Rong ZhangВведение / Introduction
In today’s globalized music industry, English proficiency has evolved from a supplementary asset into a fundamental prerequisite for professional entry. Whether consulting editorial notes in foreign scores, participating in international masterclasses and academic conferences, or engaging in transnational touring and competition correspondence, musicians are required to use English in authentic professional contexts for information retrieval, opinion articulation, and interpersonal collaboration. Yet traditional higher music education has long prioritized performance or vocal skills, relegating foreign language instruction to the status of general education—largely disconnected from disciplinary practice. This misalignment creates significant linguistic barriers for graduates entering the international stage and has consequently heightened scholarly and pedagogical interest in the value of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) within music curricula.
Although ESP, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) have all received extensive theoretical attention, their application to music education confronts a central tension: a purely task-driven pathway tends to fragment linguistic knowledge, failing to ensure systematic coverage of grammar and lexis, whereas a purely structure-driven approach remains detached from performance practice, undermining learner motivation and transferability. While considerable work has been done on modular curriculum design—particularly in the Russian tradition of module-rating systems and in Western European needs-analysis frameworks—few studies have systematically integrated modular flexibility, thematic coherence, and the authentic communicative demands of music performance into a single operationalized curriculum framework. It is precisely this gap that constitutes the point of departure for the present study.
The paper proposes a theoretical model of a modular-thematic ESP curriculum designed for undergraduate or graduate music majors. The model rests on continuous needs analysis as its diagnostic foundation, employs CLIL as its content-integration mechanism, and adopts modular structuring as its curricular architecture, aiming to address systematically the most persistent challenges for music learners—namely, oral expression and aural comprehension—while preserving the integrity of the language system. It must be emphasized that this study is theoretical in nature; its primary contribution lies in offering a testable curriculum blueprint rather than a classroom-validated final product. The model draws upon the task-gradation logic of the British ESP tradition, the content-driven principle of Spanish CLIL practice, and the emphasis on learner autonomy and rating-based monitoring found in Russian modular pedagogy.
English for Specific Purposes emerged as an independent scholarly and methodological field in the second half of the twentieth century. T. Hutchinson and A. Waters established the foundational principle of ESP: instruction must proceed from the learner's actual needs rather than from an abstract language norm [1]. T. Dudley-Evans and M. J. St John proposed a multidisciplinary interpretation of ESP and demonstrated the considerable heterogeneity of its applied branches — ranging from business communication to the language of narrow professions [2]. The music specialty occupies a distinctive place among these: here, language serves live performance and scholarly activity rather than abstract communicative situations.
Russian scholarship has approached professionally oriented foreign-language teaching of music students from several research standpoints, whereas foreign methodology has accumulated a well-developed toolkit for needs analysis and techniques for integrating language content with subject matter. Despite the abundance of work in each of these areas, the combination of modular and thematic principles as applied to the tasks of teaching English to music students remains virtually unexplored. This gap constitutes the subject of the present study.
The purpose of the work is to propose a theoretical model of a curriculum that meets the professional needs of prospective music students, unites the modular and thematic principles of course construction, and is verifiable through correlation with domestic and foreign experience. The relevance of the topic is determined by the gap between the well-developed technique of modular curriculum design and the rarity of its application to the music specialty with regard to the students' actual communicative needs.
The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the proposed model can be used in developing English courses for music specialties, in selecting thematic modules, and in improving work on oral speech and listening comprehension. The structure of the article reflects this design: a review of domestic and foreign literature precedes the description of the methodological basis, followed by the presentation of the author's model and its substantiation.
Обзор литературы / Literature review
The Russian development of modular foreign-language instruction comprises several mutually complementary strands. It is logical to begin with studies devoted directly to the professional training of music students. As early as the late 1990s, O. G. Polyakov described the characteristic difficulties of teaching English to music and choreography students, linking them to the professional tasks of the learners [3]. A decade later, Yu. V. Blagov substantiated the expediency of an integrated study of foreign language, literature, and the history of foreign music within the training of prospective music students and music teachers. The author's principal conclusion is that language is acquired not in isolation from the specialty but through its content [4].
