Electronic textbook design’s features for would be English teachers

One of the current challenges of the language education is the ability of would-be English teachers to be competitive specialists. The main goal of up-to date language education is the formation of the student's secondary language personality with cross-cultural communicative competence [12]. Furthermore, it is well-known that the English teacher should know how to participate in problematic, conflict situations of cross-cultural communication [1].

Digital resources and manuals are still popular among learners both at school and at the university. Unfortunately, a lot of English textbooks and electronic tools are becoming irrelevant, that is why there is a demand in designing new domestic textbooks and various electronic aids for foreign language learners.

Absolutely different materials can serve as a means of teaching a foreign language, but textbooks and manuals can still be considered as effective tools for learning a foreign language. Svetlana Gerasimova argues that a foreign language textbook has a serious impact on the worldview of both students and teachers, that is why it should be considered as an important element of cross-cultural communication and as a means of personal development [4, p. 95-103].

Before considering the textbook design, it is significant to pay attention to the structure of some up-to date textbooks and highlight the common and different in them. Three electronic workbooks for adult students, such as «Solutions [11]», «English File [3]» and «Roadmap [8]», were selected for the analysis. With regard to the structure, these manuals are similar to each other. Each analyzed manual consists of a number of tasks for the development of the necessary skills. However, in the manuals «Roadmap» and «English File» on each page there are few tasks for various skills, but in the workbook «Solutions» there is a separate section devoted to the development of each skill, e. g., in the section «Listening» there are plenty of exercises to develop listening skills, and Grammar section contains only tasks for grammar skills’ formation.

The manuals, selected for the analysis, are similar to each other, but the workbook «Solutions» still has different structure. In addition, there are some topics that are no longer relevant to this day. As a rule, the educational paradigm needs to be transformed and manuals need to be changed.

To point out, there is a need to design a new, different textbook with relevant topics, authentic materials, taking into consideration the achievements of foreign and domestic experience in teaching a foreign language.

Before proceeding to the specifics of designing a textbook, the concept of «textbook» is to be defined. Sergey Grigoriev supposes that a textbook is a publication partially or completely replacing a textbook designed taking into account the requirements of the state standard [5]. Vitaliy Smirnov emphasizes that the textbook should be considered as an educational source and as means of teaching that complements the textbook and contributes to the expansion and improving students’ knowledge [10, p. 16-26].

Based on the definitions proposed by the scholars, the following significant features of textbooks can be distinguished:

• the manual is the key tool for managing the educational process;
• a subject resource characterized by relevance meeting the requirements of modern society;
• the manual is an intermediary between students and a teacher;
• implementation of the requirements of regulatory documents: The Federal State Educational Standard and educational programs of higher education in foreign languages.

In addition, the design of a foreign language textbook must be based on the structure, principles and requirements that should be taken into account when designing it. Moreover, the manual must have consistency and be logically constructed.

The components of the manual are divided into two types: text and non-text materials. Text materials are the text itself, and non-text materials are tables, diagrams and illustrations.

Regarding the textbook on a foreign language, Konstantin Krechetnikov identifies a linguodidactic group of criteria that apply to traditional textbooks and manuals for foreign languages. As a rule, these include:

• the scientific basis of the textbook (linguodidactic approaches, which reflect modern linguodidactic methodological directions);
• purpose (the aim of learning in accordance with regulatory documents, in relation to a language university it is cross-cultural communicative competence);
• integrity (the textbook should be a teaching tool that represents an integral methodological system organizing the educational process);
• sequence (educational material is presented systematically, it should be logically connected);
• relevance (the topics and materials used in the textbook should be up-to date) [6, p. 48-53].

Boris Tarev and Elena Tareva reveal the potential of a modern textbook as a tool for teaching cross-cultural communication. The novelty of such a textbook is determined by the scientists through the following points:

• the textbook should be characterized by variability according to the personal and professional needs of the student;
• the content of the textbook must be aimed at the socialization of students with the help of situational tasks and games reflecting the cross-cultural context;
• the textbook should include authentic teaching materials;
• the textbook should be based on the problematic principle by including professional cross-cultural tasks with different relevant issues [13, p. 364-373].

Taking everything above-mentioned into consideration, an English textbook is a key means of teaching at the language university. When designing any manual, the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard and exemplary educational programs in a foreign language should be taken into account. Talking of a language textbook, it must also include the variety of situational, cross-cultural tasks and authentic text, video materials that develop students’ skills for the cross-cultural communicative competence’ formation. Moreover, manual’s design should be based on the requirements that are characteristic of an electronic textbook as the main tools of teaching the English language.