Developing multiliteracy skills and pragmatic communication awareness of university students learning a foreign language (English) for specific purposes

The paper aims to explore the development of multiliteracy skills and pragmatic awareness of students in the process of university-based foreign language learning. The research topic choice is based on the increasing importance of interdisciplinary education, university graduates’ abilities and skills to hold efficient multilingual communication in varied and changing professional settings. The research was conducted during 2016–2020 at the [BLINDED] Institute of [BLINDED] University. Over 600 students were subject to the research experiments. The research integrated desk and field studies. Academic literature review served as the theoretical background to shape the methodology and identify the relevant didactic components for the awareness and skills development of university law students. The results of the study show that students’ multiliteracy skills increase by 25–27% during an academic year. Besides, the average figures for students’ awareness of and skills in the pragmatic communication increase by 25–30% during an academic year. Moreover, the comparative analysis of students’ academic progress in traditional and multiliteracy and pragmatic communication-focused training revealed that the didactic approach under study contributed to students’ overall academic progress, including legal subjects and language disciplines. The experimental training was launched and conducted during the mentioned period with the focus on multiliteracy skills and pragmatic communication awareness of university law students. A comparative analysis of students’ academic progress in traditional and multiliteracy training was conducted. The data confirmed that learning foreign language with the focus on multiliteracy skills and pragmatic communication awareness of university law students contributes to students’ overall academic progress, apart from foreign language skills. The practical significance and prospects of further research are based on the possibility of implementing the developed program, created on the basis of modern methodological approaches, in the curriculum not only at the Faculty of Law, but also at other faculties. It is important to study the effectiveness of modern methods in the process of learning foreign languages, determining their effectiveness in the formation of language competencies. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd