TEACHING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Tatiana V. Kolesova¹*, Natalia A. Biryukova², Raisiya A. Kudryavceva³, Andrei V. Rychkov⁴, Tatiana A. Mitrofanova⁵, Elina V. Guseva6, Anna A. Ierusalimskaya⁷

¹Assoc. Prof., Candidate of Pedagogy, Mari State University, Russia, tatcos@yandex.ru
²Assoc. Prof., Candidate of Pedagogy, Mari State University, Russia, biryukova316@gmail.com
³Prof., Doctor of Philology Mari State University, RUSSIA, kudsebs@rambler.ru
⁴Assoc. Prof., Candidate of Philology, Mari State University, RUSSIA, rychkovandre@yandex.ru
⁵Assoc. Prof., Candidate of Philology, Mari State University, RUSSIA, mitrofanowa.ta@gmail.com
⁶Assoc. Prof., Candidate of Philology, Mari State University, RUSSIA, guseva_elina@mail.ru7
⁷Senior Lecturer, Mari State University, RUSSIA, ieanna@yandex.ru
*Corresponding author

Abstract
Practice shows that one of the urgent and most important tasks of Russian society is modernization of higher education. In recent years, higher school in Russia has undergone significant changes, but still needs to be updated, as common methods and ways of organizing learning don’t entirely meet the demands of modernity: a contemporary society needs people with a critical facility and marked initiative, who are active, competent and self-developing.

Teachers-practitioners and scholars increasingly focus on the search for the ways of teaching university students a foreign language being aimed at developing the ability of continuous self-improvement. To be in demand in a labour market a graduate must not only get education and to learn social roles and rules but also be flexible in adapting quickly and effectively in case of changes in this market. It is necessary being able to understand a science to create something new, transforming oneself and the world around him / her.

The main objective of educational policy in Russia is the creation of effective conditions for the formation of favourable learning environment appropriate to the current and future needs of modern life. The use of didactic facilities of ICT allows teachers to organize foreign language teaching university students at a qualitatively new level. E-learning environment has significant didactic advantages over other electronic means, especially when it comes to the use of this resource for the organization of independent work in learning a foreign language by students of a particular non-linguistic learning profile.
The didactic value of e-learning environment is both acute in the organization of the communication process of university students, and implementation of monitoring the educational process quality. It should be noted that along with the significant advantages of the use of e-learning environment in teaching university students a foreign language, there is also a number of difficulties in its development and application.

Keywords: e-learning environment, intercultural communicative competence, higher education, professionally-oriented training