Online language teaching and evaluation of engineering students

The research aimed to point out the effective use of ICT in foreign language teaching and learning by engineers. The problem with the evaluation of students during their studies or at the end of the academic year arose when the Technical University of Kosice was forced to switch to a distance form of education. The experiment took place in the winter semester of 2021/2022 within the compulsory English Language in Technical Practice course. Mixed methods were used to compare the results of e-tests within the four study programmes - Automotive Production Technologies, Computer-Aided Manufacturing Technologies, Industrial Management and Intelligent Technologies in Industry. The research employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The research design involved collecting data using online tests completed by students and sent to the teacher. A quantitative method was conducted to evaluate the students' online tests. The qualitative research method allowed for the analysis and interpretation of data from the experimental testing. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that different types of Moodle tasks can be successfully applied to e-testing as part of English course assessment at the university level. The study aimed to determine the level of language skills of the 80 first-year engineering students at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies in Presov Technical University of Kosice who participated in the experiment. The university-wide learning management system, the Moodle platform, was used during the study and in the final online tests. The results of the e - tests revealed the level of language skills, and teachers were able to identify the weaknesses and strengths in teaching professional study material. The hypothesis concerning language skills was confirmed. The best evaluation was achieved by 43 students (53.8%) in reading professional texts with understanding, and only 21 students (26.3%) were successful in grammar. It was emphasized that reading comprehension is an integral and inseparable part of the teaching process at the Technical University. The correct understanding of the professional text has a huge benefit and significance in their practice and future professions.

Keywords: online education; language skills; evaluation; manufacturing technologies; teaching; e-tests.

1. INTRODUCTION

The problem statement. Universities should prepare their students not only in theory. Students should also be ready to practice in foreign companies. Information and communication technologies (ICT) currently play an important role at all levels of education. The paper is focused on learning tools in language teaching at technical universities. Foreign language teaching plays an important role in preparing students for future careers. New technologies are a great asset for foreign language teaching today. It is true that technology is constantly changing and evolving. It plays a significant role in teaching and learning foreign languages. New technologies are useful for different study programmes at many Slovak universities when teachers and students feel the absence of professional study material. ICTs are very helpful for teachers and students in searching for available professional study material. Due to this situation, there is a constant need to monitor professional foreign language texts and change them or add content to them according to the needs and requirements of the course and study branches of students. They must acquire new vocabulary as well as work with professional terminology, which is necessary for their field of study and practice.

As part of foreign language teaching innovation at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies Presov Technical University of Kosice, teachers tried to provide students with up-to-date, new, and interesting professional foreign language texts for each lesson, related to a certain professional topic. It motivates them to read or search for additional texts or articles devoted to the professional topic, which helps students to improve their professional vocabulary in a foreign language. Currently, testing, especially in times of pandemic, is taking on a wider dimension and needs to be approached with greater emphasis, both by educators and students.

Analysis of recent studies and publications. Online education has become a very attractive way of teaching, especially after various restrictive measures and lockdowns. ICT has an impact on students' thinking and education. Including the Internet in teaching means the quality and purposeful involvement of students in the world of communication. Many articles point out the penetration of internet technologies into the educational process. Today, online education is considered a modern and effective tool for increasing the competitiveness of universities. It is an example of modernization, which thanks to the Internet covers broad sections of society and is becoming an important factor in its development. New technologies satisfy the needs and interests of education. Oleksiienko et al. [1, p. 62] emphasized that the development of information technology has made it more urgent to modernize the education system. According to them, the theoretical interest in online education first arose in the context of studying the experience of distance education and the desire to understand its capabilities in connection with the use of new ICT in the educational process. It is argued that technology should be used to gain knowledge by students. Replacing classic aids with real objects placed on the Internet facilitates many activities for the teacher and gives the student, the future engineer, a clear, interesting, and often effective view of the discussed problem.

