Kikina N. Development of the credit system for teaching foreign language communication of students in technical universities in the USA (the second half of XX – the beginning of the XXI century).

The thesis deals with the development of the credit system of teaching foreign language communication of students in technical universities of the USA in the second half of XX – the beginning of the XXI century. For the first time a comprehensive analysis of the US experience in applying the credit system of teaching foreign language communication in technical universities is carried out: the socio-pedagogical preconditions of the development of the credit system for teaching foreign language communication of students in technical universities of the USA are identified and its author’s periodization is proposed; the content, forms, methods of teaching foreign language communication and mechanisms of evaluation of academic achievements of students in technical universities of the USA in foreign languages are revealed; professional foreign language communication as a component of foreign language communication of students in technical universities of the USA is distinguished; in the comparative aspect the main tendencies of the development of the credit system for teaching foreign language communication in technical universities of the United States and European countries, in particular, Ukraine, are identified and substantiated. It was found that the current state of development of the credit system of teaching foreign language communication of students in technical universities of the United States is the result of the historical search of effective forms of measuring the qualitative and quantitative parameters of the academic hour of the credit unit. It is proved that the goals, content, forms and methods of the credit system of teaching foreign language communication in technical universities in the USA during the research period are closely linked with socio-economic and political requirements of American society. The content of foreign language communication is analyzed and peculiarities of its structuring in US technical universities in the credit system of education are revealed. It is stated that the important task of the credit system of teaching foreign language communication at such universities is to determine the appropriateness of the number of credits allocated to foreign language communication. The variety of forms of training for professional foreign language communication (educational situations, role-playing games, didactic games, individual and group projects, electronic textbooks) is singled out. On the basis of the comparative analysis of the development of the credit system for teaching foreign language communication of students in technical universities in the United States and in some European countries, a number of recommendations for the use of positive American experience in implementing such training in technical universities and colleges in Ukraine have been formulated. It should be noted that during the last decade in Ukraine the vast majority of technical universities have transferred to the use of elements of the American model of the credit system of education, including the sphere of foreign language education.