H. Zelenska

I.Kozhedub Kharkiv Air Force University

T.Silichova

S. Kuznets Kharkiv national University

The problems and peculiarities of training students in a foreign language at higher educational institutions in Ukraine

Being in demand not only among the domestic students but also far beyond Ukraine’s borders is one of the characteristics of a modern university rating. The number of foreign students contributes to the university’s growth of popularity, formation of connections between educational institutions and countries, which is of particular importance in the light of modern trends and aspiration for globalisation. Certainly, it should be mentioned that the number of foreign students at a university is determined by many factors including territoriality, cost of a contract etc. but the main condition making for its popularity is the quality of educational services and their availability that does not depend only on the price of education but the speciality itself, the need for it at the labour market.

The topicality of this problem is also confirmed by the statistics data. For example, over 60,000 foreign students from far-abroad and neighbouring countries have been trained in Ukraine’s system of higher education, and the most popular areas have been engineering and technical sciences, aircraft engineering, medical, biological and pharmaceutical specialisation [1].

General questions concerning various aspects of foreign students’ training at Ukrainian higher educational institutions are analysed in the researches of such Ukrainian pedagogues as T. Dementyieva, N. Bulgakova, N. Nemchenko, V. Chugayeva, I. Kazantseva and others.

Thus, for example, in the process of studying the problems faced by the foreign students while studying in Ukraine, the researchers found out that it is the foreign students’ first years at higher educational institutions which make the most difficult period determining not only their further development and formation as a specialist, but also their attitude towards the studying and life in the new environment. These are the years of adaptation or adjusting to the requirements of the surrounding, therefore most difficulties are related to this period.

Taking into account the researches, conducted in this area, one can say that despite the diversity of viewpoints, practically all the researches show that the language problem is the main problem that prevents a foreign student from normal adaptation in a new society, slows down his/her learning motivation, hence professional development and formation [2], [3].

It should be mentioned, that in the previous years this problem was solved with the help of pre-university training departments which existed at higher educational institutions. Today there are also quite a lot of trends insisting on the need to return to this system of teaching (L. Belskaya, V. Kuzminova) [4; 5; 6]. One must agree with existing viewpoints and it is possible that the process of students’ training at pre-university departments could be one of the best in solving this problem. But the reality of modern life proves otherwise. Unfortunately, in the conditions of tough competition and rivalry for each university applicant, a lot of educational institutions stop asking for applicant’s preliminary training at a pre-university department what makes the studying at this higher educational institution very attractive for foreign students both in terms of saving money and considerable time spent on studies. Thus, for example, provided there are equal conditions for education, students will choose the educational institution where there is no mandatory training at a pre-university department. Let us give some data – for example, over the period 2013-2014 out of 60,000 students, studying at higher educational institutions, only 3,000 were students at pre-university departments. Thus, the solution to the problem of foreign students’ adaptation only at the expense of their preliminary training at pre-university departments can not be the only possible one. However, the problem of adaptation and, consequently, the increase of prestige of higher educational institutions and their competitiveness as well as extra opportunities to earn funds become very important in modern conditions.

Taking into account the academic literature and accumulated experience in this area, one can say that one of the trends in solving this problem can be teaching students in a foreign language combining it with teaching them Russian (Ukrainian). It should be noted that a number of Ukraine’s educational institutions have been practising this kind of education over the last few years and this process continues to spread. However, there are numerous difficulties in this sphere and this phenomenon is not large-scale (works by L. Masalkova, E. Minchukova).

The goal of this article is to study and analyse the accumulated pedagogical experience in terms of finding the solutions to this problem. First of all, when analysing research works and own accumulated experience, we would like to single out two main unresolved problems. The first one is the difficulties arising not only in the process of using the language itself but also in the process of studying the very specificity of the subject and teaching this subject in a foreign language. It is the principle of professional orientation that is dominant for the formation of professionally important qualities of a future specialist. That is, the problem is not about the lecturer’s ability to communicate in everyday language, but about his/her particular training ‘for the subject’. There are also difficulties when they (the difficulties) are often stipulated by the specific teaching situation: the subject, the contingent of students, group’s occupied places, specificity of the subject, duration of studies. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that despite seemingly the same language of teaching, for example English, it is practically impossible to have a uniform international group having the same subject level and language training. It should be mentioned that it is almost impossible to form a group of representatives from one country. Thus the work of a lecturer even with a sufficient language level in terms of teaching the subject to such students is much more difficult than to native students. The observed opposite effect of the subjects that are taught needs particular attention. Thus, for example natural science subjects (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology), considered to be more complicated than humanitarian subjects (History, Psychology, Sociology), are in a better position. This happens because in the process of teaching subjects in a foreign language one of the main issues is the issue of introduction and use of a single ‘language basis’ which can be realised relatively easily with natural science subjects (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology etc) and put into charts, diagrams, graphs, equation systems and is quite difficult for humanitarian subjects [4].

Teaching humanitarian subjects for such groups is not only impossible, it is also not necessary to the extent the material is given for domestic students. Therefore it is possible to simplify the material for teaching humanitarian subjects for such groups, that is highlighting main dates, ideas, reducing hours for certain blocks of humanitarian subjects which is not advisable for natural science subjects. Good results are also achieved by the use of supportive notes, workbooks and plans.

Another major problem is quite low motivation of the teaching staff which can not be solved easily because the level of teachers’ labour payment does not correspond to the invested efforts: learning a foreign language, extra subject preparation as well as adaptation to foreign students. Taking into account the financial state of Ukraine’s educational system, certain higher educational institutions solve this problem by considerably decreasing the number of classroom hours and number of foreign students in a group for such teachers. In addition, a motivation factor can be teachers’ self-motivation, awareness of their own level improvement and, as a result, increasing their own competitiveness.

LITERATURE

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