Abstract:

The need for foreign language teaching of high quality that conform the most state-of-the-art standards is enforced in the recent years by the necessity of academic and professional mobility due to the internationalization of processes that were enhanced by the Russian Excellence Academic Project. It presupposes updating all the components of foreign language teaching system: goal, content/syllabus, process, monitoring, and assessment. The conducted survey showed that the traditional system of English language instruction (ELI) proved not to be effective due to the following reasons. Firstly, language classes are conducted in multilevel groups that don't meet students’ needs on the one hand and requires a lot of effort from the teacher to motivate students and to reach the required goals of the curriculum, on the other. Secondly, foreign language proficiency is still mostly evaluated in grades, not in levels that don't reflect students’ competency in speaking, reading, listening and writing. Moreover, assessment types, methods and procedures of monitoring as well as materials used for evaluating and assessing students’ progress should be altered to meet the requirements of CEFR.

An innovative model of ELI was launched in SUSU which is aimed at adapting international norms and standards of evaluating English language proficiency to the system of ELI at SUSU. To obtain objective information about the results of ELI within the realization of an innovative model, a monitoring and evaluating system (MES) of ELI quality were also developed. Managing MES of ELI quality required the solution of the following tasks: defining short- and long-term goals in monitoring; determining the level of teachers’ competence and willingness to work in innovative environment; developing and approbating unified methodology for monitoring; conducting seminars, workshops and master classes for teachers to study the details of ELI innovative model and MES; introducing computer technologies, which help to optimize collecting, processing, storing and analyzing the results obtained. The developed MES of ELI quality is characterized by the following features: systematicity, prolonged and comparative character, a diagnostic nature. The article describes the components of the designed system. Special attention is paid to the use of information technologies in monitoring students ‘progress.

Keywords:

Innovation, internationalization, foreign language instruction, monitoring, assessment.