The article discusses the problem of the effective use of video materials in the process of teaching a foreign language for specific purposes. The importance of including video in the learning process for the development of sustainable interest and increasing the degree of mastering learning material is emphasized. The purpose of the article is to discuss the theoretical and applied aspects of integrating video materials into the process of teaching English for Specific Purposes in a non-linguistic university. The research methodology is based on a comparative analysis of Russian and foreign scientific approaches to teaching foreign languages in terms of increasing its effectiveness. The article suggests an analysis of domestic and foreign scientific, methodological and specialized literature, as well as the results of an interview conducted among students of two universities in order to determine the appropriateness and effectiveness of using authentic video materials in teaching a foreign language. The results of the study prove that audiovisual and video materials not only contribute to increasing the motivation for foreign language learning, but also can significantly enhance the perception of the materials by students. The most effective video materials are directly related to the professional needs of students, and are presented in an interesting format for students. In this case, podcasts, informative short videos, etc. stand out. The authors propose a system of exercises that contribute to the effective work with video materials of a professional orientation. The results obtained allow us to state that the use of video materials is an effective means of optimizing foreign language learning in a non-linguistic university, which, on the one hand, contributes to the development of various aspects of students’ foreign language proficiency, and, on the other hand, increases their interest in learning due to the attractiveness of authentic content of the video.

Problem and purpose. The paper substantiates the rationale to use empirically approved mnemonic techniques in developing the foreign language communicative competence in the professional field in students of the industry-related non-philological higher educational institution. Representation is given of the experiment conducted at the Siberian Transport University that was aimed at studying the impact of mnemonics application on embracing and perceiving specialized professional information in a foreign language as well as anticipating ways to improve such teaching techniques by means of digital educational technologies. The purpose of the study is to determine efficiency of mnemonics used by both students and teachers in the build-up of professionally-oriented foreign language proficiency as well as to identify the most effective relevant technologies and provide argumentation in favor of their implementing in practice. Methodology. The research is based on analysis and systematization of related theoretical and applied psychological-pedagogical and methodological materials, study of student research works, student questionnaire-based surveys and generalization of benchmarked teaching practices in higher education. The conclusion is made on the use of mind mapping as a productive method to acquire profession-related information in the development of algorithms for learning both foreign languages and profession-related courses.