The Magic of Innovation : New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages [1 ed.] 9781443876797, 9781443872713

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The Magic of Innovation

The Magic of Innovation New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages Edited by

Dmitry A. Kryachkov, Elena B. Yastrebova and Olga A. Kravtsova

The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages Edited by Dmitry A. Kryachkov, Elena B. Yastrebova and Olga A. Kravtsova This book first published 2015 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2015 by Dmitry A. Kryachkov, Elena B. Yastrebova, Olga A. Kravtsova and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-7271-7 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7271-3

TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations................................................................................ vii Introduction ............................................................................................... xi Part I: Making the Most of E-Learning Chapter 1. E-learning in Russian Higher Education: Challenges and Responses....................................................................................................3 Olga V. Lvova, Maria Y. Kopylovskaya, Tatiana M. Shkapenko Chapter 2. Learning Technologies and New Models of Teaching Foreign Languages ...................................................................................27 Sergey S. Khromov, Natalya N. Udina Chapter 3. Developing Communicative Competence Through Internet and Digital Technologies .........................................................................43 Galina G. Artyushina, Elena I. Baguzina, Olga G. Plekhova, Olga A. Sheypak Chapter 4. Blended Learning: In Search of the Right Blend ....................67 Olga A. Kravtsova, Anna V. Galiguzova Part II: Teaching Foreign Languages: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach Chapter 5. Active Learning Methods in Teaching Foreign Languages at Russian Universities..............................................................................87 Elena A. Mensh, Natalia V. Matveeva Chapter 6. Project Work: Traditions and Innovations .............................107 Irina E. Abramova, Anastasia V. Ananyina, Elena P. Shishmolina, Natalia E. Medvedeva Chapter 7. Challenges and Innovation in Communicative Competence Assessment at Russian Universities ...................................137 Irina A. Mazaieva, Alexey A. Korenev

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Table of Contents

Chapter 8. A New Teacher: In Search of Identity ...................................157 Natalia I. Tsvetkova, Elena N. Solovova Part III: Looking for New Approaches to Course and Materials Design Chapter 9. Developing Students’ Translation Competence in the Framework of New Educational Standards ..................................179 Larisa G. Kuzmina, Aleksey Y. Krasheninnikov, Elena V. Pivovarova Chapter 10. Modernising Traditional Foreign Language Coursebooks for University Students .....................................................197 Nina V. Popova, Marina S. Kogan, Dmitry A. Kryachkov Chapter 11. Introducing CLIL at Russian Universities Through Interdisciplinary Approaches ..................................................................215 Nina A. Zinkevich, Bella L. Ivanova Chapter 12. From Bachelor‫ތ‬s to Master‫ތ‬s: Suggestions for Course and Materials Design ..............................................................................237 Elena B. Yastrebova, Dmitry A. Kryachkov Part IV: From Research Findings to Language Teaching Chapter 13. The Method of Cognitive Modeling in Teaching English as a Second Language ............................................257 Elena G. Beliaevskaya, Nina A. Levkovskaya Chapter 14. Biosemiotics and Prototype Semantics in Understanding Lexical Polysemy: Implications for Applied Linguistics ...........................................................................275 Dmitry N. Novikov, Svetlana A. Pesina Chapter 15. Intercultural Communication: From Competence to Performance ........................................................................................295 Nikolai V. Baryshnikov, Klára Kostková About the Authors ...................................................................................317 Index .......................................................................................................327

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AHELO CALI CALL CALP CBI ɋȼɌ CEFR CELL CELTA CLIC CLIL DL EAP EFL EGP ENGECON EPOSTL ESP FEPO FL FLA FLAC FLCC FLT HOME HOTS IATEFL IC ICC

Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes Computer Assisted Language Instruction Computer Assisted Language Learning Cognitive Academic Language Pro¿ciency Content Based Instruction Computer-Based Training Common European Framework of References Computer-Enhanced Language Learning Certi¿cate in English Language Teaching to Adults Content and Language Integrated Classrooms Content and Language Integrated Learning distance learning English for Academic Purposes English as a Foreign Language English for General Purposes Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages English for Speci¿c Purposes Federal [internet-based] Examination in the Area of Professional Education foreign language Foreign Language Learning Anxiety Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum Foreign Language Communicative Competence foreign language teaching Higher Education Online higher order thinking skills International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Intercultural Competence Intercultural Communicative Competence

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ICLHE ICT IELTS JRC L1 L2 LOTS LSP LT MALL MATI MESI MGIMO MOOCs MSAL MSU MSURE NAA NATE NL departments OCW OECD OER PetrSU PFUR QAA RFL SL TC TEL TELL TKT TL TOEFL TSU

List of Abbreviations

Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education Information and Communication Technologies International English Language Testing System Joint Research Center of the European Union the native language of a learner second/foreign language lower order thinking skills Language for Speci¿c Purposes language teaching Mobile Assisted Language Learning Russian State Technological University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics Moscow State Institute of International Affairs Massive Online Open Courses Moscow State Law University Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University of Railway Engineering The Russian National Accreditation Agency National Association of Teachers of English in Russia non-language departments Open Courseware The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development open electronic resources Petrozavodsk State University The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia The British Quality Assurance Agency Russian as a foreign language source language Translation Competence Technology Enhanced Learning Technology Enhanced Language Learning Teaching Knowledge Test target language Test of English as a Foreign Language Tyumen State University

THE MAGIC OF INNOVATION

TT UNIK WBE WBT WSCL

teacher training Institute of World Economy and Informatisation Web-Based Education Web-Based Training Web-Supported Collaborative Learning

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INTRODUCTION

Today’s down-to-earth world arguably has no place for magic; yet all of us keep looking for – and ¿nding – all things magical, be it in everyday life or at the workplace. The conference that originated this volume “The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages” sought to explore the here and now of foreign language (FL) teaching, in an attempt to identify innovations which can help us (FL teachers) work magic in the classroom. Professional literature has been buzzing with innovations since the mid20th century, and although in this sense innovations are well-trodden ground, the de¿nition of innovations in language teaching is yet to be found. For some, it is novelty that distinguishes innovations from non-innovative developments (Khutorskoi, 2005); others consider change to be the decisive factor (Papagiannis et al., 1982). Yet, novelty and change themselves are tricky to de¿ne. Is it only something totally new that can be counted as innovation? Is serendipity the mother of innovative change? Obviously innovations come in various guises and include not only totally new ways of teaching; major breakthroughs in FL methodology do not happen too frequently. Innovations today tend to focus on new modes of application of existing tools, extensions to new audiences and other modi¿cation of the learning environment. Change is to be deliberate (as compared to accidental), and it is to develop purposefully at least one area of FL communicative competence (see also [Yastrebova, Kryachkov, 2013]). This broader interpretation of FL teaching innovations accounts for the variety of issues dealt with in this volume, which is thematically organised around the following areas: ņ the innovative use of ICTs in foreign language teaching (Part 1); ņ new developments in methodology (Part 2); ņ approaches to course and materials design (Part 3); ņ language theory in FL teaching (Part 4). Part 1 Making the Most of E-learning opens with the chapter “E-learning in Russian Higher Education: Challenges and Responses” by Olga V. Lvova, Maria Y. Kopylovskaya and Tatiana M. Shkapenko, who in many respects set the context for the volume by analysing major ICT-related trends in modern FL teaching in Russia. After a brief introduction, the authors

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Introduction

analyse two overlapping concepts – e-learning and what became known in Russia as informatisation of education, giving particular focus to the latter as the prevailing paradigm among Russian educationalists. Informatisation processes are viewed as a response on the part of universities to the perceived need to ¿nd their own niche in “the market of educational services”, a task which is dif¿cult to achieve given the rising level of competition. The authors provide a brief overview of distance, blended and mobile learning trends in FL teaching in Russia, which aim to enhance learning outcomes and foster a new type of thinking required to keep up with the rapidly changing world. The chapter also presents the results of research into the concept of information and telecommunication competencies. While Sergey S. Khromov and Natlya N. Udina in Chapter 2, “Learning Technologies and New Models of Teaching Foreign Languages”, also reÀect on e-learning related issues, their primary interest lies in exploring how new – and not so new – learning technologies inÀuence the way foreign languages are taught. It is precisely in this context that they analyse distance learning in two of its incarnations – as a mode to teach autonomous courses on speci¿c subjects and as a tool that has a ¿tting place in the toolbox of a teacher of a particular subject. In the former case, the authors’ emphasis is on the choice of methodology and particular forms of distance learning, while in the latter – on a reasonable mix of distance learning and other available methods. As in Russia non-language students study primarily foreign languages for speci¿c purposes, Sergey S. Khromov and Natlya N. Udina give an account of their hands-on experience of how new learning technologies can be used to overcome some of the problems arising in the development of communicative competence in ESP due to the lack of special subject knowledge. The proposed network enculturation model, based on an extensive use of educational institutions’ and professional network communities’ websites in the subject area, addresses the issue by creating a socially contextualised and technology-enhanced language learning environment in an LSP course. In Chapter 3, “Developing Communicative Competence Through Internet and Digital Technologies”, Galina G. Artyushina, Elena I. Baguzina, Olga G. Plekhova and Olga A. Sheypak invite us into the classroom to explore how podcasts and WebQuests can help university FL teachers to organise students’ self-study ef¿ciently and make up for insuf¿cient contact hours. The analysis of the practicalities and value of using podcasting in FL teaching at undergraduate level is complemented by the results of a survey of over 700 students, revealing their attitudes toward this creative and highly motivating technology. Based on the project method, inquiry-

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oriented learning and the ability to integrate online resources, WebQuests, in their turn, have also demonstrated their great educational potential as they are student-centred and intellectually engaging. The authors conclude that although WebQuests are mostly team projects and podcasts focus on individual work, both technologies have a lot in common in that they develop students’ FL communicative competence, encourage their personal and professional development, motivate them to study English and contribute to their educational mobility. Chapter 4, “Blended Learning: In Search of the Right Blend”, by Olga A. Kravtsova and Anna V. Galiguzova looks at the blended learning approach to teaching foreign languages. After giving a general historical, methodological and terminological background, the authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using information and communication technologies in teaching and learning foreign languages, with a particular focus on the situation with blended learning in Russian tertiary education. ICT have arguably changed the quality of the educational process and dramatically raised the standards of language learning. Apart from enhancing student motivation and facilitating the acquisition of professional competencies, ICT develop students’ ability for constant self-improvement and self-development, which is the ultimate goal of professional education. At the same time, the authors sound a note of caution: excessive or uncontrolled use of ICT is fraught with a number of pitfalls, ranging from a highly negative impact on students’ health to information overload, major changes in the characteristics of attention and a decreased capacity for analytical thinking. This calls for a balanced approach to ICT application, which, in the authors’ view, is to be found in the “right” blend of traditional face-toface and technology enhanced learning. Chapter 5, “Active Learning Methods in Teaching Foreign Languages at Russian Universities”, by Elena A. Mensh and Nataila V. Matveeva introduces Part 2 Teaching Foreign Languages: Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach. This chapter deals with ways of involving students in research simulation and various creative communicative activities to facilitate the development of communicative competence in a foreign language. The authors offer their classi¿cation of active learning methods and useful insight into how they are used in Russia. They draw on their practical experience of designing learning activities at the ¿nal stage of studying a topic when students’ skills are integrated in the context of simulating professional communication. It is claimed that student discussion, case study and role play, which appear to be the most widely used methods, are mutually compatible and complementary and are most effective when applied in a consistent

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Introduction

manner. Maintaining that case study can be used both separately and as an integral part of a role play to simulate future professional activities, the authors describe several role plays in greater detail. These practices proved effective at two very different universities: Tyumen State University and Moscow State University of Railway Engineering. Chapter 6, “Project Work: Traditions and Innovations”, by Irina E. Abramova, Anastasia V. Ananyina, Elena P. Shishmolina and Natalia E. Medvedeva looks at project work activities as a means of “language socialisation”. The authors posit that integrating project work into the EFL process involves students in speci¿c social relations, which enables them to assimilate cultural and historical knowledge and perform cognitive and language tasks according to the norms of a speci¿c ethnolinguistic culture, thus minimising communication barriers and foreign language anxiety. After analysing some of the major challenges in Russian EFL classrooms, the chapter seeks to prove that collaborative project work can successfully resolve them and meticulously describes the various stages of students’ ¿lm making projects including assessment, and therefore gives insight into the inner workings of the method. The results of this interesting study show that ¿lmmaking facilitates the development of a sustainable, Àexible and healthy learning environment. In Chapter 7, “Challenges and Innovation in Communicative Competence Assessment at Russian Universities”, Irina A. Mazaieva and Alexey A. Korenev look at the situation with assessment at the leading Russian universities, highlighting the major challenges and pedagogical innovations in the areas of continuous assessment and testing. At present, an increasing number of communicative language syllabi declare that a combination of testing (oral and written) and alternative assessment forms (portfolio, project, class participation records, and criterion-referenced assessment) is applied. This mix of tradition and innovation created favourable conditions for pedagogical initiative and innovation, while the discrepancy between tradition and innovation is posing a major threat to the consistency of assessment as well as to the validity and reliability of assessment systems at university. The chapter suggests a pedagogical strategy of developing criteria-referenced descriptors of continuous performance assessment when assessing students’ writing skills, as well as a strategy of implementing the practice. There are also some signi¿cant insights into the effect of criteriareferenced assessment on teacher and student development. In Chapter 8 attention turns to questions of training the teacher who seeks to meet the challenge of the modern classroom. Natalia I. Tsvetkova and Elena N. Solovova in “A New Teacher: In Search of Identity” remind

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us that the most ef¿cient way to ensure that FL teachers have expertise relevant for today’s classroom is through innovative in-service training, and they endeavour to identify the right ingredients of such programmes. Drawing on the results of a survey conducted among Russian university teachers from various cities and a thorough analysis of a vast body of Western and Russian literature, the authors pinpoint challenges in teaching FL to millennial students and describe the competencies a modern FL teacher is expected to possess. The undertaken study suggests that in-service training should above all focus on such areas as student assessment and self-assessment (one of the crucial elements of teachers’ professional development), interaction techniques, materials development and course design including ways to combine ESP, EGP, EAP and organise students’ self-study. Part 3 Looking for New Approaches to Course and Materials Design opens with a contribution from Larisa G. Kuzmina, Aleksey Y. Krasheninnikov and Elena V. Pivovarova. Their chapter, “Developing Students’ Translation Competence in the Framework of New Educational Standards”, calls for a competence-based approach to teaching translation to non-language majors. From a practical point of view, they argue, it is reasonable to integrate training in translation with teaching a foreign language. The chapter offers a theoretical perspective on the new educational paradigm and new pedagogical guidelines to be followed in FL teaching. To show how these principles can be put into practice, Chapter 9 also describes an innovative textbook of an integrated type, which aims at developing learners’ professional translation competence. As the structure of the textbook can be reproduced in similar educational contexts, these insights can help university FL teachers create ef¿cient teaching materials for use in professionallyoriented language learning. Chapter 10, “Modernizing Traditional Foreign Language Coursebooks for University Students”, by Nina V. Popova, Marina S. Kogan and Dmitry A. Kryachkov discusses the role of computer technologies in modernising traditional FL coursebooks. While computer technologies have been part and parcel of the FL learning environment for a long time, today the academic focus is mostly either on computer-assisted learning or the traditional components of FL courses, with insuf¿cient attention given to their interface. This chapter looks at ways of combining both and proposes a working model of a modi¿ed FL coursebook for university students, consisting of three components: language content (lexis and grammar), professionally-oriented subject matter and a computer-assisted learning environment. The authors discuss the added value of the proposed approach and conclude that using computer technologies to modify

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Introduction

traditional FL textbooks is more advantageous both for the learner and the teacher than developing more complex, time consuming and expensive full-scale digital courses. In Chapter 11, “Introducing CLIL at Russian Universities Through Interdisciplinary Approach”, Nina A. Zinkevich and Bella L. Ivanova explore a new approach to teaching ESP at the tertiary level aimed at developing students’ career-speci¿c competencies. Based on the experience of two universities – ENGECON in Saint-Petersburg and MGIMO in Moscow – it exempli¿es steps taken towards integrated teaching/learning of content and language. CLIL methodology is implemented at both universities in various forms such as lectures, team teaching, binary seminars, project presentations and research conferences, business games and simulations, all of which help to enrich content, develop cognition, and enhance cross-cultural and communication skills in line with CLIL principles. The authors conclude that the introduction of CLIL at their universities, albeit along different trajectories, has clearly bene¿ted both students and teachers. It is an approach that enhances students’ subject and language competencies and facilitates professional growth among teaching staff. In Chapter 12, “From Bachelors to Masters: Suggestions for Course and Materials Design”, Elena B. Yastrebova and Dmitry A. Kryachkov propose a “continuum” model of developing communicative competence in an ESP course, with a particular focus on transition from a Bachelors programme to Masters. The proposed modular course for students of international relations (IR) at MGIMO University has a spiral design, which intertwines ESP with EAP and EGP due to the speci¿c identity of English for IR. The authors are convinced that an ESP course is more effective if it takes into account the speci¿c features of young adults’ learning and if designed around activities aimed at developing professional skills rather than around subject matter, which calls for developing a speci¿c ESP identity pro¿le based on an inclusive needs analysis. The Masters programme, based on a “matrix” design with a built-in foundation course in the ¿rst semester, aims to cater for the needs of Masters students with different educational backgrounds. The approach suggested by the authors is expected to ensure a smooth transition for Masters students. Part 4 From Research Findings to Language Teaching begins by looking at how the knowledge of conceptual structures underlying the semantics of discourse and language units can help minimise the negative inÀuence of a learner’s ¿rst language on the acquisition and use of other languages. Elena G. Beliaevskaya and Nina A. Levkovskaya, in their illuminating article “Cognitive Modeling in Teaching English as a Second Language” posit

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that if the conceptual inner form of word semantics as well as the conceptual structures underlying different types of argumentative discourse in English are reconstructed in the process of linguistic analysis and applied in teaching and learning English as a second language, they help avoid subconscious translation from the learner’s ¿rst language (Russian) into the second language (English), thus ameliorating the effect of native language interference. The proposed concept is supported by a comparative study of synonym discrimination and argumentative discourse organisation, particularly in English and Russian essays. Chapter 14, “Biosemiotics and Prototype Semantics in Understanding Lexical Polysemy: Implications for Applied Linguistics”, by Dmitry N. Novikov and Svetlana A. Pesina makes a case for the practical application of a new approach to investigating the nature of lexical polysemy which is based on the tenets of bio-cognitive linguistics. Language learners are known to have dif¿culty in remembering numerous senses of polysemantic words. Mechanical enumeration of all possible contexts in which a word may appear is, therefore, not a very productive way to acquire vocabulary, as it requires of a student much cognitive effort and considerable resources of memory. Instead, the authors propose to focus on invariant meanings of polysemantic words, which serve as sort of “prototypes” for all senses to be found in actual discourse. The proposed method provides a word “formula”, which remains unchanged in the stream of meaning variations. Chapter 15, “Intercultural Communication: From Competence to Performance”, by Klára Kostková and Nikolai V. Baryshnikov deals with teaching intercultural communication skills. The authors present a model of intercultural communication competence comprising two integrated levels, one of which includes four core intercultural dimensions (awareness, attitudes, skills and knowledge) and the other one is foreign language communicative competence. It is proposed that intercultural training should focus on core intercultural dimensions and models of intercultural communicative competence to enable learners to communicate appropriately and effectively by using authentic intercultural strategies. The chapter gives particular attention to strategies of communicative attack (compliment, Àattery, irony, etc.) and self-defense (criticism, retort, communicative boomerang, etc.), which are of practical value to FL teachers. This collection of essays is unique in that it brings together researchers and practitioners working in a variety of contexts: from technological to classical universities, from language schools to top higher education institutions for would-be diplomats, from the harsh climate of the Siberian

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Introduction

city of Tyumen to Prague in the heart of Europe – all drawing on their direct teaching experience. As the contributions are co-authored by scholars from different universities, cities and sometimes countries, they give an idea of how the same FLT issues are dealt with in different educational environments. One thing the authors have in common, apart from their passion for teaching and an aspiration to bring innovation into the classroom, is that all of them work at what in Russia became known as non-linguistic universities, i.e. universities offering primarily non-language degrees, which makes the authors’ experiences particularly valuable as they are not geared towards FL pro¿cient language students and can be applied across various academic environments. While the essays may not offer ready-made solutions to all problems, they address a broad range of issues that continue to challenge language teachers. This volume could not have been written without the help and support of those who were involved in the project. We wish to thank all the authors for their enthusiasm, commitment and perseverance. Our gratitude also goes out to Steve Elliott, Anna Tumanova and Ekaterina Lukianchenko, whose expertise, skills and dependability have helped make this project a reality. A special thank you is owed to our families and friends, whose patience and encouragement sustained us throughout the many long hours of work. Editors

References Grigor’eva S. G. K probleme innovatsionnoi deiatel’nosti pedagoga v sovremennykh usloviiakh [On Teacher’s Innovations in the Present-day Context]. Srednee professional’noe obrazovanie – Secondary Vocational Education, no 11, pp. 9–12. 2010. Khutorskoi A. V. Pedagogicheskaia innovatika – rychag obrazovaniia [Theory of Pedagogical Innovations as a Driving Force in Education]. Internet Journal Eidos, 10 September. 2005. Available at: http://www.eidos. ru/ journal/2005/0910-19.htm (accessed 10 November 2013). Papagiannis, George J., Klees, Steven J., Bickel, Robert N. Toward a Political Economy of Educational Innovation, In: Review of Educational Research vol. 52, no. 2. pp 245–290. 1982. Yastrebova, Elena, Kryachkov, Dmitry. Innovatsii kak forma ustoichivogo razvitiia iazykovogo obrazovaniia v otdel’’no vziatom vuze [Innovations as a Form of Sustainable Development of Language Education at a University]. Vestnik MGIMO, P. 49–61. 2013.

