Филологические науки. Методика преподавания языка и литературы.

Akmaldinova O.M., Pysmenna O.O.

National Aviation University, Kiev

TEACHING PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH TO AVIATION BUSINESS MANAGERS

One of the basic functions of higher education is the training of highly skilled specialists to meet the needs of labour market. The process of training must include not only teaching in the framework of the traditional long-term programs, but granting possibilities for getting necessary knowledge and acquiring adequate special skills in a short time period, which corresponds directly to the ideas of the world-wide educational and personnel training programme originated from the «learning during all life» concept. This project was set up under the aegis and in the spirit of the Bologne process. In the Prague communique (2001), the European ministers responsible for an educational sphere, marked that “learning during all life” was a substantial element of the European higher education zone plan. European society and economy will be constructed on knowledge and high technology, and the strategy of “learning during all life” must face the problems of competitiveness, new technologies applications, improvements of social unity, equal possibilities and the quality of life [1].

In the highly complex and competitive business of aviation, creative managers who have the ability to make effective decisions have always been the key to achieving competitive advantage.

English for Professional Purposes Course in the National Aviation University (NAU) is designated to provide professional terminology and communication grammar and lexis knowledge and supplement practical skills relevant for the professions in aviation management for the graduates and postgraduates to be ready to assume leadership positions in their airlines and aviation industry enterprises.

The study of world standards and best technological achievements is impossible without the high-quality translation of technical, economic, financial documents and literature, standards, manuals, other informative materials. The most adequate professional translation is made by "narrow" specialists who know a foreign language well. In fact, no one is able to understand better than a specialist the terminology in his special field to which he devoted years of studies and work. In addition, professional and scientific contacts with foreign specialists become more often, and the role of foreign languages in the activities of technical universities graduates and undergraduates is constantly increasing .

The English course is heavily oriented towards recent trends in the science and practice of aviation industry management and embraces the spheres of strategic and marketing response to the airline environment, personal contribution to own organization through better self-management, Human Resource (HR) and operations management, finance and information technology.

It is based on the effective methods of studying industry-relevant terminology and reading and translating scientific, technical and commercial professional literature, in conformity with the requirements of academic syllabi and curricula.

Teaching aids and subsidiary materials serving to aid or supplement learning process are thematically grouped along the directions: aircraft design; aerodynamics; major components of engines; systems of airplane; radio and navigation equipment; communication means; aviation meteorology; flying operation; aircraft certification; air traffic control; accident prevention and safety measures; information protection; automatic control systems, modern airport design and maintenance; servicing on air transport; fuels and lubricants; energy management; ecological problems, related to air traffic; international organizations of civil aviation; international cooperation, etc.

Today organizations need professionals and managers who can understand a global market, recognize trends, adapt to changing technologies, have intercultural competencies, and can respond quickly to a rapidly changing business world. Airlines can no longer afford finance and accounting people who are just book-keepers. To be truly effective they need to be able to interpret financial data, provide advice for strategic planning, construct capital budgets, allocate assets and exercise financial control.

Training key people in the knowledge and skills, needed to manage a HR cycle and perform the selection of the right people, assessment of performance, reward of contribution to the achievement of strategic objectives and development of the skills needed to ensure the success of an airline’s business strategy – all these are most recent trends and tasks. Thus, they imply focusing on the practical communication skills needed to operate in the international HR environment, helping one to present oneself and one’s organization more confidently, improve one’s effectiveness in employee relations and develop a better understanding of language and cultural factors affecting HR decisions. The content of the corresponding course embraces the spheres of staff selection, interview techniques, performance appraisal, international personnel management. inter-cultural aspects.

Accounting and control of passenger sales is essential for protecting the earned revenues. The increasing complexity of the industry has broadened the scope and responsibility of the treasury function. The airline treasurer is expected to perform at higher levels and in some cases treasury has become a profit centre. These changes require strategies for effective management of cash flow to minimize the costs of idle or underemployed funds and to unneeded borrowing and to derive maximum income. The course of English for airline finance and accounting managers offers the students an opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform these functions effectively. To become managers in all these fields of financial activity students should be trained to know business strategy and corporate financial planning, ticket inventory and control, registration of ticket use and sales reporting, forms of payment, refund and remittance procedures.

The provision of timely financial information and analysis is essential for the achievement of an airline’s business objectives. To help students achieve the level of professionalism needed in their accounting functions such topics and corresponding terminology find their place in the English course: aviation fuel management, passenger proration, interline accounting and control, cargo proration and some others.

The terminology base of educational materials is formed on the texts of instructional documents of the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association, original materials on flying and technical operation of world aviation fleet, modern educational editions on the indicated subject, which is reflected in the academic syllabi of the Aviation university according to educational codes of all kinds of professional training in the NAU, professional literature, proper lexicographic sources, business and statistical standardized documentation. The purpose of using various information sources is an intensive expansion of individual vocabularies for professional aims in accordance with the spheres of oral or written translation and professional communication.

Special attention is paid to the logical sequence of the stages of perception, understanding, treatment and translation of foreign language materials via analytical work, which includes determining key vocabulary, formulation of key ideas, omitting secondary information, compiling plans and other forms of compressing textual information; analytical work on grammatical structures; contextual analysis and means of translation into the native language.

The global careers and education network seeks representatives of the fresh generation of energetic and ambitious young MBA graduates from emerging economies. The popularity of MBAs has risen sharply since 2004, as the world economy has boomed and business schools have offered increasingly sophisticated and differentiated programmes. Part of the demand for MBA graduates is about companies planning leadership succession. Most schools now offer part-time MBA courses for students who do not want to leave their jobs to do a two-year full-time MBA [2]. The MBA is a fast track for personal and career development. The MBA rush reflects a signal from the marketplace that managers require more sophisticated skills than was the case in the past.

References

1. Алексанков А.М., Джаим Е.А., Никончук Е.Г. Маркетинговое обеспечение программ дополнительного профессионального образования // Мат-лы международной конференции «Международное сотрудничество в образовании и науке». – Санкт-Петербург: Санкт-Петербургский государственный политехнический университет, 2008. – С. 61-63.

2. Sussens-Messerer V. Management // Business Spotlight, 2007. – № 4. – P. 61-64.