Liliya M. Zinnatullina

Today, English language learners in official educational institutions face a serious task of language proficiency at the level of an educated native speaker. Such a requirement entails the need to master new, modern methods of education, taking into account the psycho-physiological characteristics of students of all ages. In addition, an important component of learning today is the motivation of students, their involvement in language learning, the desire to use and develop their language skills in further professional activities. Phrasal verbs, which are a unique and important component of the English language, are not inherent in the Russian language, which already causes difficulties in learning them. In addition, their belonging to the class of phraseology and idiomatics entails additional difficulties associated with understanding their semantics and stylistics of use. The study and use of phrasal verbs is a prerequisite for a student who seeks to bring his level of language proficiency to the level of a native speaker: their use makes speech more capacious and at the same time expressive, figurative. The purpose of this study is to analyze existing methods of teaching phrasal verbs in English classes and introduce modern approaches into existing traditional approaches using new digital resources: applications, platforms, services. The use of digital and computer technologies in education is not new today, but remains acutely relevant and necessary for the success of the teacher's role in the educational process. As a research method, we used methods of analyzing pedagogical experience, observation, and questioning students during the experimental implementation of the author's original course on teaching phrasal verbs to 1st-year students of non-linguistic specialties. The students, divided into two streams – experimental and control – were given additional tasks, after which the final testing of the course was conducted. Later, they were asked to take a survey, which allowed us to evaluate our author's course through the eyes of students. The results of the study contribute to the further study of the use of digital resources as a support for teaching activities, and can be used as materials in further research work.

The development of soft skills is a priority in the modern era of mass communications. The presence of mass communication mechanisms: social networks, makes it possible to exchange information, teach, promote a personal brand and provide various services. These circumstances place significant demands on the availability of soft skills. Such requirements are valid for students not only of humanities, but also of engineering specialties since full provision of information about their activities will improve the position of the speaker and achieve consistently high communication skills. The concept of soft skills is quite broad and can be interpreted by students through the prism of everyday experience rather than academic experience. This circumstance can lead to an incorrect perception of the soft skills requirements that the industry and possible employers place on graduates of engineering universities. This study is aimed at identifying the level of awareness of engineering students about soft skills. Also, one of the goals of the study was to identify the role of teaching materials and the use of such materials by students in practice in assessing the main components of soft skills. As a research method, a survey method was used, which was aimed at identifying the most important components of soft skills in the opinion of students. Next, as a training component, we chose the TED talks resource, which clearly illustrates the successful use of soft skills. After studying the training material and group discussion, the students were given the task of preparing a public speech as a team. Soft-skills components from the training materials were selected as evaluation criteria. After completing the task, students were asked to take the survey again and adjust their assessments of the important components of the soft skills considering the experience gained. Data from the two surveys were analyzed and compared. The results of the study can contribute to the formation of soft skills and will improve the quality of the educational process for non-humanitarian students.