This article examines the factors why university students do not complete massive open online courses when they are taught a foreign language. The study summarizes the results of experimental work on teaching a professionally oriented foreign language to students of a non-linguistic university using massive open online courses. The reasons for not completing a MOOC by university students when teaching a foreign language are revealed. Methodological recommendations to increase the proportion of students completing training in MOOCs are proposed.

This article explores the problems that foreign language teachers may face when teaching a professionally oriented foreign language to university students using massive open online courses. The current state of the educational environment dictates the requirements for the use of digital technologies in the educational process of higher education institutions.