Development of Engineering Students’ Motivation and Independent Learning Skills

Abstract

The current study examines ways of engineering students’ development of motivation and independent learning skills which are considered to be the most influential factors for effective language learning in the groups of young adults. As the discipline “Foreign language” is not a major subject in most technical universities in Russia, the number of academic hours allocated for it is limited, moreover, engineering students show low motivation to practice a second language outside the classroom. Besides, as teaching practice shows the first-year students’ independent learning skills are not yet developed enough. Therefore, the authors aimed to find ways to enhance their students’ motivation to master English and teach them how to manage their extracurricular time more effectively. A two-stage survey was conducted in the 2020-2021 academic year in experimental and control groups of the first-year students at Saint Petersburg Mining University for which special questionnaires were designed. The analysis of the participants’ responses allowed selecting the most efficient language learning tools and their effectiveness was assessed at the end of the academic year. The authors also determined the relation between the selected various teaching tools and non-technical competences mastering. The authors managed to define how the selected teaching tools can be beneficial for developing each of these core competences, viz. critical thinking, project work, team-building, leadership, communication, cross-cultural interaction and self-development