Introduction. In recent years, the debates over the education crisis, its essence and the role in the development of a person and culture in general have underlined the need to scientifically define the concept of modern education. The present article is debatable and theoretical; therefore, it explores the idea of education from the perspective of the current trend – the classification of education as a service sector.

The aim of the article is to scientifically justify irrelevance of the ideas of education as a “commercial service” through the discussion of consequences of such an interpretation.

Methodology and research methods. The research methodology is based on a meta-systemic approach, which allows us to consider education as the system in a number of other social institutes and structures and as an element of a larger system. The logical-semantic analysis, hermeneutic method and synthesis of the views among the representatives in the filed of the humanities were used to study the phenomenon of “educational services”. To determine own position, the authors of the present article used the procedure of separating “social construction paradigms” (as a set of principles of knowledge and transformation of social reality), which make it possible to give diverse definitions of society and to introduce the concepts of the essence and the role of education.

Results. The concept of “educational services” is analysed as a speech template, a way of thinking, a legal concept, a call to changing social practice and a probable project. The authors reveal a conceptual, semantic substitution, which negatively affects the result of the educational process: the meaning of profit has taken the place of the sense of personal development and social long-term viability and development of society. It is demonstrated that this semantic substitution is a natural consequence of the market laws, going beyond the social control, in particular, their semi-legitimate expansion into the sphere of education, which is a significant public good.

Scientific novelty. It is proved that an established expression “educational services” in modern discourse contributes to destructive transformations of the citizens’ mentality and social space. The concepts of “service” and “education” are characterised according to a set of the following criteria: a subject of activity, its nature, a recipient role, specificity of the methods of activity, its result (or its goal) and quality assessment. It is concluded that the sectors of service and education can be characterised as joint constructive human activities, but they are fundamentally different activities.

Practical significance. The obtained results could be applied to provide purposeful adjustment processes for conceptual management of the education sector.

Introduction. In recent decades, competency-based approach is considered to be the leading one in the system of vocational education in Russia. However, the preparation for future employment cannot be limited to competencies. This is particularly true for anthropocentric professions, for example, the training of medical workers. In such fields of employment, the personal qualities of a specialist are extremely important, i. e. his or her ability to communication, productive interaction, which implies a certain type of reflection.

The aim of the present research was to identify the role of reflection, when forming the social orientation of physicians at different stages of their specialty training and realisation of oneself in this or that specialty – from university education to the end of career.

Methodology and research methods. In the course of the research, psychodiagnostic methods based on the questionnaire “Differential Type of Reflection” by D. A. Leontiev et al. and FIRO – Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation questionnaire by A. Schutz in the adaptation of A. A. Rukavishnikov were employed, taking into account the key provisions of theories concerning personality psychology and social behaviour. Automated neural networks based on the architecture of a multilayer perceptron according to the type of regression analysis and analysis of Kendall’s tau correlation coefficient were used to process the data.

Results. Reflective processes among future physicians and physicians-practitioners were studied on the sample of 384 people (aged from 17 to 76 years old) – 169 students of medical universities and 215 employees of stationary and outpatient clinics of Chelyabinsk region. It was revealed that at different stages of mastering the profession, the level of productive (systemic) reflection turned out to be different, but it was growing according to the increased degree of professionalisation. However, this level did not reach normative values in all groups, pointing to the need for psychological correction of self-determination and self-distancing. The identified ways of respondents’ social orientation demonstrate the contradictory nature of relations to oneself and to others; and such relations were mostly expressed at the beginning of training. Along with the fear of being rejected, manifested at an unconscious level, the respondents took the conscious decisions to preserve own individuality and to maintain the distance with other people. This contradiction means the presence of intra-personal conflict, which, like dissatisfaction with individual needs for interpersonal communication, provokes the prevalence of unproductive types of reflection – introspection and quasi-reflection.

