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THE ROLE OF A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE PREPARATION OF A SPECIALIST IN THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY
N. I. Shcherbakova
The exchange of foreign-language information is currently impossible without specialists who speak foreign languages, and are able to extract information quickly in the sphere of their professional activities from foreign-language sources without translation, and to express it in their own language and use it. Therefore, the study of a foreign language in a vocational training institution is considered to be a mandatory component of the professional training of specialists. The modern concept of language education involves the creation of such a system of specialist training, which will allow the student to adapt easily to the dynamically changing conditions of their professional activities, i.e. is aimed at professionally oriented foreign language teaching.
Key words: foreign language information, professional training of specialists, professionally oriented foreign language teaching, communicative competence, project-based learning.
The maximum possible consideration of the specific features of a professional area - its content and terminology, lexical, syntactic and grammatical features, format of oral and written texts, and situational features, are all distinctive features of professionally oriented foreign language teaching in higher education. Therefore, training is constructed in accordance with the specific professional goals and objectives based on the thematically and grammatically selected material which reflects the modern professional problems and means of their practical solution, as well as the situations of communicative interaction with representatives of foreign countries. The main aspects of teaching professionally oriented language lessons in the beauty industry are: (a) communication with partners and customers speaking foreign languages using specific terminology; (b) record keeping and business correspondence; (c) translation of annotations to products, technical documentation describing the operation and maintenance of different devices; (d) participation in seminars, conferences and presentations.
The beauty industry is one of the fastest growing trends in today’s economy. The network of beauty salons, studios and hairdressers which require qualified professionals, is expanding. Today’s market in the beauty industry demands young specialists who have a combination of professional skills and prominent personal qualities, such as communication skills, creativity, independence, and the ability to constantly find ways and means to improve their skills. Technologies in this field are developing rapidly, and new materials, tools and equipment are emerging; an expert should be aware of all these innovations. These trends are embodied in the reforms of education standards, including the content of foreign language teaching in a professional educational establishment during the course of preparation of a future competitive specialist. The development of speaking a foreign language to a level of professional competence for a future expert in the beauty industry is an important aspect of professionally focused training, and is carried out by mastering
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the features of language competence in its phonetic, lexical and grammatical levels of study.
Professionally oriented education is built on the principle of records of interdisciplinary knowledge of a linguistic, extra linguistic and psycho-cognitive nature, which are developed in the native language. The interdisciplinary linguistic knowledge which is necessary for training future specialists, suggest the study of the profile terminology, its word-building elements, and models and features of syntax. Interdisciplinary extra linguistic knowledge gained in the process of study of special subjects in one’s native language activates an understanding of the foreign language’s speciality texts. Psycho-cognitive knowledge stimulates mental activity on recognition of professionally significant concepts and the development of educated contextual guessing. It is important also to take into account the principle of authenticity of the contents of training, which is derived from the professional orientation of the teaching materials.
In the federal state educational standards of the third generation for professions of the service sector, Foreign Language disciplines occupy an important place - from 160 to 190 hours. The following provisions are pointed out: (a) knowledge of a foreign language is an integral part of professional training of all professionals; (b) a foreign language course is multi-level, and is developed in the context of lifelong education; (c) study of a foreign language is based on an interdisciplinary, integrative basis; (d) learning a foreign language is aimed at the integrated development of communicative, cognitive, informative and general cultural competencies of students.
One of the technologies which meet the requirements of teaching professionally oriented foreign language is project-based learning. For educational activities, in the course of which professionals of the beauty industry - hairdressers, aestheticians, stylists, makeup artists - are being trained, it means the opportunity to combine the goals of language and professional training. In our school, there is a certain algorithm of interaction between the foreign language teachers and teachers of special subjects in the educational process, including the planning and implementation of project-based learning. First of all, we start from the need to address some urgent professional problems. It is not a secret that the amount of information in English is much higher than what can be found on Russian websites. Accordingly, a person who knows professional terminology in English has more opportunities to find the right information and to use it for professional purposes. The leading ideas of the organization of project-based learning of students are: (a) a student is in the center of activity, a teacher provides assistance in his or her work, and coordinates it; (b) the work process is built based on the logic of activities with personal meaning for students, which increases their motivation; (c) students have an opportunity to freely choose the topic, type, duration, and form of their project; (d) project-based learning should be practically useful; (e) students should learn how to use the project-based learning.
When working on a project, the following goals are set: didactic goal -formation of competence in the field of independent cognitive activity, critical thinking, teamwork skills, acquisition of skills of independent work with large volumes of information, an ability to see the problem and identify the ways to address it; methodological goals - to get an insight into new professional
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technologies, understand new concepts, learn to use Power Point to present the project results, learn how to clearly and understandably structure the materials, and summarize one’s thoughts orally and in writing. Projects are classified by areas of work: (a) training (aimed at studying finished theories, experiences and practices); (b) organizational (aimed at holding different events, shows, competitions, master classes and seminars); (c) technical (related to the development of design solutions and their presentation); (d) content-based: (1) practically oriented (focus on the interests of the participants of the project or an external customer; the product is predetermined and can be used in the life of the educational institution - visual aids, computer presentations of the educational material, newspapers, layouts, etc.); (2) research (structurally, resembles scientific research; requires a well-designed structure, defined goals, justification of relevance of the research subject for all participants, reference to the sources of information, thought-out methods, results); (3) information (aimed at collecting information about a certain object or phenomena, with the aim of its analysis, synthesis and presentation to a wider audience; the result of the information search may include: an article, an essay, a report, an abstract, a presentation); (4) creative (videos, dramatization, performances, etc.)
Depending on the duration of their implementation, projects are divided into mini-projects, short-term, weekly, and yearly projects. All types of projects can be effectively used by teachers of special disciplines during work with students on term papers and graduation theses in the study of a foreign language.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translastions Bureas
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