In our opinion, mobile-assisted language learning provides access to authentic learning but also offers scope for informal learning beyond the classroom. Akkara et al. [2] claimed that social media with messaging and multimodal communication and information sharing provide platforms for interaction with peers. The role of informal digital learning in English has been shown by many authors [3], [4], [5]. Students as part of the information society are beneficial in providing more effective and transparent information within individual disciplines. Huzairin et al. [6] argue that learning via mobile devices is not without restrictions but has several advantages and is much cheaper than learning via computers. I must agree with the authors because almost all students own mobile devices. They have access to their mobile devices from anywhere and anytime. Many findings highlight the need to examine students' digital practices, such as video streaming. According to Dizon [7], this fact aimed to bridge the gap between nonformal and informal language learning in the classroom. Smartphones are used for the online informal learning of English among undergraduate students. Young people use their smartphones more frequently to engage in English listening and speaking activities than reading and writing activities. Tiron et al. [8] claimed that reading is a critical skill that all students need to acquire and leads to educational and professional success. Similarly, Motobayashi and Takahashi [9] examined changes in speakers' identities and in their attitudes toward speaking English. At the same time, students should improve their reading techniques, find the necessary new information, and use appropriate arguments to support their opinions. It is noted that students at technical universities have a positive perception of mobile assistance in language education, therefore they effectively use mobile devices to improve their language skills.

Zaric and Nagler [10] stated that students should be able to search for specific necessary information in a text, as well as be able to deduce the meaning of unknown words from the context. They should also be motivated to feel the need to read and look for new information and then succeed in the final testing. In our opinion, motivational beliefs are important in the self-regulatory learning processes of students with different levels of English. Appropriately chosen student motivation guides student activities. The motivation for many was the awareness that e-learning is becoming an increasingly common and popular option in education. Krepel and Sinclair [11] argued that students' motivation lies in their ability to combine language with their own interests. The availability of online resources in English means that today's informal contexts offer many opportunities for language development. Maphalala and Adigun [12] sought to examine academic experiences of using e-learning to support teaching and learning. On the other hand, the strengths and weaknesses of e-learning were explored [13], [14], [15].

According to Yurieva et al. [16], high-speed internet access and the availability of online tools allow students for whom English is not their mother tongue to be increasingly exposed to authentic English. I fully agree with the statement of the mentioned authors. My students are not native speakers. However, they can improve their English using available online tools. The effectiveness of communication techniques in education programmes was investigated by Khateeb et al. [17]. They paid attention to the impact of their effects on students' learning outcomes. It is noted that this is very important for students at technical universities, future engineers. Bozdogan and Kasap [18] pointed out that engineering graduates face technical writing and communication problems during and after their studies. They emphasized that professional life requires language skills in at least one foreign language and effective communication and team skills.

The research goal. The study aims to determine the level of language skills of first-year engineering students at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies using the Moodle platform. E-tests are a summary of knowledge from professional study material for individual study programmes in the winter semester of 2021. E-exercises are designed to include the following language skills: reading comprehension, listening, writing, and grammar. At the same time, the teacher can identify strengths and weaknesses within the language competences. These findings will be very useful for teachers in selecting more appropriate professional foreign language study material. It is hypothesized that the level of language competences in e-tests will be different. It is stated that e-exercises focused on correct spelling and grammar will be the most problematic for Slovak students. It is related to the grammar, pronunciation, and spelling of the Slovak and English languages.

Participants

The experiment took place at the Technical University in Kosice. At the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies in Presov, 80 students of production technologies from various study programmes were included in the testing. The research took place in the winter semester (WS) of 2021 within the compulsory English Language in Technical Practice (ELiTP) course. The testing took place through e-tests prepared by two foreign language teachers from the Department of Natural Sciences and Humanities. The tests included the following language competencies: reading, listening, writing including grammar.