PART I: MAKING THE MOST OF E-LEARNING

CHAPTER 1 E-LEARNING IN RUSSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES OLGA V. LVOVA, MARIA Y. KOPYLOVSKAYA, TATIANA M. SHKAPENKO

The modern market of educational services in Russia is going through rapid and radical changes in an attempt to accommodate the actual needs of the social environment. More and more ef¿cient methods of teaching are being introduced and innovative technologies of learning are being developed. In the light of this, information technologies are most welcome as they have enormous potential and introduce new methods and ways of learning into the world of education. It is obvious that the internet, being an inalienable part of our everyday life, cannot but penetrate this area of human activity. Thanks to the World Wide Web, today’s EFL teachers and their students can access different forms of information, enjoy authentic language through audio and video web resources, communicate in social networks, and have virtual contacts with the world from almost any part of Russia’s vast territory. Both education specialists and learners enjoy an incalculable variety of technologies and facilities that possess obvious pedagogical potential in terms of their progress. How can one select those that are the most appropriate and relevant? This question has no easy answer, because the entrenchment of e-learning is a multi-faceted and challenging process. The challenges are predominantly of a practical nature, concerning ¿nancing, scale, forms and search for the most suitable patterns of e-learning development in Russia. Most debates centre on distance learning, blended learning and mobile learning. Yet some of them are purely theoretical, caused by changes that have recently taken place in the system of higher education in Russia, necessitating working out new concepts and strategies. Among the latter is the necessity to conceptualise two key competencies that would be in demand in a digitally

4

Chapter 1. E-learning in Russian Higher Education...

networked society – the ability to handle information Àows through language pro¿ciency and the competency needed to tap into the potential of numerous telecommunicative facilities and be ef¿cient in virtual communication. Both are making their presence felt in focused higher educational values and are considered in this article. Much is being done through cooperation with the international ICT-LT community. In December, 2012, the British Council organised a four-day workshop in Moscow: “Digital Literacies for ELT”. English teachers from universities all over the Russian Federation were invited. In March 2014, the fourth E-merging Forum was held in Moscow – a prestigious event that brought together advanced ICT-LT educators and Russian EFL teachers keen to learn more about available technologies. Another great contribution has been provided by social and professional networks (LinkedIn, Professionali.ru), where teachers can compare and exchange notes about new technologies used for ELT. There are also posts from Russell Stannard, a British educator, who, on the web-pages of his Teacher Training Newsletters, generously shares his valuable ICT-LT know-how with educators from all over the world. This is a brief outline of the e-learning challenges that Russian language education must meet. Let us consider the details of the picture, which would be incomplete without a close-up analysis of the responses to these challenges.

E-learning and Informatisation – What, Why and How? Today there are at least two approaches to using internet resources for educational purposes. The ¿rst involves the design and development of educational networks by educational specialists at the administrative level, with the involvement of students at universities in such learning management systems as Moodle and Blackboard, and reÀects a tendency towards institutionalisation of e-education. The second concerns intensifying particular educational courses by incorporating adequate technologies into teaching/learning, but discretely, being an initiative of some teachers or students aimed at improving/assisting/facilitating acquisition skills or knowledge without any administrative interference on the part of the educational establishment as a whole. The latter appeared within Web 1.0, ¿rmly secured its position in EFL methodology, and entered the corpora of EFL terminology as Web-Supported Collaborative Learning (WSCL), Computer-Based Training (ɋȼɌ) and Web-Based Training (WBT). Within the framework of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), the ¿rst approach has traditionally been referred to as e-learning,

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5

while the second one entered the discourse of EFL methodology as Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL). The boundaries between both above-mentioned approaches are obviously rather circumstantial and, in practice, their use is normally complementary. It has been explicitly demonstrated in blended learning in language education. A sort of institutionalism can be observed at a more fundamental level of methods and approaches. While in Russia educators emphasise research into teaching English as a foreign language, their counterparts in the West, within the framework of the Learner-Centered Approach, consider learning English to be the focus of research and effort. This is true for e-learning as well: in Europe and the USA distance educational technologies are more related to informal open learning; in Russia the dominant trend is to institutionalise distance forms of education. However, more often than not, university professors opt for technology-enhanced teaching, integrating technologies in their courses and workshops without any pressure from the top. Sometimes a similar attitude towards e-learning can be observed beyond Russia’s borders, by those who believe that the question to use or not to use ICT instruments in the classroom remains at the discretion of the faculty. Some are of the opinion that, in spite of e-learning being around for approximately twenty years, the place of technology (“technology in and out of the classroom”) should still be determined by the professor, while the educational establishment rarely demonstrates any support or enthusiasm. What is more, on-line learning is still far from being popular on some campuses (Kirshner, 2012). Integrating e-learning in Russia’s language education is predetermined by kompetentnostnyi podkhod, or competency approach – a nationwide educational concept that emphasises the value of practicalities over purely theoretical knowledge; it implies readiness to use this knowledge in practice and prioritises knowledge and skills that will be in demand in the labour market in the near future (Baidenko, 2005; Tatur, 2004; Zeer, Symanyuk, 2005). Within the framework of this approach and with the undeniable presence of information technologies in all spheres of life, the government and educational authorities of the Russian Federation initiated a process of informatisation of national education, and encouraged educational institutions to promote all possible forms of e-learning. The term e-learning is widely used by researchers writing in English for the international community. In Russia e-learning is viewed as an educational format that should be institutionalised and carried out with higher educational establishment oversight. Thus, in the narrative of national

6

Chapter 1. E-learning in Russian Higher Education...

academic language education, the term informatisation is more relevant and inclusive as it covers not only the matter of educational content (what should be taught electronically), but also considers the reasons why the content should be provided in e-format and prescribes the procedure of integrating technologies into education. The process of informatisation was a response to the recognition of the urgent need to introduce innovative ICT-tools and strategies into education, and has been con¿rmed by a number of legal and developmental initiatives. Among the most fundamental are the Order of the Ministry of Education “On Coordination of Work in the Sphere of Informatisation of Education” (2001), and the Federal Law on Education of the Russian Federation on Education (2012) (On Coordination of Work [see 2 lines above]; 2001; Federal Law, 2012). These documents laid the foundation for a set of signi¿cant changes in education in the Russian Federation and started the informatisation process. In 2001, the State Institute of Information Technologies and Telecommunications “Informika” was commissioned to initiate work on creating a Federal Centre for Educational Resources, which was implemented in four stages: 1) collecting and storing all available educational information resources (accumulating relevant content); 2) designing a uni¿ed system of cataloguing and search of educational resources (the system of web-based subject directories); 3) designing the system of web-support of educational processes (virtual learning environments with integrated virtual lecture and practicum courses); and 4) designing integrated websupported virtual learning environments in education (providing access to educational resources securing required learning outcomes and providing support for authors willing to create an educational resource). Although, in their mission statement, the Centre declares that they provide educational resources at all levels of education, in fact higher educational resources are currently underrepresented. There are no resources for EFL classes at university level at all. However, the institution is involved in a number of informatisation projects for education in Russia with Information and Telecommunication Technologies in Education (2003), OneStop Access to Educational Resources (2005) being the largest (Titova, 2011; State Institute of Information Technologies and Telecommunications: Projects). Informatisation of language education in Russia is also gaining momentum. In addition to this process, there are aims to systemise available linguistic and linguo-didactic knowledge and to foster new knowledge in these areas of education. E-learning, when introduced at the institutional level,

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7

ful¿lls two fundamental strategic aims: ¿rstly, to increase the effectiveness of each kind of educational activity by means of information and telecommunication technologies, and secondly, to promote a new type of thinking that can accommodate the needs of an information-oriented society. Using methods and means of education emerging with the informatisation of education, a future specialist in his or her problem-solving area should be able to apply knowledge about available and professionally relevant information resources, know where they are located, how to access them and how to use them to increase the effectiveness of professional activity. The need to explore technical means, methods and technologies of integrating ICT-tools into educational processes resulted in the creation of a chair for Informatisation of Education at Moscow City Pedagogical University. There are similar departments in other higher educational institutions, for example: Yesenin State University in Ryazan, and the Novikova Institute for Development of Education in Vladimir. Research is based on founding the basis for the development of the information educational space, and searching for ways to motivate faculty members to integrate information technologies in their everyday practice. Any educational process involves two main parties – teachers and learners – and Russia’s pedagogic community is now concerned with the teacher-training aspect of e-learning. To work within an e-learning format, a teacher must be competent in the ICT sphere. The problem is currently being looked at by many scholars. Svetlana V. Titova, Moscow State University, is considering the issue in the light of the information-communication competency of language teachers in the context of the new higher education standards. Maxim N. Yevstigneev, Tambov State University, developed the methodology of fostering and designed the structure of ICT competence of foreign language teachers. Marina A. Bovtenko, Novosibirsk State University, is exploring the linguistic component of ICT competence for foreign language teachers. A great number of Russia’s universities offer teachertraining programmes for preparation in the e-learning format of teaching, among them Irkutsk State Pedagogic University, Moscow State Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, Tomsk State University (Titova, 2009; Yevstigneyev, 2011; Bovtenko, 2010). Gaining experience in the practical and theoretical problems concerning the informatisation of foreign language learning is also a focus of the International Scienti¿c and Practical Conference on Information and Communication Technologies in Linguistics, Linguodidactics and Intercultural Communication, which has been held every two years since 2004, and has been inviting teachers and scholars involved in comparable investiga-

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tions in many countries (See the collection of works at http://conf.lingvograd.ru). There are also individual attempts to accelerate the process of informatisation, such as the course on Theoretical and Pragmatic Basics of Integration of ICT Technologies into Linguodidactics (Theory of FL Methodology), developed by Prof. Emeritus A. L. Nazarenko, Moscow State University, at the wiki spaces educational service (Nazarenko, 2012). The necessity to prepare ICT-competent teachers involves meeting the needs of a new e-Learner, as, according to D. Tapscot and M. Prensky, the educational process is divided into digital natives and digital immigrants (Bennett, Maton, Kervin, 2008). The net generation of students display new characteristics in their cognitive behaviour, galvanise the process of entrenching e-learning and necessitate changes in the content and organisation of language education (Kopylovskaya, 2014:173). Some researchers consider different types or forms of e-learning to be a continuum (an entity of closely related phenomena), from integration of different web services into traditional classroom learning, to blended learning and then distance, on-line learning. We would like to discuss the state of the art and the challenges of some technologies in e-learning, mostly in Russia. We will start with distance learning.

Distance Learning – How Long is the Distance? The early history of ICT-based distance learning in Russia dates back to 1990, when, under the auspices of Russia’s Academy of Education and under the guidance of Prof. Y. S. Polat, Hertzen Pedgogic University, the Laboratory of Means and Pedagogic Technologies of Distance Learning (currently The Centre of Distance Learning) was created. In the 1990s “Telecommunication in Education” (1993), “Computer Telecommunication to School” (1995) and “Distance Learning” (1998) were published – all edited by Y. S. Polat. In their project “The Concept of Distance Learning”, the Centre’s researchers consider patterns of organising distance learning, didactic characteristics and functions of ICT, and pedagogic grounds for distance learning. They distinguish four main types of distance education: 1) interactive television (two-way TV); 2) computer telecommunication networks (regional and global) in text ¿le exchange mode; 3) computer telecommunication networks with the use of multimedia – information in interactive mode and with the use of videoconferencing, and 4) a combination of the ¿rst and the second (Polat, Petrov, Aksenov: http://distant.ioso.ru/library/publication/ concepte.htm).

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Even though distance learning has existed in Russia for about twenty years, the rate of its development is rather insigni¿cant. According to the experts, distance learning accounts for no more than 15 percent of the educational market (Statistics, 2012). Information about universities and educational centres that provide distance learning can be found on the Federal Web-portal “Russian Education” (www.edu.ru). The Àag ship in the implementation of the new format of education is Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) – the only Russian member of the European project HOME (Higher Education On-line), uniting universities from the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Israel and other countries. This portal demonstrates continuous growth in the number of higher educational institutions offering degrees in a distance learning format, but it is worth mentioning that there are no offers to receive bachelor’s or master’s degrees in foreign language education. Only one institution – the Of¿ce of Distance Learning at Moscow Institute of Economics, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis and Institute of World Economy and Informatisation (UNIK) – supplies web-based online courses, awarding a degree in the ¿eld of Translation and Theory of Translation (http://unic.edu.ru/departments/ translation/). But on the whole, the analysis of the distance education market in Russian higher education leads to the conclusion that most Russian universities continue to prioritise traditional face-to-face education in the teaching of foreign languages. The reasons for the constrained development of the new learning format were investigated by the Centre for Distance Education and Information Technology. The survey conducted by this centre revealed that the main reasons for the slow pace of implementation of distance learning are as follows: ņ uncertain academic status of distance learning (84 percent of respondents); ņ lack of necessary regulatory framework in the ¿eld of distance learning (84 percent of respondents); ņ lack of quali¿ed specialists in the ¿eld of e-courses development (63 percent of respondents); ņ lack of awareness in the professional community about the bene¿ts of distance learning (57 percent of respondents); ņ unwillingness of students to change the education format (26 percent of respondents) (Lokteva, 2010). Among secondary reasons, copyright issues were cited, which makes individual contributors reluctant to place their resources on the web for open

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access; also there is the reluctance of “old school” teachers to change their methodology, and the lack of trust in the ability of distance education to train academically quali¿ed and responsible specialists. This distrust of innovations is the reverse side of universities’ commitment to traditions and typical of these educational institutions’ resistance to changes, corporate culture and unwillingness to use internet resources as the information in them is derivative and unreliable (Kopylovskaya, 2014:171). Such reverence for traditions can be ascribed to the force of inertia; on the other hand, it could be interpreted as a reliable means of protection against hasty changes, which could lead to a lowering of standards in EFL teaching. In this respect, M. Taylor, a philosopher of religion at Columbia University, NY, emphasises the dangers which can result from an unsubstantiated drive for innovations, arguing that honouring the past is a bulwark against barbarian assaults on the present (Taylor, 2010). Taking into account the results of the conducted survey, many Russian academicians and university lecturers view the advent of distance learning as a barbarian invasion which threatens to ruin the existing system of education that produces unique scholars and replace it with a new one aimed at churning out low-quality specialists. Nonetheless, besides the above-mentioned factors, which are arresting the development of distance learning in Russia, there are incentives that promote its implementation. These are mainly external factors: ¿rst and foremost, the inÀuence of market mechanisms, which forced universities to act as competitors trying to corner the niche in the market of distance education. According to some educators, the growing potential to obtain a degree abroad, without even leaving one’s native country, could lead to a mass outÀow of students and, in turn, result in a diminishing of the current level of national security in the educational ¿eld (Smolin, 2008). V. Tikhomirov, science counselor at Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics, underlines the necessity of giving an immediate response to the new challenges in distance learning: “American projects, Coursera, Udacity and other movements spawned MOOCs and, thereby, challenged the current systems of education. In fact, they are offensive in the struggle for intellectual capital. In this regard, Russia needs to strengthen its position in this area” (Tikhomirov, 2008). However, merely an awareness of external pressure is not enough if the country wants to make real progress in the development of a national system of e-learning. There is an obvious need for intrinsic motivation, which can arise only out of personal testing of the new educational format and deep understanding of its bene¿ts. For instance, Prof. A. Torkunov, Rector

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of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations), in his interview for Russian TV, 29 April, 2014, referred to his personal experience of re-assessing the potential of distance courses. He explained that he drastically revised his previous skepticism about the possibility of learning foreign languages via computers after testing the Korean language distance learning course (Torkunov, 2014). No doubt, the practical use of any language on-line courses can help to realise the overall potential of such courses, because when doing such a course students gain access to authentic audio, visual, and textual information about the linguistic features and the culture of its native speakers.

Blended Learning and Mobile Learning: What’s New in Our Blender? The search for more reliable formats of learning, which, on the one hand, would include such advantages of e-learning as convenient time and place for learning, individual pace of learning with the learning material already selected and, on the other, would help to avoid the above-mentioned disadvantages of distance education, resulted in the development of blended learning. Blended learning is often seen as a panacea and something of a compromise by many universities. The format combines distance learning, face-toface learning and self-study. This educational strategy for foreign language acquisition is now widely used and well-developed in Russia. The system is effective and allows learners to be well-settled and supported as they gain experience and acquire necessary skills. This is the reason for investigating and developing different blended courses (See Chapter 4 for more details on blended learning). In spite of the fact that blended learning allows for signi¿cant economy in funding, there are still areas of concern for universities that attempt the transition to a blended learning format. The most challenging is the process of transformation of materials required for studies into an educational information resource and designing means of transmitting these resources to students with maximum ef¿ciency. In other words, the information scattered over different resources should be structured and digitalised. One more problem arises in the process – that of information density. Here, educators are trying to resolve the problem of correlating the amount of acquisition information to be presented, given appropriated academic hours, and the memory capacity of individual learners. The problem of implementing blended learning forms into language education is also a managerial

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one and entails fundamental restructuring in the educational establishment. From the viewpoint of pedagogical innovations, the functions steering the educational establishment to non-stop development come to the forefront. Transition to blended learning implies ground-breaking changes in personnel, because preparing a blend requires an army of IT specialists: programmers, web-designers, testers, producers and creative directors. Even the largest universities seem unready to maintain such a staff (Kadyrova, 2009). Speaking about innovative tendencies in e-learning, one cannot avoid mentioning mobile learning (m-learning). This term has different meanings for different communities, but is closely connected with e-learning and distance education. It focuses on learning with mobile devices: smartphones, iPhones, tablets and iPads. Although m-learning is just starting to gain its position in Russian higher education, the challenges with this form of e-learning are notable. First of all, teachers reject the idea of m-learning as they fail to believe that mobile phones can improve the educational process; moreover, the use of mobile phones is forbidden as they are often used as a crib. Secondly, teachers are often much less knowledgeable about mobile applications than their students. Teachers also feel insecure with mobile learning as there is no tested and reliable methodology for teaching with mobile devices, and, by the same token, the mobile applications corpora is neither classi¿ed nor suf¿cient to organise m-learning for students of different educational pro¿les and levels of pro¿ciency (Titova, 2012). These fears may at least partly disappear as the ¿rst steps in m-learning methodology in Russia have already been taken: a manual on this new e-learning format has been offered to EFL teachers in this country (Titova, Avramenko, 2013).

