The assessment of English proficiency among technical universities'students

Abstract

Introduction. Modern specialists should have skills in the field of foreign languages, in particular, English. But many graduates of technical universities are unable to read specialized literature in the English language, to communicate and to write business letters. Methodology and research methods. The study was conducted on the basis of the Moscow aviation Institute (NIU) and the Moscow automobile and road Institute, which involved 456 students of the 1st-3rd year, studying in engineering and socio-economic specialties. A questionnaire was used as a research method. Students' English skills were assessed subjectively on the basis of a well-designed questionnaire. There were also informal interviews with English teachers working in these universities. Research result. The study was illustrated that more than half of the students have a low level of the skills in speaking, reading, writing, listening comprehension (mainly survival and sub threshold). Only a small part of the surveyed students (5-15%) have the necessary skills at high and advanced levels. Most part of the surveyed students of the MAI and MADI believe that the existing knowledge and skills in the field of English are not enough for professional activities, but also for study, research and everyday communication. Moreover, more than half of the students do not study English additionally. Discussion of results. English teachers MAI and MADI confirmed the data obtained through self-assessments of students. The low level of development of skills in the field of English is due to the lack of knowledge gained at school, problems in the organization of education at the University and the low level of motivation of students to learn English. Conclusion. It is necessary to pay more attention to conversational practice, to make English language training more highly specialized and differentiated by the level of knowledge.