Instruments and Procedure

After three years of a successful bachelor's degree, students can continue for two years at the engineering level of their study. English Language in Technical Practice is one of the compulsory courses during the two semesters of this study. Foreign language teaching at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies cooperates with the teaching of professional subjects in individual study programmes. This is also one of the reasons why foreign language teachers must cooperate with teachers of professional courses to be able to select appropriate foreign language texts or professional articles to suit individual topics. Then, the selected texts as study material must be modified and didacticized in such a way that they meet the requirements for improving all language skills. It is no less important to determine the level of foreign professional language. Teachers must consider the difficulty of individual tasks in exercises.

The choice of suitable texts also depends on the extent to which a professional text encourages further development of the topic. In the introduction, there is an exercise with reading comprehension tasks. This is followed by a section devoted to professional lexicology, and, if necessary, grammar. Teachers try to involve students in the discussion as well. There are also listening exercises, which are supplemented by questions. In some exercises students also practice professional lexicology in the written form.

Reading comprehension has a primary role in professional foreign language lessons in each year of study. To practice understanding the issue of Internet suffixes, I present an example (Figure 1) of the listening exercise prepared for students.

Figure 1. Sample of listening exercise

In the following test task, students read the professional text with understanding. The task is incorporated into the Moodle system on the faculty website EnGeRu. Students either have the missing words (Figure 2) at their disposal and write them in empty boxes, or they can scroll them out of the menu and put them in the right place so that the sentences and the whole text make sense.

The following example is for an open task (Figure 3). Students must fill in missing words. Students can work up such a task only after studying the topic of Advanced manufacturing technologies.

Within professional foreign language study material, it is possible to practice and verify the knowledge of grammar, specifically the correct use of present simple and present passive in the text (Figure 4) concerning laser cutting machines.

The study material for all faculty students, e-exercises, and e-tests is located on the faculty portal EnGeRu for Technicians (Figure 5) and uses the university-wide Moodle platform.

Figure 5. EnGeRu website example

The analysis of experimental research data for the quantitative and qualitative analysis was based mainly on statistical and mathematical methods. In addition, the teacher noticed the common mistakes that students make in e-tests. The data for individual tasks in the final e-test were evaluated in the Moodle system at the end of the winter semester of 2021. The tasks were focused on Computers - CIM, CAD, CAM, CNC, CAD/CAM software; Internet - social networking, the www; Traditional & Advanced manufacturing processes; Automotive industry & engines. The results and grades were separately summarized for individual study programmes from 80 students in the 1st year of engineering studies for the winter semester of 2021.

For each selected professional topic, mostly with a focus on manufacturing technologies, online tests were created to practice the topic covered, which corresponds to the professional subject of the study programme. New foreign language study materials were created across all study programmes in the mentioned fields of manufacturing technologies. The innovation of methods and forms of education in the creation of teaching material was, therefore, the most important for the selection of appropriate texts for reading and tasks dedicated to understanding the text read, which is the basis of each topic and lesson. To a certain extent, it is a test of their knowledge and whether they have been able to remember all the essentials. After filling in the missing words and sending the results, the self-test will be used to determine the results immediately, i.e., whether students' answers are correct. Feedback is also used. In the case of incorrect answers, the system can generate the correct answer for students.

The assessment of each language skill included in the e-tests is shown in Table 1. Even though students do not like to read, we see that 43 students (53.8%) received the best evaluation in reading. No FX was noted in the reading comprehension of the professional English text. Reading comprehension has a primary role in professional foreign language lessons in each year of study. Particularly excellent results in this language skill may be related to the fact that students at this stage of their studies are forced to read more, to search for sources of literature and useful information for their diploma thesis. To some extent, this is also thanks to the supervisors of their diploma theses, who will recommend foreign literature and scientific journals related to the topic.