Scientific novelty. The integration of ideas about the role, structure, content and determinants of reflection can be represented as follows: traditional understanding from the perspective of inter-individual approach as a mechanism of social perception and interpretation from the point of view of intra-individual (personal) and subject-activity approaches as the higher mental process, which is formed in the process of the acquired profession. This integration allowed the authors to identify the relationships between the level of reflection development, personal peculiarities, experience and medical specialisation.

Practical significance. The research materials and the authors’ conclusions can serve as a basis for the development of recommendations for the correction and prevention of unproductive forms of reflection at the initial stages of education in a medical university (e.g. specially organised extracurricular classes), as well as in the system of advanced training of practicing physicians.

Introduction. To develop the measures for improvement of the training in higher education, it is necessary to establish external and internal prerequisites for academic achievements of students. The external prerequisites include structural and functional organisation, educational environment. The internal prerequisites consist of cognitive factors – intelligence, creativity, and non-cognitive factors – self-efficacy, self-control, motivation, expectations and goal setting. However, the internal prerequisites have not yet thoroughly studied yet; the currently available information about them is rather contradictory and fragmented. There is no consistency in the interpretations and criteria of personal learning resources and potentials, and the numerous models are inaccurate in most cases.

The aim of the present research is to conceptually harmonise and systematise disjointed scientific data on the internal resources and potentials of students as prerequisites for their academic success in higher education.

Methodology and research methods. The resources and potentials are differentiated by personality categories and cognitive processes based on analytical review of psychological research. The system-integrative approach was the key approach to study the individual. Initially, this approach involves the identification (differentiation) of the basic components of the system followed by the reverse process – their commonality (integration) into the system, in which its new qualities and capabilities can be revealed.

Results and scientific novelty. The psychological theories and concepts of resources and personality potentials are arranged and reconsidered. The differences in foreign and Russian studies of this topic are highlighted. Their diverse components from the field of general, social and development psychology are mainly due to different traditions. Despite the considerable differences in scientific search and research approaches, the general idea is revealed: the resources are recognised as the space of current, and potentials – the space of possible. This raises the questions about the optimal expression and measurement of data determinants of students’ academic achievements, and whether there are intersections between resources and potentials.
The existing models of resources and potentials are critically assessed. The independent importance of these phenomena and the demand for their separate analysis are shown: the clarifications made by the authors, in some cases, contribute to a better understanding of the phenomena under consideration. The authors of the present article propose to classify both resources and potentials into personal and cognitive categories in terms of their future integration in order to fill some gaps in psychological knowledge. The specific actions are outlined to study empirically the resources and potentials of students’ academic achievements with the aim of building a generalised model, converging on the contributions of all internal prerequisites to these achievements.

Practical significance. The research materials are of practical significance for specialists in higher education. Moreover, the research outcomes can be included in the training courses in personality psychology and cognitive psychology for students of psychology departments of classical and pedagogical universities.

Introduction. It is well known that the effectiveness of students’ online education depends largely on their skills to interact with the digital educational environment. At the same time, there has been a marked shift in scientific publications from the traditional point of view about the priority of competency formation in students to use educational information and communication technologies on the other aspects of online education, including psychometric.

The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of students’ emotional intelligence on their preparedness for online learning programmes.

Methodology and research methods. A questionnaire survey was employed as the main tool. In the course of the questionnaire survey, Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) and Online Learning Readiness Scale (OLRS) were used to measure the selected characteristics of students. The method of single-factor dispersion analysis ANOVA (analysis of variance) and t-test of equal dispersions were applied to process the obtained empirical data.