In parallel, a strand devoted specifically to the modular organization of the language course took shape. N. S. Dolmatova revealed its basic principles: a flexible program structure makes it possible to correlate assignments with the level of language proficiency, to differentiate basic, sufficient, and advanced levels of training, and to shift the center of gravity of the educational process toward guided independent work by the learner [5]. S. A. Morozova, N. V. Mironova, and M. N. Lopinova specified the didactic potential of the module, drawing on the interpretations of P. A. Yutsyavichene and M. A. Choshanov. According to the working definition they developed, a module is a learning unit with its own target setting, content material, methodological guidance, and system of control or self-control. In their design, a thematic module in English successively includes entry testing, vocabulary practice, listening and viewing of material, independent work, and exit testing; the entire chain culminates in a measurable learning outcome [6]. A generalized view of this technology was presented by I. A. Barilenko: her analysis of the prospects of modular instruction shows that clear structuring of material and reliance on a consciously perceived perspective strengthen motivation and make the educational trajectory genuinely individualized [7].
G. I. Mikhailova examined the module as an autonomous course or a separate part thereof, allowing free combination with other learning units. Among the merits of such an organization, the author lists flexibility, mobility, individualization of content, and mandatory rating-based assessment of performance. The researcher's observations draw, among other things, on the experience of technical universities, where the modular system is applied in the discipline "Foreign Language" in the training of engineers and where the mechanics of the specialized module have demonstrated stability across learners with varying starting levels [8]. The work most closely related to musical issues proved to be that of E. M. Melnikova: the modular-rating technology she proposed directly links the language training of prospective music teachers with the content of the specialty and, besides the language outcome itself, develops creativity — the capacity for unconventional solutions, which is especially significant for performance activity [9]. A similar line is continued by R. I. Bachieva, L. V. Olifirenko, and A. Z. Bachiev: in their interpretation, the university English module combines content-related, procedural, and technological components, while rating-based assessment covers all types of learning activity and stimulates student autonomy [10].
Russian research is not limited to formulating the concept of the module — it also describes the mechanics of its practical implementation. Within this tradition, a student's foreign-language communicative competence is formed through an integrative model combining systemic, competency-based, and communicatively oriented approaches. The course content is structured across three levels of language proficiency — basic, sufficient, and advanced — while a specific student's actual level is clarified through entry and exit testing and adjusted as skills genuinely develop. The learning modules are, in turn, aligned with specialized disciplines, which precludes a gap between language training and the specialty. The experience of North-Eastern Federal University, described by S. N. Monastyryova and V. V. Kugunurov, shows that the transition to intensive-modular instruction requires communicative support: it is precisely this support that removes the language barrier for students of non-linguistic fields and shifts the emphasis toward speech practice in pairs and groups [11].
The reduction of classroom hours, accompanied by an increase in the share of independent work, prompts domestic methodologists to devote particular attention to its organization. In the tradition described here, independent work is not reduced to a student's individual efforts undertaken at their own discretion but is built as a system of learning actions guided by the instructor, gradually becoming the principal form of language acquisition. It is precisely through this work that the student learns to acquire knowledge independently, sustain cognitive interest, and relate the language being studied to a future profession. This orientation directly resonates with the conditions of music specialties, where classroom time is objectively limited and the share of independent preparation is traditionally high. Open educational modular multimedia systems address the same task: as N. D. Pashkovskaya, I. A. Kireeva, and E. A. Razumovskaya note, authentic digital modules expand access to specialized materials and make it possible to build an individual trajectory in extracurricular work [12]. The effectiveness of such an organization has also been confirmed on the material of professionally oriented courses: O. L. Mokhova and co-authors established that modular ESP programs, combined with diagnostic and formative assessment, noticeably level out groups heterogeneous in preparation and raise the results of less-prepared students [13].
