RESEARCH OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ EXPECTATIONS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING AT A TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Abstract

In the context of improving tertiary education the article deals with topical problems of the student-centered instruction which involves taking into consideration students’ expectations and attitudes. Educational expectations of students recently enrolled in a university are considered as factors reflecting readiness of the young cohort for the new learning space. The study of the educational expectations of engineering students for foreign language learning is carried out by means of a questionnaire. 155 freshmen of Bauman Moscow State Technical University participated in the study. General statistical and correlation analysis was carried out for data processing. As a result, the prevailing type of student motivation for foreign language studying, self-assessment of language proficiency levels at the start of their studies, student-prized models of classes, features of perception and information processing typical of freshmen, psychological barriers affecting the attitudes of first-year students, their attitude toward frequency and type of progress monitoring are revealed. The proposed recommendations on the training organization, taking into consideration the results of the study, can build effective interaction with the younger generation of students.