Developing scientific communication skills through a STEAM lens: technical terminology to engineering startup pitch

Abstract

This paper investigates a STEAM-oriented pedagogical framework for developing the scientific communication competencies of energy engineering students at a Ukrainian technical university, with English as the vehicular Arts component bridging technical knowledge and public discourse. The study addresses the trajectory disciplinary terminology acquisition to the multimodal performance of engineering startup pitches, arguing that the integration of language-mediated communication training within STEM curricula constitutes not merely a pedagogical enhancement but a professional necessity for engineers operating in internationally competitive innovation ecosystems. Drawing on practitioner observation and a ive review of Scopus- and WoS-indexed scholarship, the paper maps the linguistic, rhetorical, and genre-competence demands that energy engineering students must satisfy in order to present technical achievements persuasively and accurately to diverse audiences. The findings highlight that a genre-based, task-oriented approach to English for Specific Purposes - anchored in authentic communicative scenarios technology demonstration to investor pitch - produces measurably stronger outcomes in both technical precision and communicative confidence. Recommendations are advanced for curriculum integration at the level of the energy engineering degree programme.