Critical Thinking within the Current Framework of ESP Curriculum in Technical Universities of Russia

Abstract

Over the last decade technical universities in the Russian Federation, the subject of English as a foreign language has been taught in such a way, where it appears separate from the main program content of engineering discipline. The text books used for language teaching contain contextually unrelated examples which demonstrate a given grammatical function applied to different imaginary situations. As a result of practicing language by means of such unrelated examples the subject of English language stands out from the rest of the subject area and viewed by many students as irrelevant. Meanwhile, in light of current state of international education and research, successful career in science and engineering requires appropriate control of English language and critical thinking. In our article we present a general overview of concepts of critical thinking and its components, its disposition in science and the humanities and provide general reflection of ESP integration in ESL and EFL.

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