Abstract:

Higher education institutions have been looking for the ways to design English classes that will embody 21st century principles of education and meet students’ demands for English proficiency. Technical universities that teach various sciences and technologies may have an opportunity to form mixed-groups according to the academic majors undergraduate students commit to. We find this a great advantage for English teachers who would like to implement project-based learning (PBL) focused on integration and exchange of technical knowledge in collaboration with university subject teachers, who act as facilitators to the work-oriented learning environment. Methodological approach suggests utilizing teamwork activities to their full potential. The tasks span various activities with gradual difficulty buildup. At the same time, the tasks are designed to indicate target language (vocabulary and grammar) and to instruct students on how to apply the acquired language in a new case-study. Regarding the implementation, the teacher sets a work-related case, taking into account specialization of students in a group. The case is expected to mirror real-life research-and-development (R&D) group activity. Naturally occurring knowledge gap enables students to both look for relevant means of language to express themselves and perform an accurate search and seek for expert advice, therefore to take responsibility for their contribution to the project and the learning process in general. The results based on the survey among students show that the majority of students appreciated:
- the opportunity to interact with students whose specialization was different, which supported language learning through crosspollination;
- guidance provided by experts in the field;
- work-oriented case design.
In conclusion, the proposed method contributes to the development of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, fosters creativity and collaboration, and encourages student-to-student knowledge transfer. Students exercise language for specific purposes (LSP) in professional contexts, learn through effective communication under supervision of experts and thus, master the core skills they need to succeed in the 21st century competitive environment.

Keywords:

LSP, ESL, PBL, TBL, research projects, undergraduate education, critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, collaboration skills, intersection of fields.