Development of the communicative competence of students of language universities in a digital educational environment

Abstract

The article focuses on the development of communicative competence among students of linguistic universities in a digital educational environment and is driven by the contradiction between the wide implementation of digital tools and the insufficient effectiveness of their use for the formation of communicative skills. The aim of the study is to provide theoretical justification, design, and experimental verification of a model of an integrated digital educational environment oriented toward the development of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic components of communicative competence. The research was conducted at the Institute of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication of the Federal Polytechnic University in 2022-2024 with the participation of 140 third-year students (B2 level), randomly divided into control and experimental groups of 70 each. In the control group, digital technologies were mainly used as tools for accessing materials and testing within the LMS, while in the experimental group, the developed model of an integrated digital educational environment was implemented, including a systematic combination of LMS, synchronous videoconferencing with group and pair interaction, collaborative project tasks in cloud services and on virtual boards, creation of media products, and participation in telecommunication projects with native speakers. Diagnostics at the ascertaining and control stages were carried out using standardized tests, expert evaluation of oral speech, motivation and self-assessment questionnaires; quantitative analysis was conducted using mathematical statistics methods, including Student’s t-test and correlation analysis. The results showed that in the experimental group, the proportion of students with a high level of communicative competence increased more than threefold, with a significant decrease in the low level, while the growth of linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic components was several times higher than in the control group; strong positive correlations were found between the intensity of using synchronous interactive tools and the growth of competence, whereas the contribution of asynchronous work in the LMS proved limited. It is concluded that a pedagogically designed integrated digital educational environment focused on authentic, interactive, and project-based communication is an effective means of accelerated development of communicative competence and can serve as a basis for the modernization of language training programs in the digital environment.