PROFESSIONAL LINGUODIDACTICS AS THE CUTTING-EDGE ADVANCED APPROACH TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN TVET: ESP VS. CLIL

Full text

PROFESSIONAL LINGUODIDACTICS AS THE CUTTING-EDGE
ADVANCED APPROACH TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
IN TVET: ESP VS. CLIL
A. Krupchenko1, A. Kuznetsov2
1 Academy of Professional Development and Re-Training of Educators (RUSSIAN
FEDERATION)
2 National University of Science and Technology 'MISiS' (RUSSIAN FEDERATION)
5765744@inbox.ru, andremos@inbox.ru
Abstract
The article presents a theoretical background for the development of a new approach in both Russian
and international methodology of Foreign Language Teaching (FLT), i.e. Professional Linguodidactics
(PLD). Authors stipulate on the research findings obtained through a comparative analysis of such FLT
approaches as English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Content-and-Language Integrated Learning
(CLIL), the clear-cut between which is there to help reach a better understanding of PLD. In terms of
methodology, the research was organized in four stages. First, the very keystones of the
methodological background, i.e. Professional Pedagogics and its derivative Professional
Linguodidactics, was scrutinized through literature review. Second, the authors elaborated on the
breaks between ESP and CLIL by means of conceptualization and analysis of Russian and
international university FLT practice. Third, the development of the innovational FLT field, i.e. English
for Professional Purposes (EPP), was backgrounded through the analysis of the cutting-edge
requirements of the stakeholders of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the actual
level of the FLT theory achievements, and the actual FLT experience of the authors. Finally, the
methods of the EPP-teacher professional development were considered on the grounds of the
relevant literature review and the analysis of Russian university FLT practice. The key results that the
authors obtained in the research, and present in this paper, include their development (both in the
content and the technology aspects) of the PLD-relevant refresher courses that are now offered to FLT
university teachers at the Academy of Professional Development and Retraining of Educators,
Moscow, Russia.
Keywords: Professional Linguodidactics, FLT, teacher development, ESP, CLIL, English for
Professional Purposes, TVET, EPP-teacher
1 INTRODUCTION
The study of a foreign language (FL) in technical (non-linguistic) universities is a must (i.e. not
optional) in Russia. In accordance with a new Russian Federal State Educational Standards of Higher
Education (2013-2015), a University must form a general cultural competence and professional
competence of a future specialist by means of subjects included in the curriculum, by means of a FL
discipline as well. Such target setting makes it relevant to the results of the theoretical research aimed
at defining a new Russian methodology, i.e. Professional Linguodidactics [1], with a core task: to build
a professional competence of a specialist in the FLT process.
The state-of-art of intercultural/crosscultural communication is a compound process that is being
paralleled by, and synchronizes with, other processes in the civil society of today. Globalization causes
civilization clashes, i.e. mismatches at the level of languages and values. It was this complexity that
provoked a somewhat reviewed ideology of intercultural/crosscultural communication, and led to the
sound research projects in the field of new approaches to language education and training, with
particular considerations of the TVET aspects [1, 2, 3]. The key idea of the latter is in the application of
the integration of language study with the study of a relevant culture.