Information Competence or How Not to Drown in the Information Ocean One more challenge notable in the realm of e-learning is the proliferation of information due to the growth of the internet. The world-wide web has exerted a ground-breaking impact on the cognitive sphere. In language education, the internet has provided teachers and learners with unlimited access to authentic information in the target language, and it was the same internet that simultaneously presented a livestock of digital instruments to help to convert this information into knowledge. This dichotomy explains the steadfast interest in pedagogical research in this area and there is clear evidence that a new language educational paradigm has recently started to acquire more or less discernible contours (Raitskaya, 2009; Sysoyev, 2012; Kopylovskaya, 2013; Titova, 2009). Here,

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Russian higher education is on the same page as its European colleagues. For example, Gavin Dudeney, Nicky Hockly and Mark Pegrum, the authors of the world’s ICT language pedagogy bestseller “Digital Literacy”, maintain that “we (educators) are starting to develop a much clearer picture of competencies needed to participate in digitally networked post-industrial economies and societies” (Dudeney, Hockly, Pegrum, 2013:2). Following the main principle of the competency approach, prioritising practical over theoretical knowledge, language educators are currently reevaluating their teaching content for students to be able to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes obtained at university in their post-graduate life. In the e-learning context, these skills might include knowing how to use a navigation panel when writing their thesis, MS PowerPoint software or Prezzi for their presentations and web-templates for business writing. By the same token, English is taught not as a new language system but as an instrument that allows the specialist to ¿nd and process professionally important information. The language here is only a part of their professional competence, which can be boosted by knowing how to make use of relevant digital instruments. Due to the fact that the total amount of information is more than enormous, these instruments are crucially important, because in an e-learning context the teacher is not supposed to merely share information, but to teach how to obtain it independently from any authority. For language education this requires a methodology of managing information Àows, with the English Language acting as a managerial instrument in all varieties of ESP and EAP: Legal English, English for Medicine, English for International Relations and so on. To meet this requirement, a well-structured concept of competency for ELT was designed and a detailed inventory of skills focused on processing information for professional purposes was developed to form a speci¿c competence. This competence should be referred to as the information competency in the capacity of a more embracing notion opposing the terms information-communication competence or digital literacy. The development of meaningful pedagogical strategies in the ¿eld of teaching foreign languages in Russia and the development of the concept of information competency for language pedagogy is complicated by the terminological duplication of a number of terms covering practically the same notions (as was mentioned above): information-communication competency/ ICT competency (information-communication or computer technology competency), computer / media / digital literacy happily coexist in the pedagogical sciences (Bovtenko, 2010; Yevstigneyev, 2011; Fyodorov, 2004 et al.).

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The terminology disagreement is particularly embarrassing in this triplicate of terms: competence / competency / literacy. The term competence is mainly used to mean a set of skills in a particular area (for instance: communicative competence as a set of skills needed for being successful in communication), while competency/literacy is seen as the ability of an individual to apply the obtained competences for practical needs. This terminological paronymy complicates the conceptualising process and often misleads researchers as scientists label the same notions differently. This cannot be ascribed exclusively to “lost-in-translation” matters. It should be noted that this terminology conÀict in the conceptualising of information competency for an e-learning mode of higher education language pedagogy can also be observed in the articles of English-speaking authors. For instance, T. Newman maintains that the researchers of the issue refer to the set of skills necessary to be handy with information as both information competency and digital literacy and view them as interchangeable (Newman, 2008). This problem is also given consideration in Kristie Ala-Mutka’s paper “Mapping Digital Competence: Towards a Conceptual Understanding” (Ala-Mutka, 2011). In practice this confusion sometimes results in neglecting the necessity to teach languages with technologies and viewing ICT skills as a discrete competence irrelevant to language education, which from the authors’ viewpoint is a big mistake and impedes the progress of e-learning education in Russia. On the whole, the concept of information competency in Russia is closer to the European understanding than that pertaining in the USA; in American higher education, information competency has predominantly been considered to be within the domain of library sciences (Katz, 2007). This is an important difference in international ELT academic discourse, as in US universities building information competency is viewed as being the responsibility of library faculty members, because a high level of English language pro¿ciency is taken for granted. Meanwhile, building information competency in Russia’s higher language education seems to be a more complicated process, as it implies not only managing information, but also doing it through foreign language pro¿ciency, based on knowing the principal characteristics of information and the use of ICT skills. Like Russian language educators, our European colleagues, for whom English is mainly a foreign language, also view information competency as an interdisciplinary set of skills, which involves formation of the skills in the English language classroom as well.

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Careful analysis of the Joint Research Centre of the European Union (JRC) paper “Digital Literacy for Lifelong Learning”, devoted to the role and use of information and computer technologies in modern education, makes it possible to attest that most EU researchers believe that in all sorts of education pro¿les (university, college education, with majors in both science or humanities) the information competency of learners implies cognitive and technological components as integral subcompetencies (Ala-Mutka, Punie, Redecker, 2008; Ferrari, 2012; Redecker, Leis, Leendertse, 2011). The ¿ndings of the JRC scholars set the scene for Russia’s language pedagogy researchers to expand the concept of information competency and conclude that it should admittedly have several manifestations in the context of language education (Raitskaya, 2009). For ESP these include components embracing the realms of personal, linguistic, professional and technological development: 1) cognitive, 2) aspect levels, and 3) instrumental (Kopylovskaya, 2013). These can be presented as follows: Fig. 1.1. Information Competence Components for EFL

Within the framework of ELT the cognitive level of the information competency is supposed to be present in the educational pro¿le of the specialist in any ¿eld and can be divided into two or more speci¿c subcompetences: metacognitive and cognitive. Metacognitive subcompetence should secure the knowledge of the main characteristics of information, such as adequacy, completeness, broadness and relevance. With data and methods of their processing

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being interdependent, these characteristics of information are important (Vsevolodova, 2007:12–16). Cognitive subcompetence purportedly embraces the operational sphere of information competency, i.e. it should include those macro- and microskills that are necessary for an individual to process some information. These involve ef¿cient collecting, formatting, ¿ltering and retrieval of information, extended by well-developed critical thinking skills necessary to transform information into knowledge (Vsevolodova, 2007:18–19). At the second level or aspect level, both subcompetences manifest themselves in three basic aspects: linguistic, professional and educational. (The aspect, here, like in computer sciences, is understood as a feature that is linked to many parts of the information competency, but is not necessarily the primary function of the program). In ESP or CLIL, all components (linguistic knowledge, professional expertise or study skills) matter as all of them contribute to professional language development and are evenly highlighted in the educational process when necessary. The third dimension of information competency is found in the extent of ef¿ciency when handling digital instruments necessary to actualise the second level. In the digital age these instruments are represented by Web 2.0 services. Thus, the third instrumental level implies awareness of information technologies and readiness to apply ICT skills to understand the text in English – to decode the message, to employ the information from the decoded message for solving and dealing with professional issues, to analyse and to store the most ef¿cient strategies for further educational purposes. The linguistic aspect on the instrumental level involves such ICT skills as: 1) effective use of e-dictionaries (Abby Lingvo, The Free Dictionary on-line, and Multitran etc.); 2) knowing how to use concordances (British National Corpus, Corpus Concordancer English); and 3) use of alternative sources for solving linguistic problems that may arise when processing information (Ask.com, Google Fight, Youtube, etc.). The professional aspect implies two areas of applying the skills of information competency: professional-academic and professional-practical. The former seems to be universal in all spheres of higher education. For researchers in any ¿eld it is important to achieve targeted investigation objectives by making use of the options provided by search engines like Google, Yandex or Altavista etc. Simultaneously, they must be capable of navigating more speci¿c, academic search engines – Google Scholar, Social Science Research Network (SSRN), ScienceDirect (Elsivier) and Scopus. For those in social sciences, a part of their professional-academic aspect in

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information competency will be the relevant use of such digital instruments as Surveymonkey and PewInternet. As regards the professional-practical aspect, it is determined by the needs of a particular profession. For example, for students in the ¿eld of International Relations, this aspect will contain the knowledge of how to use information technologies in such political processes as digital diplomacy or the work of an e-government. To monitor these processes, they should also learn how to use social media monitoring tools (YouScan, BrandSpotter and Wobot) as these skills have become the order of the day in political decision making. The educational aspect of information competency is meant to help students update the way they organise their studies in order to interiorize ef¿ciently professionally important knowledge, as well as to use the tools to help avoid stressful situations, which have become an inalienable part of the challenges in Russia’s higher education due to information overload. These include skillful use of various peripheral devices, such as printers, scanners and, most recently, mobile camera snapshots, all to contribute to their academic progress. There are also different apps which can be used for planning studies (Google Calendar), collecting information for a course paper research from scienti¿c journals and the mass media (Google Alerts, RSS-services), tapping the full potential of Microsoft Of¿ce or MacWord Processors, making use of on-line writing labs (e.g. the OWL the HyperCrammar), and mastering vocabulary with internet-based technologies (e.g.Quizlet.com) or mobile applications (e.g. MyWordbook 2) and the like. To sum up, it is obvious that fostering information competency in learners in the context of language education can be based on teachers’ preparedness to share their own digital instruments with learners. This can be seen as the weakest link as the e-learning format is only beginning to gain momentum in this country for the reasons mentioned above.

Telecommunicative Competency or Are You i-ɋultural? Another area of concern, important in an e-learning context, is telecommunicative competency, which ensures that learners communicate effectively in the virtual world. The term telecommunicative competence was developed within the context of the communicative approach in language education. The core concept of the communicative approach – communicative competence, according to J. Sheils, is a multi-component structure and includes: 1) linguistic competence; 2) discourse competence; 3) sociolinguistic competence;

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4) sociocultural competence; and 5) social competence and strategic competence (Sheils, 1995:1–2). With the gradual spread of the e-learning format, changes and challenges introduced to our life by developments in information technologies and the internet impact the ways, rules and means of communication among people in virtual reality and are encouraging scientists to revise the concept of communication competence. Communication on the internet is characterised by anonymity and is absolutely uncontrolled in terms of the way people express themselves. Therefore, it is not surprising that some researchers within the system of higher education in Russia have become concerned about fostering a competency obviously required for a virtual communicative exchange of information. This one requires a new skill set and a sort of appropriate extension to the concept of communicative competence and can be referred to as telecommunicative competency. It should be noted that this set of aptitudes and skills is not simply a transferal of skills to the virtual environment embraced by the concept of communicative competency. The term telecommunication is used in the sense of, and also referred to as, cmc (computer mediated communication), emc (electronically mediated communication), dmc (digitally mediated communication) and differs signi¿cantly from traditional communication (spoken or written). Some of these distinctive features are fundamental: i.e. while telecommunicating we do not have immediate feedback (even using Skype, etc.), we can communicate simultaneously with a large number of people, and participants can choose who they communicate with. Besides, there are new types of communication that let you present your photos, videos, memes etc. for comment and approval/disapproval. Complete strangers can give you “likes” or disapproval marks on YouTube. Users can also create avatars and live a separate existence in cyber space. The de¿nition and concept of telecommunicative competency is yet to be developed. But work in this direction is under way and investigations surrounding different aspects of the problem are being conducted. Considering this problem, one can notice that from 1991, when the internet appeared, the lexical and grammar structure of the language system underwent insigni¿cant changes, if any. But with the emergence of Web 2.0., which brought interaction to mass consumers, telecommunication has immensely inÀuenced the lexical component of different languages, predominantly English, and induced the greatest ever expansion of the boundaries of informal language, and is reÀected in the choice of grammar structure as well. Low frequency words and professional terms have penetrated the

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lexicon of the virtual community, and, having changed their previous modes of usage, are now “circulating” in social networks. One more obvious trend is the ample use of acronyms and abbreviations. Usually messages are shorter “docked” and there are a lot of abbreviations for whole phrases (for instance, IMHO – in my humble opinion = I think so; IMNHO – in my not humble opinion = it is for sure; BRB – be right back = wait, I will be back to the computer soon; TTYL – talk to you later = do not have time to write etc.). Texting as a product of telecommunication gave birth to logograms, combinations of letters and ¿gures like gr8 – great, 4u – for you, and the same telecommunication patterns eliminated punctuation marks as punctuation is only needed for longer utterances. NetSpeak or seteyaz (the analogue to the English acronym in the Russian language) is heavily rooted in the new culture of communication and provides one more challenge for language teachers operating in the e-learning format of education. The penetration of telecommunication patterns into real communication appears to impoverish the lexicon. In telecommunication, the interlocutors often use emoticons to express their emotions and do not need a rich vocabulary. They mostly con¿ne themselves to limited grammatical structures, because in highly contextualised communication ellipses secure mutual understanding. Thus, text de-compression might become a widely focused practice in the English language classroom (Kopylovskaya, 2014:174). Any user or participant of telecommunication should clearly understand what type of e-language (formal, informal or a mixture of them) is to be used for a particular communication session, so as to avoid misunderstanding and giving unintentional offence to one’s interlocutor. This aspect of telecommunicative competency falls into the realm of “courtesy skills” or “appropriateness”. Both are important in intracultural communication. Crucially signi¿cant is that fostering “courtesy” skills and other components of telecommunicative competency in the English language (the main language of intercultural communication in the second decade of the twenty-¿rst century) is not completely the prerogative of language education, but a transdisciplinary task and should be shared by teachers of different academic disciplines. The transdisciplinary nature of the problem of fostering telecommunicative competency, which teachers face in the e-learning mode of instruction, incentivises Russia’s educators to design a methodology that can embrace all the communication patterns existing in different academic disciplines and situations. Researchers at the Moscow Pedagogy Institute argue that the problem can be solved by applying innovative methods and making use of the wide variety of opportunities provided by ICTs. For instance, by offering situative vocabularies and an ICT-tool, which usually provides

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lexical and grammatical structures or stereotyped speech acts performed in speci¿c speech situations, sometimes including special guidelines for rules of behaviour in these situations, as well as references to different resources (Lvova, 2010). The need to improve professional skills (especially for non-language learners) in speaking leads to the idea of developing a methodological system for formation skills in speaking that can take into account speech models corresponding to different situations (sometimes even patterns of behaviour). The ¿rst situative vocabulary served as a sample for further development. It was a simple set like the one presented in Table 1.1 below. Table 1.1. Correspondence of Lexical and Grammar Structures to Motives of Statement Motive of Statement

Lexical and Grammar construction

Af¿rmation

Of course… (it is obvious, without any doubt) Everybody knows that… It follows that… In practice it is proved…

Assumption

Is assumed to be … Let it be (One might think) … Seems to be… Even if we assume…

Persuasion

Agree that … Undoubtedly … It is rather obvious … As we can see from the example…

Negation

It is incorrect to believe… One cannot assume that … It seems to be a controversial claim

Conclusion

The conclusion is … It was given as evidence … So …. It was proved … The above said results in the following conclusion

This table was used as a starting point to perform different learning tasks to develop communicative skills. Then it became an object for a project ac-

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tivity by learners themselves: they create, broaden or unify it. The activity demanded intensive communication, which usually took the form of telecommunication (blogs, chats, forums, Àow chart, mailing lists etc.). This allowed students to enhance their stock of functional speech and enlarge their range of structures. At the same time, it provided useful material for discussing ways and speci¿c situations for the relevant application of this linguistic input in internet communication and resulted in the development of situative vocabulary, and an innovative ICT-tool. Having faced the acute problem of a decrease in telecommunication culture due to dominating informal language patterns (NetSpeak) in messages between faculty members, students and their professors, and students on group e-mail, educators at Moscow State Pedagogical University developed situative vocabularies to remind telecommunication participants that it should be formal or close to formal, and provided them with regular patterns appropriate for this form of communication. This situative lexis is located on a net resource (e.g. group e-mail), focused on fostering courtesy skills in telecommunication (Lvova, 2012). The research revealed that these situative vocabularies possess a considerable didactic potential for e-learning as they facilitate not only fostering communicative skills in general, but also allow for cultivating a speci¿c culture of speech and behaviour on the internet, which is relevant to e-learning (Lvova, 2013).

Conclusion As we have seen, the scope of problems pertaining to e-learning advancement in Russia’s language education at university level is a balance between respect for traditional forms of instruction and the obvious demand for changes. The search is underway to ¿nd strategies that combine advanced web-technologies with the best experience in traditional face-toface education that is worth applying. Being one of the world's largest countries, proud of its educational traditions, Russia currently needs solutions, commensurable with the scale of the shift that has taken place internationally in the educational paradigm, and the process of gradually entrenching e-learning in higher education will take time. These solutions appear to be costly in terms of human resources and ¿nancing, so the desire to act with prudence often serves as an impediment to the advancement of e-learning. The onrush of technologies in the twenty-¿rst century promotes the appearance of new education means, methods and strategies, initiating new

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trends in education. At the same time, UNESCO experts emphasise that neither students nor faculty members should become hostages of technology. Governments and educational authorities should encourage universities to apply the most suitable, effective and reliable technologies in order to ful¿l education aims. As any government today considers fostering a new generation capable of fully Àedged self-realisation in the digital post-industrial society to be a task of the ¿rst priority, and a guarantee of economic and social progress, e-learning, however challenging, has every chance of becoming the order of the day in Russian higher education language teaching.

References Ala-Mutka, K. “Mapping digital competence: Towards a conceptual understanding.” Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. 2011. Available at: ftp://ftp. jrc. es/pub/EURdoc/JRC67075_TN. pdf (Accessed January 15, 2013) Ala-Mutka, K., Punie, Y. & Redecker, C. “Digital competence for lifelong learning.” Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, European Commission, Joint Research Centre. Technical Note: JRC, 48708. 2008. Baidenko, V. I. “The Competency approach to National curriculum, design in the higher professional education (methodological issues): A Methodology Handbook.” M.: Research Centre for Studying the Problems of the Quality of Specialist Training, 114, 3. 2005. [Baidenko, V. I. Kompetentnostnyi podkhod k proektirovaniiu gosudarstvennykh obrazovatel'nykh standartov vysshego professional'nogo obrazovaniia (metodologicheskie i metodicheskie voprosy): Metodicheskoe posobie. M.: Issledovatel'skii tsentr problem kachestva podgotovki spetsialistov, 114, 3] Bennett, S., Maton, K. & Kervin, L. “The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence.” British Journal of Educational Technology, 39, no. 5 (2008): 775–786. Bovtenko, M. A. “The materials to form linguistic component of information-communication competence of a foreign language teacher.” Materials of the conference Intercultural communication: Linguistic and methodological aspects. Novosibirsk: NSTU, pp. 221–229. 2010. [Bovtenko, M. A. Uchebnye materialy dlia formirovaniia lingvisticheskoi sostavliaiushchei informatsionno-kommunikatsionnoi kompetentsii prepodavatelia inostrannogo iazyka / M. A. Bovtenko // Sbornik trudov nauchno-metodicheskoi konferentsii “Mezhkul'turnaia kommunikatsiia:

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lingvisticheskie i lingvodidakticheskie aspekty.” – Novosibirsk: izd-vo NGTU. – 2010, s. 221–229] Federal Law on Education in the Russian Federation. Article 16. Realisation of Educational Programmes with the Ise of e-learning and Distance Educational Technologies. http://xn--80abucjiibhv9a.xn--p1ai/%D0%B 4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1% 82%D1%8B/2974 Fedorov, A. Media Education and Media Literacy. Taganrog. Izd-vo Kuchma. 2004. (Fedorov, A. V. Mediaobrazovanie i mediagramotnost'. Taganrog: Izd-vo Kuchma, 2004. – 340 s.) Ferrari, A. “Digital Competence in practice: An analysis of frameworks.” Institute for Prospective Technological Studies. 2012. Available at: http://ipts. jrc. ec. europa. eu/publications/pub. cfm. Mobile App MyWordbook2. – https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/ apps/mywordbook-2 Kadyrova, E. A. “Blended Learning in the system of higher education.” Internet-based journal Eidos (January 14, 2009) / [Kadyrova, E. A. “Smeshannoe obuchenie v sisteme vysshego obrazovaniia.” Internet-zhurnal Eidos. (Ianvar 14, 2009) http://www.eidos.ru/journal/2009/0114-3. htm] Kirschner, A. “Innovations in Higher Education? Hah!” Chronicle of Higher Eduation (April 8, 2012). http://chronicle.com/article/Innovations-inHigher/131424/) (Accessed July 7, 2014) Kopylovskaya, M. Y. “Cross-cultural ConÀict digital native/digital immigrant in the Contemporary Approach to Language Teaching.” Vestnik SPbSU 9, no. 1 (2014): 167–178. [Kopylovskaia, M. Y. Mezhkul'turnyi konÀikt digital native/digital immigrant v sovremennom prepodavanii angliiskogo iazyka / Vestnik SPbGU. Seriia 9. Filologiia. Vostokovedenie. Zhurnalistika. No. 1 (2014): 167–178.] Kopylovskaya, M. Y. “On Structure of IR Students’ Information Competence in the Digital Age.” The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages, 4, no. 131 (2013). Kopylovskaia, M. Y. O strukture informatsionnoi kompetentsii studentov-mezhdunarodnikov v epokhu tsifrovykh tekhnologii. Magiia INNO: novye tekhnologii v iazykovoi podgotovke spetsialistov-mezhdunarodnikov 4, no. 131). Lvova, O. V. “ICT-tools to develop communicative skills of future mathematics teachers.” Collection of the 29th All-Russian Seminar for lecturers of mathematics of higher educational institutions, “Professional and pedagogical training of a mathematical teacher of mathematics in

