A discourse-oriented approach to teaching communicative aspects of syntax to master's and postgraduate students of non-linguistic universities

<p><strong>Context and relevance.</strong> In-depth study of the syntax of a foreign language as the means of logical and communicative organization of the text is one of the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Education. The relevance of the study is determined by the contradiction between the existing methodological base for training master's and postgraduate students of a non-linguistic university and the need for practical teaching of foreign language syntax. <strong>Objective.</strong> To develop linguo-methodological grounding for a discourse-oriented approach to teaching communicative aspects of English syntax to master's and postgraduate students in non-linguistic specialties. <strong>Methods and materials.</strong> The approaches of functional and discursive linguistics to defining the basic concepts of communicative syntax are analyzed. For linguo-didactic purposes, a "broad" definition of theme and rheme is adopted, within the framework of which a hierarchy of structural, semantic and text-forming features underlying these categories is built. <strong>Results.</strong> A methodology for teaching communicative aspects of English syntax is proposed, consisting of two stages that differ in the level of complexity of methodological goals. A system of exercises has been developed that implement the principles of a discourse-oriented approach to teaching syntax. <strong>Conclusions.</strong> It is shown that a discourse-oriented approach to teaching syntax allows students to develop a key aspect of discursive competence: the ability to create a coherent and holistic text.</p>