Previously, it has in a way been taken for granted that the content of a foreign language lesson was to
feature that integrated cultural component which would communicate across the values of the
second/FL-relevant culture. Thus, languages used to be taught for general/cultural purposes, and for
‘acculturation’, i.e. introduction to ‘civilization’. And that, by the go, almost inevitably led to the
interiorization by the learners of that second culture’s values, their supremacy over the values of the
native culture and the functioning of the native language as a tool of communication. In its turn, this
would result in the interference, and substitution, of the values with contradictory believes and
concepts, i.e. value deviations and the devaluation of the native culture and corrupted perceptions,
including the TVET perceptions.
Some researchers concentrate on those challenges and the associated threats of language training
that serves as an instrument of the so-referred ‘soft power’. It is vital that any member of the culture’s
community – i.e. teacher/instructor, school administrator, classmate, education-active parent, etc. –
may act as a conductor of those foreign values. This is why any given community considers the
national educational system to be responsible for the development of the culture’s relevant values in
the learners involved, and those learners are to be capable of the provision of their own linguistic and
cultural safety, as well as the cultural safety of their community. Many communities delegate that to the
local/national systems of education to translate the relevant sets of values, lifestyle and orientations to
their members. And the expansion and, in fact, current global domination of the English language and
American culture may serve as a sound example in this context.
At the same time, foreign language teaching based on the interaction of the language and cultural
components is designed to be a true tool for the coinage of the cultural and civil identities and
preparation for living in this multicultural and multilingual globalizing environment. Formation of the
targeted community of cultural equality and cultural complementation for intercultural/crosscultural
communication and the mechanisms for its development are at the focus of this current research on
development and introduction of the novational profession-oriented approach to foreign language
training, i.e. Professional Linguodidactics.
2 NEEDS ANALYSIS
Appropriateness and relevance of the study of PLD rest on the following facts:
1. Internationalization has changed perceptions of what FL competence means for a specialist in a
globalized world. Those graduates, whose career, regardless of anything, gets international
dimension, still have to find additional opportunities to improve their English skills for professional
purposes. University authorities declare the need to change tertiary language policy, shifting focus
from what students know about the language to what they can do in the language in the field of their
specialism.
2. The survey of linguistic university graduates resulted in the fact that less than 5% of them are willing
to teach FL in technical (non-linguistic) universities the number of which is much larger than linguistic
universities.
3. The analysis of profession- oriented FLT in technical universities [2] demonstrated that the curricula
of more than 50% of educational institutions focuses rather on the formation of students' linguistic
intercultural communicative competence than on foreign language (FL) professional communicative
competence (FLPCC).
These results proved the need for the development of a new FLT methodology for training a future
effective professional and for the preparation of a qualified teacher-instructor to teach FL for
professional purposes.
3 RESEARCH BACKGROUND: KEY NOTIONS
The study of this issue had led to the development of a Russian methodology for FL profession-
oriented education, i.e. Professional Linguodidactics (PLD) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5], with a core task: to build a
professional competence of a specialist in the FLT process. Authors assume that:
Professional Linguodidactics studies:
– genesis of PLD;

– development of a system of pertaining principles;
– goals of integrated process of FLT and specialism training;
– profession- oriented FLT content;
– selection of the FLT technologies, aimed at professionalization of a specialist;
– selection of textbooks, manuals, equipment, teaching aids, etc. integrating the content of a
special object and a FL;
– teacher’s FL and TVET capacity building.
1) Genesis of Professional Linguodidactics grounds on two facts:
– PLD originated from “English for specific purposes” (ESP), developed by T. Hutchinson & A. Waters
[6], who considered ESP a learning centered approach.
– PLD transformed a concept of secondary linguistic identity - the key category of Linguodidactics
introduced by Yuri Karaulov - into the concept of linguistic identity of a specialist as introduced by
Anna Krupchenko [1, 2], which is considered a key category of PLD.
2) The specific linguoprofessional principles such as the principles of selectivity, foreign language
professionalization, internationalization, international harmonization and advanced foreign language
specialization have been developed for the guidance of all categories of PLD (purpose, content, forms,
methods and tools for gaining foreign language professional goals, as well as for the teacher
development purposes).
3) Purpose. PLD aims at the formation of a foreign language professional communicative competence
(FLPCC) of a specialist, viewed as a logical unity and a clear coordination of linguistic, business and
specialized knowledge, operating in a FLT process. This target setting complies with the Russian
Federal State Educational Standards (Rus. ‘FGOS’) of Higher Education that require the graduates to
possess sound oral and written communicative skills in their professional field.
4) Content. The PLD is to design a linguaprofessional teaching /learning environment, the components
of which take into account the interdisciplinary integration, student-teacher-technical specialist
interaction and traditional and active teaching techniques integration that maximize the efforts for a
formation of FLPCC of a specialist.
5) Technologies, forms and methods of job-relevant FL learning/teaching (translations, essays,
competitions, quizzes, projects, casestudies, presentations at scientific seminars and conferences,
etc.) use problem-solving profession-based approach (PSPB) and linguoprofessional approach, and
both of them have proved to develop the creative and research skills as well as critical thinking skills in
profession-oriented areas. Of particular interest and potential here are the novational technologies,
predominantly based on the application of the cutting-edge informational tools, where the computer-
supported collaborative learning plays the proved leading role [7].This language and specialism
integrated learning/training (LSIL) serves a specialist FL professionalization, which means an increase
of a learner’s professional competence in FLT process.
6) EPP-teacher. A specific character of a FL (mostly English) teacher for professional purposes is
determined by the ability to conduct the needs analysis that builds the basis for the development of
special (modular) programmes and TVET-appropriate curricula. Besides, an EPP-teacher must feature
sustained interest and expertise in the profile field. An active FL teacher interaction with specialists of
a particular professional field develops teacher’s capacity. A teacher in profession-oriented FLT is to
conduct a comprehensive integrative process of formation of linguistic skills in close relationship with
professional skills based on interpenetration, interdependence and complementarity of interdisciplinary
information.
4 METHODOLOGY
In order to get a better understanding of PLD a comparative analysis of English for specific purposes
(ESP) [8, 9], Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) [10, 11, 12] and PLD was undertaken.

