DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE ENGINEERS’ PRESENTATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH

Abstract

An important component of the professional competence of a modern specialist in technical fields is communicative competence in English. A key indicator of the development of this competence is students’ ability to present scientific and professional achievements in English. Therefore, the relevance of the research problem under consideration is evident. The purpose of the article is to highlight the specific features of developing students’ presentation skills in English when obtaining the second (master’s) level of higher education in the specialty «Applied Mechanics» within the course «Foreign Language for Academic Communication». The research methodology includes the analysis of scholarly literature, synthesis, generalization, systematization, and abstraction. The scientific novelty of the article lies in defining presentation skills in English as an integrated personal construct that encompasses speech, discursive, sociocultural, and rhetorical skills required for creating and delivering an oral message in English to an audience; as well as a developed integrative ability of a higher technical education student to produce, structure, and deliver an oral message in English in a scientific and professional context using modern digital tools. The structure of presentation skills is analyzed, including linguistic, communicative, rhetorical, and technical and visual components. The functions of presentation skills in English in the context of professional training of future engineers are characterized, namely informational, persuasive, representative, interactive, educational and developmental. The pedagogical conditions for the development of English-language presentation skills in master’s students are identified: 1) professional orientation of English language teaching through the selection of thematic content relevant to students’ future specialties; 2) a modular and competency-based approach; 3) the use of project-based technologies, including the preparation and defense of English-language mini-projects, start-ups, and scientific posters; 4) interactive teaching methods, such as role-playing games, public speaking training, debates, and peer review of presentations; 5) a digital educational environment involving platforms (Canva, Slidego, Zoom, Flipgrid) for creating and assessing presentations. Three main stages of presentation skills development are distinguished: motivational and preparatory; practical and communicative; creative and productive. Conclusions. It is established that the development of presentation skills in English constitutes a key outcome of the course «Foreign Language for Academic Communication». Presentation skills ensure future engineers’ ability to effectively present scientific and technical material in an international environment in accordance with academic and professional standards (CEFR, ABET). Further research is required to develop diagnostic tools (operationalization) for assessing the current level of Englishlanguage presentation skills development in master’s students during the study of the educational component «Foreign Language Course for Academic Communication. Part 1».