Khazratova Zukhra Mamaraimovna

Аннотация

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has progressed from a narrowly defined branch of applied linguistics into a cornerstone of professional preparation in non-Anglophone contexts. Although its contribution to subject- related language proficiency is well documented, the ways in which ESP catalyses broader professional competence remain under-researched. The present mixed-method study investigates the impact of an integrated ESP programme on engineering undergraduates at three Central Asian universities. Quantitative data, obtained from a pre- and post-course Professional Competence Self-Assessment Scale (n = 186) and performance-based tasks, were complemented by qualitative evidence from classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and corpus analysis of student artefacts. Results demonstrate statistically significant gains across cognitive, social, and affective dimensions of competence, with the largest improvement linked to intercultural teamwork and reflective problem-solving. Qualitative findings reveal that authenticity of tasks, iterative genre practice, and dialogic feedback were key drivers of change. The article argues that ESP functions as a boundary object connecting disciplinary knowledge, language expertise, and workplace practice, thereby fostering employability and lifelong learning dispositions. Policy implications for curriculum design, accreditation standards, and faculty development are discussed. Keywords: English for Specific Purposes, professional competence, engineering education, mixed-method research, genre pedagogy, Central Asia. that operate under stringent regulatory and ethical Introduction: Globalised knowledge economies have constraints. In Central Asia, many engineering reshaped the profile of language education, shifting programmes teach English in isolated foundation attention from generic communicative ability to courses, divorced from disciplinary content, resulting in domain-specific discourse competence. Employers low transfer to professional tasks. Aligning ESP more increasingly expect graduates not only to manipulate closely with core engineering curricula and with specialist lexis but also to collaborate across cultures, international accreditation frameworks could, reason ethically, and solve problems creatively. Early therefore, enhance both linguistic and professional ESP scholarship conceptualised language learning as a outcomes. The present study addresses this agenda by response to immediate pragmatic needs (Hutchinson & examining whether a redesigned, genre-based ESP Waters, 1987), yet subsequent research often course improves students’ self-perceived competence measured success through narrow linguistic proxies and observable performance in authentic engineering such as vocabulary size or test scores (Belcher, 2006). genres. Recent empirical work linking ESP with holistic competence remains sparse and fragmented. The investigation adopted a convergent-parallel mixed- methods design that permitted the simultaneous Engineering offers an instructive testbed because the collection and mutual corroboration of quantitative profession relies on multimodal genres—drawings, and qualitative evidence, thereby counteracting the specifications, feasibility studies, and incident logs— American Journal Of Philological Sciences 182 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN – 2771-2273) typical inferential threats that arise when language- representational accuracy. Student artefacts—drafts, learning outcomes are examined in isolation from the peer-feedback logs, and reflective journals—were professional practices they purport to serve. Three subjected to a corpus-based analysis in AntConc 4.2. public universities with engineering programmes Frequency lists and key-key-word comparisons against accredited, or in candidacy for accreditation, under a 3.2-million-word reference corpus of professional EUR-ACE participated in the study; institutional engineering texts illuminated lexico-grammatical shifts. selection was predicated on curricular comparability Integration procedures and ethical safeguards. and a shared commitment to outcomes-based Following a convergent design logic, quantitative and education. The final sample comprised 186 second- qualitative data sets were merged during year undergraduates (Mage = 19.4; SD = 1.2) who had interpretation through narrative weaving. completed a minimum of 600 contact hours of general Convergences strengthened inferential validity, English and whose entry proficiency ranged from B1+ whereas divergences prompted re-examination of to B2 on the CEFR, as verified by the Oxford Placement codebooks and statistical models. Ethics approval was Test (M = 64.3; SD = 7.6). granted by the lead university’s Research Ethics Quantitative strand. To capture multi-faceted Committee (protocol № 25-04-2025). Written development, the Professional Competence Self- informed consent, assuring anonymity