Abstract:

Informatization of the society has initiated the development of global environment based on information and communications technologies (ICT). Nowadays speech communication has undergone modifications and transformations because of the upward spiral of ICT as a communication facility and a new partner in data exchange. Realization of unique functionalities of ICT tools has intensified the patent information activity, simplified the search of scientific information, augmented the available stock of technical documentation, increased the traffic of electronic business correspondence and optimized the data exchange between the geographically remote professional engineering communities. The change of speech communication structure and content within highly developed ICT-based global environment stipulates the necessity for engineering professionals to have the ICT-based speech activity skills in foreign language (FL).

The brainpower needs to have not only interpersonal «direct» communication skills in foreign languages, but also communication skills mediated by ICT to navigate through the polycultural and multilingual Internet, work with intellectual systems, benefit from hypertext and hypermedia organization of information and communicate with the remote interlocutor in synchronous and asynchronous regimes. The issue of forming of the practical speech skills of vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction – both «man-machine» communication and «man-man mediated by ICT» communication has become a major concern.

In this very paper the purpose of study is twofold. Our first motivation is to give a comprehensive account of the essence of such a phenomenon as vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction regard to FL training of engineering students. Our second motivation is to assess engineering students’ readiness to vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction.

To this purpose the paper will address the following research questions:
• What are the methodical foundations which determine the process of FLs training in engineering universities in general and skills formation of ICT-based information interaction in FL in particular?
• How can we organize skills formation of vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction in engineering universities?
• Is such a FL training worthwhile and what extent does the practical realization of vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction in engineering universities affects the students self confidence to use ICT tools in FL speech communication?

We used theoretical as well as empirical methods to answer the research questions. The potential ICT-based speech situations of engineering professionals communication in FL, new ICT-based learning objectives in FL training of engineering students, the principles of forming of skills of vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction as well as the mean coefficient of engineering students’ readiness to vocationally-oriented FL informational interaction are given as the results.

Keywords:

ICT, foreign language education, engineering universities, information interaction.