THE USE OF AUDIOBOOKS IN TEACHING ENGLISH TO STUDENTS SPECIALISING IN DRAMA AND THEATRE STUDIES
The relevance of the present research is determined by the growing popularity of audio books as authentic materials for foreign language teaching and the need for further development of methodological tools to support their use. The purpose of the article is to bring into focus the peculiarities of using audiobooks as a means of developing listening and dramatizing skills required from students who specialize in drama and theatre studies. In this paper the distinctive characteristics of listening as a receptive type of speech activity are identified on the basis of methodological research in foreign language teaching, and the main features of audio books suitable for classroom use are outlined. The article also specifies three stages of applying the stated educational means and includes a series of sample tasks accompanying the audio version of “Mr. Know-All”, a short story by W. S. Maugham.