English for professional communication: a project-based approach to teaching university students (a case study of music students)

Introduction. One of the ultimate requirements for the successful integration of any specialist to the international market is his/her language skills. However, the current educational system often lacks streamlined techniques meeting challenges of dynamically changing sociocultural and professional settings, especially, when it comes to communication, field-specific terminology and self-development opportunities. The article dwells on project-based learning at universities in view of English for Professional Purpose. The aim of this paper is to specify some aspects of the project-based approach related to project content and structure, as well as to discover some of its advantages in the English for Professional Purpose-context. Materials and Methods. The research was carried out at the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music, its participants having exceeded 500 students from eight faculties and amounted to 40 educators teaching different disciplines. The following methods were used to specify the ways to university enhance students' English language skills through project-based learning: analysis and synthesis to study research and methodical literature at Stage 1; survey (interviews, questionnaires) to work with at Stage 2 - getting students and teachers prepared for project-based activities; comparative analysis and description to deal with at Stage 3, related to integrating project-based learning into educational and sociocultural environment, and supervision to deal with Stages 2, 3 and to fix the results. The learning material comprised items for developing students' speaking, reading, listening and writing skills. Results. The research findings include project content-and-structure-related aspects involving such factors as time, duration, form, type, activities, context and related fields. The authors also brought into the spotlight some advantages for more efficient professional training, namely, an increase in student motivation and readiness for successful communication, proper understanding and use of field-specific terms, as well as extending the range of self-development opportunities. Discussion and Conclusion. The project-based approach in the English for Professional Purpose context creates new opportunities for students to learn to interact with others on an international scale in the real-world circumstances. The article is intended for English language educators and learners worldwide seeking to enrich mixed group experience by doing creative projects with real-world outcomes.