Abstract:

The present stage of higher education development can be characterized as the search for new efficient technologies in teaching. Distance education is of great interest as it allows to make education lifelong, open and learner-centered.

In the article the features of modeling a distance foreign language course are considered. The special attention is paid to psychological aspect of the process. The article designates the problems faced by teachers in modeling the course and students in studying.

The carried-out survey among the students of distance learning revealed their attitude to asynchronous (postponed) communication and to forms of knowledge control. Asynchronous communication allows to transfer and obtain data in convenient time for each participant of the process, independently from each other. However the flexibility of asynchronous communication is at the same time its weak point. The response postponed in time can become irrelevant and can contribute to the loss of the positive emotional background which creates motivation to studying at students. It is also interesting to find out the attitude to forms of knowledge control. The need of knowledge control is recognized by all students, however the preference is given to the checks made by teachers and the checks by means of special control test programs. The evaluation of a work by other students and its discussion by groups are considered unwanted.

When modeling a distance foreign language course it is necessary to consider gender, sociocultural and age features of students. This will allow to level those difficulties which teachers and students meet with distant education.

Keywords:

Foreign language, distance learning, distance education, psychological aspect, survey.