LEVERAGING DIGITAL PEDAGOGY AND AUTHENTIC MATERIALS IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN UZBEK HIGHER EDUCATION

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of integrating digital pedagogical tools and authentic materials on the professional communicative competence of students in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in higher education. The research was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, specifically a quasi-experimental design. The study involved 60 second-year university students, divided into an experimental group (n=30) and a control group (n=30). Data were collected through pre- and post-tests, a 5-point Likert scale survey, and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. The post-test results of the experimental group (M=42.5) were statistically significantly higher than those of the control group (M=36.2), p < 0.001. Survey and interview findings indicated that 87% of the experimental group students reported increased motivation and better contextual acquisition of domain-specific terminology when using authentic digital content (e.g., industry podcasts, real corporate reports). The synergistic approach of digital pedagogy and authentic materials proves to be more effective than traditional methods in ESP instruction. Implementing this model contributes to training internationally competitive specialists within the Uzbek higher education system.