FORMATION OF A RISK-TAKING CULTURE AT THE LESSONS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE AMONG FIRST-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF NON-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMS

Khamova Svetlana N.

One of the important skills that provides a university graduate with a competitive advantage in the labor market is the ability to make risky decisions in situations of uncertainty. A risk-ready professional is distinguished by highly developed strategic and critical thinking, a high degree of responsibility for the decision made and readiness for productive failure. Moscow State Region Pedagogical University is a platform that allows students to form a risk-taking skill in the education process from the first year of getting a Bachelor's degree. The study pursued three goals. First, determine at what extent students are ready to take on the risk of performing a challenging task if the outcome is unpredictable. Second, identify the correlation between the degree of risk-taking by a student and his or her level of proficiency in a foreign language. Third, propose the algorithm of formation of risk-taking culture in foreign language classes for first-year bachelors of non-linguistic programs. Qualitative and quantitative methods were applied. Students of psychological, physical education, biochemical and medical faculties of Moscow State Region Pedagogical University were surveyed and interviewed. The conducted research identified five major reasons why a student consciously accepts the risk of failure working with a task which level is higher than level of his or her proficiency. There is lack of direct correlation between a student's level of foreign language proficiency and his or her readiness to perform a challenging task. The six-stage algorithm for integration of risk-taking culture is presented. Three conditions should be met to provide the effectiveness of integration: change of teacher roles, of student status and the specific type of environment that stimulates the activity of the participants of the educational process. Students with a formed risk-taking culture consider risk as an integral component of professional activity, predict and avoid significant risks in their future careers.

Keywords:higher education; bachelor students; foreign language; non-linguistic programs; risk-taking culture; failure