DEVELOPING ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMPETENCE IN FUTURE PROFESSIONALS IN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AND RADIO ENGINEERING: EU EXPERIENCE

Abstract

In today’s era of global digitalisation, specialists in electronic communications and radio engineering must function effectively in multilingual and multicultural professional environments, where English is the primary language of technical documentation, scientific research, and innovation. Ukrainian higher education faces a challenge: while students often possess strong technical knowledge, their limited English proficiency restricts access to international publications, participation in global projects, and academic mobility. This article analyses European practices that integrate English language development with engineering education, including Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), English-Medium Instruction (EMI), project- and task-based learning (PBL/TBL), and blended and flipped learning approaches. Case studies from Austria, the Czech Republic, Norway, and Poland demonstrate that combining these methods enhances students’ technical understanding, professional communication, and intercultural competence. Embedding English within technical curricula, engaging students in authentic engineering tasks, and employing digital tools and virtual labs fosters active use of English in context, strengthens domain-specific vocabulary, and improves reporting and presentation skills. Adapting such practices in Ukrainian programmes requires teacher training, curriculum redesign, institutional support, and partnerships with international universities and industry. A coordinated, multi-method approach can significantly boost students’ employability, readiness for global collaboration, and ability to meet European engineering standards.

For Ukrainian higher education, adopting these practices represents a critical opportunity to close the linguistic gap that currently limits students’ academic mobility, employability, and international engagement. Further research could explore the long-term effectiveness of integrated methods and the role of digital tools and international projects in enhancing professional English skills and technical competence in Ukraine.