Abstract:
The article deals with the description of the experimental work aimed at the use of the effective ways of teaching language competencies to the full-time and part-time first-year students learning foreign languages at the language department by means of the novel "The Moon and Sixpence", written by the prominent English writer William Somerset Maugham. The article contains guidelines for the teachers and students, developed by the authors on the interpretation of authentic texts, which are different in the degree of complexity of the tasks, as well as commentary, dictionary and tests. The results were derived from the methods used in the process of the experiment, such as: conversation, testing, verification of empirical skills, analysis and synthesis. On the whole, the difference in the results of the experimental groups significantly allows us to state the effectiveness of techniques used at the lessons of a foreign language. Thus, reading authentic books being one of the most important types of communicative and cognitive activity, which has a high educational and socio-cultural significance, undoubtedly, contributes to the motivation of learning English and improving language competencies.