English is often taught as separate skills, such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and speaking, which limits learners’ ability to communicate fluently. Recent research, Integrating Language Skills for Communicative Competence: A Contemporary Theoretical Approach in EFL, demonstrates that genuine proficiency develops when these elements are learned together in meaningful contexts. Moving from fragmented instruction toward integrated learning has therefore become a key growth point in modern English language education.
For expert insight into how this shift can be achieved in practice, we consulted a specialist who has dedicated her career to developing effective approaches to language learning. Volha Hurskaya is a linguist, an English as a Second Language instructor, and a researcher in technology-enhanced language education. Her professional record includes the instructional manual “A” Is an Article: Theory and Practice for English Learners, service as a peer reviewer for leading academic journals, and a body of highly cited research focused on contemporary models of second language instruction. The practical relevance of her work has received international recognition. In 2024, she was awarded the United Talents Award in the Social and Educational category as Best Instructor and selected for inclusion in the PDK Prestige professional directory, which highlights educators whose work has produced a measurable impact in the field.
Communicative Goal
A key recommendation emerging from Hurskaya’s work is to redesign lessons around a communicative outcome. This principle is clearly demonstrated in her co-authored article Analysis of Methods of Teaching English as a Foreign Language Using Multimedia Technologies. In this study, Volha Hurskaya developed a practical instructional model that integrates multimedia tools into one continuous learning sequence guided by a single communicative objective. The framework was tested through an experimental design and demonstrated measurable improvements in learners’ communicative performance and motivation. The findings illustrate how multimedia can support integrated skill development when embedded in everyday teaching practice as part of a coherent lesson structure, rather than added as a supplementary element.
As Hurskaya explains, “When teachers begin with a communicative goal and then select tools that support that goal, language skills develop together. Students clearly understand why they are using the language, which increases involvement and allows classroom practice to transfer into real communication.”
Pronunciation Through Meaningful Interaction
Fragmentation is evident in pronunciation instruction, which is often reduced to drills and repetition. In her study The Power of Virtual Reality to Improve Pronunciation in the Process of Learning English, Hurskaya offers a clear alternative. She introduces a structured model in which phonetic accuracy develops through guided interaction in simulated real-life situations. Pronunciation practice is organized around communicative scenes supported by speech recognition and immediate feedback, allowing learners to refine sounds, rhythm, and intonation while focusing on meaning.
Reflecting on the implications of this model, Volha Hurskaya emphasizes its role in overcoming fragmentation. “Pronunciation improves most effectively when it is learned as part of communication rather than as a separate technical exercise,” she notes. “Virtual environments help learners focus on expressing meaning while receiving timely correction, which supports both clarity of speech and confidence in real interaction.”
One Learning Environment Where Skills Connect
Beyond individual lessons, Hurskaya emphasizes the importance of an integrated instructional environment. In Virtual Environments as a Means of Enhancing the Efficiency of English Language Teaching for Learners, she develops an applied framework for using virtual environments as a stable format for language education. Her contribution lies in systematizing how listening, speaking, reading, and writing can be developed within one structured environment while also supporting learners’ psychological adaptation.
Discussing the instructional value of this framework, Volha Hurskaya connects structure with communicative development. “Integrated learning requires consistency,” she explains. “When students clearly understand how lessons are organized and how skills connect within each task, they stay focused on communication and use language more confidently, even in virtual settings.”
Individualization to Strengthen Integration
Personalization is often treated as another way to separate instruction, but Hurskaya approaches it differently. In the co-authored article "Using Digital Technologies in the Pedagogical Process to Individualize Learning," she contributes to a model that integrates individual learning trajectories with skill development. Her specific role lies in systematizing how digital tools can support individual learning trajectories through adaptive content, flexible pacing, and continuous feedback while preserving shared communicative objectives. The framework demonstrates how personalization can enhance integration by allowing learners to develop all language skills together at an appropriate pace.
Volha notes: “Digital tools help educators see how students interact with tasks in real time, and this information allows instruction to be adjusted without breaking the connection between skills. As a result, learners progress steadily toward communicative competence.”
Taken together, Volha Hurskaya’s academic work highlights how integrated learning is moving from theory into practical application within English language education. This shift is driven by the recognition that communicative ability develops through coordinated use of language skills in meaningful interaction, rather than through isolated practice. At the same time, digital technologies are shaping instructional environments that make such coordination sustainable, positioning integrated instruction as a defining trend shaping the future of effective foreign language learning.