The proposed study of the distinctions between ESP, CLIL and PLD [1] investigates objectives
definitions, concept characteristics, methodology, assessment and teacher’s capacity building in the
process of FLT (Table 1).
Table 1. The distinctions between ESP, CLIL and PLD
ESP CLIL PLD
Objective Meets the specific
needs of the learners
Integrates the teaching
of content from the
curriculum with the
teaching of a non-native
language
Develops the foreign
language professional
communicative
competency (FLPCC) of
a specialist
Definition An approach to
language teaching
based on the learner’s
reason for learning
An approach in which
FL training is integrated
within subject teaching
Focuses on the building
and development of a
linguistic identity of a
specialist
Concept
characteristics
‘4-I concept’:
Involvement in all
types of training
activities;
Interaction in group
work and cooperation
with the teacher, etc.;
Individualization
-manifestation of his
personality in training;
Independence the
ability to choose their
own style of learning)
‘4-C concept’:
Content - a special
subject in the
curriculum;
Communication - the
increase of student
talking time and the
reduction of teacher
talking time, self-
assessment, group and
pair work, feedback;
Cognition-the
development of
cognitive abilities in the
process of learning a
FL;
Culture – cultural
contexts aimed at the
formation of
responsibility for global
and local civil society
‘4-I- concept’:
Interdisciplinary
integration of
language &
specialism;
Internationalization - a
specialist in a
globalized world is
involved in a
multicultural
professional
communication;
Interaction with peers,
teachers and
professionals for
successful FLT
process;
Identity –
development of the
specialist’s linguistic
identity
Methodology Centres on the
language appropriate to
the activities in terms of
grammar, lexis register,
study skills, discourse
and genre
A teaching methodology
in which integration of
subject and language is
of central importance
A methodology for FL
profession-oriented
education with a core
task, i.e. to build a
professional
competency of a
specialist in the FLT
process

Makes use of underlying
methodology and
activities of the
discipline it serves
Presents the three CLIL
models: soft CLIL
(language-led), hard
CLIL (subject-led) the
third model which
demonstrates partial
immersion
Serves as a theoretical
basis for building
programs and course
designs for continuous
FLT of a specialist
Restricted to the
language skills to be
developed
Bilingual subject
teaching is primary, i.e.
the subject presents the
content with which the
learner has to deal
Aims at selection of
skills for professional
communication
according to a specialist
needs, including
selection of textbooks,
manuals, equipment,
teaching aids, etc.
integrating the content
of a special subject & a
FL
Designed for adult
learners
Designed mostly for
secondary school
learners
Designed for
professionals
Most ESP courses
assume some basic
knowledge of the
language system, but it
can also be used with
beginners
Requires the
development of
learners’ autonomy, i.e.
the ability to work
independently in the
context of group and
project work
Generates
professionally oriented
FLT content for adult
learners (at tertiary
level)
Assessment FL communicative
competency acquisition
is assessed in a
particular professional
field. The priority lies in
a linguistic component
Both language and
subject learning
outcomes are important.
The priority lies in a
content component
The acquisition of a
specialist’s foreign
language professional
communicative
competency (FLPCC) is
assessed. Both FL and
professional
competencies are in
focus
Teachers
capacity
A teacher in the ESP
approach is defined as
a manager, facilitator,
consultant, advisor
(expert)
Both subject and linguist
teacher are involved in
the comprehensive
integrative process of
formation of linguistic
skills in close
relationship with
professional skills
It includes joint work of
a motivated learner and
a competent (linguists
and specialists) teacher,
on the basis of
cooperation,
collaboration and team-
teaching
5 RESULTS
From the results of the above study, a number of important facts were established [1, 2, 4]. In general,
PLD as a new scientific branch of linguodidactics originated from ESP and has much in common with
CLIL.

