Teaching English as a language of profession for engineering students: an integrative approach

The article is devoted to phenomenon of the language of specialty in the context of integrative teaching of a foreign language and engineering disciplines at the university. As an example, the language of kinematics is considered as a system of communication, recording & capturing information, which has specific ontological properties, develops in conditions of social interaction, is characterized by a close connection of speech activity with thinking, has a special system of signs. The language of kinematics is formed by means of the native and foreign languages as a speech-thinking complex. The article traces the development of the language of kinematics from the needs of engineering science and practice, as well as the influence of this particular language on the philosophy of L. Wittgenstein. In turn, it is shown the application of L. Wittgenstein's logic-semantic thesis about the dependence of a name value on the meaning of a sentence, to the analysis of a kinematics language. It was concluded that there exists a generalized language of specialty, which is necessary for gathering, accumulating and producing professional knowledge, expressed by both verbal and non-linguistic signs. Features of the formation of this language by means of Russian and English languages are given. By mastering a generalized language, it is possible for specialists to think about the phenomena of mechanics and other branches of engineering science (for example, mechatronics) in a foreign language and find ways of forming concepts in different contexts of phenomena of science and technology. It is shown that for engineers in general and for mechanical engineers, in particular, the study of foreign languages is most effective if it is coherent with their professional education, the development of conceptual thinking. At the same time, the coherence contributes a good deal in a personal ability to the search for the brief, accurate, not redundant and yet most effective linguistic expression of professional thoughts and ideas. The threads of integration both within engineering disciplines, English as a study discipline, as well as between all these disciplines are noted. An example of successful pedagogical practice of integrative education is given. It is concluded that the simultaneous mastery of professional engineering and linguistic competencies will be of great importance for increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of engineering education.