Liliia Zelenska, Nadiia Martynenko, Svitlana Tymchenko THE FORMATION OF SOFT SKILLS FOR FUTURE AVIATION SPECIALISTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Abstract

Abstract. The study is devoted to the problem of future aviation specialists’ soft skills formation in the process of Aviation English training. Based on the results of the scientific publications’ analysis, it has been proven that nowadays ability to communicate, solving problems and making decisions, critical thinking, mobility, personal creative potential, flexibility for living conditions’ adaptation are the key to the future specialists’ competitiveness. Today, this is a real challenge for higher education, since educational programs (courses) in English for Specific Purposes must include, in addition to the linguistic component, the training of a number of soft skills in order to meet the defined needs of higher education applicants for each specific educational context. A theoretical analysis of the essence of the concept of "soft skills" has been carried out and the relevance of aviation specialists mastering the soft skills necessary for their future professional activity has been substantiated. After the analysis of the "soft skills" concept, existing classifications and domestic legislative documents regarding the development of soft skills of higher education institutions’ graduates as key to adaptation in rapidly changing conditions, soft skills, which should be possessed by future aviation specialists in the process of foreign language professional training, have been singled out. It has been found that for the effective soft skills’ formation within the educational discipline "Aviation English", future aviation specialists must be offered specially developed complexes of communicative exercises and other types of foreign language communicative activities, game technologies or active teaching methods. Therefore, the development and use of foreign language communicative educational activities, which will contribute to increasing the level of future aviation specialists’ soft skills, have been determined as prospects for further research.