TEACHING PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH TO UKRAINIAN MEDICAL STUDENTS DURING WARTIME: BETWEEN LANGUAGE LEARNING AND EMOTIONAL RESILIENCE

Abstract

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fundamentally disrupted all spheres of national life, including higher education. Medical universities, as institutions at the intersection of science, care, and ethics, faced the urgent challenge of maintaining educational quality under conditions of psychological stress, displacement, and material scarcity. Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to medical students during wartime requires far more than transferring linguistic knowledge – it demands a holistic approach that integrates emotional resilience, adaptability, and intercultural competence. This article explores the pedagogical, emotional, and ethical dimensions of teaching professional English in Ukrainian medical universities during the ongoing war. It identifies key strategies that enable educators to support both the academic and psychological well-being of students while fostering their professional identity and global communication skills. The study draws on analysis of ESP educators’ pedagogical experience at Ukrainian medical universities (2022–2024), generalisation of trauma-informed pedagogy practices, digital teaching tools, and reflective methods. Theoretical analysis, descriptive method, and pedagogical modelling were employed. Five key wartime challenges were identified: air raids and blackouts (89% of educators affected), psychological stress (81%), forced displacement (67%), cognitive overload (75%), and unequal technology access (54%). Effective adaptation strategies include hybrid/asynchronous learning (34% of ESP practices), trauma-informed pedagogy (22%), task-based learning (20%), reflective writing (13%), and digital tools including AI (11%). The ESP classroom was found to function as a psychosocial stabilisation space. An original course «English for Healthcare Communication in Crisis Contexts» achieved a successful completion rate above 90%. Teaching professional English during wartime transcends traditional linguistic education. It is a human-centred mission that integrates language learning with emotional healing and global citizenship. The experience of Ukrainian educators offers innovative pedagogical models that enrich global educational practice and demonstrate that teaching can endure and transform even amid destruction