Abstract:

The paper considers the issues of formation and improvement of students’ competitiveness as the key component of higher education. Social, cultural and economic changes in the modern world, associated with the increase in the flow of information transmitted in foreign languages, as well as the introduction of advanced global technologies and methods in the daily practice of professional interaction, have led to the need to prepare professional, competitive and mobile specialists capable of initiative, creative activities aimed at establishing and maintaining contacts with foreign colleagues and partners.

The object of the research is the process of teaching the English language for special purposes at non-linguistic university.

The subject of the analysis is the process of building competitiveness in the process of developing linguistic, intercultural and professional competence. The author considers that one of the most important aspects of professional skill and key factor of competitive advantage is the ability and competence of future marketer to solve professional tasks and possess professionally-oriented cross-cultural competency.

The aim of the paper is to identify intrinsic character of developing undegraduate students' competitiveness in the process of developing their linguistic, intercultural and professional competencies. The author is supposed to define and analyze a number of teaching tools and methods used in the process of teaching a foreign language for special purpose at a higher educational institution. Taking into account the contradictions between the conventional methods of higher education and the reality of current business environment the author pays special attention to interactive teaching methods, as well as to modern information technologies.

The basic research methods are the theoretical analysis of literature, interviews with university teachers, students’ polling, monitoring practical teachers’ activities and analyzing the formation of students’ professional competencies at the university. The theoretical analysis of the literature shows that modern teaching approaches and methods help the student to acquire necessary skills and competencies which encourage the competitive position of the future marketer in a global market place. The interviews of teachers and students, as well as the analysis of the formation of professional competencies of students, showed that the development of students’ competitive advantage will be effective if mastering their language skills occurs together with acquiring professional and cross-cultural competencies by means of both interactive teaching methods and modern information technologies.

In the final part of the work, the author concludes that it is efficient to use the above-mentioned methods in teaching ESP students in order to help students to be able to master competencies necessary for their professional competence and their competitive advantage.

The research may be of interest for specialists in the field of linguistics and pedagogy, namely teachers and lecturers of higher education, undergraduates and graduate students. The results of the research can be applied both in theoretical studies and in the improvement of the training courses for ESP students.

Keywords:

Competitive position, creative activities, professionally-oriented, competency, modern information technologies, intercultural and professional competence.