Results and scientific novelty. 340 Saudi students, admitted into the Faculties of Pharmacy, IT, Sciences and Arts in Northern Border University (Arar), took part in the questionnaire. The sample of respondents was random; only 208 respondents fully completed the survey. The gender of students was considered as a key variable. It was revealed that the level of emotional intelligence in female students is higher than in their male fellow students, which ultimately caused the best readiness of girls for online training. The analysis of the survey data showed the variance between the measured respondents’ characteristics depending on the area of specialisation. If compared with the Sciences and Arts students, the representatives of the Faculties IT and Pharmacy demonstrated higher level skills to undertake online training, more expressed skills of self-control and computer selfefficacy. The level of online communication self-efficacy, recorded among the respondents, was not so significant. However, the respondents of all four faculties demonstrated a high level of motivation for independent online learning activities. It was reliably established that a high level of emotional intelligence correlates with readiness for such forms of work.
It was found out that students are not always able to clearly identify their educational needs on their own and to understand them without someone’s assistance, new arsenal of educational tools, their adequate application and quality. In addition, the emotional attitude to online learning is very significant. Therefore, in order to make e-learning effective, it is appropriate to conduct pre-diagnostics, taking into account students’ psychometric parameters, to identify students’ expectations about the online courses and to assess own readiness for such training. According to the author of the current publication, pedagogical support of the process of formation and development of emotional intelligence and formation of students’ skills to regulate their feelings should become an integral part of the curriculum to ensure the success of the learning process. The author identified the critical points of teaching staff activity, which may vary depending on the required scale of the pedagogical intervention and the specific direction of training.

Practical significance. The research results can be useful for teachers and administrators of educational institutions engaged in the development and promotion of distance and blended learning.

Introduction. In recent decades, the Russian urban sociocultural environment has demonstrated the process of generation of linguocreative nominative realia (culture-bound terms) – units of language (from words to texts), created on the basis of the language game or speech stylisation to name various social and cultural phenomena. This linguistic phenomenon proves to be relevant for teaching Russian as a foreign language, specifically in light of the global trend of increasing intensity of spatial mobility of different population groups and the growing internationalisation of Russian educational system. Using linguocreative nominative units provides possibilities to implement the innovative methods in teaching foreign languages. It also allows integrating socio-cultural components in the learning process to facilitate the adaptation of international students.

The aim of the current publication was to discover and describe the didactic resource of linguocreative nominative realia for teaching Russian as a foreign language.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework of the present research was based on the provisions of competency-based approach to teaching Russian as a foreign language and the theory of critical thinking development. The introduction of ergourbanonyms (ergo urban place names) into training courses was verified by the methods of experiment, testing, interview and comparative analysis.

Results and scientific novelty. In the course of the research, educational linguistic and verbal cognitive tasks were designed. The approbation was carried out during the academic year in experimental groups of foreign students, who study Russian. The authors presented didactic materials, which are based on linguocreative nominative realia. The effectiveness and perspective of the application of these materials are demonstrated. The inclusion of these teaching materials in the methodological arsenal allows solving several humanitarian tasks: for students to learn more profoundly Russian as a foreign language and to undergo a successful process of adaptation to social and living conditions of everyday environment in a target-language country; for teachers – to increase the motivation of foreign students to acquire Russian as a foreign language and to develop students’ creative critical thinking. Experimental and control groups had tests in the end of the experimental period. The students of experimental groups were taught using new teaching means and tools. The training of students of control groups was organised through traditional techniques. The comparison of learning outcomes upon the probationary period showed higher level of students’ communicative competency in experimental groups, and the students from the control group demonstrated considerably low level of knowledge regarding social and cultural aspects of Russian life. Summarising the results of one year’s innovative experience, teaching materials and methodological guidelines were designed to organise the learning process on the basis of active learning and teaching of Russian as a foreign language.

Practical significance. The didactic and methodological tools suggested in the current article can be integrated into various programmes of teaching Russian as a foreign language; the adaptation component of the materials will work within long-term programmes. The current methodological materials are ready to be implemented for classes with foreign students in any region of Russia, or they can serve as an initial sample to develop own methods and design didactic materials.