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pedagogical higher educational institutions and universities under current conditions” pp. 152–153. 2010. Lvova, O. V. “Situative vocabularies as a tool to form transdisciplinary knowledge and skills.” Materials of International Conference Mathematical, natural science education informatisation, Moscow, 11–12 September, 2012, v. 4: 67–73. Lvova, O. V. “I-culture or total ignorance (Some theoretical and practical problems of informatisation of education).” The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages, no. 1 (2013): 11–17. “On Coordination of Work in the Sphere of Informatisation of Education.” Order of the Ministry of Education. 2001. http://www.edu.ru/db-mon/ mo/data/d_01/3926.html Purdue On-line Writing Lab. Free Access Internet Resource: https://owl. english.purdue.edu/ Raitskaya, L. K. “The Didactic Potential of the Corpora Internet-technologies in Teaching a Foreign Language in Higher Educational Establishments.” Vestnik, 123 (2009). [Raitskaia, L. K. Didakticheskie vozmozhnosti korpusnykh internet-tekhnologii v prepodavanii inostrannogo iazyka v vysshei shkole. Vestnik, 123 (2009).] Raitskaya, L. K. “The Essence and Fostering of the Foreign Language Information Competence in Higher Educational Establishments.” Vestnik of MSU. Series 20 (2010): 28–38. [Raitskaia, L. K. Sushchnost' i formirovanie inoiazychnoi informatsionnoi kompetentsii v vysshei shkole. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriia, 20 (2010): 28–38.] Redecker, C., Leis, M., Leendertse, M., Punie, Y., Gijsbers, G., Kirschner, P. & Hoogveld, B. “The future of learning: New ways to learn new skills for future jobs.” Results from an online expert consultation. JRC-IPTS, Seville. 2010. Smolin, O. Analytic paper on the status and prospects of developing e-learning in Russia. [Analiticheskaja zapiska o sostojanii i perspektivah razvitija elektronnogo obuchenija v Rossi]. 2008. Available at: http://www.smolin.ru/odv/reference-source/pdf/analytical_note.pdf (Accessed July 5, 2013) State Institute of Information Technologies and Telecommunications: Projects. http://www.informika.ru/projects/infotech/ Statistics, 2012. Statistics of distance education in Russia [Statistika distancyonnogo obuchenija w Rossiji]. Available at: http://msktreningi.ru/ news/?new=1808 (Accessed June 2, 2014) Sysoyev, P. V. “The Informatisation of Language Education: The Main

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Trends and Prospects.” Foreign Languages in Secondary Schools, 2 (2012): 2–9. [Sysoev, P. V. (2012). Informatizatsiia iazykovogo obrazovaniia: osnovnye napravleniia i perspektivy. Inostrannye iazyki v shkole, 2 (2012): 2–9] Sheils, J. Communication in the Modern Language Classroom. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Press, 1993. Taylor, M. Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities (Knopf, ISBN 0–307–59329–0). 2010. Tatur, Y. G. “The Competency Approach in describing results of Curriculum Design for the higher professional education.” M.: The Research Centre for Studying the Problems of the Quality of Specialist Training, 17, no. 1 (2004). [Tatur, Y. G. Kompetentnostnyi podkhod v opisanii rezul'tatov i proektirovanii standartov vysshego professional'nogo obrazovaniia. M.: Issledovatel'skii tsentr problem kachestva podgotovki spetsialistov, 17, no. 1 (2004).] Titova, S. V. “Information and Communication Technologies in Humanities: Theory and Practice.” M.: P-Centre. 2009. [Titova, S. V. Informatsionnokommunikatsionnye tekhnologii v gumanitarnom obrazovanii: teoriia i praktika. M.: P-Tsentr. 2009.] Titova, S. V. “Mobile Learning: Perspectives and Strategies.” Vestnik MSU 19. Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Moscow, MSU. no. 1 (2012). http://titova.fÀ.msu.ru/portfolio/publicationsarticles.html [Titova S. V. Mobil'noe obuchenie segodnia: strategii i perspektivy. Moskva, MGU, no. 1 (2012).] Titova, S. V., Avramenko, A. P. Mobile Teaching of Foreign Languages: Manual. Moscow: Ikar, 2013. P. 224. [Titova, S. V., Avramenko, A. P. Mobil'noe obuchenie inostrannym iazykam: Uchebnoe posobie / S. V. Titova, A. P. Avramenko. – M.: Izdatel'stvo Ikar, 2013. – 224 s.] Quizlet web-site. Free Access Internet Resource http://quizlet.com/ University of Ottawa Writing Center. Free Access Internet Resource: http:// arts.uottawa.ca/writingcentre/en Yevstigneev, M. N. “The Structure of a Foreign Language Teacher’s ICT Competence.” Yazyk i Kul’tura, no. 1 (2011): 119–125. [Evstigneev, M. N. Struktura IKT kompetentnosti uchitelia inostrannogo iazyka // Iazyk i kul’tura, no. 1 (2011): 119–125.] Zeyer, E. & Symanyuk, E. “Competency Approach to the Modernisation of Professional Education.” Higher Education in Russia, 4 (2005): 23–30. [Zeer, E., & Symaniuk, E. Kompetentnostnyi podkhod k modernizatsii professional’nogo obrazovaniia. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii, 4 (2005): 23–30.]

CHAPTER 2 LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES AND NEW MODELS OF TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES SERGEY S. KHROMOV, NATALYA N. UDINA

Introduction The growing complexity of all spheres in people’s lives has led to a change of emphasis in education, with the focus being on the development of ability to obtain necessary knowledge and use it for task achieving. The role of languages in acquiring knowledge has become more pronounced. The need to acquire linguistic knowledge and the ability to collaborate in multilingual communities is growing. Cross-cultural communication competence, discourse and genre competencies, as well as information processing competence, enhance the professional qualities of a specialist. The role of new technologies in teaching and learning foreign languages has been a topic for consideration in various forums (Arno Macia, 2011), where they are advocated as tools that facilitate the learning process. These learning instruments are intended to achieve educational goals and develop different types of cognitive and social strategies of learning. The new approaches to language learning being developed within the new paradigm in education, and opportunities which new learning technologies and educational models provide, require analysis and discussion.

Learning Technologies and New Models in Education The notion of learning technology in language teaching has changed greatly over the last decades. It developed from the use of audio-visual tools of communication into instructional technology and later on continuously evolved as science and technology advanced (Brinton, 1991). Learning technologies are becoming more sophisticated, but to be effective they

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should be considered along with pedagogical strategies. New learning technologies are de¿ned as comprising information and communication technologies, the internet and research into the learning process (Soares, 2013). Studies of cognitive aspects of learning and teaching show that such areas of cognitive research as perception, attention, memory, comprehension and reasoning have direct applications in education (Wiley, Jee, 2011). While creating a technology-enhanced learning environment, learning and teaching styles should be often reviewed, because it is necessary to take into consideration the latest technological and scienti¿c advancements in areas related to learning processes. Technology-based education enables universities to implement new approaches aimed at improving the quality of learning and providing more affordable and accessible programmes and courses. The learning environment is changing, introducing e-learning and a combination of online and traditional classes at universities. The term e-learning came into use with the development of the internet. Jay Cross has been credited with coining the term in 1998 to designate informal learning or “what corporate training can become” (Cross, 2004). D. Randy Garrison (Garrison, Anderson, 2003) de¿nes e-learning as networked, online learning that takes place in a formal context and uses multimedia technologies. He emphasises that e-learning extends beyond access to information and offers better ways to process, make sense of, and recreate the information. A survey of e-learning development in the world and its spread through the educational sector and corporate training was provided in the Global E-Learning Investment Review prepared by IBIS Capital Limited (IBIS Capital, 2013). E-learning affects every aspect of education and enhances methods of creating and distributing learning content. New models of elearning have been introduced: Open Courseware (OCW), academic course materials created by universities that are shared freely on the internet; Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs), a model for delivering learning content online for free and with no limit on attendance; Online Accredited Courses represent accredited, general education courses online; various non-accredited Online Courses are designed for students to gain or refresh knowledge of a particular subject or develop new skills; DIY (do-it-yourself), a course for obtaining a Bachelor’s degree by taking tests instead of classes. The Review indicated that blended learning models had become more spread than purely online instruction or traditional face-to-face teaching. The use of mobile devices as learning tools increases access to e-learning and has brought about the notion of mobile learning technologies and the new term m-education. In Europe, the leading countries using e-learning are Spain

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and the UK. Germany is in the vanguard when it comes to applying mobile devices and Spain takes the lead in videoconferencing. There is a growing interest worldwide in models that allow education to go beyond universities. E-learning in Russia has been in development since the 1990s and is gathering momentum (Konanchuk, 2013). All projects were developed initially within universities in the form of video lectures or e-textbooks. They were then transformed into mass online courses, which made them more popular. However, the fact that a large number of online courses require fee payment reduces accessibility to the wider student community. Some Russian universities cooperate with e-learning projects like Coursera (Moscow State University), Uniweb and Hexlet (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, MSU, MGIMO–University) and others. Unlike online courses from American universities, which are offered for a global market, Russian online projects are designed for a niche or local market in Russia and CIS countries. Experts at Skolkovo (the Russian Innovation Centre) have made up a list of the nineteen biggest Russian online educational projects: the most advanced among them are Universarium. org, which is positioned as the Russian MOOC platform, Interneturok.ru for schools, and Eduson.tv, business courses developed by foreign and Russian professors. Blended learning in Russia, as in other countries, remains the most used form of e-learning at universities. The latest trends in e-learning development, such as personalisation of education and the importance of social content, should be taken into account when considering language e-learning. Language learning has experienced changes since the early days of new technologies in education: the new approach Computer Assisted Language Instruction (CALI), later becoming the Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) (Schreck, 1991), has been developed to use the computer as a new resource to enhance and facilitate learning. Now CALL refers to the use of computers and a wide range of technologies, including desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, PDAs, smart phones, mobile phones, mp3 players, interactive whiteboards, and so on, in language teaching and learning. The computer applications are used in the learning process in two main ways: as a facilitator in the learning process and as a technical assistant both to teachers and learners, although in many situations these two functions are integrated. The ¿eld of computer applications in language learning is approached from different perspectives by language practitioners and could be referred to as CELL (Computer-enhanced language learning), TELL (Technology enhanced language learning), MALL (Mobile assisted language learning), and so forth. With greater emphasis on social and socio-cognitive contexts in language

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teaching and learning, there is a need to integrate learners in authentic environments where various language skills can be manifested. Here, an integrative approach to using new technologies in language learning, or integrative CALL, provides various opportunities (Fitzpatrick, 2004).

Distance Learning Models in EFL Programmes Using distance learning in the educational process can be viewed from two perspectives: 1) in the context of autonomous courses on speci¿c subjects, and 2) in the context of the entire educational environment of a particular speciality. In the ¿rst case, the focus is on the methodological validity and selection of certain forms of DL for speci¿c disciplines; in the second, it is a matter of reasonable combination of classroom and distance learning courses in the organisation of the whole educational process. Distance language courses are widely used for autonomous learning and as language courses within special university and national programmes. Distance courses for learning foreign languages are offered by universities and other educational and non-educational organisations as they are popular among various categories of learners. Universities include DL language courses in programmes for part-time students or for autonomous studies. Professional development DL courses are currently widely spread as they provide convenient forms of learning to raise the professional quali¿cations of specialists. The International Centre of Russian as a Foreign Language offers a distance course in teaching Russian as a foreign language (RFL) for RFL teachers, which was developed by professors at Moscow State University (RKI-site). National distance educational programmes are aimed at promoting special projects. The Russian Ministry of Education has recently started a number of DL projects. One of them is a pilot project for a virtual school and accelerated courses in Russian. According to Deputy Minister of Education Veniamin Sh. Kaganov, the virtual school will function within a wider project dubbed the Pushkin Institute, which includes partners both in Russia and abroad. One of the aims of the project is to promote distance learning in Russian (Kaganov, 2014). Foreign language distance learning studies show that one should take into account a large number of factors contributing to the structuring of learning content, selection of didactic systems (methods, forms, tools) and training relevant to a chosen model, which is primarily dependent on the educational institution, speciality and subject (Gibby, 2007). Evgenya S. Polat provides the following classi¿cation of DL models: ņ the integration of full-time and distance learning;

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ņ web-based education – autonomous courses and subject informative environment; ņ online learning and case technologies; ņ interactive television, or computer conferencing (Polat, 2006:61). The integration of full-time and distance learning models is used when part of the educational process is provided distantly and includes mostly individual assignments for autonomous learning. Web-based education (WBE) models offer all teaching materials, testing and seminars through the university web server. Case technology is a type of distance learning based on the use of a set (case) of textual, audio, visual and multimedia teaching materials, which are provided to learners, together with a workbook to guide students through the course. Seminars are organised either in a traditional or distance format. Interactive television or computer conferencing provide visual contact between the teacher and the learners, and traditional or technology-based methods of classwork are used. The use of new learning technologies could make videoconferencing interactive. For learning foreign languages all of these models can be used, but the ratio of models for studying different language skills differs. For example, for speech skills training the basic model is the integration of full-time and distance forms, and for vocabulary building, grammar skills, writing skills, listening and reading, the use of online learning in the form of autonomous courses is justi¿ed. Employing any model presupposes special multimedia textbooks that deal with a variety of materials and a number of tasks performed in the classroom with the teacher, and autonomously at home or in the computer lab, where veri¿cation is provided automatically by the computer via a specially made programme with assessment criteria and explanations. Such textbooks are already available, e.g. “Touchstone Blended Learning” for English as a foreign language (EFL), which integrates print and online course components. The students and teacher have access to online content through the Cambridge Learning Management System, where they can interact. The course provides the opportunity for a teacher to decide the balance between work done in class and independent assignments (McCarthy et al., 2010). The combination of classroom and distance learning requires careful preparatory work, since it is necessary to de¿ne clearly which problems can be solved through remote forms of work, and which ones require face-to-face communication with the teacher and among students. Thus, in learning a foreign language as a separate discipline, DL forms can be applied for autonomous study, as a supportive component, or for developing particular language skills.

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To de¿ne the competencies which are targeted in FL learning and to develop strategies to achieve them in DL is not an easy task for educators. When technologies are integrated into language learning, pedagogical developments have to be adjusted to their use. One of the important goals of teaching foreign languages is the development of communicative competence, which has traditionally always required face-to-face learning. Communicative interaction is crucial, but not the only way to build communicative competence. Speaking about other learning strategies, while using technology in language learning, Kurt Kohn (2009:582) observed: “But what about activities designed to contribute to the overall goal of acquiring communicative competence by focusing on one of its essential dimensions, e.g. grammatical competence? Even if we do not want to call such activities ‘communicative’ when seen in isolation, they can nevertheless be pedagogically integrated in communicative learning scenario, thereby acquiring a communicative value of ‘second degree’.” Communicative competence is complex and made up of some subcomponents (Canale, Swain, 1980:27–31; Canale, 1983:22–25). Analysis is required to identify which part of the work aimed at the development of this or that communicative sub-competence can be done outside the classroom. Other important skills to be developed, such as writing and reading, approached from the cognitive psychology position, are composed of a number of cognitive abilities and knowledge (Grabe, Stoller, 2009). Such component abilities as word recognition skills, vocabulary knowledge, text structure knowledge and others contribute to reading comprehension. The writing process involves cognitive processes like planning, generating, organising, producing text, reviewing, evaluating and editing. As Bill Grabe noticed, in language teaching there is a tendency of combining writing and reading activities to improve both skills. These and other ¿ndings should be considered when developing distance language learning courses. Distance language courses are usually developed by Language Departments of universities and IT specialists and provided on different platforms. A recent development is the use of third-generation distance learning, which makes interactive distance learning possible (White, 2003). The important feature of new learning technologies in DL is the distinction between technologies for delivering materials and their uses for interaction between the teacher and learners. In Russia, DL models are used in teaching Russian as a foreign language and other foreign languages. The experience of Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI) in developing and implementing distance learning courses, as well as blended and e-

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learning courses in teaching English and Russian as a foreign language (the department of linguistics and cross-cultural communication), could serve as an example. These courses have been a key aspect at MESI, which uses the system of the virtual campus based on the programme Share Point. Its aim is to build the process of communication distantly, especially with students who are unable to attend the real lessons. The virtual campus of MESI has several main parts that are all incorporated into the learning process of all students. The underlying philosophy of these courses is social constructivism, derived from the works of Vygotsky (1978), who placed more emphasis on the social context of learning and the active role of learners in the construction of knowledge. The experience presented can be reviewed and recommended as a model in teaching Russian as a foreign language and other foreign languages in a distance format. This virtual camp has the following main parts that are accessible to all students: 1. the use of forums where students can practice written communication and discuss problematic issues, 2. calendar, 3. a list of materials necessary to learn and understand a topic, 4. a list of web links, 5. a list of necessary books, 6. the function to send tasks and write commentaries, 7. testing system. Adobe Connect Pro Videoconferencing programme is widely used in MESI for various training activities in a remote format: for seminars to exchange experience among language teachers, for distance professional development training, and for scienti¿c and methodological conferences such as the annual round tables on the new information technologies in teaching foreign language. When participating in the event there is an opportunity to choose a convenient module among the following: ņ “Sharing” – for sharing Desktop, all open documents on the desktop will be visible to a participant; ņ “Video” – to connect the webcam; ņ “Visitors” – to display all participants joining the event; ņ “Chat” is used for communication between the participants of the event in the form of chat session. This programme is simple and straightforward to use. The modules provide for effective video conferencing and webinars for scienti¿c and educational purposes.

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Further developments in distance learning include a structured learning environment that integrates audio and video conferencing, text chat, interactive whiteboards, shared software applications, tools, testing and feedback. Thus the goal of improving the remote learning process by combining synchronous and asynchronous tools, while retaining the Àexibility, convenience and expanding the quality and ef¿ciency of both modes of communication, is reached. A reasonable combination of distance and traditional forms of education, both within individual disciplines and in the organisation of the entire educational process, has a number of advantages. First, learning ef¿ciency is increased through the use of advanced learning technologies, multimedia, and new sources of information. Secondly, a personality-centred approach to learning is realised more effectively as a result of increases in the monitored autonomous work of students. Third, additional class time is available for special disciplines. Finally, the problem of lack of classroom space, which many universities face, can be partially solved. Thus, it can be argued that an integration of distance and classroom learning experiences, both in the context of individual disciplines, and in the context of the entire speciality, is one of the ways to optimise the learning process as a whole, although it requires careful and rather time-consuming preparatory work.

New Learning Technologies in LSP/ESP: Network Enculturation Model Learning a foreign language at non-linguistic universities is often promoted as learning a foreign language for speci¿c purposes in Russia. The role of foreign languages in the acquisition of expert knowledge and achieving professional goals is becoming more popular. The new technologies in LSP and learning foreign languages have a lot in common, but there are distinctions, which stem from the speci¿c needs, contexts and genres in the LSP ¿eld. Due to LSP’s particular nature, teachers often have to develop their own approaches and materials and, in this case, the use of CALL helps. Gary Motteram (2013) claims that a special sub-division of CALL for LSP is necessary and advocates creating special interest groups in organisations like EuroCALL and CALICO (ComputerAssisted Language Instruction Consortium). The pedagogical implication of using new technologies in LSP is to provide a variety of internet applications, multimedia and hypermedia to create a contextualised learning environment relevant to different types of LSP students.

