Abstract:

Engineering education includes the acquisition of a language of specialty, some generalized technological language necessary to obtain, accumulate and generate special information, and expressed verbally and non-linguistically. An important component of such a language, which is developed on the basis of a mother tongue, is the transnational component, which symbolically records the experience gained by mankind in studying nature and the objects of the technosphere. In addition, the technological language of professional communication synthesizes the native natural language and the language of logic, in which the basic rules for including objects in structures of semantic and actual significance are formulated. This paper discusses the phenomenon of a language of mechanics in the context of the integration of teaching English and teaching engineering at the university. The language of mechanics is considered as a system of communication and fixation of 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. This language, transnational in fact, can be formed by means of a native language and English simultaneously within an integrated pedagogy similar to Content and Language Integrates Learning (CLIL) courses. Integration is a critical issue during running of a CLIL-like course, that is why the paper pays due attention to the possible threads of integration in the course of teaching pactice within the curricula of English and engineering. For mechanical engineers learning English is most effective if it occurs along with with their professional education, the development of conceptual thinking. This makes it possible to choose the shortest, most accurate, least redundant and most effective linguistic expression of professional thought, forming what we call the language of mechanics. A pilot training course confirms that this leads to a faster development of the overall engineering transnational knowledge system and English proficiency.

Keywords:

Mechanical engineering, English, learning, teaching, integration, CLIL.