Foreign studies outline the theoretical boundaries of ESP and provide tools for course design. H. Basturkmen, in her 2006 monograph, systematized the conceptual foundations and models for constructing language programs for specific purposes [14], and in her 2010 publication translated these propositions into the practical plane of course development [15]. P. C. Robinson, summarizing ESP practice at an earlier stage, placed particular emphasis on the role of analyzing the initial learning situation [16]. J. Day and M. Krzanowski offered a methodologically transparent introduction to designing a course for specific purposes [17]. J. C. Richards included ESP among the key issues of language education and examined it in connection with program design [18]. R. Dashtestani and N. Stojković summarized the experience of applying technology in ESP and showed that digital tools substantially expand learners' access to specialized instructional materials [19].
A number of foreign works are devoted to the practical difficulties of teaching and the specifics of professional demand. L. Iswati and A. Triastuti, working with material from non-language faculties, described typical problems in implementing ESP courses and noted a shortage of specially trained instructors [20]. O. I. Mohamed and co-authors conducted a needs analysis of medical students and confirmed that the selection of content must be determined by the demands of the specific profession [21]. A. Du compared the positions of students and instructors regarding an ESP course and revealed significant discrepancies in their assessment of priorities [22]. Z. M. Gaffas investigated learners' perceptions of the contribution of general and specific-purpose language to their professional development and established that they rate the specialized component considerably higher [23].
The works listed differ substantially in genre and empirical basis, yet converge on a fundamental conclusion: the viability of a course for specific purposes is determined by the accuracy with which the demands of a particular audience are identified. Vocabulary, the list of skills to be developed, and the forms of assessment are derived from the profile of the specialty rather than set in advance. For music education, this conclusion is particularly important, since the set of professional communicative situations here differs fundamentally from that of engineering or medicine.
Most closely related to the topic of the present study is the branch devoted to needs analysis specifically for music students. B. Gashi and F. Gashi posed the direct question of the structure of a future program and the priority of communicative skills in the performance environment at the undergraduate level [24]. P. D. Hapsari, in a journal article, described the language needs of music-department students and substantiated reliance on project work [25], and in an extended study of the same year linked needs analysis to songwriting as a supporting methodological technique [26]. M. K. Buakhampan, using material from Thai music students of the local Lanna tradition, showed how specific the composition of in-demand skills is within a particular performance environment [27]. A. Fidianingsih distinguished between target needs and learning needs: target needs encompass necessities, lacks, and wants, while learning needs describe the preferred mode of material presentation and forms of assessment [28].
A comparison of these studies reveals a stable profile of the music audience's needs. Music students consistently identify oral communication and listening comprehension of foreign speech as the most difficult skills, whereas reading specialized texts poses considerably less difficulty for them. The demand for performance terminology and for work with authentic professional situations proves stable regardless of the country of study. Differences between the studies concern mainly the format of material presentation: in some cases preference is given to project work, in others to song lyrics or scenarios of concert-related communication.
The thematic and task-based organization of a program has also been studied outside music education. N. M. S. Gunu, using the example of primary schools in remote areas, identified difficulties in implementing a thematic program and confirmed that the outcome depends on teacher qualification and the availability of instructional materials [29]. J. Anderson proposed the TATE model as a conceptual framework for course design, built on a "context – analysis – practice" scheme: comprehension of a spoken or written text precedes the analysis of a language phenomenon and its subsequent practice, ranging from controlled exercises to freer speech production [30]. For music specialties, this logic is organic: a specialized text — whether a commentary on a score, a performer's interview, or an annotation to a recording — serves as a natural starting point for a thematic module.
The thematic organization is also important in that it ensures the content coherence of the course. Individual tasks, however successful, lose their methodological value if not united by a through-line theme: it is precisely this theme that holds vocabulary, grammar, and speech skills together within a single professional current. In the context of music specialties, such through-line themes may include preparing for a competition, analyzing a recording, reading a research article about a work, or corresponding with a foreign ensemble. Each theme unfolds into an independent module and concludes with a concrete outcome that is clear to the student.
