis of the study was the interactive, communicative and comparative approaches in the implementation of the principle of foreign language education intellectualization, cognitive, professional and innovative-creative orientation of foreign language education at university. The manifestation and development of cognitive and metacognitive characteristics of students occurs through the use of technologies and methods of problem-based learning (game modeling of situations, structuring of concepts by means of mind-mapping, case study, project-based activities, discussions, debates, etc.). Monitoring the quality of the organization and effectiveness of teaching a foreign language to the 1st and 2nd year students majoring in Economics and Financial Management at PetrSU, taking into account the cognitive orientation of foreign language education at university, was carried out using the qualitative methods (the analysis of the results of in-class and independent educational and cognitive activities, completing creative tasks, research work; the included observation; peer assessment; reflexive assessment of learner’s own attainments). The theoretical significance of the study lies in substantiating the need for cognitive development of future economists in the process of learning a foreign language at university. The practical significance of this research lies in the development of a set of pedagogical conditions for organizing the cognitive activity of economics students. These conditions aim to ensure the manifestation of attention, interest in problem-solving tasks, mental activity, and thinking activity, as well as independence, rationality, and strategic thinking based on logic and clear reasoning. Additionally, this research aims to present the problem in its entirety and provide a perspective for its successful solution.