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New technologies facilitate the creation of special contexts to overcome some problems arising in the development of communicative competence in ESP caused by the lack of adequate special subject knowledge, which both students and teachers might suffer from. One of the approaches to applying CALL in LSP is the use of websites of professional associations and university faculties in a particular subject ¿eld to get students acquainted with special language, genres and professional culture. The importance of acculturation processes in the learning of second/foreign languages was empirically con¿rmed by the model of acculturation suggested by Schumann (Schumann, 1978). Krashen (1981) in the second language acquisition theory also maintained that linguistic knowledge alone is not suf¿cient to master a foreign language. Evgeny M. Vereschagin (1990:10) regarded the whole process of foreign language learning as acculturation. Acculturation models in LSP have been used and provided favourable conditions for language learning (Basturkmen, 2005). The notion of enculturation was developed within cultural anthropology by Melville J. Herskovits in 1948. The de¿nitions of the term enculturation provided in dictionaries describe it as “the process of learning and incorporating basic cultural roles, knowledge, and beliefs” (Dictionary of the Social Sciences, 2002), and in the Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning as “the process whereby individual[s] learn their group’s culture through experience, observation, and instruction” (Gavelek, Kong, 2012:2029). With the development of a network society (van Dijk, 2006; Castells, 2000) and the new social sphere, the internet presupposes new models of acculturation and enculturation. The notion of enculturation is assuming a wider dimension in education, and the notion of disciplinary enculturation has been introduced in academic studies. As Christine P. Casanave (2009:22) put it: “The term disciplinary enculturation implies that something like a ‘disciplinary community’ or ‘rhetorical community’ exists into which people become enculturated. The community metaphor is a powerful conceptualiser that can help frame how people interpret their own and others’ experiences as they learn how to participate in specialised activities in academic and other settings.” The notion of a network enculturation model has been worked out and integrated into an LSP course at the faculty of law at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) (Udina, 2011). Network enculturation in the LSP/ESP context is a process of internalisation of language, social, cultural and semiotic codes and modes of communication, while interacting with a target network discourse community and using related information resources.

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The main factors of network enculturation affecting the process of learning a foreign language include: social factors, such as adaptation to and interaction with a target discourse network community and cultural network environment and its exploration; psychological factors, such as motivation and the lack of cultural and linguistic stock; cognitive factors, including information processing, the use and exploration of multimedia information channels and the ways information is delivered in the network; and semiotic factors, referring to mastering semiotic codes of the target language and culture. This list of factors is not exhaustive, but includes the most salient ones, which are recognisable in the learning process and given context. A network enculturation model is designed to create a socially contextualised and technology-enhanced language learning environment in the LSP course. Technologies are learning means used to introduce students to speci¿c language, social and cultural situations where they can develop various language skills and interact with a target language network community. Such an environment furthers the network enculturation processes that contribute to language acquisition. The use of a network enculturation model in the LSP course for a group of students at the PFUR law faculty showed possible ways to facilitate professional language and culture learning. It is instrumental in implementing a communicative approach in LSP at university, as students do not have practical experience in the target area and are not aware of professional culture. It is particularly true for those students in Russia who enter law faculties right after ¿nishing school, unlike law students in European countries, who enter law schools after gaining degrees in other ¿elds. In their language studies, students were exposed to the academic network environment (universities’ websites) and the professional network environment (professional associations’ websites). The focus was on legal language, genres and communication in the legal sphere. Consequent and sight translations were taught with the emphasis on cultural similarities and differences of professional discourses, the choice of language means used in the source language and target language, preferred stylistic conventions, cultural components in language meaning, and on translation strategies and techniques. In this network environment, students have access to authentic situations of language use. The students were given assignments such as commenting on the website structure and types of information presented (factual, research, news, descriptive etc.). They learnt about the history of a given law school/university, its research projects, the work of its student societies, publications etc. and provided their comments. They listened to and discussed lectures, in-

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terviews and conference presentations, available online, and were given an opportunity to practice different translation skills. ReÀective writing could be assigned to students as a form of self-assessment of their own performance, achievements or possible failures in learning a particular theme and doing the course tasks. Using materials from professional websites enables prospective specialists to explore and create a representation of a target discourse community, to get acquainted with the other culture without experiencing cultural or linguistic shock. Network communities are helpful in approximating or bringing the real context situation closer, while taking a detached view allows students to perceive, analyse, compare and draw conclusions about the issues, events, etc. and develop critical and argumentative thinking. A course based on a network enculturation model could be used as a form of blended learning integrated into various LSP courses. The following results of students’ work showed that the use of such an educational model contributes to the development of language, discourse and communicative competences. Before the course, the students, in three groups, from the ¿rst, second and third year, twenty in all, were asked some questions about the activities of international students’ organisations and international law ¿rms. In their answers they could not remember any organisation, except European international courts. At the end of the course they were able to provide detailed information and opinions about the organisations they were introduced to. During their studies they were interested in the way international law students and professional organisations work, and in research in the spheres of their specialisation (civil law, international law etc.). It should be mentioned that the core of the LSP course is a textbook on professional English in Law, but it is usually dif¿cult to initiate discussion of the texts on specialised topics provided in the textbook. Students usually produce a few sentences related to the text and do it as an assignment and not as a real discussion, as they are not fully aware of the legal system described in the textbook. Website materials provide insight into professional education and activities, which is why it is easier to initiate discussion based on real facts, for example, in student competitions like Jessup moot court or pro bono lawyers’ activities. In this way students could produce coherent and more factual texts. Consecutive translation skills were taught as students had better opportunities to develop these by translating lectures available on the Faculty of Law at Cambridge website. This was a new practice and the results depended on their general knowledge of English; more practice is required. As for sight translation and written translation, it was noticed

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that the availability of online dictionaries greatly improved the speed and quality of written translation, while sight translation revealed the need for training in speed reading and developing translation strategies. The use of websites such as http://elsa.org/ of the European Law Students’ Association, http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/ of the Faculty of Law, Cambridge, http://www.law.harvard.edu/ of Harvard Law School, http://www.ibanet.org/ of the International Bar Association and others makes it possible to expand the scope of textbooks, which is often limited by topics or space. It is known that textbooks on English for law students learning ESP often cover topics of commercial and international law or the history and basics of Anglo-Saxon law. Considering network resources which can be used in ESP courses for law students, it is necessary to sort out materials according to the course goals. They have to introduce the speci¿c context, show social and cultural interaction, and provide genres typical of a given discourse community. Assignments were worked out with the aim of regulating and assessing the learning process. Assignments ranged from reading and analysing various texts, which included comments and discussions, generalisations and argumentative speaking and written exercises. Using internet applications for mind-mapping https://app.imindmap.com/, http://popplet.com/, presentations http://www.google.com/slides/about/, creating posters https://www.smore.com/appor, and e-textbooks http://www.Àipsnack. com/, http://issuu.com/ makes an signi¿cant contribution to developing writing, discourse, editing and other important skills. Translation and interpreting assignments such as consecutive, sight translation, and written translation (from English into Russian and back translation) are designed to develop translation competence, which is now important for a law specialist. Such learning activities as project studies and case studies were effectively used in the course. The experience shows that students are highly motivated by their work with websites related to their specialised studies and professional experience. To implement a network enculturation model, the teacher has to develop strategies to integrate it into the learning process, choose materials in accordance with the level and learners’ needs, develop a set of tasks, which may include both traditional and new ones, and be creative and experimental. This approach could be implemented in different LSP courses, using the websites of educational institutions and professional network communities in the subject area, and developing similar types of assignment to those described above or more adjusted to the students’ needs. The assignments could be provided online in the form of a guidebook.

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Conclusion Learning languages has always been an essential part of education and national policy in Russia. Foreign languages are included in all university programmes, and learning and teaching issues have been widely discussed in the educational community. New learning technologies and their potential have been considered as powerful tools that introduce most changes in language learning and teaching. New models in education, such as elearning, distance and blended learning etc. are fully implemented in language learning. The use of new models has proved their effectiveness in a student-centred approach to education and autonomous learning across various language courses. We were able to witness the change in attitude to language learning itself, as languages came to be studied as a means to access information. So language learning becomes interdisciplinary and allows students to acquire special knowledge through foreign languages. Language learning requires not only acquiring linguistic knowledge, but developing a great number of skills; from this point of view new learning technologies offer great opportunities. In this way, Computer Assisted Language Learning (already an approach), has grown into an effective new language teaching methodology, which arms teachers with new ideas and the means to increase access to learning, with the ultimate goal of improving output. Greater attention is paid to social and cultural aspects of learning. The assumption of Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory is that students construct new knowledge while interacting in a social environment. New technologies create learning environments that take students outside the classroom into real situations. Access to databases and network educational and professional communities introduces students to their future profession and professional subculture. The processes of network enculturation could be directed to facilitate professional language acquisition in order to achieve the main EFL and ESP goals. Enculturation and socialisation processes are important and prepare students for success in their academic and professional life, and educators are advised to be aware of their impact when it comes to acquiring various areas of knowledge. The wide use of new technologies and multimedia, which integrate different forms of information and create new genres of professional discourse and communication methods, has a great impact on the language learning process and development of competencies and literacies. It is clear that the innovative potentials of

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technologies in education can be ful¿lled only in combination with pedagogical strategies and new approaches to their use in the learning process.

References Arno Macia, E. Approaches to Information Technology from an LSP Perspective: Challenges and Opportunities in the New European Context. Technological Innovation in the Teaching and Processing of LSPs: Proceedings of TISLID’10 Madrid: Univercidad Nacional de Educacion a Disctancia, 2011: 23–40. Basturkmen, H. Ideas and Options in English for Speci¿c Purposes. New York: Routledge, 2006. Brinton, D. M. The Use of Media in Language Teaching. In Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Edited by M. Celce-Murcia. M. Ed. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1991. Calhoun, C. ed. Dictionary of the Social Sciences. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Canale, M. From communicative competence to communicative language pedagogy. In Language and Communication. Edited by J. C. Richards & R. W. Schmidt. London: Longman, 1983. Canale, M. & Swain, M. Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980. Casanave, C. P. Writing Games: Multicultural Case Studies of Academic Literacy Practices in Higher Education. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., 2009. Castells, M. The Rise of the Network Society: The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 1. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, Ltd. 2000. Cross, J. "An Informal History of eLearning." On the Horizon 12, no. 2 (2004): 103–110. Accessed April 14, 2014, http://www.internettime. com/Learning/articles/xAn%20Informal%20History%20of%20eLearning.pdf Fitzpatrick, A. Information and Communication Technology in Foreign Language Teaching and Learning – An Overview. In Information and Communication Technologies in the Teaching and Learning of Foreign Languages: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives. Moscow: UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, 2004. Garrison, D. R. & Anderson T. E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. New York: Routledge Falmer, 2003.

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Gavelek, J. R. & Kong, A. Learning: A Process of Enculturation. In Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning. Edited by N. M. Seel. New York, Dordrecht, Heidelberg, London: Springer, 2012. p. 2029. Gibby, A. Student Perceptions of Interaction in an Online Foreign Language Learning. Ann Arbor: ProQuest Information and Learning Company, 2007. Grabe, B. & Stoller, F. Teaching the Written Foreign Language. In Handbook of Foreign Language Communication and Learning. Edited by K. Knapp, B. Seidhofer & H. Widdowson. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH&Co., 2009. Herskovits, M. J. Man and his Work. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1948. IBIS Capital, Accessed April 18, 2014. http://www.smarthighered.com/ wp-content/uploads/2013/02/IBIS-Capital-e-Learning-Lessons-for-theFuture.pdf Kaganov, V. In press, ITAR-TASS News Agency. Accessed May 21, 2014. http://itar-tass.com/obschestvo/981698 Kohn, K. Computer Assisted Foreign Language Learning in Handbook of Foreign Language Communication and Learning. Edited by K. Knapp, B. Seidhofer & H. Widdowson. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH &Co., 2009. Konanchuk, D. Accessed May 04, 2014. http://hr-media.ru/19-krupnejshihrossijskih-onlajn-obrazovatelnyh-proektov/ Krashen, S. Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon, 1981. McCarthy, M., McCarten, J. & Sandiford, H. Touchstone Blended Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Motteram, G. Introduction to Innovations in Learning Technologies for English Language Teaching. London: British Council, 2013. Polat, ȿ. S. Distance Education: Teaching Foreign Languages [Obuchenye inostrannym yazykam v distancionnoy forme] / Inostrannye yazyki v distancionnom obuchenye. Materialy mezdunarodnoy nauchno-praktycheskoy konferencii 17–20 oktyabrya 2005. Perm, 2006. RKI International Centre Russian as Foreign Language. Accessed May, 14, 2014. http://www.rki-site.ru/ Schreck, R. & Schreck, J. Computer Assisted Language Learning in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 1991. Schumann, J. H. The Acculturation Model for Second Language Acquisition. In Second Language Acquisition and Foreign Language Learning. Edited by R. C. Gingras. Washington D.C.: Centre for Applied Linguistics, 1978. pp. 28–50.

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Soares, L., Eaton, S. E. & Smith, B. Higher Education: New Models, New Rules. Accessed April 19, 2014. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/ higher-education-new-models-new-rules Udina, N. N. The Concept of Network Enculturation Model in Teaching Language for Speci¿c Purposes. Vestnik MSLU 27 (633), Moskva: MSLU, 2011. van Dijk, J. The Network Society. 2nd. ed. Edited by J. W. Berry, Y. H. Poortinga, M. H. Segall & P. R. Dasen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. pp. 29–30. Vereschaguin, E. M. & Kostomarov, V. G. Language and Culture [Yazyk i Kultura]. Moskva: Russky Yazyk, 1990. P. 10. Vygotsky, L. S. Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978. White, C. Language Learning in Distance Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Wiley, J. & Jee, B. D. Learning and Cognition: Introduction. In Learning and Cognition in Education. Edited by V. G. Aukust. Oxford: Academic Press, 2011.

CHAPTER 3 DEVELOPING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE THROUGH INTERNET AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES GALINA G. ARTYUSHINA, ELENA I. BAGUZINA, OLGA G. PLEKHOVA, OLGA A. SHEYPAK

Introduction Students in the twenty-¿rst century are digital natives. Educators should embrace all the opportunities the digital era presents and do their best to cope with its challenges. Teachers have been trying to keep up with the fast-changing world of information technology while shaping their students’ minds. They have turned to working online, which suits the twenty-¿rst century learner perfectly. Digital formats facilitate interactive and motivating activities. Moreover, an increase in extra-class hours in higher education in Russia has encouraged teachers to reschedule their programmes and curricula, so that students are more engaged in self-study under the guidance of their tutors. In this context, podcasts and WebQuests have become popular both with teachers and students. Teaching English as a foreign language embraces podcast and WebQuest technology for various reasons: to provide students with extra practice, develop critical thinking, provide background knowledge and a broader context, which students tend to lose when googling for information in pursuit of answers to very targeted questions. Podcasts have great educational potential in developing students’ listening skills as the latter learn from authentic materials about the burning issues of the day and current affairs, and the former can be easily loaded onto any mobile device and listened to when convenient. WebQuests, in their turn, often provide students with stepping stones for carrying out online projects and gaining insight into the topic. The focus of this chapter is to show

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how podcasts and WebQuests tackle major challenges facing digital natives when learning English, such as a lack of background knowledge and life experience, as well as poor critical thinking skills. One of the major features of podcasts and WebQuests is mobility, which is an important characteristic of modern education. Informational and digital communication technologies contain considerable potential for optimising foreign language teaching since they: 1. create conditions for self-study, 2. develop listening and speaking skills, 3. ensure a greater level of learning materials’ authenticity. All in all, podcasts and WebQuests appear to be creative and entertaining on the one hand, and very motivating educational tools on the other. Both podcasts and WebQuests have great value for foreign language teaching as internet resources, being: 1. quickly and regularly updated, 2. available any time through mobile devices, 3. often free, especially for students.

Podcasts Podcasting is the latest technological innovation to reinforce language teaching and learning. In the view of some, this technology guarantees to reshape how and when students acquire languages. A podcast consists of an audio ¿le (usually an MP3) that you can download to your computer and listen to on an iPod (hence the name, podcast), or any other MP3 player. The most popular software available to download podcasts, Apple’s iTunes, started syndicating podcasts in the summer of 2005. Some tech-savvy language teachers, such as Graham Stanley and his EFL Blog (www.pod-eÀ. com), pioneered and started to publicise the use of the English language learning podcasts. There are different genres in podcasts: audio blogs, music, technology, audio books, academic podcasts, interviews, news, policy, radio shows, sport and games. Academic podcasts for studying English as a second language started in Russia in 2008 and address a number of problems. An overview of Russian literature reveals unanimity among authors: podcasts are an unusual and unconventional technology to develop listening and speaking skills, which is why they motivate students and introduce diversity in the process of learning English. Also, they provide increased Àexibility, user control, portability, and allow for time-shifting and multitasking. We chose podcasts as a basic technology for the ¿rst-year students and their

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self-study in 2010, in all departments of MATI – Russian State Technological University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky – namely: Material Sciences and Technologies; Aerocosmic Constructions and Technologies; Information Systems and Technologies; and Management, Economics and Social Technologies. We would like to stress that this was the ¿rst time in Russia, at higher educational establishments, podcasts were chosen for selfstudy, rather than class work. There were two reasons for this: ¿rstly, to compensate for the decrease in classroom hours, and secondly, to improve communication and self-study skills. Before we started our project we discovered that our students were used to studying in class under their teachers’ supervision and had very poor self-study skills. So, a “Guide to Listening” was compiled, which is a student’s workbook with tasks and instructions on how to complete them. In the “Guide” we made a point of the fact that students could ask the teacher for help on/off line any time they needed it. This workbook and the podcasts were sent to every student by email. The workbook comprises ¿ve parts and a personal guide list (a list of the individual’s tasks with scheduling) for each semester. The personal guide list indicates the podcasts each student has to listen to. Students must complete all the tasks to strict deadlines for every podcast. They should work on four podcasts during each semester. Each part of the student's workbook includes one podcast with four tasks attached to it. There are various podcast resources to improve the perception of English speech. For example, the British Council has recently started a new series of podcasts for beginners (http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/elementary-podcasts), and there are a number of American and English sites, such as www.deepenglish.com and www.listen-to-english.com, accompanied by transcripts. But we have chosen www.eslpod.com. ESL Podcast uses a pedagogical approach based upon research in second language acquisition focusing on providing comprehensible input in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. ESL Podcast uses a “freemium” business model, where the podcasts are provided for free but the supplementary materials require a paid membership. The format the authors follow for their podcasts is very straightforward. It is not a traditional course with a beginning and an end. The podcasts are based on a set of broad themes, such as English for business, daily life and more. There are no activities or quizzes, just interesting, comprehensible English aimed at intermediate and advanced students. We chose a number of suitable thematic audio ¿les for our students such as: “Time Management”, “Essential and Optional Things”, “Following a Dress Code”, and so on. Each academic year the listening topics are changed. In spite of the fact that the duration of one podcast is 15–18 minutes,

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according to our survey, it takes the students an average of three hours to complete all the tasks from one part. The podcast itself comprises ¿ve sections. All sections, except the fourth and ¿fth, have a common characteristic feature – they provide English audio ¿les at a slower tempo. This appeared to be very important to our students, as they had never had such an experience in listening before. The students pointed out that this feature made listening to podcasts more interesting and easier. The ¿rst part of a podcast is the introduction, in which an outline of the upcoming audio materials is presented. Its duration is about one minute. The second section features an original monologue or dialogue, where the topic of the podcast is discussed for about two minutes. The third section is the Language Explanation, in which the speaker explains the spelling, the meaning and usage of some words and expressions from the new vocabulary (about 15–18 min.). The fourth section is either a monologue or a dialogue from the second section, but this time the reading speed is normal as in everyday life – its duration is about one minute. The ¿fth section is a summary where the speaker gives additional information about the podcast itself for about one minute. There are four tasks on comprehension. All the tasks, apart from comprehension questions, were either compiled by the authors, or were a compilation of fragments worked out by the authors and offered on the site. Task Comprehension Questions was taken from the site without any changes. The tasks are given in the student’s workbook “Guide to Listening.” The ¿rst task (Table 3.1) is to match the words or word combinations to their de¿nitions from the new vocabulary of the podcast, which can be found in the Language Explanation section. Also, most of them are widespread and very typical of the modern spoken language. Table 3.1. An example of the ¿rst task #

Words or word combinations

Part of speech

De¿nitions from the new vocabulary of the podcast

1

a perfectionist

n

someone who wants everything to be without an error – without a mistake

2

the lay of the land

n

where and how things are situated

A full list of all these words and word combinations in alphabetical order from all podcasts is given in the Appendix at the end of the student’s workbook. The second task (Table 3.2) is multiple choice.