Foreign methodology has accumulated several stable models of such a program, differing markedly by national tradition. The British line gravitates toward a task-based core, in which the sequence of tasks is derived from needs analysis and arranged in order of increasing difficulty; its vulnerable point is insufficient attention to vocabulary and grammar at the initial stages, which necessitated a thematic superstructure. Spanish practice proceeds from the integration of subject content and language: musical material itself becomes the basis for speech practice, while motivation is sustained by the specialized subject matter. Despite their differences, both traditions rely on the same professional material and on a prior analysis of the audience's needs.
The British approach to course construction is embodied in the TATE model, described by J. Anderson in the pages of the British publication ELT Journal, issued by Oxford University Press. The researcher analyzes R. Ellis's modular program and points to two of its shortcomings. The first: an exercise within a course with pre-established linguistic content retains elements of meaningful communication, which fosters the incidental acquisition of other linguistic units; consequently, the task-oriented component needs to be allotted a more substantial part of the program. The second shortcoming: in Ellis's model, discussion of work on lexical material is kept to a minimum at all stages, especially the initial ones, whereas the purposeful study of words remains an effective way of expanding vocabulary [31].
Russian research complements this picture from the standpoint of the technique of modular assembly. Specialized foreign-language modules are constructed as an ordered chain: entry testing, accumulation and practice of vocabulary, listening to and viewing material, independent work, and exit testing with a measurable outcome. This sequence can be transferred to music specialties virtually without modification, provided it is filled with performance-related content.
The literature review also reveals a substantial gap. Foreign works rarely carry needs analysis through to a specific music audience and almost never combine it with the modular technique of course design. Domestic studies, by contrast, demonstrate a high degree of command of modular organization but pay insufficient attention to a detailed description of performers' actual needs. The combination of these two methodological strengths forms the research niche occupied by the proposed model.
Методологическая база исследования / Methodological base of the research
This work is theoretical in nature, and its methodological basis consists of scholarly research methods. The leading among these are the analysis and comparison of scholarly publications, the systematization of scattered data, the generalization of research findings, and the modeling of a curriculum. Empirical material is drawn upon as a secondary source: the basis for the conclusions is previously published needs-analysis results rather than data from the author's own research conducted directly in the educational process.
The conceptual framework of the study rests on five theoretical research methods:
1. The competency-based approach determines the target orientation of the course, setting the benchmarks for the formation of foreign-language communicative competence in a professional context.
2. The modular approach supplements this orientation with the principles of flexibility and mobility of the program structure, as well as an orientation toward guided independent work by the learner.
3. Professional orientation is realized through the direct correlation of language training with the content of the music specialty.
4. Needs-analysis methodology ensures the implementation of the ESP line.
M. H. Long substantiated an understanding of needs analysis as an obligatory and continuous foundation of course design, fundamentally distinct from a one-off diagnostic survey [32]. D. Nunan, in turn, defined this procedure as the collection of objective information about the learner and subjective assessments of the tasks facing them, and placed it at the center of any syllabus design [33]. To systematize the professional needs of music students, the scheme of E. Harmandaoğlu Baz is applied, structured into seven thematic categories: learner profile and goals, beliefs about language learning, learning environment, extracurricular activity, program, and measurement and evaluation of outcomes [34].
5. The Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) model serves as the thematic foundation of the course. L. Bellés-Calvera showed that a foreign language is most effectively acquired through specialized musical content rather than in isolation from it [35].
The Spanish line of research draws on the work of L. Bellés-Calvera, conducted at a state secondary school in the Valencian Community (Spain), where Content and Language Integrated Learning had already been practiced in history, geography, technology, and economics classes; musical content was incorporated into English lessons for first-year secondary students [36]. Two groups had classes three times a week for 50 minutes; five lessons were allotted for completing the work, after which a final questionnaire was distributed [37]. The classes involved 44 schoolchildren aged 12–14, divided into two groups of 22; 36 of them completed the assignments and the questionnaire [38]. The instructional materials included ten tasks based on video recordings, internet resources, and textbooks, oriented primarily toward oral communication, as well as a final questionnaire of eleven questions [39].
