Speaker
Description
In the context of the internationalisation of higher education and the growing role of English as a global language of science and technology, the development of both communicative and research skills among engineering students has become increasingly important. This study investigates the effectiveness of a multimodal approach to teaching English as a factor in improving engineering students’ research skills. A quasi-experimental design was employed involving 90 undergraduate students of automotive engineering at Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University (Ukraine). The experimental group participated in a multimodal English course integrating audiovisual translation, digital learning resources, English for Specific Purposes, and extracurricular research activities, while the control group received traditional language instruction. The effectiveness of the intervention was evaluated using three indicators: information search and analysis skills, English communicative competence, and research self-efficacy. Statistical analysis using Pearson’s chi-square test demonstrated significant improvements in the experimental group compared to the control group. The results indicate that the multimodal approach significantly enhances students’ information literacy, communicative competence, and confidence in conducting research. The findings highlight the potential of multimodal language instruction to support the development of academic and research competencies among engineering students.
Keywords: audiovisual translation, engineering students, foreign language teaching, multimodal approach, research skills.