Theoretical basis of case study method in teaching English for special purposes

In view of the dynamic course of globalization processes, the intensification of international, intercultural interaction in the professional sphere is clearly seen. An extensive field of opportunities for participation in international cooperation, in turn, has a positive impact on the image of learning a foreign language in the educational paradigm.

English language training for special purposes (ESP) is now becoming particularly relevant due to the need for "practical language acquisition". When selecting the content of English language teaching for special purposes, it should be guided by the General principle of professionally oriented training, which is to create in students "the need to solve practical and professional problems by maximizing the educational process to activities related to the future profession". Continuing this idea, the researchers explain that the training is necessary to create the following relevant professional activities conditions: "for the interaction of the study group, the manifestation of personal position in relation to the problem under consideration, discussion and evaluation of professional issues". Through the prism of foreign language training of students of natural science, researchers L.Y. Minakova and O.A.Obdalova determine the key skills of a modern specialist, formed in the framework of foreign language training:

• –    the ability to work with information: to evaluate, extract the necessary information;

• –    the ability to reasonably present and present the results of scientific activity, building statements logically and consistently;

• –    the ability to make contacts, maintain, interrupt them;

• –    knowledge of ways and methods of conducting discussions, discussing topics related to professional activities;

• –    the ability to listen to the interlocutor, tolerant to someone else's point of view. These skills are the planned learning outcomes. To achieve them, it is necessary to use methods that take into account the specifics of the professional activity of the specialist, his need to solve professional problems in the framework of interaction with colleagues from different countries and cultures. In this regard, it seems appropriate to use the Case study method, which implies a joint search of students for optimal ways to solve current professional problems, presentation and discussion of the results of the study, etc. It is assumed that the use of the Case study method contributes to the formation of key skills of a modern specialist, positively wags his willingness to participate in international cooperation in the professional sphere.

Theoretical foundations of case study methods require detailed lighting. One of the key categories of the Case study method is the case. There are many definitions of the concept of "case", emphasizing its those or essential characteristics. The analysis of the literature revealed the following key characteristics of the case:

• –    the case has a dynamic nature, since it is based on actual practical situations that have no more than five years of history;

• –    the case has an interdisciplinary nature, as it is a complex of economic, political and other aspects of the situation to be analyzed;

• –    the case usually has more than one solution, which indicates its openness;

• –    the case has a communicative nature, as it is based on discussion, collective search and decision-making;

• –    the basis of the case in the context of teaching a foreign language specialty are authentic texts. Special attention should be paid to the disclosure of the concept of analysis in the context of the case study method. In a broader sense, the analysis is understood as "the reception of mental activity associated with the mental (or real) dismemberment of the object, phenomenon, process into parts; the first stage of scientific research. An important aspect of the mental activity of the student in the process of mastering the language.

Existing multiple types of analysis Y.P.Surmin conditionally divides into two categories: causal analysis, implying the separation of causes within the studied object, and the analysis of documents, where the subject of the analysis is the document itself. Thus, the analysis in the Case study method belongs to the second type, with the formation of a special content of analytical activity, including the use of many analytical methods for understanding the situation. The main substantive categories of analysis in the framework of the Case study include: problem analysis (the allocation problem), systems analysis (the study of the object from the point of view of system approach), praxiological analysis (the study of pragmatic processes in terms of their optimization), predictive analytics (formation of predictions regarding the potential development of the situation).

Of course, the Case study method is considered as a specific kind of research technology. As part of the English language training for business, the Case study method includes authentic materials that present students with an actual business problem for analysis and solution, as opposed to more traditional materials consisting of their dialogues or collections of texts for reading on business topics.

In the context of this study, we propose our own interpretation of the content of the Case study method in teaching a foreign language specialty: in the framework of this method, students are introduced to the case requiring analysis, search and formulation of the problem, joint search for the optimal solution in a discussion where the case includes a practical situation from the subject area with a set of related conditions on the basis of authentic material. Of particular importance in the context of the transition from the knowledge of the paradigm of learning acquire skills formed by teaching English using the Case study-method.

Professor O.G.Smolyaninova notes the following skills developed using the Case study method:

• –    Analytical skills: the ability to present, analyze, identify essential information, etc.;

• –    Practical skills: "the formation in practice of the skills of using economic theory, methods and principles";

• –    Creative skills of particular importance for the development of alternative solutions (solutions that are difficult to obtain logically);

• –    Communication skills: "the ability to lead a discussion, to convince others, to use visual material and other media tools, to cooperate in groups, to defend their own point of view, to convince opponents, to make a brief, convincing report";

• –    Social skills: assessment of people's behavior, the ability to listen, to support the discussion or argue the opposite opinion, to control yourself, etc.

  – Introspection. "Disagreement in a discussion promotes awareness and analysis of the opinions of others and of one's own. Emerging moral and ethical problems require the formation of social skills to solve them." The emphasis in skill formation varies depending on the application. In the framework of this study we are interested in profile-oriented foreign language training, so I would like to emphasize the emerging skills in this particular area of knowledge.

In working with the case study method, students need the following skills:

• –    perception and evaluation of verbal and non-verbal information;

• –    diagnosis and analysis of the problem;

• –    formulation and construction of statements according to language norms;

• –    participation in the discussion, making a collective decision. Researcher Fisher argues that the use of the method contributes to the development of skills of reading, speaking, listening and writing in a foreign language.

Therefore, case study is understood as a holistic method, since language skills do not develop separately. Conversational skills are developed through discussion, presentation of opinions and scientific research. As students work with the text, they become more confident in reading professional texts in a foreign language in search of information on a given topic. When talking about the development of written skills, students often present the results of work in writing, for example, as an essay containing a report on the work done. As for the auditory skills, here we are talking primarily about listening to the presentation, the arguments given in the discussion, as well as the integration of authentic audio and video materials, which also provides ample opportunities for listening. The researcher also talks about the formation of metalinguistic skills: teamwork, presentation, discussion, negotiations. So, in the second half of the twentieth century case study method found its application in the field of foreign language teaching for special purposes (English for Specific Purposes — ESP) due to one of the fundamental advantages of the method in teaching the specialty language — its ability to bring together, to establish a relationship between the English language and the subject content of the discipline.

The study of the theoretical foundations of the case study method shows that the integration of the method in the English language course for special purposes not only contributes to the development of linguistic skills — reading, speaking, listening, writing — but also metalinguistic skills, including the ability to analyze, group, search for information, identify key information, make a presentation, report on the results of the work/research, the ability to debate, implying expression, argumentation of one's own opinion, the ability to listen to the interlocutor, etc. of Course, Case study-method has a high potential for use in professional foreign language training.