The results of the pedagogical activity were recorded against a set of criteria. The final group performances showed a satisfactory level; teamwork was recorded in seven groups out of eight, and most learners received positive grades, although in a number of cases pronunciation defects hindered communication, which, in the author's view, indicates the need to increase the volume of speech exercises [40]. Students in both groups rated the use of English in music classes positively; more than half of the respondents expressed a desire to study subjects in English, with 60% of those surveyed naming music as such a subject [41]. The study's summary emphasizes that such lessons are perceived by schoolchildren as easier compared with traditional ones [42]. When interacting with the teacher and with one another, most students switched to Spanish out of fear of making grammatical and phonetic errors [43]; 94% of participants noted that they enjoyed working in English, although some feared failing the exam if they chose such a program [44].
The conceptual framework is rounded out by the idea of a task-based curriculum. R. Ellis established that a task-only route does not provide systematic coverage of all linguistic phenomena, which makes a thematic superstructure over this framework methodologically necessary [45]. At the same time, the researcher acknowledges the complexity of the grammatical system and the shortage of instructional time for its comprehensive practice. He allows for the inclusion of an initial explicit component for teaching vocabulary; systematic work on grammar belongs to the period when the learner has developed a sufficiently extensive vocabulary. The structural element in his program is introduced later, after a basic level of language proficiency has been reached, and is intended to eliminate residual difficulties associated with particular grammatical constructions [46]. These clarifications demonstrate that a purely task-based approach without a thematic and lexical superstructure leaves certain gaps in the language system.
Результаты исследования / Research results
The proposed modular-thematic program constitutes a coherent model in which the technique of modular assembly is combined with the thematic organization of material and subordinated to the professional needs of music students. A module is understood here as a purposeful functional unit of the course: a complete unit with its own target setting, instructional material, methodological guidance, and built-in assessment. The content module breaks down into a thematic and a target-oriented one, while the thematic module is built around a specialized storyline and is subdivided into language blocks — speaking, listening, and reading. The architecture of the course is assembled from such complete units strung together on professional subject matter.
The model upholds several requirements, each of which is realized in concrete solutions:
1. Starting from needs analysis. The selection of themes and tasks proceeds from the actual demands of the music specialty, and the analysis itself is understood as a continuous component of course design rather than a one-time procedure. Thematic modules are built around performance practice, work with foreign sources, and professional communication.
2. Priority of oral speech and listening comprehension. These skills are more difficult for music students than others, so each thematic module allots them a separate language block grounded in real performance situations.
3. Linking language to musical content. Language material is not acquired for its own sake but as a means of talking about the specialty; a specialized text — a score commentary, a performer's interview, a recording annotation — serves as the module's point of departure.
4. A thematic superstructure over the task-based core. Tasks with a closed, comprehension-based outcome precede tasks with an open, productive output, and the thematic and lexical layer closes the gaps left by a purely task-based route.
5. Rating-based assessment. A points-based evaluation makes progress transparent for both student and instructor; the final grade can be assigned on the basis of accumulated points without an exam, and a student takes the exam only for the sake of a higher grade.
To show how the model works in practice, let me describe the unfolding of a single thematic module. It opens with entry testing, which measures the starting level and orients the student toward the theme. Next comes the accumulation of specialized vocabulary on the material of an actual performance storyline, followed by a listening block featuring recordings of rehearsals, master classes, and interviews, after which comes oral practice in the form of a role-play or a discussion of interpretation. The module concludes with exit testing, the result of which is converted into points and determines the transition to the next theme. Within the block, tasks are arranged in increasing difficulty: from recognition and reproduction to independent utterance.
Let us examine the specific tasks proposed within the thematic module. Each has a working title and its own procedure:
1. "Score Preface." Students analyze and translate introductory articles to sheet music editions, editorial notes, and commentaries on the score. The outcome of the work is an oral account of the author's intent and of disputed editorial decisions.
2. "Performer's Glossary." Each student compiles a bilingual dictionary of terms for their instrument, including English designations of tempo, dynamics, articulation marks, and playing techniques. The glossary is expanded throughout the module.
