There are 12 new Master’s studies programmes taught in English to be launched at South Ural State University starting from September of 2019. Presently, active admissions of students willing to study in English is carried out. Is SUSU’s teaching staff ready to deliver lectures and hold workshop classes in English?
Ksenia Volchenkova, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages, instructor of the EMI courses:
“Today we can say for sure that they are ready! Those lecturers who completed the EMI (English Medium Instructor) vocational enhancement courses, initiated by the university administration and implemented within Programme 5-100, Project M.2.1.1 ‘Implementation of the best experiences of language training in higher education institutions 5-100’, are ready.”
From February till June of 2019, within the Lingva 7 programme of supplementary linguistic training for teaching teams, EMI vocational enhancement course was held for subject teachers in the volume of 120 academic hours. The goal of the EMI courses is developing the necessary competencies among teachers, which would be necessary when elaborating courses, delivering lectures and conducting workshops in English with international students. Instructors of the programme - Olga Yaroshenko, Ksenia Volchenkova, Nadezhda Kuzmina, Ekaterina Nenakhova and Daria Kochkina – accomplished the set goal together with the attendees.
Nadezhda Kuzmina, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages, instructor of the EMI course:
“The main objective of the EMI course is teaching attendees the necessary skills and competencies for elaboration of qualitatively new educational programmes and delivering a course of lectures within bachelor’s and master’s programmes to international students. Attendees of the programme got familiar with various strategies and methods of EMI, where English language acted as a tool for teaching various disciplines at the university.”
Elizaveta Kravtsova, Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, instructor of the EMI course:
“The main result of the EMI course is in the fact that an attendee has mastered the method of teaching one’s discipline in English, as well as improved one’s communicative skills. Our teaching staff learned how to arrange lectures and practical classes taking into account the audience’s specificity, apply interactive and motivational techniques in educational activity.”
An exam was held upon conclusion of the courses. Each subject teacher had to deliver a 20-minute-long lecture in English and answer the questions by the audience and the examiners, regarding the topic of the lecture, for 10 minutes. Examiners noted the high level of training of attendees as well as the variety of scenarios and patterns of arrangement and holding of interactive lectures.
Irina Stavtseva, Associate Professor at the Department of Linguistics and Translation Studies, EMI examiner:
“It is a big pleasure for an examiner to listen to subject lectures in English and take part in interactive assignments. I had an impression that I visited a real authentic conference with multiple discussion topics. Such an exam demonstrates both the things that teachers learned in regards with English language, and, what’s most important, the things that they can do in their profession and what they are ready to share with their students in the classroom. It is curious that many lecturers still consider the content of their classes to be of utmost importance; nevertheless, nowadays, in the world of free choices out of infinitely set of broadcasted information, the form and method of presenting a material are, in my opinion, at the same level with the essence of issues under consideration. At the EMI courses, attendees learn the methods of working with material; in other words, they learn of how to make a student involved into communication and take an active part in a discussion, instead of being present physically while being absent mentally. Like I said, in the course of the exam our English-speaking lectors managed to bring this miracle of being present into reality: I did not just listen to the expertly visualized material attentively but also readily completed assignments, filled in questionnaires, asked questions of interest and learned completely new disciplines from their very nice side.”
Upon completion of the course, subject teachers filled in a feedback questionnaire in which they noted that they will surely use the studied interactive techniques and strategies in their work with both international and Russian students.
Maksim Kuzmin, Senior Lecturer at the department of Financial Technology, attendee of the EMI courses:
“Each lecturer who has been working at the university for many years, consider that he has sufficient experience and knowledge necessary to conduct lectures efficiently. But let us start with the fact that lectures in English have their own characteristic features, which not all the teachers are aware of; also, teaching international students brings the necessity to not just take into account the cultural specificities but to also apply special teaching means, methods and forms in order to conduct effective learning. EMI programme helped me seeing these specificities and taught applying the EMI technologies by getting every student attending a lecture to be involved and interested. Without a doubt, I recommend this programme to those who hasn’t completed it yet; and for myself, I note a breakthrough in this sphere.”
Congratulations to our subject teachers on successfully passing the exam and the beginning of a new stage of their professional activity!
