520 PROBLEMS IN PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT FOR STUDENTS OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES

Abstract. Modern engineering education involves the acquisition of competences that build up a basis for competitiveness of young professionals. These competences are normally divided into two major categories: professional and social. The latter group includes self-competence, co-operation and communication activities that serve as a means for interaction of professional knowledge and the target situation that this knowledge is meant to function in. The most fundamental form of social activities nowadays is a foreign language. The vast opportunity for communication in the ICT environment nowadays requires well-developed oral as well as written communication skills; therefore one of the major goals for the foreign language course for engineering students is to develop professional writing skills in order to comply with the target situation requirements. The problems of the current research are: a) to investigate the learning situation in the foreign language classroom within the population of engineering students of the Latvia University of Agriculture; b) find the proof of the necessity of their writing skills development; and c) discover the possibilities to improve these essential skills to the required level. Taking into account the insufficient number of classroom lessons devoted to the acquisition of the foreign language at the university, one of the ways would be to design a specific e-study course titled "English Language Writing for Engineering", which would cause a certain shift in accents in the existing foreign language programmes. Another way is to design an additional course that would be available as an optional one in the undergraduate study programmes or, otherwise, offered by the lifelong learning centre of the Latvia University of Agriculture. Keywords: professional English, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), English as a foreign language (EFL), students of engineering sciences, writing skills, communication activities. Introduction Language is one of the social competences, alongside with the self-competence and cooperation (after Habermas) that are to be acquired along with the professional ones to form a solid "package" of competences necessary for effective performance in the target situation. Foreign language nowadays plays an essential part in education, especially at its tertiary level, as the contemporary education is aimed at increasing student and young professional mobility within the European Union borders and beyond. It serves as a means of oral and written communication in everyday professional settings when a fresh graduate starts his career, plus acts as an efficient back-up tool during the study process. It assists in learning the content, thus linking various courses across the curriculum together and making the approach to learning more interdisciplinary. Last, but not least, in content-based courses of English for various engineering professions which are being taught at the Latvia University of Agriculture, the content-language approach to the study process facilitates critical literacy and reflexive learning

Publiskais parskats, 2001

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi

Jelgavas regionalas vides parvaldes publiskais gada parskats, 2002

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Environment of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi

Pedagogu talakizglitibas programmu un to istenosanas efektivitates noteiksana (saistiba ar skolenu izglitibas kvalitati)

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi

Jelgavas regionala vides parvalde: publiskais gada parskats 2003

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Environment of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi

Pasnodarbibu organizacija un materialais nodrosinajums dazadu attistoso uzdevumu istenosanai pirmsskola

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi

ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT OF ENGINEERING STUDENT SKILLS AND COMPETENCES THROUGH PARTICIPATION AT INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES

Abstract. The present article dwells on the skills and competences of students described in the learning outcomes of the study course "Professional English" and on the possibilities that are offered by participation at international student conferences to improve the skills of students for them to be able to succeed passing the examination in the study course "Professional English", enter the Master studies after the graduation from the university or be successful in their professional activities. Already for seven years an international scientific conference for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students, called "Students on their Way to Science", is being organized at the Latvia University of Agriculture by the Faculty of Engineering in co-operation with the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Forest Faculty. The results of the interview with the students of the Faculty of Engineering who have participated at this conference and their opinions are described and analysed

ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION TEACHER COMPETENCES AT THE LATVIA UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

Abstract. The requirements for education, school and teachers become increasingly varied and complicated. The Latvian education system needs to be changed. The aim of the education reform is to establish a qualitative, accessible, competitive education system. The role of the teacher in studies changes with the economical and labour market changes. It determines new requirements and makes the knowledge, skills and competences of teachers change. To foster the development of teacher skills and acquisition of information, it is necessary to promote further education of teachers. The involvement of Latvia in the today's global processes makes it necessary to substantially reconsider the aims and tasks of the education system -to ensure modernization of the education system and attain the introduction of new education content and methods. The article theoretically and empirically analyses and summarizes the further education experience of teachers at the Centre for Lifelong Education of the Latvia University of Agriculture in 2009/2010. The research target group -professional education teachers. The aim of the article is to justify teacher further education as development of professional and pedagogical competences in ensuring a modern and qualitative study process. The novelty of the research is related to the idea of the professional education reform and optimization of the network of professional schools

ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT INVESTIGATION OF BIOGAS POTENTIAL IN STOPINI DISTRICT

Abstract. The potential of biogas and available energy have been calculated alone throughout Latvia in general until now. The specific characteristics of each region of Latvia were not taken into account. In this article there have been more successful biogas plant sites in Stopini district inspected, where biogas is combusted in the cogeneration plant producing electricity and heat simultaneously. The biogas potential is also calculated in Stopini district, where it was produced from domestic animal (cattle, pigs and chicken) manure, as well as the unused agricultural available land (AAL) area, the waste water treatment of biological plants of the largest cities, the largest landfills of solid household waste in the region, food processing industry waste. While calculating the potential of biogas, the majority of the total biogas potential was established, which makes around 341 million m 3 of biogas per year in Stopini district and is derived from the unused AAL area -6.2 million m 3 of biogas per year. The amount of electricity that could be produced using biogas after the calculation is around 35 GWh per year. Key words: biogas production, animal manure, unused agricultural available land. Introduction The estimated draft law in Latvia on the renewable energy provides that in 2020 the local renewable energy sources, such as, solar, wind, wood and biogas, are allocated a significant proportion (40 %) of primary energy consumed in the energy market in Latvia. Therefore, first, the estimated potential of renewable energy has to be examined, which can be obtained in the conditions of Latvia. Unlike other energy sources, biogas is less dependent on weather conditions and it can be envisaged both in-season, and more distant future, with no special adjustment of the present results. Until now, the biogas potential has been studied all over Latvia, without marking the counties, as well as the resulting potential has been mentioned, without marking the raw material types

Raditaji pirmsskolas vecuma bernu gatavibai pamatizglitibas uzsaksanai

Available from Latvian Academic Library / LAL - Latvian Academic LibrarySIGLEMinistry of Education and Science of the Republic of Latvia, Riga (Latvia)LVLatvi