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Table 3.2. An example of the second task #

Comprehension Questions

Possible answers

1

Who would be the best employee?

a) A slacker b) A workaholic c) A gossip

2

Why does Ursula tell Raul, “Don’t sweat it”?

a) Because she doesn’t want him to worry b) Because she doesn’t want him to laugh c) Because she doesn’t want him to tell others what she is saying

The information is taken from the second section – a monologue or dialogue. The third task (Table 3.3) concerns some polysemantic words or various word combinations with the same polysemantic word from the new vocabulary of the audio ¿le. For example, the word “lay” is used in the podcast in the phrase “the lay of the land”. We suggest our students read its de¿nition in English and give another sample sentence with the same phrase, taken from the Macmillan English dictionary. In addition, we give more phrases with the word “land” used in the English language: “to live off the land” and “in the land of the living”, also with English de¿nitions and sample sentences. The last boxes of the tables are completed in writing by students, who should translate all the phrases with the word “land” into Russian. Table 3.3. An example of the third task # 1

Word / word combinations The “lay” of the land

Description In this podcast, the phrase “lay of the land” means the organisation or layout of something, where things are placed or found: “From the top of the chapel, we were able to see the entire city and get a feel for the lay of the land.”

Meaning

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2

To live off the “land”

The phrase “to live off the land” means to grow or hunt for one’s food instead of buying it from stores or other people: “They plan to buy a farm and learn to live off the land, far from the city.”

3

In the “land” of the living

The phrase “in the land of the living” means to be alive or awake: “It’s 11:30 already. Do you think she’ll ever wake up and join the land of the living?”

In the fourth task, the students must write a summary of the podcast in Russian. And ¿nally all ¿rst-year students have to take a test (Table 3.4) where all the tasks were prepared by the authors. An example of a task from the test is “Fill in the sentences using the words from the new vocabulary of the podcast” (see Table 3.4). Only students who have passed a test on podcasts are allowed to take the ¿nal English exam. Table 3.4. An example of the task from the test #

Sentence

1

This is such a big campus! It’s going to take us weeks to ¿gure out __________

2

Gladys is a ________ who does her work well, but very slowly because she wants to make it just right.

Translation

About 800 ¿rst-year students took part in our podcasting project. We were interested to know what they thought about this educational technology, especially with regard to developing their listening skills. That is why twice, in 2012 and 2013, we asked all students to ¿ll in a questionnaire.

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Fig. 3.1. Survey question –“What gadgets do you use to listen to podcasts?”

Survey question – “What gadgets do you use to listen to podcasts?” We were not expecting that the majority of the students (44.45%) use only their home PCs (Fig. 3.1). When we analysed the reason for this phenomenon, it was revealed that most of the surveyed students (87.23%) had never heard of podcasts before. And if they had any experience of using podcasts, this was during English classes at secondary school, under the guidance of their teachers. This is most likely why students continue to use the old fashioned method of the PC to listen to podcasts. In this regard, our results are consistent with previous studies (Abdous, 2012) showing that a higher percentage of students (40.45%) listened to podcast material on their desktop instead of their mobile devices or MP3 players. The authors can explain these ¿ndings by several factors, including lack of technical knowledge, pre-established habits in accessing web-based information, and the fact that students have the tendency to use their portable devices for entertainment, while using their desktop for educationally related material. Fig. 3.2. Survey question – “Where do you listen to podcasts?”

Survey question – “Where do you listen to podcasts?” – has something in common with the previous one, as most of our students (63.32%) prefer

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Chapter 3. Developing Communicative Competence...

to use podcasts at home (Fig. 3.2). Survey analysis revealed it is because they are used to doing their homework at home, and so they need their PCs. Answering the question why they did not use any mobile devices, our students wrote a very simple answer: they did not know how to use them to listen to podcasts. These two seemingly identical questions led us to an unexpected conclusion. Yes, practically all ¿rst-year students have been using different mobile devices since childhood, but only for entertainment: mostly watching ¿lms and cartoons or playing games. But nobody has taught them how to use these devices for self-study thus far. It appears that we are pioneers of this approach. Fig. 3.3. Survey question – “How many times do you listen to the podcast?”

There were some other questions such as: “How many times do you listen to the podcast?” (Fig. 3.3). About 60% (16.88% + 23.6% + 19.29%) of the students listened to the podcast not more than 10 times. We included this question in our questionnaire because we wondered how the students would comment on it. The point is that for all our students it was their ¿rst experience being in charge and they could listen as often as they wished. At school they were allowed to listen to an audio ¿le only twice and then they had to do the task. All students from this experimental group, at least once, had some experience in using podcasts and had listened to them during English classes. We also analysed the answers of students from the other groups (5.84% + 3.55% + 2.16%) who listened to each podcast 31 and more times. In contrast, they had never practiced listening to podcasts before, so they really did not know how to start work. Following the instructions in the “Guide” they just began listening and at ¿rst they simply learned to perceive oral foreign speech. They pointed out that it took them a long time. That is why they listened to the podcasts anywhere and any time (often on the way home or to university). And this time was quality time for them. All these students, answering the ¿rst survey question (Fig. 3.1), said they used mobile devices more often than PCs.

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Fig. 3.4. Survey question – “Who helped you with the podcast?”

The authors would like to discuss in detail another question: “Who helped you with the podcast?” The majority of students preferred to work alone. They themselves explained this by their strong study habits. Selfstudy at school is normally not, or very poorly, developed. This is why the majority of students preferred to work on their own, pointing out that it was not easy as they did very little self-study at school – most of the work was done in class under the teachers’ guidance. We also encourage our students to work alone as we think that it helps them develop their individual creative potential. Fig. 3.5. Survey question – “Would you like to use podcasts more?”

Survey question – “Would you like to use podcasts more?” 62.94% of the students said “yes” (Fig. 1–6). The most frequent explanation given why students liked learning English using podcasts was because they enjoyed listening to native speakers, as well as the topics under review. Students learnt a lot about everyday life in the English-speaking world. It was less interesting to analyse the answers of those who said “no” (22%). These complained about their poor English, while at the same time displaying an unwillingness to improve it. Since secondary school they have developed their own learning algorithm: I don’t know – I don’t understand – I don’t want. They still do not want to change their learning habits after secondary school, and we need time and patience to change this stereotype.

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The four-year experience of introducing podcasts into our English teaching programme and the results of the ¿nal English exam for ¿rst-year students indicate an improvement in their listening skills and an increase in motivation to go on with their English studies. A review of the literature shows that podcasting in higher educational establishments abroad is applied in another format (M’hammed Abdous, 2012), since the history of podcasting in other countries is much longer. Their main source of information consists of academic podcasts that include lectures, guest-lectures, student-centred projects, student/student and student/instructor oral interviews with or without feedback, interviews with native speakers, lectures for class, dictations, group discussions, student presentations and distance learning. Opinions on podcasting for second language learners are extremely varied. Some academics believe that podcasting greatly contributes to students’ learning by augmenting their motivation. “I see podcasting as the key to helping second language students who have reached an intermediate level of Àuency through taking a few courses in school, but whose progress has stalled well short of pro¿ciency. Students come out of their years of formal study with some basic communication skills, but often with insuf¿cient pro¿ciency to access native-speaker texts and materials. By providing lots of easy, intermediate listening material that students enjoy, podcasting can take those students to a more advanced level” (Jeff McQuillan, 2006). Others, on the contrary, argue that podcasting does not have a positive effect on students’ grades. Anthony Chan and Mark J. W. Lee indicate that “the shortcomings of audio appear to be in the area of detailed information that needs to be heavily processed, logically deconstructed, committed to memory, or otherwise requires a great deal of concentration” (Anthony Chan, Mark Lee, 2005). In our view, podcasting is a bridge to students’ higher levels of pro¿ciency. Our results encourage us to use podcasting as one of the stages in internet integration in the development of students’ foreign language communicative competence. Another ef¿cient means of developing students’ foreign language communicative expertise is WebQuest technology.

WebQuests WebQuests are used for students studying English in Russian higher educational establishments, e.g. in the Moscow Institute of Foreign Relations and the State University of Management. The WebQuest model was developed by Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego University in 1995.

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According to Bernie Dodge “a WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all the information that learners interact with comes from recourses on the Internet, optionally supplemented with videoconferencing” (Dodge, 1997). Dodge maintainsWebQuests should contain some critical attributes: an introduction that sets the stage and provides some background information, a task that is doable and interesting, and a description of the process the learners should go through to accomplish the task. The process should be broken down into clearly described steps, with some guidance on how to organise the information acquired. This can take the form of guiding questions, or directions to complete organisational frameworks such as timelines, concept maps, or cause-and-effect diagrams, evaluation and conclusion that brings closure to the quest and reminds the learners about what they have learnt, and perhaps encourages them to extend the experience into other domains. The non-critical attributes of WebQuests include these: they are not always group activities (might be solo quests); they may be enhanced by various motivating elements around the basic structure (role to play, a scenario to work within); and they can be “within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary” (Dodge, 1997). Although WebQuests have a “clearly de¿ned structure, which has been recognised as the de¿nite schema for these activities, it should only really be taken as a basic guideline and you should design your WebQuests to suit the needs and learning styles of your group” (Gavin Dudeney, et al., 2012). Bernie Dodge goes on to identify two types of WebQuests: short- and long-term WebQuests. “At the end of a short-term WebQuest, a learner will have grappled with a signi¿cant amount of new information and made sense of it. A short-term WebQuest may be spread over a period of a couple of classes or so, and will involve learners in visiting a number of websites to ¿nd information and they use this in class to achieve a set of learning aims. After completing a longer-term WebQuest, a learner will have analysed a body of knowledge deeply, transforming it in some way. They will have demonstrated an understanding of the material by creating something that others can respond to, online or ofÀine. This is the big difference between the longer-term and short-term WebQuests – learners have to transform the information they acquire, turning it into a new product, a report, a presentation, an interview or a survey. Longer-term WebQuests might last a few weeks or even a term or semester” (Gavin Dudeney, et al., 2012). WebQuests are part of project-based learning, which engages students in acquiring knowledge and skills “through an extended inquiry process

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structured around carefully designed tasks and authentic questions” (Segarra Ciprés, et al., 2010). The project method aimed at achieving a practical result was devised in the USA at the end of the nineteenth century and was developed in the works of Professor William H. Kilpatrick. It attracted the attention of Russian academics at the beginning of the twentieth century and was much used by an outstanding pedagogue, Stanislav T. Shatskiy, in 1905. Among the famous Russian academics who have implemented this method are Evgenia S. Polat, Galina A. Lebedeva, Alexandr A. Karachev and Irina A. Zimnyaya. WebQuest technology is gaining popularity in Russian higher educational establishments, e.g. in the Moscow Institute of Foreign Relations and the State University of Management (Elena I. Baguzina, PhD), the Vladivostok University of Economics and Services (Prof. Olga V. Shevtsova), the New Humanitarian Institute in Elektrostal (Prof. Oksana U. Pestretzova and Prof. Anna L. Sadovskaya), Saratov State University (Prof. Anna V. Isaeva), State Linguistic University in Pyatigorsk (Prof. G. A. Vorobiev). The Russian Academy of Education and the Institute of Information Technologies in Education UNESCO held a contest of projects organised for teachers applying new information technologies in education, within the framework of the eighth European forum “Partnership in Education Microsoft”, held 22–25 March, 2011. A series of seminars “Web-Quest about Web-Quest” and “Web Technologies 2.0 for teachers” was organised by the Open Youth University in 2011. As many educators believe, the ability to learn and make sense of new information is more signi¿cant for the labour market than detailed knowledge (Wilson, et al., 2000). One of the typical problems of modern digital native students, however, is failure to see the broader picture, which often prevents them from developing their critical faculties and, consequently, their foreign language communicative competence. Digital natives are mostly used to asking very targeted questions when sur¿ng the web for information and this leads to them knowing very speci¿c facts, but not seeing the wider context; they do not develop their skills in analysis, evaluation, drawing conclusions and generalising, which leads to an inability to elaborate on the topic. It is common knowledge that one of the best ways to teach a foreign language is to encourage discussion in class. Students with different backgrounds and life experience learn to express and support their opinion: they argue with each other, learn to look at the topic of discussion from different angles; they listen to each other and respect different points of view. This is the ideal scenario. Unfortunately, class situations and dy-

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namics may vary. Probably, quite a few teachers of English as a foreign language have faced the challenge of students keeping to themselves and being reluctant to get involved in discussions. One could easily attribute this behaviour to purely language dif¿culties, but the challenge is often much greater than that: students have little life experience and sometimes poor thinking skills. Sandra J. Savignon, former President of the American Association of Applied Linguistics, said that to acquire foreign language skills, students should develop their communicative competence, which “is de¿ned in terms of expression, interpretation and negotiation of meaning and looks to both psycholinguistic and sociocultural perspectives” (Savignon, 1997). The use of such an active method as WebQuests in foreign language teaching is a possible solution as it supports students by providing the stepping stones for developing a broader outlook. It makes up for lack of experience and develops their communicative competence and thinking skills. According to Dr Benjamin Bloom, a prominent American educational psychologist, thinking skills, which are mental processes, can belong to two groups: Lower order thinking skills and Higher order thinking skills (LOTs and HOTs) (Bloom, et al., 1956). According to Bloom‫ތ‬s taxonomy, acquisition and comprehension of knowledge are LOTs, while evaluation, synthesis, application and analysis are HOTs. Bloom‫ތ‬s taxonomy follows the thinking process: “You cannot understand a concept if you do not ¿rst remember it, similarly you can not apply knowledge and concepts if you don’t understand them. It is a continuum from Lower order thinking skills to Higher order thinking skills” (Bloom, et al., 1956). To develop both LOTs and HOTs, technology can be used, although “technology alone can’t move learners to higher order thinking skills, but some applications are more suited for this task than others” (Burns, 2006). It is the teacher who creates a WebQuest after all, so how an educator uses an application determines whether it is a lower or higher order application. For example, if internet resources are used as electronic textbooks it would be a lower order application, as only LOTs are used if the learner does not validate, question, or evaluate the information obtained. When learners are engaged both in online and ofÀine collaboration while carrying out a WebQuest project, they are using HOTs, and therefore the internet is being used as a higher order application. Following Bloom‫ތ‬s taxonomy, WebQuests can be split into two types: those which target Lower order thinking skills and those aimed at the development of Higher order thinking skills (see Table 3.5).

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Table 3.5. Web-Quests of Type 1 and Type 2 Thinking skills

Types of questions

Example of tasks

WebQuests of type 1 Remembering

What were the events in the text?

Understanding

What was the idea? Is the statement true or false?

Applying

From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions?

Write a short essay on the topic. Make a list of the main events. Write a biography of the person we are studying. Recite a poem. Retell the story in your own words.

WebQuests of type 2 Analysing / Comparing / Contrasting

Why? How are they similar/different?

Evaluating

How can you solve the problem? What do you think? Can you explain?

Devise a new product, marketing campaign, advertising / promotion etc. Conduct a debate about the issue with members of the team. Come up with a presentation on the issue and a subsequent round table discussion. Carry out research on the topic and communicate it to your colleagues.

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Thinking skills Creating

Types of questions

57

Example of tasks

Can you invent a story of your own on the topic? Can you plan an event of your own?

Being the most important part of a WebQuest, the task determines which thinking skills are targeted; the task “provides a goal and focus for the students and it makes concrete the curricular intentions of the designer. Since 1995, teachers have been adapting the WebQuest model to their needs” (Dodge). One can start with retelling tasks because of their simplicity and borderline status as a foundation of a good WebQuest. A modest WebQuest could be based on retelling: if the format and wording of their report is signi¿cantly different from what they read, students are given latitude about what to report and how to organise their ¿ndings, where they should demonstrate skills of distilling, elaborating and summarising. They can report by way of PowerPoint or HyperStudio presentations, posters, or short reports. Teachers could set very creative tasks such as asking students to learn about the topic by recasting it in the form of a poem. Creative WebQuest tasks lead to the production of something within a given format (e.g. painting, play, poem, poster, game, song) but within certain constraints, which will differ depending on the creative product and topic. These constraints may include: historical accuracy, internal consistency, use of the conventions of a particular format, limitations on length, size and scope. Such tasks as writing a short essay on the topic are journalistic. A teacher may introduce a WebQuest format by asking learners to act as reporters covering an event (topic). To design such a WebQuest, the teacher should provide the right resources and establish the importance of fairness and accuracy in reporting. The students should incorporate divergent opinions into their account, deepen their understanding by using background information sources, examine their own biases and minimise their impact on their writing (Dodge, 2002). Once the skills being targeted are determined and the appropriate task is chosen, the educator comes to the matter of developing an evaluation table for the WebQuest. One of the approaches that can be adopted is to evaluate communicative competence, component by component. According to Sandra J. Savignon (Savignon, 1997), communicative competence is comprised of grammatical, discursive, sociocultural and strategic competencies. Her “inverted pyramid” model shows how through practice and experience in an increasingly wide range of communicative contexts, learners gradually

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expand their communicative competence. Having analysed the works of a number of prominent academics in the ¿eld of linguistics (Dell H. Hymes, Alice C. Omaggio, Stephan M. Canale, Sandra J. Savignon, Donald Davidson, Michael N. Vatyutnev, Innessa L. Bim, Anna J. Konstantinova), one can single out the following communicative competence components: linguistic, discourse, strategic, socio-cultural, pragmatic components and personal progress. With that in mind, a rubric can be developed to evaluate all the components of students’ foreign language communicative competence as well as individual progress, creativity, contribution to team work and professional skills. Such a rubric should provide consistent criteria for grading and thus allow teachers and students to evaluate tasks, which can be complex and subjective. According to Bernie Dodge and Nancy Pickett (Dodge, et al.), several common features of scoring rubrics can be distinguished: ņ focus on measuring a stated objective, ņ use of a range of rate performance, ņ arrangement of speci¿c performance characteristics in levels to evaluate the degree to which a standard has been met. WebQuests of Type 2 have been in use in classes of senior grade students, with intermediate levels of English, at the State University of Management since 2009. In order to motivate students to learn English as a means of communication, WebQuests should be tailored to students’ language levels, interests and future profession. So WebQuests of Type 2 were chosen to target Higher order thinking skills, which are more relevant for university students. Students worked in teams of 4–6 on seven WebQuests. The organisational stage was all done online, so it did not take up valuable time in class. WebQuests were all professionally oriented and encompassed such topical areas as innovation, trade, advertising, employment, brands, marketing, globalisation and cultural diversity. The topics were sent to students by email and later they volunteered for projects they wanted to be involved in. All the WebQuests had the necessary “stepping stones” for students: an introduction, task, description of the process, resources, an evaluation table and conclusion. Students worked on their projects during their spring semester and presented them as team efforts in the form of a Power Point presentation. Teachers and students appraised these presentations and ¿lled out evaluation tables. If the WebQuests were successfully carried out, the students were considered to have achieved their spring credit in English. Below follows an example of one of the WebQuests the students were working on – “Fairtrade for H&M”.

