The role of a foreign language in the preparation of agricultural universities students for professional communication

Introduction

Statement of the problem. Globalization of the world economy and the expansion of international relations cause an increase in the role of foreign languages in the modern world. During the last decade, interest in learning foreign languages has grown significantly in our country, and this is confirmed by the opening of faculties in many higher education institutions where foreign languages are studied as a specialty, and the long-term demand for these specialists. Graduates of language universities find their place in the professional world as teachers, lecturers, translators, etc.

However, today, there is a tendency in job announcements to invite different specialists with knowledge of one or two foreign languages. This is evident that there is a demand for specialists in agrarian and technical specialties with an appropriate level of knowledge of a foreign language. In Europe, according to information from the German Institute for Economic Research, every fifth employee uses knowledge of a foreign language in professional activities.

The above indicates that knowledge of a foreign language becomes an integral component of the professional competence of specialists with higher education in various areas of training and makes them competitive on the international labor market. All this determines the need for qualitative changes in the teaching of foreign languages to students of non-lin- guistic specialties, with the aim of improving the level of their knowledge of a foreign language and the possibility of its practical use in future professional activities.

The existing contradiction between the growing requirements for the level of knowledge of a foreign language by specialists of agrarian specialties and their real low level of knowledge, the inability to practically use a foreign language in the professional sphere proves the need to solve problematic issues in foreign language training of students of agrarian specialties and explains the relevance of this problem.

Analysis of previous research and publications. Many works of various scientists are devoted to the problem of foreign language learning for students: Y Berman, I. Bim, I. Zymnya, H. Kytayhorodska, O. Leontiev, M. Lyahovytskyi, E. Pasov, E. Shubin, and others. Further research of this problem by modern linguists and methodologists is explained by the growing role of a foreign language in the professional activity of specialists.

The results of theoretical studies show that a foreign language has great opportunities for the development of ideological and moral orientations and the formation of the professional and ethical potential of future specialists. According to many researchers, such as H. Balahaok, E. Balbasova, A. Kuzmina and others, students' mastery of a special minimum of foreign language knowledge even within the walls of a higher educational institution is a mandatory component of their professional training.

The purpose of the article is to reveal the role of foreign language learning for professional communication of agrarian universities students.

foreign language professional communication

Presentation of main material

The knowledge of a foreign language involves not only mastering vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, but also foreign language culture, which become available to students in the process of studying it in all its aspects: educational, cognitive, developmental and educational. A foreign language for a specialist in the field of agriculture is a tool with which he must act, convince, make decisions, create a favourable atmosphere and understand the culture of another country and the mentality of its people. Mastering a foreign culture means learning to communicate in a foreign language. This communication has a social, linguistic, pedagogical and psychological meaning [5, p. 24].

The main task of learning a foreign language is the acquisition and development of language communication necessary for further effective communication in various areas of professional activity. Thus, the foreign language training of students is of particular importance, since a foreign language is not just a means of communication, but at the same time an instrument of professional activity.

The importance of communication is to communicate effectively and no communication is possible if you do not get the opportunity to communicate. It is only natural that the demand for communication is high in this ever-changing world. Foreign language plays a crucial role in communication and is without a doubt the main and most important tool of communication around the world. Each individual should make an effort to acquire good communication skills, which are the most important prerequisite for career success.

The specific contribution of a foreign language to a student's development consists primarily in the fact that in the process of studying it, he finds out ways of formulating thoughts, learns the functioning of language as a means of communication. A foreign language has a beneficial effect on the culture of communication in the native language and is an important means of forming a versatile personality. It brings the environment of the educational process closer to real conditions, which creates a need for knowledge and its practical use and ensures the personal interest of students, the transition from cognitive motivation to professional motivation. In addition to the above-mentioned functions of a foreign language in the development of personality, it is possible to single out several more specific functions of it in the training of specialists in the economic profile.

Professional content, located in the centre of communication, serves as a means

- achievement of competence in four main types of their professional activity: planning, management, organization, control;

- expansion of differentiation and clarification of the categorical apparatus;

- development of cognitive interest and formation of professional orientation.

Proficiency in foreign languages plays a significant role in the formation of professional communication of graduates. However, it should be taken into account that professional communication is not a constant value: it constantly changes under the influence of external factors, scientific and technological progress, etc.

