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Современные подходы к обучению иностранному языку в преподавании академического письма
English as the language of international academic communication is used to disseminate scientific results. Despite the recent shift in educational paradigm, it is still taught at all levels of tertiary education in leading colleges and universities and holds relevance for the academic community. Traditionally the genre approach is implemented when academic writing is taught, as it provides a clear framework at structural and linguistic levels. However, this approach has limitations as it does not take sociocultural and contextual factors into account. Needs analysis is a potent tool used to uncover contextual factors and students’ subjective needs. In the context of the current study, it revealed a number of contradictions and challenges even students with high proficiency levels face when they have to produce an academic English text of their own. Those challenges are: poor knowledge and at times ignorance of research writing conventions; little experience of doing original research and, consequently, inadequate ability to present research design and methodology; exceptional wordiness and the use of words and structures of inappropriate register; unawareness of the requirements to the content, structure and language of different parts of a research paper. Moreover, characteristics of modern students such as the need to be engaged and challenged, the anticipation of constant feedback, the difficulty concentrating when comprehending or producing long texts need to be accounted for. This paper illustrates how an eclectic blended academic writing course was designed with the account of the difficulties and characteristics outlined above. We argue and illustrate the choice of techniques borrowed from current approaches to language teaching in the framework of principled eclecticism, which suggests careful handpicking of various methods and techniques belonging to diverse approaches in order to fit the learning and teaching context. Structuring lessons around tasks in the taskbased
learning paradigm allows instructors to involve students into meaningful activities and provide a manageable
degree of challenge. Involving students into guided discovery brings about engagement and equips students with skills
vital for successful autonomous text analysis and production. Implementing the lexical approach develops students’
ability to notice lexical and structural features of academic texts and to become aware of discourse writing conventions. Encouraging students to follow the process approach and, therefore, to draft and redraft paper parts after feedback involves students in authentic text production and, again, provides strategies for autonomous work. Combined, these approaches foster students’ academic writing competence enabling them to produce more natural and accurate stretches of written research discourse in English. Moreover, principled eclecticism ensures students’ subjective needs are met, and the necessary level of motivation and engagement is ensured.