The process of learning a foreign language

The process of teaching foreign languages in higher education institutions primarily reflects the history and process of changing approaches and priorities to teaching a foreign (English) language in search of the most effective and acceptable scientific and methodological activities. However, this process of teaching a foreign (English) language in higher education institutions should be considered in the broad context of what is happening on the world stage in general and in the field of professional education in particular, since the need for modernization and improvement is due to the need to adapt the higher education system to the socio-economic needs of society. The Uzbek society has long accepted the opinion and statement that proficiency in a foreign (English) language is an essential condition for the success and competitiveness of a modern specialist in the labor market.

The use of a foreign (English) language for professional purposes has become a necessity for engineering specialists whose activities are directly related to the world market. In turn, the situation on the world market and the desire of our country to fully integrate into the world community as an equal participant force us to move from simple acceptance of this statement to its full acceptance and implementation. In practice, we can state that the level and quality of training of engineering specialists does not always meet the requirements. One of the factors that complicate the entry of our engineering specialists to the world market is the low level of foreign (English) language proficiency. In the current conditions, a foreign (English) language should not be considered as a secondary discipline, but as a necessary tool for professional activity, since academic and labor mobility, common international educational standards, joint international research and production activities are impossible without a high level of foreign (English) language proficiency.

When analyzing the students' level of foreign language proficiency, it was found that international criteria, and the criteria for the requirements of the state educational standard of higher education, require a higher level of foreign

(English) language proficiency for engineers.

A student has linguistic competence if he has an idea of the system of the language being studied and can use this system in practice, using all morphological and syntactic transformations in his speech. However, in practice, students who have entered a technical education institutions do not have basic foreign language knowledge, skills and abilities. Unfortunately, this trend is typical for all institutions that provide training for bachelors and masters in non-linguistic areas. Without a solid base of formed language skills and abilities, which we discussed above, it is impossible to develop conversational skills, terminology, reading fluency and other communicative, language and intercultural competence.

However, the goals of an engineering institutions should not include teaching a basic level of a foreign language. This task must be solved at the stage preparation, which is why continuity and consistency in the reform of General and vocational education are so important. Despite all these problems, the foreign language departments of technical universities are looking for ways to maximize the effectiveness of teaching a foreign language and a professional foreign language with a minimum number of hours allocated to this discipline and a low level of language proficiency among graduates. Thus, the institutes introduced the practice of distributing students into subgroups according to their level of foreign language proficiency, which is determined at the first lessons by testing methods. This makes it possible to provide the most effective teaching of a foreign (English) language within the framework of one program for both students who speak the basic level of the language and for advanced level.

An important role in the development of the studied language is played by independent work of students, which is assigned mandatory hours in the work program. The classroom hours allocated in the basic cycle for teaching a foreign language are used in the first two years of study and are spent mainly on "tightening" the language level of the main mass of students. For most of them, the question of learning a professional foreign language is not worth it at all. This number of hours is clearly not enough to master all the competencies that are required from a modern European-level engineer. Often, the problem of lack of classroom hours is solved by the so-called variable component, which involves practical training in a professional foreign language by teachers of specialized departments. Such classes are usually devoted to the consideration of problems related directly to the training profile, and involve discussion of these problems at a higher professional level.

Therefore, as one of the solutions to this problem, a large amount of educational material in a foreign language is submitted to the independent work of the student, which he must perform outside the classroom. For this purpose, online versions of laboratory works at various levels have been developed, both for first-year students and for students studying a professional foreign language. It is possible to work independently in the language lab, which is equipped with special audio-visual equipment.

Also, a lot of important role is played by the lack of motivation of students to master a foreign language. Motivation, as we know, is directly related to the effectiveness of training. Any cognitive process is based on the desire to learn a foreign language culture. Low motivation to learn a foreign language is largely based on the negative experience of teaching it at the secondary level. Students entering the institutions often do not see the scope of a foreign language in their future profession, as they simply do not yet imagine their professional future. Low motivation to learn a foreign language is also due to its limited use in educational, industrial, as well as in real life conditions.

Another effective method (from the point of view of increasing students' motivation) is projects, festivals, theaters, scientific and practical conferences, which are organized on the basis of the Institute by the departments of foreign languages. This type of event not only increases the motivation of students to learn a foreign language, but also contributes to the development of communication and presentation skills, teamwork skills, and other competencies necessary for a future engineer. Keep in mind that all extracurricular activities require a lot of time to prepare. But even participation in competitions with a minimal language component gives the student a sense of achievement, which is multiplied in the case of winning a prize. Success and attracting attention are associated with the English language, which helps to increase motivation. This growth is especially noticeable in the case of group work of students in the preparation of speeches. Joint creativity unites and attaches additional importance to the unifying principle, which, in particular, in the conditions of the competition, is the need to master certain language phenomena, no matter how insignificant they may be.

Of course, the solution to this problem requires a comprehensive, systematic approach, involving the reform of General and higher education systems. The experience of teaching a foreign (English) language and a professional foreign language in higher Education institutions shows the need to increase the number of classroom hours allocated to the study of the latter, the introduction of intensive teaching methods and technologies that are as close as possible to real communication situations of professional and academic orientation, ensuring continuity of language training between Junior and senior courses of bachelor's and master's degrees.