Keyword: «content-based course book»

The paper presents an attempt to develop a documentary-based course book at the chair of foreign languages of Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation, targeting a skill of video comprehension, including vocabulary enrichment, exploration of aviation industry context and professional communication principles by studying City in the Sky (BBC, PBS). There are no similar course books in Russia or around the world, and therefore this book could be a first step on the way to create more of the similar ones to integrate smoothly documentary films in teaching English to students of universities’ English programs. A special attention is to be drawn to documentaries and their place in the educational process. The aim of the paper is to show the opportunities of audio-visual aids for developing communicative skills of learners and to improve the methodology of English teaching in technical schools. The criteria of choosing a film to study have been introduced, as well as different types of tasks on video comprehension, listening comprehension, vocabulary and grammar analysis. The survey shows that students are mostly very motivated to study documentary films and are ready for such activity in classroom. From a teacher’s point of view, the documentary-based course book facilitates the English language perception through vocabulary and grammar observation, learning civil aviation realties, listening skills improvement, however, on the downside there has been passive impact on teaching speaking. Linguistic and socio-cultural information dedicated is recommended to be circulated in English classes consistently and sequentially not only while working on video materials, but on other components of the English program as well. It has been questioned, though, if watching documentaries in class is rational or students are to study the course book materials themselves and present the results in class.