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We strongly believe that within the next few years, podcasting is destined to become an important component in the learning environment of the university since educators are trying to integrate the best use of advanced technologies in their courses and remain vigilant to the ever-changing technological landscape. The study aims to validate the idea that podcasts offer teachers a platform to supplement their materials. Despite the potential benefits of podcasts for university education, few researchers have addressed the problem of the influence of podcasting on English learners’ motivation. Based on a survey with 211 students of Rostov State Transport University, this paper focuses on motivational factors for using podcasts when taking an English language course. We found two dimensions of motivating factors (entertainment and convenience) to be prominent for active podcasts use.

The core problem of teaching English as a second language at transport university is students’ poor knowledge of vocabulary. Current solutions to the given problem such as providing word explanations and repetitive practices are ineffective. We strongly believe that the mindmapping technique proposed by Tony Buzan as a note-taking method is a novel, yet an extremely potent tool that aids students in enlarging their professional word stock by associating new vocabulary to their existing knowledge using colors, images, symbols, etc. As might have been expected, the findings of our study point towards the idea that the strong visual appeal of mind maps created by easy-to-use software boosted the educational process and helped students of the experimental group memorize more new words in contrast to students of the control group.

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The paper considers the features of development and practical use of an electronic foreign language textbook at the technical university. This study is dictated by the need to resolve contradictions between the provisions declared by the higher education standards of the latest generation and the real level of students knowledge of a foreign language. The authors analyze and systematize the requirements for printed and electronic foreign language textbooks. Attention is paid to the advantages of electronic publications over printed ones. The key advantage of the electronic textbook is the presence of hypertext, which makes it possible to implement a nonlinear form of information organization. The paper formulates basic principles of an electronic textbook development, describes its structure and components and highlights the issues of filling the content with language material. The authors proposed the options for tasks aimed at stimulating students communicative and cognitive activity. It is shown that podcasts can be used as multimedia resources to intensify the development of students listening skills. It is emphasized that the availability of special programs for creating electronic textbooks allows the teacher to carry out its development without any special training in the field of programming. As a result of the analysis, the authors come to the conclusion about a high linguodidactic potential of the electronic textbook as a teaching tool.