Morska L.M.

Kmelnitskiy National University

TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS OF ECONOMICS

Language is the main means of communicating - it’s a fact - even though, strangely enough, it can become the most important obstacle in communication. This lack of communication may be either the result of not being able to understand some concepts in your own language, or the consequence of using different languages. In this paper we will mainly focus on the second circumstance, when not knowing at least another foreign language may transform you in a handicapped person.

There are several solutions to the problem of understanding each other when using different languages, such as using translators or translations, offering the status of a global language to one of the nowadays languages -thing that has already happened without even noticing - or, simpler, trying to teach the man to fish instead of giving him food once, meaning adopting adequate special policies so as to encourage teaching and learning foreign languages.

The development of the new and modern means of communication (telephone, television, computers) especially of the Internet is another reason why more and more people want to learn English as all these require the knowledge of at least one international language. This ever-growing usage of the electronic mail, of the Internet led to an increasing number of the members of the global community faced to a serious need to overcome the language barrier.

Another immense advantage that computers offer to students in this informational era is that they may go on learning on their own, using the means and resources that could be found on-line and off-line, too. They need to be taught how to ask questions (in order to find what they are searching for), they also have to have their own learning strategies, how to make up with their own minuses, means of self-assessment etc. Students must also be encouraged to develop the ability to select and assess the materials they actually need and can use from the huge data they may be confronted with. Still, it is English teacher who must teach himself in the first place how to better use computers and Internet so as to be able to supervise and encourage students in this respect. Consequently, teaching, assessing and self-assessing the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd year students may take place only during practical courses and following the data base - resources with individual access, being conceived by some English teachers so as to be of a real help to students. Moreover, due to financial reasons, such a data bank has to be limited to programs taken from the Interned for free- accessible to both English teachers and students as compared to commercial programs that have to be purchased a license in order to be installed on personal computers. Purchasing authoring programs such as Libra and Dasher still remain a wishful thing.

Besides all these resources available on the Internet, computers may be excellent means of varying the monotony of any reading, translating exercise. Students themselves may be in the position of creating their own database regarding the issues and topics discussed during English practical courses. They may work in teams and conceive PowerPoint project presentations both when it comes to 1^st year students and the ‘general English’ about ‘general topics’ and 2^nd year students with economics issues and special terminology. Students learn better if there is diversity and the pace changes frequently and they do not have time to get bored. Thus, computer presentations appeal to them and it is a great aid in many respects: students access the Internet data in order to find and select the needed materials for their projects; they work in a team; they use English in their reading, assessing, selecting, conceiving activities, not to mention the fact they have to present the materials in English, to speak freely and fluently while the rest of the class watches the slides on computer screens.

The economics terminology is neither very easy nor very difficult. What we mean by this statement is that most of the new concepts describing economic phenomena come from Latin or Greek. Therefore they are quite accessible to Romanians. Anyway, the spelling and pronunciation are an issue here and teachers should help students learn the proper orthography, spelling or pronunciation so as to prevent them from making serious mistakes. The specialized materials of English for specific purpose -here for economics- exist either on the Internet or on CD-ROM: numerous economic atlases, encyclopedias, textbooks, programs that should be studied not only for the economic information, but also for the economic terminology. English teachers ought to settle some research papers: case studies, scientific articles, summaries, book presentations so as to activate, refresh and improve the vocabulary useful for economics students.

Generally speaking, students need to be presented lists of journals in English, newspapers, magazines, as well as dictionaries and encyclopedias available on the Internet, to be accustomed to use search engines - Google, Yahoo,etc.- so as to be able to permanently get in touch with the needed specialized information as well as with English language.

Consequently, we can state that nowadays it is out of question that computers are an extremely useful tool for learning a foreign language (especially English which is actually called the language of computers and of the Internet) or that handling a foreign language is essential for the proper intellectual development of any individual or society.

As a conclusion, it is the English teachers’ task and duty to elaborate, design, create computer assisted teaching strategies focused on the individual research and using the resources available on the Internet until we will get further more advanced technological equipment.

Bibliography:

1. Earp S., - “More Than Just the Internet: Technology for Language Teaching”, ERIC Digest, 1997;

2. Higgins C, - “Computer-assisted Language Learning: Current Programs and Projects”, ERIC Digest, 1993;

3. Warschauer M., - “The Changing Global Economy and the Future of English Teaching”, TESOL Quarterly no. 34, 2000, pag. 511-535.