THE USE OF ENGLISH PROFESSIONAL TEXTS-RELATED EXERCISE SET FOR DEVELOPING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS

Abstract

The aim of the work – to suggest and provide grounds for a specially developed set of tasks and exercises aimed at skills progression in dealing with professionally oriented texts, which form medical students’ professional communication ability.

Subject to the study is a set of exercises meant for formation of medical students’ professional communication skills within a training cycle “Professional English”. Exercises for the original professional text “Digestive system” aimed at developing both receptive and productive type of the students’ speech activity are suggested. Theoretical methods of scientific study (analysis, synthesis, summarizing, explanation, classification, etc.) have been used in the study.

The main body. Learning professionally oriented foreign language is accomplished on the language and informational basis of original professional texts. The text ought to be a tutorial, providing a basis for its further discussion that contributes directly to the development of students’ communicative competence and to the optimal acquisition of a foreign language by making it capacious and effective, provided it is based on well thought-out, systematic and purposeful activity using properly selected system of tasks and exercises. The latter should meet the following requirements: (1) to be aimed at solving a specific task in line with the ultimate training objective; (2) to consider the standard of students’ speech efficiency; (3) to provide phased formation of professional knowledge, skills and abilities; (4) to be of problem type, thus contributing essentially to students’ critical thinking and their active involvement in the training process.

Conclusion. The suggested system of tasks and exercises provides active work of medical students with an original professional text at practical training and contributes to the development of their communicative skills and abilities, thus enabling to participate actively in different types of communication. Presented task samples do not fully cover the whole variety of forms and methods in dealing with foreign professionally oriented texts that is promising in view of further scientific studies.