scholarly journals An Important Factor of Research University Development: the Role of a pre-Masters Program for International Students

Author(s):  
Nadejda I. Guzarova ◽  
Galina V. Kashkan ◽  
Lisa Soon ◽  
Nina B. Shakhova

AbstractThis paper considers the important practicality, scientific and methodological principles in the design of the pre-masters program in National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University (or simply TPU). TPU is a university that mainly provides technical education, particularly education in engineering, science and technology disciplines. The design of the pre-masters program also considers the incorporation of educational technology for its realization for the international students, who received the bachelor’s degrees in other countries in English language and want to study masters programs in Russian language in Russia. According to the results of a comparative analysis that explored the experiences of the international students from English-speaking and Russian-speaking universities in the world within their pre-bachelors and pre-masters programs, this paper explains the differences between these programs and the specific features of the pre-masters programs. Further, this paper reports the analysis results of the implementation, monitoring and outcomes of the pre-masters program in TPU. It also presents some proposals for its further development.

Author(s):  
Elena Mikhailovna Severina

This article reviews the methodological principles of studying cultural concepts in the context of cognitive approach, possibilities for conducting reconstruction of certain fragments of linguistic worldview based on the material of digital text corpora. Leaning on the cognitive approach towards concept as a unit of structured and unstructured knowledge that forms cognition of a separate individual and culture as a whole, results of conceptual research of the texts of philosophers who view culture as symbolic creativity of a person associated with freedom (concepts of I. Kant, E. Cassirer, N. A. Berdyaev), the authors conducted reconstruction of certain fragments of the linguistic worldview and ordinary consciousness, correlated with the concept of “culture” in digital text corpora in the Russian and Anglo-Saxon cultures. Examination of the contexts of usage of verbal representations of the concept of “culture” in the digital text corpora of Russian language and different varieties of English language demonstrates that the crucial ideological values of Anglo-Saxon linguistic worldview are the following representations: culture is of instrumental nature; civilization is considered as the path development of humanity; freedom is viewed as an intrinsic right to freedom that should be protected, i.e. initial and inherent to a human. In the Russian-language texts, culture implies the value-based attitude towards world, mostly associated with the national culture; civilization is viewed in the context of a value-based attitude towards world, but as the path of development of humanity as a whole; freedom has value-based individual, personalistic connotation, supposed to be full, absolute, which is often understood as the liberty of action and choice. It is underlines that utilization of corpus methods allows reconstructing the techniques of formation of worldview, choice of value priorities, mechanisms of perception of surrounding reality in a specific culture from contexts of practical usage of the verbal manifestations of cultural concepts.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Zanina

Although a plethora of papers have proved a seminal role of move-based genre analysis in cross-linguistic research of academic communication and EAP/ESP teaching and learning, there is a lack of respective linguistic or pedagogically motivated studies of research articles (RAs) and their parts aimed at comparing English and Russian. Using Hyland’s (2000) 5-move model, the current research seeks to determine the most obvious cross-linguistic differences in the move structure of abstracts of research articles on management for these languages. Based on a move analysis of the English- and Russian-language corpora each comprising 20 unstructured RA abstracts, the research revealed conformity of most English-language abstracts to Hyland’s model, while the Russian abstracts principally displayed a three-move structure containing ‘purpose’, ‘method’ and ‘product’, and included the ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’ moves only occasionally. Other significant discrepancies comprised the English-language authors’ tendency to provide precise or detailed indication of research methods and results, in contrast to their brief indication or over-generalized mentioning by Russian writers, as well as greater length of the English-language abstracts and their stricter concordance to standard move sequence than those of the Russian abstracts. Though the research was conducted on relatively small corpora and was descriptive in nature, its findings might be of interest to genre analysts as well as to L2 theorists and practitioners.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-65
Author(s):  
Lucyna Aleksandrowicz-Pędich

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study has been to analyse the use of English as lingua franca at an internationalised university in a non-English speaking country, the challenges caused by the need to use English for academic and social purposes as well as the use of other languages by a multicultural student community. Methodology: The methodology was based on qualitative research and involved open-ended interviews with students of 14 nationalities as well as staff members, both local (Polish) and from English-speaking countries. Findings: The main findings indicate: a degree of mismatch between the self-perception of English language competence and the actual ability to use it; the key function of language for social bonding; frequent recourse to first language comfort zones rather than the use of the lingua franca. Value Added: The research focuses on English language issues in a non-English speaking country, an understudied area in higher education. It draws attention to the use of Russian as a secondary lingua franca among students for whom it is their other language of fluent communication. Recommendations: University level educators should be more aware of the specificity of the problems in the use of English by international students, including such as underestimated listening comprehension issues, tensions connected with the use of polite forms and the mismatch between communication skills in English and the academic needs. The impact of language identity on international students social networking should be taken into account as well.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 934-953
Author(s):  
Catherine Gomes

International students from culturally and linguistically diverse countries travel to Australia because of the opportunity to study courses in the English language with some coming to this country just to study the language itself. Such desires moreover create students to engage in creative strategies to improve their language skills. This paper, however, suggests that the desire to be skilled in English through immersion in an English-speaking country like Australia creates challenges to the mental wellbeing of international students. Reporting on interview data with 47 international students of Asian descent in the Australian city of Melbourne, this paper reveals these challenges to include lived and perceived notions of self and belonging, as well as loneliness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Gopal Prasad Pandey

English for academic purpose (EAP) emerged as a branch of English for specific purposes in the early 1980s. EAP grounds English language teaching in the linguistic demands of academic context, tailoring instruction to specific rather than general purposes. There is a growth of interest in EAP in the recent years. The interest in EAP developed in response to the growing need for intercultural awareness and of English as a lingua franca (ELF). EAP has become a major area of research in applied linguistics and focus of the courses studied worldwide by a large number of students preparing for study in colleges and universities. The increase in students’ undertaking tertiary studies in English-speaking countries has led to a steady demand for the courses tailored to meet the immediate, specific vocational and professional needs. Thus, most universities in the present day world prioritize the role of academic skills. The aim of the paper is to examine the key approaches to the teaching of English for academic purposes, current trends in teaching EAP, and to argue the centrality and significance of EAP in the academia. The paper concludes by arguing that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on methodology in EAP.