The content of listening corresponds to the target requirements of the curriculum within the given field. Based on listening, students then enter the missing expressions into the text so that the content and the entire test task are valid. Listening was the second language skill in which 32 students (40%) demonstrated their ability to understand the professional text. Students are young people who use smartphones and I-phones daily to listen mainly to foreign music. This is also helpful, but it is different from listening to professional texts. Teachers apply listening in seminars by watching YouTube or something similar. Students can see the visual material and technical terms which are very helpful for understanding the professional text. Nevertheless, 2 students (2.5%) were not successful in this language skill.

Writing is very closely related to reading and listening. After reading the professional text and listening to the professional recording, each student must write the correct professional term in the task, as shown in the examples of exercises. There were 31 successful students (38.8%) in the research sample of students. The mistakes that students make in writing are more or less related to their inattention when trying to write a word quickly, whereas students are limited in time in the final e-test. Additionally, 3 students (3.8%) were unsuccessful in writing.

It follows from the above that the newly created foreign language professional materials meet the vocabulary expertise, because students obtain more knowledge during classes and work smoothly with the study material. It all depends on correctly chosen professional foreign language texts for reading and obtaining new knowledge. From many years of experience, it has been convicted that in such professional texts students will be convinced how they understand the meanings of words, not only professional terminology but also the overall context. Working with the test, reading, and comprehension is considered very interesting and beneficial for students. This means that students evaluate the selected foreign language professional texts for reading positively and perceive their need and contribution within the teaching hours of a professional foreign language.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND PROSPECTS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

The competence of reading skills significantly influences the application of graduates in future practice [30]. Therefore, the effort of teachers in professional foreign language classes is to devote as much time as possible to work with the text. At the university of technical specialization, teachers most often work with professional articles and texts describing work instructions, advice on how to solve a problem, or texts characterizing new phenomena and technologies. It is therefore in the interest of teachers to contribute to the success of the reading literacy of university students by creating appropriate study language materials with current and authentic professional texts and to motivate them to further read to search for current information. Teachers should choose appropriate professional texts corresponding to the criteria of students' language level, and their knowledge of the given professional topic and should stimulate further open discussion, i.e., give space for the development of foreign language skills.

If the text includes additional vocabulary with new and interesting information for the student, it enriches the student's lexicology. It is also very beneficial if the student understands that the professional text is related to his field of study and will be relevant and usable for him in his future job. The positive experience of this form of e-testing may serve in the future as a methodological basis in case of various limitations and obstacles in the process of foreign language teaching of future engineers at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies. Future research will also consist of further examining the level of language competences of bachelor's students within other study programmes at the faculty. The study is considered to be the first step in experimental research aimed at obtaining feedback from students of various study programmes and comparing the results obtained.

However, students must be prepared to be able to work with various other types of texts, which differ in language level, atypical form, and new, unknown content. In class, they learn to develop a detailed analysis of the English professional text, summarize the text, compare information, and critically evaluate the professional text. In the team of teachers of professional foreign languages for engineering departments and departments related to manufacturing technologies, in the last academic year, there were changes not only in the test specification but also in English professional texts and study materials. Their role is to ensure that students' results continue to improve. Emphasis is placed on the literacy of university students; therefore, reading and the professional text itself is becoming one of the most important elements of foreign language teaching. In conclusion, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that reading comprehension is truly an integral and inseparable part of the teaching process, even at the university and in professional foreign language classes. The correct understanding of different professional texts has a huge benefit in students' practice and their future careers. Teachers at the Faculty of Manufacturing Technologies will continue to research professional foreign language study material using e-learning in the coming years. It will be more focused on the development of language teaching with the use of ICT in higher education. Through research, we want to point out the importance and significance of the chosen issue and scientific direction in the field of the application of information technologies and their close connection with language teaching. Such research is essential for the further development of ICT implementation theory and practice.

foreign language teaching students engineers professional text

ОНЛАЙН НАВЧАННЯ ІНОЗЕМНОЇ МОВИ ТА ОЦІНЮВАННЯ СТУДЕНТІВ ІНЖЕНЕРНИХ СПЕЦІАЛЬНОСТЕЙ