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СИМВОЛ НАУКИ ISSN 2410-700X № 4/2019
ФИЛОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
УДК 1751
О.Н.Шевченко
Ст. преподаватель НТУУ «КПИ» Киев, Украина E-mail:[email protected]
НЕКОКТОРЫЕ МЕТОДЫ УЛУЧШЕНИЯ ЗНАНИЙ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА СРЕДИ БУДУЩИХ ПРОГРАММИСТОВ
SOME WAYS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH SKILLS AMONG FUTURE COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS
Аннотация
Целью данной работы является изучение методов, улучшающих усвоение английского языка в процессе обучения ИТ-специалистов в техническом вузе. Был предложена методика, а также ряд разговорных и грамматических тем, способствующих более эффективному усвоению английского языка в процессе учебы. Повышение уровня английского языка способствует повышению профессионального уровня ИТ-специалиста, т.к. большая часть информации по специальности доступна исключительно на английском языке.
Ключевые слова:
ИТ-специалист, улучшать уровень английского языка, метод усвоения языка
Аt present English has become the standard skill for all the programmers around the world. Every IT professional needs to know English because the English language has become ubiquitous, not to say indispensable, in the IT sector. To be professionally competitive, a programmer must have an excellent knowledge of English in order to use all types of resources based on English. Most teaching materials, documentation, programming languages, libraries and other IT-related materials are basically in English [1].
Computer programmers usually write, tests, debug and maintain detailed instructions called computer programs that computers must follow to perform their functions. This requires a good command of English on the part of a programmer and English seems to be one of the most important skills for a successful programmer nowadays. Non-native English speakers often encounter difficulties in reading instructional materials, writing code, and learning programming in general. Furthermore, programming languages are difficult to understand for users who do not speak English as most programming languages have been developed by English speaking specialists. Understanding English allows programmers to learn more about programming languages, get a better job and pursue a successful career. If you come from a non-English speaking country, you have to understand enough English to communicate, to work with international clients or partners.
Nowadays all employees of IT companies in non-English speaking countries must know English at least at the intermediate level. Middle-range and senior managers of IT companies as well as project managers interacting with overseas partners on a daily basis are required to master intermediate or advanced levels of English. Considering the fact that most graduates of technical universities have poor command of English, the role of the English teacher in training future IT specialists becomes particularly prominent.
Our objective was to find out what level of English the future IT specialists need to acquire. Also, we tried to provide a list of topics to be covered in the English language teaching process in the classroom based on the needs analysis. A list of topics and grammar topics was provided with the aim to improve speaking and writing skills of future IT specialists.
СИМВОЛ НАУКИ ISSN 2410-700X № 4/2019
We have studied different techniques used to develop effective communication skills in IT students through their participation in international IT conferences and through participation in job interviews conducted in English.
We have outlined the ways to develop effective communication and writing skills in IT students. In this document we have described some methods on how to prepare students to take part in an international conference.
In the course of studying English a programmer is required to learn how to communicate in a professional environment. The topics they have to cover in the course of studies include: IT conferences, teleconferencing, recruitment and job interviews, writing e-mails, reports, specifications.
It is important to make students work out and learn the topical vocabulary that will help them communicate more freely and efficiently with other conference participants [2]. Each conference consists of several phases (including small talk) and the role of a teacher is to teach students useful phrases related to each particular phase:
Phase 1. Conference opening: students can discuss the theme of a conference in small groups and then present it to the class.
Phase 2. Welcoming and introducing participants: students must know how to present each participant using the correct forms of address (taking into account gender, job title and / or academic degree).
Phase 3. Introduction of the agenda: students should be introduced to the main points discussed during the conference.
Phase 4. Presentation of the reports followed by a feedback session: some students make short reports and answer the questions posed by other students.
Phase 5. Summarizing: several students summarize the main points of the meeting.
Sometimes it is useful to have a small talk - a brief, informal conversation with colleagues or partners on a common topic. For example, a teacher may suggest making such a small talk with "potential partners". To prepare this type of activity, students are invited to study in depth the company profile to obtain information on its products and services. In this case it is also important that students study the key vocabulary for a discussion to work better and more easily. Another major challenge for most computer science students is a job interview with the potential employer, which is usually organized in English. A future programmer must be well prepared not to fail it. The English teacher can help his students answer the possible questions that can be asked during the interview, for example: how motivated are you to get this job? why do you want to get this job? Describe yourself; what are your strengths and weaknesses? what is your work experience in this field? What are your positive traits and what makes you suitable for this job? The teacher can also help by organizing mock interviews with his students, thus providing confidence in their spoken English.
Being non-English speaking programmers - what kind of English do they need to know to solve the tasks related to thir future jobs ?
First of all, they should be effective in:
• Explaining a computer problem to a client.
• Explaining problem solving methods.
• Describing software to clients.
• Advising on website design.
• Giving instructions
• Writing documentation
• Negotiating
In terms of grammar, IT specialists have to be well familiar with the following topics the knowledge of which is essential for both written and oral communication:
• Modal verbs to express necessity, certainty, uncertainty, ability, permission, or prohibition.
• 'If-sentences' or conditional sentences to speak about real events in the present and future (first conditional), imaginary events in the present (second conditional) or imagined past events (third conditional).
• Writing/giving instructions.
• Writing reports using a structured format as well as a clear, precise and formal language. They must be concise and factual. It is also important to follow a standard format when writing a report. For example, It should
СИМВОЛ НАУКИ ISSN 2410-700X № 4/2019
include the following sections:
- Description of the procedure/method used to collect data for the report.
- Description of findings or data received,
- Conclusions.
- Recommendations (specific suggestions based on Conclusions). References:
1. Philip J. Guo (2017). Non-Native English Speakers Learning Computer Programming: Barriers, Desires, and Design Opportunities. Retrieved March 7, 2019. From https://pgbovine.net/publications/non-native-english-speakers-learning-programming_CHI-2018.pdf
2. Judith Uchidiuno, Amy Ogan, Evelyn Yarzebinski, and Jessica Hammer. (2016). Understanding ESL Students' Motivations to Increase MOOC Accessibility. In Proceedings of the Third (2016) ACM Conference on Learning @ Scale (L@S '16). ACM, New York, NY, USA,169-172. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2876034.2893398
© Шевченко О.Н., 2019
