English for

Moderator: That’s such a great example! It would be an 
interesting topic for a full panel discussion, but let’s go back 
to the question: Is interdisciplinary education worth the 
effort?
Mike: What I was trying to say was that differences in 
backgrounds and conflicting results led to a creation of a new 
area that doesn’t fit into the classical paradigm.
Derek: If I could just come in here … I guess you mean that 
most promising areas of modern research have been initiated 
by interdisciplinary groups. Another example might be 
1b
X-ray 
astronomy. A brief survey of the latest achievements reveals 
that the fundamental innovations came not from traditional 
optical astronomers but from those who operated somewhere 
between the boundaries of physics and astronomy. We could 
mention lots of other cases of breakthroughs originating on 
the fringes of traditional disciplines, or by scientists who 
crossed 
2
discipline boundaries.
Mike: I have to add that we can’t ignore the benefits of 
interdisciplinary education. It develops the ability 
3a
to 
notice connections and 
3b
use knowledge from one area in a 
completely different one. It brings real-world learning into the 
classroom. The task is to develop appropriate methodology. 
The interdisciplinary approach is quite new, and it takes time 
to tackle all the problems. 
Moderator: I think we are through with this question. So far, 
we can see that interdisciplinary research is 
4
real and fruitful 
but there are 
4
serious concerns as to the applicability of these 
practices in undergraduate training. 
Follow-up
15 You may want to monitor learners and note down 
their errors. After the task is completed, you can write the 
erroneous expressions on the board for learners to correct 
them in pairs.
Sample answer 
For the first part, see Activity 13. 
Nevertheless, the speakers agreed that many breakthroughs 
in science were the result of interractions between different 
disciplines, for example radiation genetics and X-ray astronomy. 
One of the speakers emphasised that interdisciplinary education 
develops important skills in young researchers. It was concluded 
that interdisciplinary research is fruitful and necessary but
interdisciplinary education has to be properly organised.