Learning foreign languages in non-linguistic higher education institutions is distinguished by its many years of positive traditions, has a huge scientific and practical potential, which is constantly developing. Until recently, the concept of “foreign language” as a designation of an educational discipline was the only one generally accepted for the entire education system, regardless of the specifics of the goals of foreign language training [3, p. 17].

The question of mastering a business and professional foreign language has become very relevant today. The current state of the development of foreign economic relations requires a qualitatively new approach not only to the problems of studying economics in general, but also to language training of the future specialist, who cannot be imagined without proper command of a foreign language, which is one of the main conditions for obtaining a promising job in the future and further career growth. A high level of knowledge of a foreign language certainly increases the chances on the labor market for the relevant professional activity. Large companies are looking for knowledgeable specialists who have experience of studying abroad, who have strong knowledge of foreign languages, who are familiar with the specific features of other countries. There is also an urgent need of the economy for European standards and methods. The growing internationalization of the economy, technology, science and society requires more and more professionals who can acquire professional knowledge abroad, which, in turn, is impossible without knowledge of foreign languages [4, p. 126].

Learning foreign languages, taking into account professional orientation, contributes to the formation of the future specialist's ability to realize himself in communication, establish business contacts, study foreign sources, analyze modern scientific achievements, improve skills and present ideas to the professional community. Professional communicative competence develops such professional qualities as independence, self-control, responsibility, creative thinking and professionalism.

Professionally oriented foreign language learning involves the study of a foreign language by students in the current context of the specifics of the future profession. Of course, with such an approach, it is necessary to take into account the personal qualities of students. A skilful combination of professional and language knowledge and skills will help graduates of non-linguistic specialties achieve such a level of foreign language professionally oriented communicative competence that will allow them to use a foreign language in professional activities at the level of international standards.

Communicative competence primarily involves the acquisition of lexical competence, without which full communication is impossible. Teachers of higher educational institutions, scientists, and methodologists are investigating the role of lexical mechanisms in receptive and productive types of speech activity, developing types of exercises and compiling minimum dictionaries of professional vocabulary. However, an effective solution to this problem is possible only under the condition of constant improvement of such work, search and implementation of new methods of teaching students of non-linguistic specialties professional lexical material.

The analysis of the problem of determining the stages of the formation of foreign language vocabulary competence is based on the proposition that the process of assimilating foreign language vocabulary begins with the acquisition of vocabulary knowledge and the formation of primary (lexical) skills and ends with the development of secondary (speech) skills based on the formation of the skill of using professional vocabulary in accordance with other material [2]. Y Passov [5] singles out the following stages of the acquisition of lexical skills by a person: first, the skills of working with lexical material are formed. Then there is a stage of improving skills, and only after that, the stage of developing the skills of operating lexical units in speech activity begins.

One of the organizational and pedagogical factors that motivates a student to professional activity and has a positive effect on the desire to become fluent in a foreign language is the modelling of professionally oriented situations. This approach ensures the choice of productive methods of organizing the educational process, taking into account the personal qualities of students, their interests and plans for the future.

Professionally oriented foreign language training includes the following elements:

- acquisition of general theoretical language knowledge and skills in the process of mastering the content of the sections “Phonetics”, “Grammar”, “Professional terminology” and others, which contributes to the further development of reading, writing, listening and speaking skills;

- acquisition of communicative abilities and skills according to the types of speech activity (speaking, listening, reading, writing) based on general and professional vocabulary. Speaking includes both monologue and dialogic speech, thanks to which such qualities as the ability to exchange professional information, present ideas, defend an opinion, etc., are developed. Listening to acquire professional skills helps to overcome the fear of direct communication with foreign specialists, to understand by ear the essence of statements, to adapt more quickly to the perception of the real situation. Professionally oriented reading training forms the appropriate skills of familiarization with both general educational texts and specialized literature. And, finally, learning to write is one of the most important structural elements of communicative competence, it develops the ability for professional business correspondence, professional literary translation of specialized literature, keeping business documentation at a professional level.

T Vakhrusheva [1] emphasizes the need to use active learning methods in this process, as this ensures not the teaching of ready-made knowledge and its reproduction, but the students' independent acquisition of knowledge in the process of active cognitive activity. The author believes that active learning methods are learning by doing. It is in the active activity directed by the teacher that students acquire the necessary knowledge, acquire professional skills and abilities, develop their creative abilities, etc. It is worth emphasizing that the basis of active methods is dialogic communication between the teacher and students, between students, which is important, because in the process of dialogue communication skills develop, the ability to solve problems collectively and, most importantly, students' language and speech develop.

