Developing the Linguistic Persona of Students at Technical Universities through Reflective Foreign Language Learning

Abstract

The problem of developing the linguistic persona of students at technical universities has not lost its relevance, and one of the more promising solutions could be found in reflective learning organized within the framework of foreign language training for future engineers. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of reflective learning in terms of contributing to students’ professionally oriented foreign language competence as well as certain personal qualities and soft skills. In the course of the research, we organized several homogeneous groups of students, experimental groups and control groups, building the language training of the students in the experimental groups on the principles of reflective learning and integration of in-class and out-of-class work. In these groups, the content and communicative activities were designed in such a way that students acquired knowledge and skills through a system of decision-making processes. Independent work involved participation in interactive activities, during which students reflected on the process and the result of their activities. The analysis of the students’ self-assessment results after three interactive activities showed that they had increased their knowledge of the language and improved their speaking skills. Most of the respondents in the experimental groups also noted an improvement in a number of qualities and soft skills that would be professionally significant for their future careers. The students in the experimental groups coped better with mandatory tests and final tasks. Thus reflective learning of a foreign language has a positive influence on the development of students’ linguistic persona, and one of the results of such learning would be better psychological preparedness of future engineers for successful cross-cultural communication.