DEVELOPING SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH PROJECT-BASED LEARNING IN NON-PHILOLOGICAL HIGHER EDUCATION: PEDAGOGICAL FRAMEWORKS AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

In the modern globalized academic and professional arenas, oral communicative competence in English has become a vital asset for non-philological graduates, particularly in technical fields like agriculture, environmental science, and water resource management. Traditional teacher-centered methodologies, however, often fail to cultivate active speaking skills, leaving students with passive language knowledge but low communicative confidence. This article explores the integration of Project-Based Learning (PBL) as an effective pedagogical framework to enhance the English speaking skills of university students at Tashkent State Agrarian University. By engaging in collaborative, real-world projects, students transition from passive learners to active speakers who negotiate meaning, defend ideas, and present scientific solutions. The paper identifies the core systemic and psychological barriers to speaking in technical classrooms—such as performance anxiety and lack of authentic communication contexts—and proposes a unified, non-fragmented pedagogical solution centered on agricultural and ecological projects. This approach demonstrates how collaborative investigation and oral defenses systematically foster fluency, interactive skills, and career readiness without the need for traditional rote learning.