"CASE STUDY" AS A WAY TO DEVELOP SOFT SKILLS AT UNIVERSITY

The article deals with the problem of soft skills formation and social capital development which is considered to be of major importance for building a successful career. It focuses on the need to involve the potential of humanities, namely ESP, into the process of specialist training. The notion of hard skills and soft skills is defined. The constituents of soft skills am presented. The role of English in professional activity is considered. The most effective means and methods of teaching ESP in this context, as the authors see them, are described. The authors distinguish approaches and methods optimal for achievement of the stated research objectives. The study's findings indicate that case study alongside with contextual approach, the problem method and the active learning methods provide more powerful tools to develop students' skills of professional collaboration in the English-speaking environment. The history' of case study approach, its specific features and application are outlined. The authors highlight the opportunities to use the mentioned-above method on the second educational level which allows students to put into practice the theoretical knowledge they gained. The advantages of using the method are analyzed. Some practical recommendations of implementation the considered approach are given. The results of the research demonstrate the effectiveness of case study over traditional teaching methods. (C) 2019 Published by Future Academy www.FutureAcademy.org .UK