This dissertation provides a comprehensive scientific analysis of the process of teaching Ukrainian as a foreign language (UFL) to medical students in higher education institutions. The author develops and justifies a conceptual framework for studying word formation, and enabling future physicians to apply their linguistic knowledge and skills in professional communicative contexts. The communicative and activity-based approach to foreign language learning emphasizes the practical use of word-formation resources.
An analysis of linguistic and language teaching research reveals inconsistencies in how word formation is presented in the UFL course, as well as variations in the interpretation of key concepts within the word-formation system. The need to revise the set of word-formation tools in current programs and textbooks of the Ukrainian language for foreign students pursuing higher medical education requires the reflection of the actual functioning of word-formation mechanisms in medical discourse within educational materials. This study refines the definitions of fundamental terms and introduces original concepts, including "word-formation type" and "word-formation nest complex." It also establishes and explains the role of the theoretical foundation for "lexical and word-formation competence" (LWC) of students from abroad.
The study reveals that teaching word formation at the basic stage of the UFL course has not yet been comprehensively explored. Analysis of the teaching and methodological resources for this course in medical universities dwells on the pressing need to equip foreign medical students with professional vocabulary through wordformation techniques. The findings also indicate a lack of a systematic approach to addressing this issue effectively.
The relevance of this research becomes particularly evident during teaching the language to foreign medical students, which is aimed at perfecting their lexical, primarily terminological, competence – an essential factor in mastering professional language.
The effectiveness of teaching professional vocabulary to foreign students is ensured through the activation of the word-formation component in language training, facilitated by the methodology developed in this dissertation research. A key characteristic of the proposed methodology is its integrated, systemic approach to teaching w//ord-formation as a linguistic level, in relation to other levels, particularly lexicology.
The technological tool for implementing the methodology is the word-formation educational and methodological complex (WFEMC) developed by the author, which consists of the "Frequency Dictionary of Profession-Oriented Medical Vocabulary," the "Word-Formation Minimum," and a system of word-formation training exercises.
The study has experimentally verified the effectiveness of the methodology in teaching foreign higher education students professional medical vocabulary through the use of word-formation tools.
The effectiveness of the proposed teaching methodology has been empirically validated through experimental testing. The study was conducted in three stages – diagnostic, formative, and control – to ensure a structured pedagogical study. The author used various methods, including observation of foreign students’ comprehension and usage of lexical units, testing, experimental teaching, statistical analysis of the collected data, and interpretation of the experimental findings.
The comparative analysis of lexical and word-formation competence (LWC) levels at the initial diagnostic stage revealed that the foreign students in both research groups demonstrated relatively similar levels of lexical and word-formation knowledge. The results of implementing the proposed word-formation teaching methodology indicate a significant improvement in learning outcomes. In the experimental group (EG), the cognitive-normative criterion increased by an average of
14.8%, compared to 5.8% in the control group (CG). The activity-normative criterion showed an average increase of 14% in EG, whereas CG demonstrated a 5% improvement. The activity-communicative criterion increased by 41% in EG, compared to 27.5% in CG.
Overall, the level of lexical and word-formation competence among foreign medical students was 10.5% higher in the experimental group than in the control group, confirming the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.