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Introduction: Many companies in the retail industry have launched Fairtrade certi¿ed clothes. You are the head of H&M’s product management department. The H&M Board of Directors is interested in the fair-trade concept and is considering the possibility of getting some of the brand’s garments Fairtrade certi¿ed. Task: The H&M Board of Directors has asked you to assess the concept of fair-trade for H&M. You are to identify all the bene¿ts and drawbacks of the certi¿cation and brieÀy explain the system of fair-trade. Process: In your Power Point presentation the following key points should be included: ņ what is fair-trade (http://www.fairtrade.net/faqs.html?&no_cache=1); ņ who bene¿ts from it (http://www.fairtrade.net/faqs.html?&no_cache=1); ņ pros and cons of fair-trade for H&M; ņ how to get H&M products Fairtrade certi¿ed. Resources: ņ Response to Marks & Spencer‫ތ‬s push on Fairtrade cotton – “The latest in a list of major fair-trade moves by retailers” (http://www.fairtrade.org. uk/press_of¿ce/press_releases_and_statements/archive_2007/jan_2007/ response_on_marks_spencers_push_on_fairtrade_cotton.aspx) ņ Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (http://www.fairtrade. net/home.html) ņ H&M (http://www.hm.com/ru/#/startns/) Evaluation (see pp. 60–62) Sum up the information from your WebQuest and comment on the fairtrade concept from the point of view of members of H&M’s product management department. The following questions could serve as guidelines: 1. Could you outline the bene¿ts and drawbacks of the system of fair-trade? 2. What are the possible bene¿ts and drawbacks of Fairtrade certi¿cation? 3. How is H&M to get its products Fairtrade certi¿ed? 4. Could you comment on Marks & Spencer’s push on Fairtrade cotton? 5. How does the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International operate? The ¿nal score was calculated as a simple average as all components of communicative competence were considered equally important; otherwise, depending on the goals of a particular language-training course and its focus, the ¿nal score could be calculated as a weighted average.

A lot of drawbacks in the content, not all the tasks of the WebQuest are completed Little research has been done, presented unclearly, no quotations or references to original sources

Partially missing information, the content is insuf¿cient for understanding the topic Results of research are unclear and fragmented, are not logically presented, few quotations

The content is suf¿cient for understanding the topic, all the information is there, but no information from additional sources All team members have done a lot of research, not all of the information is included in the presentation, the information is not always logically presented

Excellent content, interesting facts taken from additional sources, original ideas, etc.

All team members have done a lot of research, the information is presented in a logical manner

Discourse component – Analytical and synthesising abilities (ability to create something new from a number of sources)

Discourse component – Logical and integrational abilities (logically arranging and integrating)

Presence of a number of mistakes that hinder understanding

Poor (2)

Presence of a number of mistakes that do not hinder understanding

Satisfactory (3)

Few mistakes in vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, spelling, pronunciation

Good (4)

Absence of mistakes in vocabulary, grammar, phonetics, spelling, pronunciation

Excellent (5)

Linguistic component

Communicative competence component

60 Chapter 3. Developing Communicative Competence...

The team is not ready, all the information is read, not told, there are many mistakes, the presentation structure lacks logic The team is prepared, but all the information is read, not told, there are mistakes, the presentation structure lacks logic Students have chosen the appropriate style of presentation, but some of the vocabulary…

The team is well prepared, however some of the information is read, not told, logical manner of presentation

Students have chosen the appropriate style of presentation, follow socio-cultural norms, however lack set…

The team is well prepared, excellent interaction among team members, clear, logical manner of presentation

Students have chosen the appropriate style of presentation, follow sociocultural norms

Strategic component – Clarity of presentation and communication abilities

Socio-cultural component – Observance of socio-cultural norms

Wrong style chosen for the presentation

1–2 team members do the job, others do not participate, serious problems in communication

Problems in communication among team members, each member does only their part, poor overall interaction

Poor (2)

On the whole, the team works well, with minor conÀicts, some students do more work than others

Satisfactory (3)

Good (4)

All students equally participate in the project and carry out research, good communication abilities

Excellent (5)

Strategic component – Participation in team-work, cooperation

Communicative competence component

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The student was an integral part of the team, valuable member, who contributed signi¿cantly to the success of the project and introduced innovative and creative ideas

Excellent understanding by the target audience

Pragmatic component

Excellent (5)

Personal progress component – Personal contribution (individual assessment)

Communicative competence component

Good understanding by the target audience (minor dif¿culties in understanding the topic by the target audience)

The student was a valuable, committed team member, a good “doer”, but did not introduce new/creative ideas during the team discussions

…expressions and word combinations (e.g. phrasal verbs, idioms)

Good (4)

The student did not contribute to the project at all

Vague idea of the topic by the audience due to many mistakes and poor interaction

Partial understanding of the topic by the audience

Poor (2)

The student demonstrated low level of commitment, performed the set tasks and did not introduce new/creative ideas during team discussions

…did not correspond to the appropriate and frequently used one in the given socio-cultural context

Satisfactory (3)

62 Chapter 3. Developing Communicative Competence...

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The results of introducing WebQuests into the foreign language learning process and assessment of the students’ communicative competence are very rewarding. They showed that students loved working on their projects and “discovering knowledge” for themselves. They greatly contributed to WebQuest projects through their creativity, independent research and presentation of their ¿ndings in class. The results of this research were presented in the second chapter of the thesis WebQuest technology as a didactic means of developing students’ foreign language communicative competence, which evaluates the introduction of WebQuests into the programme of teaching English as a foreign language for students studying for the Bachelor’s degree. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of WebQuests as a technology to develop students’ foreign language communicative competence, all the students of the same year and the same major were split into two groups. The curricula of the students from the ¿rst group did not include WebQuests, while they were included for the second group of students. When comparing progress results of students whose course of studies did not include WebQuest and those whose did, it was discovered that the latter improved their discourse competence by 17%, their strategic competence by 19%, their pragmatic competence by 16% and their individual progress improved by 15%, as compared to a 7% increase of respective competencies in the control group. By introducing WebQuest technology into the classroom, teachers motivate students to study, providing a very attractive virtual environment and the support for carrying out WebQuest projects. The ever-growing amount of information facing students requires not only language pro¿ciency but also excellent thinking skills, and the ability to analyse, synthesise and evaluate information. By means of WebQuests, educators develop communicative competence, thinking skills and even professional soft skills (making presentations, participation in discussions and round-table talks). Apart from being an effective means of learning English, WebQuests could become an alternative to “formative” and “summative” assessment as a tool of learning oriented assessment. WebQuests integrate elements both of “formative” and “summative” assessment. Like “formative” assessment (assessment of learning, [The Validity of Formative Assessments, 2001]) WebQuests could be regarded as “diagnostic” testing with formal and informal assessment procedures, focusing on qualitative feedback rather than scores to improve students’ performance. Like “summative” assessment (assessment for learning [SuperVision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach, 2009]), WebQuests focus on monitoring educational attainments, summarising them at a certain time (end of month, semester, year), when a student takes tests and the teacher assigns scores – this is

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often necessary for accountability. That is why, as far as WebQuests are concerned, we could abandon the terms “formative” and “summative” assessment and treat them as “learning oriented assessment”. So, the introduction of WebQuests as a means of learning English encourages students to be more motivated and creative, and as a learning oriented assessment tool, WebQuests could become an alternative to credits and exams, reducing high levels of stress and revealing the students’ creative potential.

Conclusion In this chapter we have looked at the introduction of podcasts and WebQuests into English language teaching at undergraduate level. Both educational technologies are becoming an integral part of educational programmes in several Russian higher-educational establishments. Podcasts and WebQuests have proved to be very ef¿cient in solving various issues in foreign language teaching in a number of areas. Firstly, they contribute to tackling challenges facing the digital generation on the whole, such as poor thinking skills and an inability to see the broader picture. In this respect, podcasts and WebQuests provide the necessary “stepping stones” by means of their structure, which students follow to avoid being lost in cyber space when working on a project. Secondly, podcasts and WebQuests provide students with authentic and comprehensive internet and digital resources, which motivate students to study English and compensate for lack of knowledge and life experience. In addition, both podcasts and WebQuests can be worked on in class, at home, or even on the go via mobile devices. Podcasts and WebQuests widen the lexical and grammatical context and develop students’ foreign language communicative competence, demonstrating educational mobility. The carefully selected internet resources complement English language educational programmes, improve students’ professional insight, and furthermore, WebQuest team projects develop students’ communicative skills and knowledge sharing. Podcasts and WebQuests are an ef¿cient and modern means of organising self-study that make it possible for educators to manage and monitor the learning process online. Further research may also include a more in-depth investigation of introducing podcasts and WebQuests on a broader scale for students of a greater variety of professional pro¿les, courses and language levels. Both podcasts and WebQuests can be introduced for students studying for their Master’s degrees as well as for postgraduates. We also intend to expand the range of tasks for podcasts and introduce learner-generated podcasts, where students will be able to record their presentations using special software.

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Further research on podcasts and WebQuests in the English language university studies is to be carried out to reveal the most ef¿cient ways of developing students’ foreign language communicative competence. A huge selection of podcasts and WebQuests gives educators great Àexibility in their application. Another interesting area of research on podcasts and WebQuests is their application as a means of learning oriented assessment, evaluating students’ language abilities, communicative and thinking skills, personal progress and creativity. A lot more can be done in devising and improving evaluation rubrics for various types of podcasts and WebQuests, which can become a possible alternative for credits and exams, reducing high levels of student stress and anxiety.

References Abdous, M. “Academic effectiveness of podcasting: A comparative study of integrated versus supplemental use of podcasting in secondary language classes”. Computer and Education. 2012. Arends, R. Learning to Teach. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994. Bloom, B. S., et al. Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classi¿cation of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive domain. New York: David McKay Company, 1956. Burns, M. Why are Schools Using Computers Primarily to Teach Low-level Skills When Technology Has the Potential to Deepen Student Learning? Newton: Educational leadership, 2006. Chan, A. and Lee, M. J. W. “An MP3 a day keeps the worries away: Exploring the use of podcasting to address preconceptions and alleviate preclass anxiety amongst undergraduate information technology students”. In Good Practice in Practice. Edited by Dirk H. R. Spennemann & Leslie Burr. Proceedings of the Student Experience Conference 5–7th September ’05. Wagga Wagga, NSW: Charles Sturt University, 2005. Collins, A., Brown, J. S. & Newman, S. E. Cognitive Apprenticeship: Teaching the Crafts of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics. NJ: Wordpress, 1989. Crooks, Terry. The Validity of Formative Assessments. Leeds: Educational Assessment Research Unit, University of Otago, 2001. Dodge, B. & Pickett, N. Rubrics for web lessons. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/ rubrics/weblessons.htm Dodge, B. Some Thoughts About WebQuests. San Diego State University, 1997. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/about_webquests.html Dodge, B. WebQuest Taskonomy: A Taxonomy of Tasks, 2002. http://webquest.sdsu.edu/taskonomy.html

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Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N. How to Teach English with Technology. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2012. Gardner, H. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: BasicBooks, 1993. Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P. & Ross-Gordon, J. M. SuperVision and Instructional Leadership: A Developmental Approach. Allyn & Bacon Educational Leadership, 2009. McQuillan, J. “Language on the Go: Tuning in to Podcasting”. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2, no. 1 (2006): 16–18. Roblyer, M. D., Edwards, J. & Havriluk, M. A. Integrating educational technology into teaching. Prentice Hall, 1997. Savignon, S. J. Communicative Competence: Theory and Classroom Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1997. Segarra-Ciprés, M. M. & López-Navarro, M. A. “Project-based learning as an active teaching method in European higher-education area: An experience in business administration studies”. INTED2010 Proceedings, 2010. Wilson, B., Jonassen, D. & Peck, K. Learning with Technology: A Constructivist Perspective. Upper Saddle, NJ: Merrill, 2000. Wolf, M. Surf at Your Own Peril. 2010. http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2010/ 06_1/features/01

CHAPTER 4 BLENDED LEARNING: IN SEARCH OF THE RIGHT BLEND OLGA A. KRAVTSOVA, ANNA V. GALIGUZOVA

Introduction Today, the term “blended learning” has become one of the most popular buzz-phrases, not only for people directly involved in the process of teaching, but also for a much wider community. Educationalists, managers, college and university authorities, and scholars discuss blended learning, with the notion being given multiple de¿nitions. Deliberators not infrequently disagree about its meaning and content. Brief internet-based research into the matter yields a de¿nite result: blended learning is perceived as an educational technology of the future, which is at the cutting edge of the modern educational paradigm and gives competitive advantages to those educational institutions that use it. It directly impacts academic achievement, enhances cognitive, emotional and behavioural involvement of students, strengthens students’ commitment to learn and enables learners to work independently, thus developing their goal-setting and research skills. The concept of blended learning is in line with the new competencybased approach in education, brought about by major changes in society and the economy at large. In order to be productive members of the presentday information society, people must be able to work with ever-increasing masses of information ef¿ciently – search for, select, analyse, synthesise, and, most importantly, apply it to solve various problems in their social, professional and personal lives. The mere acquisition of knowledge is no longer enough to get prepared for life in such a society; thus, the traditional knowledge-based approach to education, with its over-reliance on simply passing knowledge down from teachers to learners, has become obsolete and is being replaced by one that meets the needs of future generations.

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Chapter 4. Blended Learning: In Search of the Right Blend

As Alison King beautifully wrote as early as 1993, in this new educational environment “… the professor, instead of being the ‘sage on the stage’, functions as a ‘guide on the side’, facilitating learning in less directive ways” (King, 1993). If we compare the educational process to that of building a house, we will see that the two are essentially similar in that they both require “construction materials” and the ability “to build”. However, the knowledge-based approach to education is focused on accumulating “construction materials”, with learners becoming passive store keepers ready to give out these materials when asked to do so; whereas the competencybased approach is oriented to “house-building”, with learners being active and ef¿cient constructors able to implement their knowledge and skills and “build” the required “house”, acting independently (Lebedev, 2011). Finally, although in both educational approaches studying is resource-based, they differ in principle: in a traditional educational model, a learner is presented with a ¿xed set of resources, supposed to be exhaustive, while the new model gives learners freedom to choose from a variety of resources at hand, never limiting them in their choice, but only guiding. The difference in training future “constructors” in comparison to “store keepers” calls for a new approach to language learning/teaching that will help meet the challenges the changing world poses.

Blended Learning in Language Teaching: Gains The concept of “blended learning” (“blended” equaling “hybrid”, “technology-mediated”, “web-enhanced”, or “mixed-mode”) has existed for quite some time now. The blended learning model was ¿rst used in corporate education. Subsequently, it was adapted for secondary and tertiary education purposes, with the e-component evolving from main frames and CD-ROMs to the internet, and lastly it was employed in teaching and learning foreign languages. The term “blended learning” was ¿rst applied to foreign language teaching at the beginning of the 21st century. Generally speaking, blended learning is an education method that combines traditional instruction and supervision with online instruction and material delivery, or, in other words, is a mix of traditional and distance education models. Blended learning aims to leverage the educational potential of these two models, its main strengths being Àexibility, multi-format character and combinability of the course as well as customisation potential, constant teacher-student and student-student interaction (both online and ofÀine), potential for developing self-study skills, and, last but not least, study process optimisation (in terms of time, place and pace of studying, as

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well as timely feedback). All in all, it is a good mix of guided learning and student independence. These blended learning advantages can be used to ensure best conditions for language learning. There is a great body of research on what is needed for language acquisition to be quick and effective, but probably the most well-known and often cited work is that of Joy Egbert and Elizabeth Hanson-Smith (CALL Environments: Research, Practice and Critical Issues, 1999), in which they list eight main criteria for effective language learning, namely: 1) learners should have opportunities to interact and negotiate meaning; 2) learners should interact in the target language with an authentic audience; 3) learners should be involved in authentic tasks; 4) learners should be exposed to and encouraged to produce varied and creative language; 5) learners should have enough time and feedback; 6) learners should be guided to attend mindfully to the learning process; 7) learners should work in an atmosphere with an ideal stress/anxiety level, and 8) learner autonomy should be supported (Egbert and Hanson-Smith, 1999). From this perspective, a blended learning environment is ideal for meeting the needs of language learners. First, technology-mediated learning gives students plenty of opportunities to interact online and ofÀine, orally and in writing, in their study group and in a much wider community, which satis¿es the ¿rst two conditions above. Through local networks and the internet at large, language learners can reach people from all over the world, both native and/or pro¿cient speakers, and those who are just studying the target language and thus share an interest in communicating in it. Facilitated communication with one’s peers and teachers enhances personal development (e.g. boosts students’ con¿dence, improves self-esteem, etc.) and helps to hone all sorts of skills: communicative, networking, cognitive, creative, digital, interpersonal, social, study, and technical. There is also a body of research proving that information and communication technologies (ICT) make young people more active as citizens and have an immense potential for empowerment, “serving as a means of connectivity, expression, peer exchange and education, and most importantly, of youth action, for example playing a more active role in decision-making within organisations and in actively re-shaping their community” (Cullen et al., 2011). Secondly, with ICT as an integral part of every blended learning course, it becomes much easier for a teacher to create authentic tasks, i.e. those aimed at life-like communication. Besides, ICT in language courses give teachers more varied opportunities to provide timely, personalised and detailed feedback to their students. For instance, written assignments can be

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marked as soon as they are produced and sent in by students, oral presentations can be recorded for teacher preview and corrections, especially those of less con¿dent and/or weaker students, and no issue, however minor and seemingly unimportant, will be left unattended as there are many ways for learners to ask questions and get feedback, e.g. via e-mail, Skype, blogs, chats, etc., which is very time-ef¿cient. Moreover, these different modes of interaction, together with individualised approaches and greater Àexibility of courses in terms of time, allow for sustaining the right degree of positive stress in the classroom atmosphere (be it real or virtual). Using teacher feedback weaker learners have more chances to practice and prepare better, while stronger ones stay more stimulated. Furthermore, blended learning is ideal for exposing students to varied and creative language and encouraging them to use it, as, ¿rst of all, it enhances accessibility to a wider, virtually unlimited, range of resources, second, it – enlarges students’ social network, and third, it provides for a variety of data presentation forms (textual, graphic, numerical, audio, video, but most often a combination of some of the above), which is both stimulating and engaging. All this boosts student motivation, which in turn is critical to developing research, writing, editing and presentation-making skills, as proved in the report by the Department of Educational Research at Lancaster University (Passey et al., 2003). Another report by Avril M. Loveless from the School of Education, University of Brighton (Loveless, 2007), underlines the positive impact of ICT on creativity and seeks to explore how such activities as developing ideas, making connections, creative collaborating, communicating and evaluating may be enhanced through ICT. The ¿ndings of more recent research, conducted among undergraduate and postgraduate students in Moscow universities, show that students themselves appreciate the opportunities offered by ICT. The survey was conducted in June, 2014, among students (undergraduate and post-graduate levels) of leading Moscow universities (MGIMO, MSU, MSAL, etc.), with the aim of determining to what extent students use ICT while studying foreign languages, and whether they ¿nd technology useful. The results show that more than 50% of respondents ¿nd ICT extremely effective in learning foreign languages, while another 40% agree that ICT are effective or somewhat effective (Galiguzova, 2014). Finally, blended learning provides increased opportunities for individual work. As students are extended more freedom in terms of choosing the time and mode of studying and given more responsibility for the results of their studies, they become more knowledgeable and self-suf¿cient learners. Such learners can organise their own study-time more ef¿ciently, are more in-

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dependent, capable of making well-motivated decisions and have a higher degree of information and communicative competence. An important ¿nding may be that the employment of ICT, in a course of study, generates student motivation that is related to “a commitment to learning” rather than “a means to complete tasks or to gain a competitive edge in school”, which ultimately means that students develop a high degree of intrinsic motivation, which is recognised to be a stronger driving force that helps to achieve more personally meaningful, impressive and sustained results than extrinsic motivation (Passey et al., 2003). Besides, the non-invasive role of teachers as facilitators also promotes learner autonomy, which is crucial for effective language acquisition. Last but not least, blended learning expands the boundaries of the traditional classroom. Therefore, studying becomes a potentially 24/7 process, allowing students to work on their materials anytime they ¿nd convenient. What is more, with the opportunities offered by Wi-Fi, studying can be done virtually anywhere.

