Creating the «Home reading» course for university students

Abstract

The present paper represents the author's approach to creating material for the «Home reading» course. Having analyzed different views on the problem of correlation of reading with other language skills, the author emphasizes the importance of fiction for teaching professionals. The article describes the general advantages of this course for language specialties, sets the main goals such as development of comprehension of the language, expansion of the students’ vocabulary, improvement of speaking skills and critical thinking. The development of critical thinking in conjunction with the expansion of vocabulary is especially important, since this technology contributes to the implementation of a competence-based approach in teaching students. The possibility of displaying in the process of reading foreign language literature, the close interdependence of the language, history and culture of a nation is emphasized. The author presents recommendations on the selection of a fiction and on the stages of text processing for the purposes of the course. The result of the work is the synthesis of various types of tasks, reading methods and course objectives into a single system of exercises. These tasks are aimed at developing the skills of prepared and unprepared oral speech, critical analysis of information, and subsequently, in professional activities. Specific examples of exercises are given with explanation of their outcomes.