3. "Composer's Remark." The group reads and orally translates the composer's instructions in Italian, German, and English, then explains how these markings affect the interpretation of the work.
4. "Conductor's Dictation." Students listen to the instructions of a conductor or foreign pedagogue from an audio recording of a rehearsal; the student writes them down and orally conveys their content.
5. "Master Class Notes." A fragment of a renowned performer's open lesson is played, after which a brief summary of the key recommendations is compiled in English.
6. "Program Presentation." The student presents their own concert program before an audience, accompanying each piece with a brief annotation on its concept and character.
7. "Recording Annotation." An English-language text is prepared for a recording insert or concert program booklet, describing the work and the performing ensemble.
8. "Audition and Competition." Situations of an audition, a competition performance, and a rehearsal are role-played, with roles assigned as a jury member, an accompanist, and a soloist.
9. "Press Interview." A conversation with a foreign journalist about repertoire, performance preferences, and the music student's creative path is simulated.
10. "Festival Application." A business letter is composed to a foreign festival, competition, or ensemble with an application to participate and a request for performance conditions.
11. "Competitor's Portfolio." The student prepares a performer's résumé and a cover letter for an international competition following the format accepted abroad.
12. "Registration Form." A participant questionnaire and registration form for a foreign creative school or summer course is filled out.
13. "Research Article on a Work." A research paper on a specific composition is read and discussed, with an analysis of its argumentation and conclusions.
14. "Performance Review." A summary is made of a foreign-language review of a concert or recording, highlighting evaluative vocabulary and critical remarks.
15. "Composer Portrait." An oral report on the biography and style of a composer is prepared based on English-language sources.
16. "Tour Negotiations." A telephone or video dialogue with a concert agent is role-played, concerning the organization of a touring performance and its terms.
Each of the listed task types is tied to an actual professional task and therefore sustains motivation even in a student with a weak starting level.
The model is deliberately constructed to be verifiable: each of its requirements can be correlated with observable data from international and Russian practice and adjusted as necessary. This distinguishes it from a speculative scheme and allows it to be transferred to specific fields of training — instrumental, vocal, conducting — by changing only the thematic content of the modules while preserving the overall architecture.
Flexibility remains a fundamental property of the entire construction. Modules can be rearranged, combined, and split to fit a specific program without disrupting the logic of the course. The pace of progression is adjusted to the group, and parallel tracks for different levels make it possible to work with a heterogeneous cohort without loss for strong students and without overload for weak ones. A spiral return to previously covered material within a new theme reinforces vocabulary and speech skills without mechanical repetition.
Intensified work on oral speech and listening comprehension permeates all modules rather than being set apart in a separate course. A music student is constantly listening: to a conductor's analysis, an accompanist's remarks, recordings of performances — and this habit of auditory analysis becomes a support for language training. Tasks involving anticipation, restoring missing information, and retelling what has been heard develop the capacity to reconstruct meaning, which is usually more developed in music students than in students of other fields. Speaking is practiced in genres close to the profession: presenting a program, commenting on an interpretation, answering a jury's questions.
Assessment within the model is multi-staged. Entry testing establishes a baseline, ongoing measurements within the blocks track the accumulation of vocabulary and speech skills, and exit testing sums up the theme. Points from each stage accumulate into a rating, on the basis of which a student may, if desired, be exempted from the exam. Anyone seeking a higher grade or who has not accumulated enough points undergoes final certification, the result of which accurately reflects their actual level of language proficiency.
The selection of tasks draws on the properties of music students that we have examined, and each property receives a methodological response. The speech culture of music students is usually higher than that of students in the natural sciences, so the program includes exercises in literary style of speech and work with poetry and prose. Music students, above all singers and conductors, are characterized by artistry and a need for self-expression — hence role-plays as a mainstay of oral practice. Heightened sensitivity and impressionability require the instructor to organize the work clearly and provide careful feedback. Perception among music students proceeds from intonation, phrasing, and the rhythm of speech; emotion and the character of what is said are primary for them, and the instructor must therefore command a rich intonational register and varied tempos and timbres of speech. Well-developed intuition allows music students to reconstruct the meaning of an unfamiliar utterance, which justifies tasks involving anticipation of foreign-language material.
