In the system of vocational training practice plays an important role. It is an integral part of the educational process in educational institutions and equips students with an initial professional experience. Case method, proposed for use in the preparation of students for professional careers, teaches students to navigate the typical encountered situations, expands vision of problems, develops the ability to take decisions, forms and expands the range of future professional competences.
In order to determine the educational opportunities of case-method, it is necessary to identify its differences from other methods. Considering the essence of the case-method, V.Y.Platov (Platov V.Y. Business games: development, organization and conduct. Textbook. -M .: Profizdat, 1991) identifies the following signs of it, which help to differentiate the analysis of situations from other training methods :
collective decision-making.
Many alternative solutions: there is a fundamental lack of a unique solution. We have to deal with the spectrum of the best
A single goal in decision-making.
The presence of a group assessment.
At its core, the case method is the closest to gaming techniques and problem-based learning, and can integrate the project work itself. Each "case" allows the teacher to use it at different stages of the educational process: during training, at the stage of validation of learning outcomes. In recent years the use of "case studies" become increasingly popular in exams. Students receive "cases" before the exam. They should analyze it and bring report with answers to the issues raised in it.
Using the "cases" in the learning process is usually based on two methods. The first is called a traditional Harvard method open discussion. An alternative method is the method associated with an individual or group interviews, in which students make a formal oral assessment of the situation and provide an analysis of the "case", their solutions and recommendations. This method develops students' communication skills and teaches them to express their thoughts clearly. In an open discussion, at the beginning the teacher usually asks the question, "What do you think the main problem is?" Then he directs the discussion, listening to the arguments and explanations, controls the entire process of discussion. A report on the results of the discussion is passed by students after some time, which allows them to review all of the information carefully. Working with case technology at foreign language lessons involves improving pupils’ skills as a result of participation in the discussion of the problem situation. The practice of using such technology in the language classroom, as past experience shows, contributes to the activation of the learning process. It is an effective mean of formation of cognitive and language capabilities of students. Formation of professional skills with the usage of "case-study" technology should begin with simple situations that are of interest to the entire group of students and enable everyone to express their opinion [1].