Introduction. High-quality language education in technical universities requires its interdisciplinary relation to the content of highly specialised subjects corresponding to the training programmes aimed at instructing the future specialists. Educational materials in a foreign language are highly productive if they emphasise the terminology and professional vocabulary authentic to the current state of the scientific field.

The aim of the study presented in the article was to assess the validity of the lexical material delivered in the course “English for Business Communication”, to determine the selection criteria for this vocabulary as well as the methods for its assimilation and practical application.

Methodology and research methods. The applied corpus software enabled to obtain quantitative indicators of the distribution of foreign-language business vocabulary in the given training course. The lexical material being currently offered to students and the professional thesaurus identified via linguistic databases was compared with the use of comparative analysis and synthesis.

Results and scientific novelty. The lexical units (terms, set expressions), which are the most active in the business sphere, were identified on the basis of its frequency. The authors established the correlation between them and educational vocabulary, both from the perspective of its integration into the course without block concentration throughout the course of university training, and from the perspective of the variety of methods used to practice this vocabulary. It is concluded that the applied educational material needs to be substantially adjusted. The vocabulary does not completely reflect the realities of the business communication sphere and the distribution of active vocational vocabulary regulated by methodological guidelines does not entirely contribute to its strong assimilation. According to the authors, the necessary changes to the approaches and methods for selecting and compiling lexical material and to the methodology for designing a foreign language course should be made on the basis of integrating pedagogical and linguistic knowledge, in particular, the methodology of teaching foreign languages and the corpus linguistics.

Practical significance. The ways of integrating corpus programs in the process of developing the content of language disciplines, which are part of the main educational program of technical universities, are demonstrated as one of the methods to increase the effectiveness of teaching foreign languages to students of non-linguistic specialties.

Introduction. Today, one of the main requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Preschool Education is to ensure the speech development in children, which means mastering them of free, coherent dialogue and monologic speech skills as a means of communication with adults and peers. The indicators of successful speech development are skills to build different types of coherent statements. This requirement fully applies to children with minor speech delays. However, in modern speech therapy, the development of coherent speech is made dependent on the elimination of the shortcomings of unformed language structures and involves the use of reproductive techniques, including mainly constant repetitions of speech patterns. Children are simply asked to copy stereotypical schemes when making their own statements, but the attention is not paid to the process of formulating rules and peculiarities of description texts, the understanding of which is very important to be prepared for school. Thus, it is significantly important to revise well-established techniques to learn oral monologue speech when teaching children with serious speech disorders.

The aim of the present article is to discuss the conditions for effective development of coherent descriptive speech in preschool children with speech underdevelopment problems.

Methodology and research methods. The methodological framework of the research is based on the theory of speech activity and the theory of developmental education, as well as the systematic analysis of the peculiarities of verbal communication skills in children and modern ideas of correctional pedagogy about the structure of speech defects. In the course of the research, empirical research methods and a pedagogical experiment were employed.

Results and scientific novelty. Children aged 5–6 years old (n = 60) with the logopedic report “general underdevelopment of speech of the 3 rd –4 th levels” took part in the experimental research. It was proved that it is necessary to teach preschool children with speech disorders not only to speak by analogy and model structures, but also to formulate detailed meaningful descriptive statements. The entry test demonstrated that most respondents have insufficient formation of coherent descriptive speech: 40% – medium level, 38% – low level. More than half of preschool children in the experimental group (53,6%) improved their results through the targeted and comprehensive correctional work, in the course of which they learned practical description skills. While working on description skills, children learned how to highlight and compare essential features of a subject, to combine individual phrases into a consistent message. The priority areas were identified in each speech task to ensure the greatest impact of its performance. The conducted classes influenced not only speech, but also cognitive development of children. Also, the classes stimulated children’s speech and thought activities, contributed to the activation of visual, auditory and tactile perception, memory, attention and observation.

Practical significance. The research materials provide a new direction to determine the technologies for the development of coherent speech in children of senior preschool age with speech underdevelopment.