Level Characteristics of Foreign Language Communicative Competence Development of Students for Technical Specialties

Abstract

Purpose. The article examines the question of the levels of foreign language communicative competence development of students for technical specialties. The characteristics of the corresponding levels are given. The tasks are to find out the essence of the concept «level of foreign language communicative competence»; to analyze classifications of foreign language proficiency levels; characterize the criteria for the levels of foreign language communicative competence development of students for technical specialties, based on the analysis.

Methodology. Research methods are the analysis and summarization of relevant scientific materials for the purpose of collecting and presenting results, as well as coming to the conclusions.

Results. The concept of the mastery level of a foreign language can be defined as a student's ability to formulate his foreign language statements in a grammatically correct and communicatively acceptable way to solve certain functional communication tasks, that implies the possession of a certain set of linguistic and sociocultural knowledge, skills. Many level systems are oriented (for practical purposes) to three main levels: elementary; medium (intermediate); advanced, they can be divided into sublevels depending on the purpose of level determining. As a result, six levels emerged, where each of the three main ones is divided into one more advanced and one less advanced, compared to the most basic level of foreign language proficiency.

The system of levels of foreign language proficiency is closely related to the system of control, assessment and self-assessment of the level foreign language communicative competence development. Each type of foreign language communicative competence corresponds to its own level of learning, that differs in final target settings. The training level (planned result) is a projection of the goal on the content of training, it involves taking into account the training conditions.

Taking into account the characteristics of the component composition of foreign language communicative competence, the experience of developing new control models, it is possible to single out the parameters and criteria necessary for assessing the level of foreign language communicative competence development of students. Namely, the purpose of the final control is to establish the correspondence between the level of foreign language communicative competence and the requirements of the English language curriculum for students of technical specialties.

Conclusion. Thus, when considering issues related to the control of foreign language knowledge, skills (definition of goals, content, exam type, evaluation criteria), one should take into account both international standards of the level of foreign language proficiency and modern national requirements, they are submitted in educational programs and foreign language textbooks. In other words, all components of foreign language communicative competence should be the object of control.

In particular, the pan-European system of language proficiency levels can be adapted to the goals of professional education and can serve as a basis for various diagnostic models that ensure the technologicalization of the competence approach in the process of foreign language training under the conditions of non-language higher education.