ESP as a learning cantered approach based on analysis of a learner needs gave rise to the
emergence of PLD. Besides ESP specific methodology limited as to the language skills to be learned
corresponds to the specific PLD principle of selectivity which guides the selection of skills, textbooks,
manuals, equipment, teaching aids, etc. aimed at teaching/learning professional communication based
on a specialist needs of the learners.
What concerns the development of PLD, the authors consider it as being much closer to CLIL
approach, where the integration of the subject and the language is central. Both CLIL and PLD focus
on learning environment aimed to provide a dynamic multi-level construction of specialist FL training
for professional purposes based on individual abilities and capabilities, motivation and staff
development needs.
To improve the professional competency of a learner in a language and a specialism called on all
teachers to develop their capabilities. It is no longer good enough to have a deeper understanding of
the discipline for which they are teaching English as it is with a teacher of ESP. PLD and CLIL requires
close interaction of subject and language teachers, involves them in the integrative process of
formation of linguistic and professional skills.
These scientific results put forward an urgent problem of training FL teachers for professional
communication which is a very great demand nowadays and is not fully realized as a profession in
Russia. It should appear in the official documents of FGOS and professional standard of a teacher. At
present, it is a problem of a scientific research and the question of in-service teacher training which
takes place the Academy for in-service Teacher Training and Retraining in Moscow (Russia).
6 СONCLUSIONS
Professional Linguodidactics (PLD):
– is a young Interdisciplinary branch of (lingua) didactics that develops a methodology (research,
management, and modelling) of job-relevant FL learning/teaching;
– is aimed at the building of a professional foreign language communicative competency of a
specialist, the components of which characterize a specialist linguistic identity;
– focuses on building a student’ policultural professional competency required by internationalization in
a globalized world;
– is to design a linguoprofessional environment based on interdisciplinary integration and student-
teacher-technical specialist interaction;
– develops such new approaches as language and specialism integrated learning (LSIL), problem-
solving profession-based approach (PSPB) and linguoprofessional approach which are at present on
the agenda of a scientific research curricula and PLD-relevant refresher courses that are now offered
to FLT university teachers at the Academy of Professional Development and Retraining of Educators,
Moscow, Russia.
REFERENCES
[1] A. Krupchenko, “Professional linguadidactics”, First International Symposium on Pedagogical
Research, Shanghai, 14.-15.11.2013, Tongji University, Shanghai, pp. 23-25, 2013.
[2] A. Krupchenko, K. Inozemtseva, E. Prilipko, “Professional development of a foreign-language
tertiary teacher: Competence-based approach”, Mediterranean Journal of Social Science, vol 6,
no 6, S5, pp. 257-261, 2015.
[3] A. Kuznetsov, “Professional competency formation potential of an academic subject in engineering
education: An account of stake-holders' requirements in foreign language teaching”, First
International Symposium on Pedagogical Research, Shanghai, 14.-15.11.2013, Tongji University,
Shanghai, pp. 1-4, 2013.

[4] A. Kuznetsov, “Advancement of foreign language teaching for professional purposes: a case-study
of stake-holders’ requirements”, International Research Journal, #4(46), Part 3, April 2016, pp. 69-
71, 2016.
[5] A. Kouznetsov, “Language mastery development within TVET for professional mobility
advancement”, Chapter 10.12, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Handbook on Education for the
Changing World of Work, Bonn, UNESCO-UNEVOC International Center, Amsterdam, Springer
Publishers, vol. 4, pp. 1739-1746, 2009.
[6] T. Hutchinson, A. Waters, English for specific purposes: A learning centered approach, Cambridge
University Press, 1987.
[7] V. Popov, H.J.A. Biemans, A.N. Kuznetsov, M. Mulder, “Use of an interculturally enriched
collaboration script in computer-supported collaborative learning in higher education”, Technology,
Pedagogy and Education, Aug. 2014.
[8] T. Dudley-Evans, M.J. St John, Developments in English for Specific Purposes (A multi-
disciplinary approach), Cambridge University Press, 2011.
[9] P. Strevens, “ESP after twenty years: a re-appraisal”, in M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the Art,
Singapore, SEAMEO Regional Centre, pp. 1-13, 1988.
[10] K. Bentley, The TKT Teaching Knowledge Test Course (CLIL Module), Cambridge University
Press, 2010.
[11] H. Coyle, D. Marsh, CLIL Content and Language Integrated Learning, Cambridge University
Press, 2010.
[12] A. Kuznetsov, A. Krupchenko, E. Schaveleva, “Potential of an academic subject in profession-
related competency formation: A case study of stakeholders’ requirements in foreign language
teaching within engineering education”, INTED2017, Proceedings 11th International Technology,
Education and Development Conference, March 6th-8th, Valencia, Spain, 2017.