THE CLIL APPROACH IN TEACHING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE TO AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS: EXPERIENCE AND RESULTS

Abstract

The article addresses the current issue of enhancing the effectiveness of teaching a foreign language (English) to agricultural students, in the context of growing demands for specialists in the field of international agribusiness. It is emphasized that traditional methods of teaching a foreign language do not provide the proper level of formation of professional foreign language communicative competence (PFCC), necessary for successful mastery of the profession in the conditions of a globalized world. The purpose of the article is the theoretical justification and experimental verification of the effectiveness of implementing the CLIL approach (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in the formation of PFCC of students of agricultural specialties. The domestic and foreign experience of using CLIL in higher education is analyzed, and the features of its implementation in the context of agricultural training are revealed, particularly under martial law conditions and blended learning. A pedagogical experiment conducted on the basis of the Mykolaiv National Agrarian University with the participation of students of the specialties "Agronomy" and "Agroengineering" is described. As part of the experiment, educational and methodological support with authentic professional materials in English was created, which are integrated into the educational process according to the CLIL principles. Criteria for assessing the formation of the PFCC were determined, a comparative analysis of the results of the control and experimental groups was conducted. Statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group confirm the effectiveness of the approach to mastering agricultural terminology, improving reading, speaking skills and the general level of language proficiency. The conclusions emphasize the feasibility of introducing CLIL into foreign language teaching for agricultural students as an effective means of training competitive specialists. The article outlines prospects for further research, including the creation of digital resources and the study of the long-term impact of the approach on the professional success of graduates.