EAP FOR MASTERS IN PHILOSOPHY: CLIL ASPECTS

Abstract

The article critically outlines certain aspects of the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), practically implemented in the design of the author's e learning educational and methodical complex of the discipline “Basics of Scientific Communication in a Foreign Language” for the preparation of the first- and second-year Masters under the Educational and Scientific Program 033.00.01 Philosophy implemented at Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University in 2022. The benefits of integrated pedagogical technologies for the effective mastering of the subject specific EAP comprise the trajectories of needs and expectations studying, Task-based Material Design for Academic Purposes, assessment variability and scaffolding, critical thinking enhancement and argumentative discourse strategies assimilating, teamwork and peer to peer cooperation, SWOT analysis of the recent research in the academic field of philosophy. At the same time, the objective challenges visualized by the Theory of Cognitive Load are indicated: CLIL within academic philosophy covers multi-level human-creative meaningful content, determined by the subject specifics of academic philosophizing, where English for Academic Purposes is the base ground constituent of the e-learning content design. Considering that the productivity of the educational process is directly dependent on the amount of cognitive effort spent on identifying, recognizing, comprehending and information processing, the actual academic content of professionally oriented discourse can potentially lead to a deterioration of the expected learning outcomes in the case of a low language proficiency in English Medium Instruction (EMI). Effective planning, balanced goal-setting, the optimal ratio of the facilitator role of the teacher, active involvement of students in the subject specific experience exchange under the conditions of qualitatively organized group and peer to peer interaction, systematic implementation of Task-based Material Design for Academic Purposes as well as variability of quantitatively measured assessment through qualitative scaffolding and self-reflection are singled out in the paper as efficient pedagogical strategies of the CLIL implementation.