THEORETICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOFT SKILLS AMONG FUTURE ECONOMISTS THROUGH THE INTENSIFICATION OF OUT-OF-CLASS WORK IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article considers a problem of forming soft skills in intending economists in the process of out-of-class work in a foreign language. The relevance of the topic is due to the current need of the labour market for economists who possess strong socio-psychological skills of productive professional interaction, analytical and critical thinking, the ability to make quick decisions and manage a team’s work. At the same time, the communicative and cognitive activity of students today needs updated levers of influence, which creates a contradiction between the social order in relation to the economist of new times and the readiness of the scientific and educational system to satisfy it. Soft skills of an economist are defined as a synthesis of cognitive, communicative, regulatory and organizational personality traits that ensure the ability to build and maintain effective subject-subject relations in economic activity. The types of soft skills relevant to the professional activity of an economist are highlighted: communicative, regulation and development of one’s own emotional and volitional sphere, intellectual, managerial skills. The article emphasizes the importance of out-of-class work on learning a foreign language as a means of personal and professional self-development, and concludes that it is necessary to intensify this type of activity in order to maximize its potential. Intensification is viewed as a complex of substantive and organizational transformations of the existing system of extracurricular work in a foreign language aimed at improving the effectiveness of learning. The mechanisms of intensification of out-of-class work in a foreign language at a university are presented, the principles as well as the ways of organizing extracurricular work are substantiated. The conducted research leads to the conclusion that the purposeful development of soft skills among future bachelors in the field of 38.03.01 Economics in the process of specially organized out-of-class work contributes to the socialization and self-development of students, the expansion of their communicative experience in the field of upcoming professional activities.