The Issue of Optimizing Foreign Language Teaching by Means of e-Learning

The paper deals with the issue of optimizing the process of teaching a foreign language by means of e-learning while trying to describe a possible approach for the development of language skills with regard to individual learning styles and strategies while learning a foreign language. A student's individual learning style plays an essential role in effective foreign language acquisition, therefore recognizing their own learning style and using the right strategies to reinforce their particular curriculum can lead to effective learning. Using various forms of e-learning and viewing the process of learning a second language as complex and using a comprehensive approach including motivation and self-discipline, we intend to verify, optimize and finally implement these new forms of education into the practice of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) mainly for technical fields. In the introduction, the issue is examined in the context of teaching foreign language at tertiary education institutions, focusing on teaching ESP at technical universities in particular. In the theoretical part, the paper gradually tries to define the basic terminology and describe the theoretical principles of teaching ESP at technical universities. Furthermore, key variables and important factors that play an essential role in the learning process itself are also a subject of investigation. The paper further describes the objective of providing an optimized adaptive elearning environment with respect to preferred learning styles with a narrower focus on perceptual preferences: visual/ auditory/kinesthetic (VAK) of the particular curriculum and with regard to recommended learning strategies to be used while learning. This e-learning environment is being developed in accordance with the Common European Framework of References for Languages and its key language competences divided into two main categories: receptive skills and productive skills. This paper aims to present the core concept of future doctoral theses, together with the chosen methods of work, including the practical part of the research. Experts in the field of e-learning see implementation of ICT in teaching foreign languages as a great challenge and possible way for further development. They agree that we cannot teach in the spirit of " one size fits all", and that e-learning methods could be very beneficial in the process of the individualization, adaptation and optimization of learning in accordance with a student's learning needs. Our task in the research is to determine whether optimized e-learning courses lead to a more efficient development of linguistic competence in the professional sphere or not and whether such training is an appropriate instrument for the improvement of the situation in ESP teaching at universities or not. It will also try to define and implement the new concepts of these terms: e-style and estrategies.