The Need to Update the Content of the Materials in Teaching Language for Specific Purposes and its Possibilities in Higher Technical Schools

Straipsnyje aptariami svarbiausi ekolingvistinio požiūrio į kalbos mokymą aspektai ir sąsajos su specialybės kalbos mokymu bei jo turinio atnaujimu. Tyrimu, kuris grindžiamas ekolingvistinėmis prielaidomis, siekta atskleisti, kaip Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universiteto Aplinkos inžinerijos, Elektronikos ir Statybos fakultetų magistrantai vertina specialybės kalbos kultūros mokymo turinį ir kokios yra jo tobulinimo galimybės. Teorinės literatūros apžvalga ir kiekybinis tyrimas atskleidė, kad, mokant specialybės kalbos kultūros, siekiant, kad kurso turinys atitiktų studentų, o vėliau – ir darbuotojų poreikius, reikia ne tik įvertinti mokymo(si) patirtį, tirti studentų nuomonę, bet ir analizuoti kalbos aplinką, nuolat reaguoti į globalizacijos nulemtus visuomenės pokyčius.In the 80s of the 20th century the language ecology emerged from sociolinguistics, later turned into separate methodological school of language research called ecolinguistics. The representatives of this school started analyzing various aspects of language, as well as dealt into the norms of language and the issues of language teaching, encouraged updating of the content of language teaching materials. The presentation deals with the main ecolinguistic approaches towards the aspects of language teaching and the links with teaching language for specific purposes as well as with updating of its content. The first part of the presentation covers the theoretical aspects of ecolinguistic approach, the theories of social and cultural influence on language learning by foreign linguists (e.g. Einar Haugen, etc.) were referred to. The second part of the presentation introduces the research in evaluation of the language for specific purpose course, carried out at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in 2013–2014. The research was aimed at revealing the way the postgraduate students would assess the teaching content of the course in language for specific purpose and its possibilities for improvement. Postgraduate students, being the target group, were taken into consideration because most of them were part-time students, having regular jobs, therefore, they could assess the content of the course in language for specific purpose from their practical point of view. The review of the theoretical literature and quantitative research being considered, it has been revealed that by delivering the course in language for specific purpose there is need to assess not only the learning experience and students’ opinions, but also to analyze the whole language contexts and the changes in the society influenced by globalization should be taken into consideration. The feedback of students’ questionnaires have showed that the updating of the content of the materials in teaching language for specific purpose is closely related with the changes in language policies in higher educational institutions