The content of the program is differentiated across three levels of language proficiency — basic, sufficient, and advanced. The level of mastery of a module is established through entry and exit testing and may change in line with actual skill growth. Such gradation makes it possible to work with groups heterogeneous in preparation and to build individual trajectories within a single course.
The reduction in classroom hours and the growing share of independent work make its organization a pivotal question of course design. Learning autonomy in the model is not a set of disparate efforts undertaken by the student at their own discretion, but a system of actions guided by the instructor, which is now becoming the principal form of language acquisition. Its task is to teach the student to acquire knowledge, sustain cognitive interest, and apply language to professional tasks. Independent work meets several requirements: the student carries it out without the instructor's direct involvement, draws on interest in the future specialty, deepens language proficiency, gains independence in solving learning tasks, and discovers new information connected with the profession.
The relationship between instructor and student changes within this model. The center of gravity shifts from conveying ready-made information to organizing cognitive work, and the learner takes on responsibility for the outcome. The points system makes this outcome measurable at every step: the student sees which block has been mastered and which requires a return. The cumulative nature of the assessment relieves the excessive tension of a final exam and encourages steady work throughout the entire semester.
Bringing these heterogeneous observations together into a single model has produced several stable guiding principles that the program upholds simultaneously: course design begins with needs analysis and the selection of professionally significant themes; the thematic unit serves as the load-bearing structure of the program and is subdivided into language blocks; authentic specialized material links the linguistic and subject-matter sides of the course; oral speech and listening comprehension receive intensified training as the most vulnerable skills; and rating-based assessment ensures the transparency of the student's progress.
Заключение / Conclusion
The analysis has shown that the objectives of teaching English for professional purposes to music students allow for the fusion of the modular and thematic principles. Adjacent disciplines have been the subject of much research, but this particular area has long remained underdeveloped. The proposed concept bridges the gap between the demands of the specialty profile and the coherent organization of language material.
A comparison of foreign practice revealed patterns independent of sample size or learner preparation. Oral speech and listening comprehension are the most difficult to master. Across all the contexts studied, there is demand for professional terminology and exercises that recreate real performance situations. A course based solely on tasks, without thematic support, leaves gaps in the language system; a harmonious combination of language content with musical context spurs interest and improves outcomes.
The Russian methodological school is moving along the same lines, relying on the competency-based approach and a modular-rating system for training prospective music teachers. In Russian publications, descriptions of instruction organized around actual performance repertoire are rare — this is where a field opens up for merging Russian modular methodology with foreign experience.
The concept is not tied to a single type of educational institution. Its logic is workable in a conservatory, in the music department of a pedagogical university, and in an institution of secondary vocational education: the scheme of construction and assessment remains constant, while the thematic content of the blocks is adapted to the field of training.
The result of the study is a theoretical foundation for a modular-thematic program, which we interpret as a methodological model. Its validity is established through verification against empirical data accumulated in foreign and domestic pedagogical practice. This program ensures the professional orientation of the course, preserves the systemic integrity of the language content, and fixes a measurable sequence of learning operations that is unambiguous for the instructor. The methodological guidelines include: constructing the educational process in correlation with the professional tasks of the music specialization; integrating language and specialized components into a single structure; intensifying speech activity and listening comprehension; and enrichment.
Further development of the topic presupposes empirical testing of the model in specific fields of music training, as well as refining the composition of thematic modules in relation to various instrumental and vocal specialties.
It should be acknowledged that the proposed model remains theoretical and has not yet been empirically validated in a live classroom setting. The task types and module structures, while logically derived from the reviewed needs analyses and cross-contextual comparisons, may require contextual adaptation for different instrumental or vocal specializations and for learners at varying proficiency levels. Consequently, the primary contribution of this study is a testable curriculum blueprint rather than a proven instructional solution. Future empirical work should involve pilot implementation, mixed-methods evaluation, and iterative refinement of the thematic modules in collaboration with practicing music educators.