Differentiated Approach When Studying “English for Special Purpose” Online in Technological University

Abstract

Using online learning technologies in combination with a differentiated approach can improve significantly the quality of teaching a foreign language in a technological university. The purpose of this article is to examine a differentiated approach to teaching foreign language to students using online support (study). In other words, a system of three basic individual trajectories, which include training listening, reading and writing skills in each module, is presented in the research. Online study (support) is a part of a course “English for Special Purpose” and is processed simultaneously to offline classes. Students are divided into three groups according to individual trajectories of online support: basic, intermediate and advanced. The study examines the organization of work online using the differentiated approach in the framework of online support of the course “English for special purpose”, developed for students of the master’s program “Chemical Technology” in Kazan National Research Technological University. When developing a personal learning path of students, the following stages are distinguished: diagnosis (students are divided into three basic trajectories); implementation (within each module, three types of tasks for all levels are presented); control (two types of testing: intermediate and final, including multiple choice questions and cloze tasks). Special attention in the research is paid to the way in which training reading skills is organized. The distribution of students in three trajectories, which are operated online, allows you to level the knowledge of students in the same group and to compensate for the absence of the student in the classroom. However, since the requirements for the exam are the same for all students, the student must complete the tasks of advanced level to get an excellent grade.