Author(s):  
Bambang Yudi Cahyono ◽  
Utami Widiati

The status of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Indonesia necessitates the use of English native speakers' utterances as models of pronunciation and as standard of understanding messages in various contexts, be they academic or social. As recently English has developed as an international language that can be used as a means of communication between people from non-English speaking countries, the role of listening activities in the teaching of English cannot be neglected. This article highlights the importance of listening and reviews some of the issues in the research and teaching of EFL listening. It firstly presents a paradigm of the listening process, followed by a theoretical framework for teaching listening, especially in the broader context of English language teaching. It then discusses the teaching of and research on EFL listening in Indonesia. Finally, this article outlines some recommendations for more effective teaching of listening in EFL classrooms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. A. Irzhanski ◽  
T. A. Kulyaba ◽  
N. N. Kornilov

The purposeof the work — is validation and cultural adaptation of the english-language rating systems for knee function assessment for use in scientific, medical and educational institutions of the Russian Federation.Materials and Methods.The english versions of rating systems WOMac® 3.1 Index, The knee Society clinical Rating System©, FjS-12® were translated to Russian language by orthopedic surgeon with advanced level of english and the professional translator specializing in the translation of medical texts. Reverse translation was provided by third independent translator born in the english-speaking country (native speaker). a printed version of the various translations of the questionnaires was filled by patients with an interval of two days. The study group included 150 patients with Stage III knee osteoarthritis (90 women and 60 men aged 48 to 75 years, an average of 62.5 years) hospitalized in Vreden Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics from February to april 2017 for total knee arthroplasty.Results.good and very good retest reliability of WOMac (α = 0.87 and α = 0.9), kSS (α = 0.89 and α = 0.86) and FjS-12 (α = 0.94 and α = 0.96) was revealed. The study revealed a strong correlation between the results of the questionnaires performed by different translators: WOMac (Icc = 0.89), kSS (Icc = 0.86), FjS-12 (Icc = 0.92). The correlation dependence between subsections of WOMac (stiffness – Icc = 0.98, pain – Icc = 0.87, daily functions – Icc = 0.89) and kSS (knee score – Icc = 0.94, function score – Icc = 0.88), which indicates a good constructive validity.Conclusion. The results of the study of criterial and constructive validity, as well as the retest reliability of the Russian versions of the WOMac, kSS and FjS-12 scales, indicate that they are a reliable and sensitive tool for assessing the function of knee joint, which can be widely used by Russian researchers in practical and scientific activities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 60-90
Author(s):  
N. V. Golovko ◽  
D. V. Sheiko

The issue of topical problems and promising areas of research of translanguaging as a communicative practice of multilinguals in English-language and Russian-language scientific publications of recent years is considered in the article. The results of a comparative analysis of scientific works on translanguaging, highlighting key supporting ideas and concepts, are presented. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that modern publications on translanguaging as a communicative practice that have not yet been analyzed or sufficiently covered in similar review works are summarized. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that translanguaging is a new idea on a historical scale, which has gained significant popularity over the past years, which, in turn, causes the need to systematize and streamline the array of scientific works that have accumulated during this time. A review of the approaches proposed by various authors to the content of the concept of “translanguaging” in those cases when the latter is considered as a communicative practice is performed, as well as of the methodological principles and foundations on which various studies of translanguaging as a communicative practice are built. Based on the analysis of publications, possible problems and promising areas of research in translanguaging are highlighted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Michael Agyemang Adarkwah ◽  
Yu Zeyuan

The English language has become an essential means for communication and studies for international students globally. With the increasing number of international students trooping to China to study diverse courses which are taught in the English medium, there is a need to address challenges faced by international students from non-native English speaking countries. The study adopted an embedded mixed-method approach where face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were conducted on freshmen international students taking English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in a specific faculty of a university in China. The interviews were supplemented by the Questionnaire of English Self-Efficacy (QESE) to measure their perceived English self-efficacy after the course. An online questionnaire on English Course Evaluation (ECE) was used to measure the students’ assessment of the course. The findings of the study offer insights into the effect of the intervention, challenges faced by students during the course, and suggestions on things to consider during the implementation of English courses for non-native English students in the future.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pallavi Rao

This article examines the literary celebrity of Indian author Chetan Bhagat and his paratextual articulations in India’s English-language media. It seeks to deconstruct the role of these paratexts in occluding how upper-caste masculinity operates as the normative script in mainstream media discourse. Critically examining Bhagat’s utterances in English-language television news, print newspapers, and social media, I argue that the paratexts enable his authorial persona to be continually constructed in ways that consolidate his caste-patriarchal authority. In the process, these paratexts valorize neoliberal entrepreneurship and narratives of ascent, rendering existing caste hegemonies in India invisible. Bhagat’s use of English also reflects the complex politics of the English language in colonial history, where upper-caste men in service of the empire utilized the linguistic hegemony of English to consolidate their patriarchal and caste dominance. However, I suggest that pockets of awareness operate among Bhagat’s readers and audiences, where subaltern groups have strategically negotiated using this upper-caste masculinized English to forge their own social mobility and empowerment. Bhagat’s performance of celebrity has to thus be seen as being enacted within a complex English-speaking milieu, which is rife with caste and gender power struggles.


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