In order to develop the professional communication of future specialists in the field of agriculture, a foreign language teacher should not only be a role model personally, but also be able to organize the learning process, to possess the entire range of methods, techniques and means of learning, in order to interest students in the subject and to improve their communication skills in the field. Let us consider some aspects that should be present in the educational process.

One of the most important types of educational activity during professionally oriented education is reading texts on professional topics. In this case, reading is not only a form of skill training, but a way of perceiving information about the country whose language is studied, a means of learning professional vocabulary and terminology. As noted by O. Roschupkina, a professionally-oriented text is a “communicative unit designed for the formation of specific abilities and skills of students at a certain stage of education. The text is a structural and semantic functionally determined unity of sentences, organized with a didactic purpose in terms of content, language, and composition, containing professionally significant information for the student” [6, p. 72]. Similar educational texts for reading and listening can be found both in textbooks, manuals, and in the form of popular scientific literature that can be used as texts for home reading. The main thing at the stage of the selection of these educational materials is their correspondence to the students' communicative requests, professional significance, relevance of the issues, information saturation and novelty, authenticity and accessibility, correspondence to the students' level of foreign language proficiency. In terms of volume, such professionally-oriented texts should not be large in volume, but sufficient to ensure the repetition of terminology. It is also appropriate to gradually increase their volume, the desired relationship, successive complication and the use of extra linguistic means of maintaining interest in the material.

The choice of methods and techniques for the formation of foreign language communicative competence by profession depends on the level of knowledge of students, while the three main methodical stages of the educational process are the stage of presentation of new foreign language material, the stage of training and the stage of practice in applying the learned material in the process of communication and in various types of speech activity turn into a kind of campaign to master the necessary skills of professional communication. The most important in this case are the stages of training and practical application of knowledge, during which the foreign language teacher actively uses interactive teaching methods - work in groups, interactive presentations, discussions, brainstorming, role-playing games, analysis of stories and situations, etc. Integrated learning of professional vocabulary is achieved by reading professionally oriented texts, performing sets of exercises developed on the basis of a communicative approach and aimed at the gradual formation of professional communication. According to Y Passov [5], we understand communicative exercises as exercises that encourage students to engage in casual verbal communication. The following basic communicative exercises can be distinguished: responsive exercises (questions and answers), reproductive exercises (translation, retelling), situational exercises (problematic situations, role-playing), descriptive exercises (description of pictures, situations, etc.) and discussion exercises (heuristic conversation). Game activities in foreign language classes in higher education institutions also do not lose their relevance, and occupy an important place. Among the means of learning with a professionally oriented approach to learning foreign languages and for the formation of professional communication, in addition to textbooks and manuals for the specialty, it is important to use computer programs for learning professional terminology, the presence of visual illustrations and audio and video materials from the specialty, and therefore, the presence multimedia and technical teaching aids for viewing and listening to educational materials.

Conclusions and suggestions

Therefore, communication is one of the most important conditions for the existence of the learning process, and skilfully organized pedagogical communication is the way to the formation of a comprehensively developed creative personality, the interaction of specialists in agriculture, which ensures the implementation of the process of knowledge exchange. The possibilities of a foreign language as an educational subject, which affects the development of the professional potential of an individual, stem from the specifics of the subject itself: because the way to mastering a foreign language lies through creative communication, mastering new vocabulary, overcoming language and national barriers, analyzing the cultural characteristics and mentality of the country, the language of which is being studied. The specifics of a foreign language make it possible to directly influence the development of students' personalities, their creative abilities, the formation of a system of knowledge and values, a culture of behaviour, etc.

Professionally oriented foreign language learning means learning that is based on taking into account the needs of students, which are outlined by the features of the future specialty. Students' mastery of foreign language communication is necessary for the formation of professional foreign language communicative competence, the level of development of which should ensure the success of the communication process in the professional field of activity of the future specialist. In today's globalized society, learning foreign languages is an urgent necessity, which will provide future specialists in the sphere of agriculture with the opportunity to attend conferences abroad, win grants, maintain international professional connections, etc.

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