Blended Learning in Language Teaching: Pains Surprisingly, the challenges in applying blended learning are mainly connected with its ICT component. They are more or less common for language teaching and teaching at large. There is a substantial and currently expanding body of research testifying to the negative impact of ICT on learners. Even if we put aside the most obvious adverse effects on the physiological state and health of computer-users, there will still be a lot to say about negative psychological and pedagogical factors. They fall into three broad categories that may be loosely de¿ned as: 1) source-related, 2) cognitive, or user-related, and 3) technical, or application-related. To begin with, information overload seems to have become the plague of the “Google Generation”. With a plethora of e-sources immediately available, people, especially those who are inexperienced internet-users, can get virtually lost and feel unable to assess the relative value of information at hand. At best, they will waste a lot of additional time sorting sites out, while in the worst-case scenario they will end up with a jumble of unreliable, fragmentary and even contradictory sources. In language learning, the multiplicity of sources can also be confusing. Take, for instance, the array of dictionaries available online; it is an open secret that quite a number of them contain entries non-existent in reliable dictionaries, such as the Cambridge Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, etc. As David Crystal pointed out in one of the lectures he delivered during his recent visit to Russia (June 2014), the problem with many online dictionaries is that anyone can contribute to them, and the

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end user will never know whether the word and its de¿nition, translation, etc. were added by a specialist or a layman, in which case such words as “uncof¿nlikability” (David Crystal’s example) can get into circulation. Another illustration of source-related challenges is provided by the results of a recent survey, according to which 94% of American collegestudents use Google or another search-engine to conduct research, while only one in four of them can carry out “a reasonably well-executed” internet search, with 61% of students admitting that selecting really useful information is extremely tedious. Teachers seem to agree, with 60% of them complaining that technology has complicated the process of ¿nding “credible sources”, and 83% emphasising that there is much more information on the net than is actually needed for educational purposes (Purcell, 2012). In fact, the very notion of conducting research is being eroded, and all too often research now equals simply “googling”. In Russia the situation is pretty much the same. For instance, according to the above-mentioned survey, Google is the most frequently used source of information for study purposes, closely followed by Wikipedia. Fortunately, textbooks (both paper and electronic) are also in the top-¿ve sources used, but alarmingly YouTube and social networks fall into this top-¿ve category as well (Galiguzova, 2014). Cognitive challenges are probably the most daunting. In brief, ICT use is causing a profound shift in the ways people process information. The nature of internet sur¿ng develops mostly skimming skills, while the ability to analyse information critically decreases. The most obvious mental change pointed out by many researchers is related to shortening attention spans and decreased concentration, which clearly stems from hyperconnectivity. This is potentially hazardous because according to the “use it or lose it” principle, people might soon lack the ability to tackle complex problems. As Alvaro Retana, a distinguished technologist with Hewlett-Packard, put it: “The short attention spans resulting from the quick interactions will be detrimental to focusing on the harder problems, and we will probably see a stagnation in many areas: technology, even social venues such as literature” (Anderson and Rainie, 2012). Russian teachers of foreign languages (in particular our colleagues at MGIMO University) are alarmed by students’ inability to work with relatively long texts, irrespective of their Àuency in a foreign language. To put it simply, the present generation of students seems to have dif¿culty comprehending large portions of text, let alone summarising and analysing it. The proverbial multitasking might be regarded as a sign of the next step in brain evolution, but the current “re-wiring” of the human brain could also prove to be very dangerous because people are already lacking the ability to focus on the task at hand for a comparatively long period of time, i.e. have

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problems with sustained attention. It is particularly true for modern students, who depend too much on getting instant results and grati¿cation, and who become extremely frustrated if their research gets more complicated and requires information sources other than those available online. More than that, working online is also hugely distracting, as few people can suppress the urge to check e-mail or news from friends in social networks at least once in a while, with many “advanced” internet-users attempting to chat, listen to/watch something and work simultaneously (Purcell et al., 2012; Fuchun Lin et al., 2012). The list of potential drawbacks of ICT use would not be complete if we failed to mention the problem of student plagiarism, which has only been aggravated by instant access to the unlimited number of sources the internet provides. The “copy and paste” option has never been more abused than it is now, as students fail to understand, not to mention observe, intellectual property rights. Undoubtedly, teachers can use certain plagiarism detection software, but, ¿rst, not every educational institution will be ready to install it (most often due to its cost, but also, probably, for lack of concern), and second, even if you use such a well-developed plagiarism-tracking system as “Antiplagiat.vuz”, the one installed at MGIMO University and many other leading Russian universities, the whole process is still quite time-consuming and labour-intensive. Furthermore, teachers might not be altogether happy if the use of ICT rather than lifting the burden, actually doubles it. On the one hand, special software might ease the task of correcting home assignments, but on the other, teachers will have to spend more time preparing relevant study materials, this time not only for in-class, but also online use. Another potential challenge for teachers might be that 24/7 accessibility, coupled with the urgent need to provide students with timely feedback, will add to the stress many teachers already experience. Taking into account the ambiguous character of ICT use, teachers and educationalists at large are trying to optimise its application for educational purposes, building on its multiple strengths and aiming at eliminating or at least signi¿cantly reducing the problem areas. The best way to do this is to ¿nd the “right” blend, that is, to develop a course that will combine the engaging multimedia format and the profundity of traditional teaching methodology.

Russia-Speci¿c Challenges The history of blended learning in Russia is somewhat shorter than the USA’s or Europe’s. Here, the pioneers in applying blended learning

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models were corporate companies, followed ¿rst by technical universities/ departments and only then by humanities departments. In language teaching in Russia, the concept of blended learning is relatively new, and universities are facing an uphill battle because the integration of new technologies into the teaching/learning process implies a fundamental transformation of the approach to this process, with a change in the traditional responsibilities of both students and teachers. Besides pedagogical, there are also technological and attitudinal barriers to implementing blended learning, and these are currently in the process of being broken down. Although Russian schools and universities to some extent lag behind their western counterparts in terms of both “breadth” and “depth” of the technology available, and, consequently, the number and quality of electronic platforms that might be used for blended learning is not so impressive, the gap is steadily narrowing. The most effective Russian online education platforms are, probably, www.openclass.ru and www.dnevnik.ru, but foreign ones (e.g. www.coursera.org) are also often used. At MGIMO University such e-platforms as Moodle and Mirapolis are becoming increasingly popular. A number of blended courses for language learning have been elaborated by MGIMO specialists (Dubynina, 2010; Selivanova, 2010; Yastrebova, Vladykina, Ermakova, 2007; Zelenov, 2012), many of them on the basis of the iTRANIUM platform, as well as specialists from some other universities (Polyakova et al., 2013; Titova, 2001). Apart from technological problems stemming largely from inadequate ¿nancing, blended learning in Russia faces another obstacle: a large proportion of learners still do not welcome technology. For instance, according to recent research, almost half of the respondents questioned are not keen on getting new knowledge with the help of special computer programs and/ or via the internet. Besides, twice as many people would opt for traditional classes over online ones (Distantsionnoe obrazovanie v Rossii, 2013). Even in leading Russian universities boasting cutting-edge technology, only about 20% of students would prefer an electronic textbook (but not a dictionary!) to a paper coursebook, and the overall majority (80%) would not care to substitute a face-to-face class with its electronic alternative, e.g. a class via Skype (Galiguzova, 2014). It should be noted, however, that students’ rejection of technology-enhanced learning is not a peculiarity of Russian higher education. Students worldwide put more trust in traditional printed texts as authentic academic knowledge rather than web-based sources (Orton-Johnson, 2009). They also dread the increased responsibility the transition from a passive to a collaborative learning approach associated with blended learning puts on them:

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to use sophisticated technology, students need to reconsider their study habits and time-management skills (Vaughan, 2007). Despite the pitfalls likely to face foreign language departments, leading universities across the country have set out to integrate technology into FLT and are putting a lot of effort into redesigning curricula and developing blended courses. Some evidence of this can be found in the other chapters of this book, based on papers presented at an international conference held at MGIMO University in October 2013. In the following sections, we give an overview of our experience in going “blended” at MGIMO University. In describing our search for the right “blend”, we use the term “blended learning” in its widest sense, applying it to any combination of conventional face-toface (F2F) teaching/learning with an appropriate use of computer technology (Neumejer, 2005:104; Stracke, 2007:57; Sharma and Barrett, 2007:7).

Why a Blend? Numerous studies on integrating ICT into curricula show that a great number of blended learning models can be employed in FLT; however, “determining the right blend isn’t easy or to be taken lightly” (Hofmann, 2001:3). What model might be appropriate depends on the goals of FLT at a particular university, the willingness of administrators to support blended learning initiatives, the level of technological support provided by the university administration, and other variables; in other words, “the context is all, and a thorough analysis of it is vital” (Whittaker, 2013:15). With a 70-year history, MGIMO University is one of Russia’s leading universities. Students taking a Bachelor’s course at the School of International Relations major in International Relations and Regional Studies and do a second major in Foreign Languages. Most of them study English as a second foreign language (alongside Spanish, Korean, Arabic, etc.) throughout the four-year programme. The required level of English language pro¿ciency in the ¿rst year is B1, with the target level at the end of the four-year course being C1, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2002). The programme has a modular structure. In the ¿rst two years, the modules are General English and the Basics of Academic Writing, while in the third and fourth year the curriculum comprises three modules: ESP, Political Translation, and Academic Writing. This part of the chapter describes the implementation of a blended learning model in the ¿rst-year General English course. The course is aimed at improving students’ reading, listening, and speaking skills, as well as strengthening their mastery of grammar and vocabulary. Students have four

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contact hours of regularly scheduled classes a week, with the same number of self-study hours. The most frequently cited bene¿ts of a blended learning approach in tertiary education in general, and in FLT in particular are improved pedagogy, increased Àexibility and enhanced cost-effectiveness (Sharpe et al., 2006, Sharma and Barrett, 2007, Graham, 2004). However, Claire Whittaker rightly questions cost-effectiveness as a valid reason for employing blended learning in FLT, as even “the initial ¿nancial outlay for hardware and software is usually prohibitively expensive” (Whittaker, 2013:14). So, in our department cost-effectiveness was de¿nitely not a driving force behind blended learning innovation. The development of a blended General English course was prompted by a number of reasons, ranging from pragmatic (the obvious inadequacy of the class-time allocated to this module, as well as the necessity to cater for the needs of students with differing levels of language pro¿ciency), to professionally “idealistic”. Long before the new standards for higher education were introduced in this country, the enthusiastic teachers at the English Department of the School of International Relations were fully aware that, for the teaching/learning process to be effective, it should be modernised by integrating new technologies. And it is these kinds of people who set the wheels in motion. Thus the necessity to comply with the new standards was by no means the primary reason for designing a new course. In opting for blended learning, we aimed to achieve the following: 1) to improve learning effectiveness, primarily through increasing students’ motivation; 2) to promote students’ autonomy by enabling them to study at a convenient time and at a suitable pace; 3) to teach students to use online resources for research.

Blend for General English (First Year) In developing a blended course, we decided on a two-mode model: faceto-face and self-study. The lead mode in the blend was face-to-face, but it was the self-study mode that was to be technologically charged, although this did not rule out the use of technology in regular classroom work. The essential thing was that the blend’s two components should be integrated in a meaningful and complementary manner: technology should be used “to complement and enhance face-to-face teaching” (Sharma and Barrett, 2007:13–14). The choice of this particular model was dictated by the context of a traditional Russian university, where students still heavily rely on the teacher

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for guidance and consider face-to-face classes the best way of learning a foreign language. This is especially true for ¿rst-year students, who are mostly recent school-leavers and have yet to develop their learning strategies. In this educational environment, a core coursebook, providing the syllabus in terms of content and sequencing, while simultaneously fostering more effective organisation of the teaching/learning process through a rational combination of classroom and self-study sessions, is central to the effectiveness of learning. The Coursebook of English for Students of Diplomacy and Regional Studies (Bachelor Level, Competency-Based Approach) was developed by teachers in the English Department a few years ago. The coursebook itself is a “blend” of a print book and an e-supplement (see Chapter 10 for details on the e-supplement). At the stage of instruction in question, a coursebook is the main medium between the teacher and the student as well as “organiser” of the teaching/learning process. To perform this function effectively, a coursebook is to rest on a solid theoretical foundation provided by a number of basic pedagogical principles that relate to FLT. The principles underlying the coursebook above are examined in detail in What Kind of Foreign Language Coursebook Is Needed for the Tertiary Level? (Yastrebova and Kravtsova, 2011). Here we give a brief overview of the principles relevant for the model of blended learning adopted for the General English module. The general didactic principles behind the design of the coursebook for ¿rst-year students incorporate: competence-based, interdisciplinary, modularity and multilevel, and proximal development approaches. Most of these terms have been in circulation in the context of FLT for over a decade, so there is no need to explain the notions they convey. However, so far not many educationalists in Russia have been guided by the above-mentioned principles in designing foreign language coursebooks for university students; therefore, in a sense, our book can be considered an innovation. The principle of proximal development, based on the theory by Vygotsky (Vygotsky, 1978), implies selection of material, which thematically and in terms of the language input students are exposed to, is slightly above the students’ cultural and linguistic competence, and thus motivates them and gives room for further development. Another implication of this principle is that a modern coursebook should provide task-based and problem-solving activities aimed at developing students’ creative and critical thinking skills. The speci¿c language teaching principles employed in designing the coursebook require that it should be authentic, up-to-date and informative. They dictate the selection of material professionally relevant for would-be specialists in international relations, as well as the use of textual material

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from modern ¿ction, periodicals, and online sources. These principles also underpin a system of learning tasks aimed at students’ completing research based on both library and internet sources. Among learning tasks of this kind are individual and team projects, e.g., “Russia’s Advance to the East vs. America’s Advance to the West”, and “History of Diplomatic Relations: Russia and the United Kingdom”. The necessary scaffolding is provided in the coursebook in the form of explanations as to how students should go about researching the subject of their project, a list of questions they are to ¿nd answers to, and links to reliable websites. The latter is a must at this stage of language learning in view of students’ limited experience in online research. All the preliminary work is done in face-to-face mode during regular classroom hours, e.g. in the case of a collaborative project, students are divided into teams, they choose the team leader, and decide which aspect of the topic each of them will focus on. It is essential that all this be done under the teacher’s supervision and guidance: the teacher may intervene if any team has a problem in the discussion. The research is carried out by each student in self-study mode. In the next face-to-face class, students share their ¿ndings, make an outline of their presentation, decide on its form, and choose the presenter(s). The presentation itself is done in the next regular class. We fully realise that this model is a far cry from a full-Àedged “blend”, in which most of student collaboration in projects is carried out in a virtual learning space; however, we believe that online communication between students is more suitable for the advanced stages of instruction, because ¿rst-year students are apparently not mature enough to collaborate online for educational purposes. Another principle underlying the coursebook is that of functionality, which, in the wide sense, means the content of the coursebook (texts and the system of learning tasks) promotes simultaneous development not only of language skills, i.e. linguistic competence, but also cognitive, communicative, informational and other professionally relevant competencies. This principle supports a communicative approach to foreign language teaching and implies that each unit in the book has a set of communicative goals, which students will be able to achieve with the help of the vocabulary, grammar, and speech patterns they study. Lastly, under this principle, the target of language learning is meaning and function rather than the elements of the language system per se, thus the book’s language material is presented “from function to form”. The coursebook provides for the implementation of a two-mode blend. All material is initially presented and practiced in face-to-face mode based on the texts and exercises in the book. A variation of the blend is embed-

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ded in the coursebook. The self-study mode in this variation, as described above, is used for doing projects and other creative learning tasks. Some might consider this de¿cient in the sense that there is no online collaboration between students, and between teachers and students, but nevertheless it works; with the teacher’s and coursebook’s guidance, students learn to carry out online research: they ¿nd reliable sources, collect and process information, picking out the most relevant facts and statistics, which better equips them to work on more sophisticated online projects in subsequent years of study. The other variation of the same model is supported by the e-supplement, which is used as the basis for the self-study mode. The latter is aimed at further controlled practice of the language material covered during face-toface sessions, and fosters students’ linguistic competence. The idea behind this was twofold: 1) to provide students with an opportunity to do language tasks (gap ¿lling, matching, paraphrasing) autonomously, at a convenient time and at a suitable pace, and 2) to use saved classroom time in a more productive way, for discussions, presentations, role-plays, etc. (for details see Chapter 10). On the whole, this variation of the blend proved to be successful in that the self-study mode did save time for more task-based and creative collaboration during face-to-face sessions. However, both teachers and students faced a number of challenges. Teachers, especially older ones, were at ¿rst resistant to the new teaching practices, which involved using unfamiliar technologies. Although they did not have to mark students’ homework in ink, they had to learn how to use sophisticated software to be able to provide meaningful feedback in the follow-up face-to-face classroom session, and this is de¿nitely a time-consuming process. As for the students, unfortunately, for a number of reasons their autonomy in selfstudy mode was restricted in terms of both place and time, because they could only work in a computer facility on campus. But even so, feedback from students indicated that they found this mode of work useful, and it was the weaker students who bene¿ted the most: they claimed to be more con¿dent in their language skills after extensive practice provided by the computer self-study mode.

Conclusion We have just set out on a journey in search of the right model of blended learning and still have a long way to go. The goals set for the journey are to make learning English effective, i.e. meaningful, creative, and enjoyable. No doubt, there is always room for improvement, and the model we employ

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in the ¿rst year could be enhanced: the self-study mode involving collaborative projects should be redesigned so as to contain at least elements of online collaboration, which will better prepare students for this kind of learning activity in the future; the self-study mode based on the e-supplement should provide for students’ effective autonomy without any time or place restrictions. And we are working on it. We are also well aware of the dangers that might await us on the journey. Firstly, it is not easy to ensure the sustainability of the blend in terms of content stability (Whittaker, 2013:181). In fact, the principles underlying our coursebook imply that the material should be up-to-date, which calls for another kind of e-supplement, a content-oriented one, which would make it possible to give students access to texts covering current topical issues. Secondly, this kind of journey demands that all travellers should be well equipped. This especially applies to teachers, who will be trained in the use of software and methodology of blended teaching. Students will also be instructed in “safety procedures”, because even though they are digital natives, the use of up-tothe-minute technologies for educational purposes is new to them. There are also budgetary considerations: running a blended course requires adequate software and constant technical support – that is to say, money. However, the challenges do not discourage us. Moreover, we have chosen a new destination: the redesign of a course for fourth-year students. This redesign will involve the creation of a virtual learning space on the OpenClass platform. The experiment has just started, but we are very optimistic about the outcome.

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Yastrebova, E. B. & Kravtsova, O. A. “Kakoy uchebnik inostrannogo yazyka nuzhen vuzu segodnya?” [What Kind of Foreign Language Coursebook Is Needed for the Tertiary Level?] Innostrannye Yazyki v Shkole 5 (2011): 63–68. Yastrebova, E. B., Kravtsova, O. A., Kryachkov, D. A. & Vladykina, L. G. Kurs angliyskogo yazyka dlya mezhdunarodnikov i regionovedov. Uroven – bakalavriat. Kompetentnostnyi podkhod. I kurs [Coursebook of English for Students of Diplomacy and Regional Studies. Bachelor Level. Competency-Based Approach. I Year]. (2 parts). Moscow: MGIMO University, 2009. Yastrebova, E. B., Vladykina, L. G., Ermakova, M. V. Kurs angliiskogo iazyka dlia studentov iazykovykh vuzov [Coursebook for Upper Intermediate Students]. Moscow: Ekzamen, 2007. Zelenov, Y. S. Uchebnoe posobie po obshchestvenno-politicheskomu perevodu. Pol’skii iazyk [Political Translation Coursebook. The Polish Language]. Part 2. Moscow: MGIMO–University Press, 2012.

PART II: TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES: TEACHING TO LEARN, LEARNING TO TEACH

CHAPTER 5 ACTIVE LEARNING METHODS IN TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGES AT RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES ELENA A. MENSH, NATALIA V. MATVEEVA

Chapter Five describes active learning methods and their bene¿ts, compares them with a “traditional” approach in teaching foreign languages, and gives classi¿cations of these methods. Tyumen State University and Moscow State University of Railway Engineering dynamically apply active learning methods in teaching. This chapter submits examples of cases and role-play games that are successfully carried out at TSU and MSURE. Tyumen State University is the largest higher-education establishment in the North of Russia. Today, it is a major scienti¿c and educational hub. The university, with more than 30,000 students, consists of eleven pedagogical and research institutions. It implements 174 educational programmes including Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degree programmes. All activities mentioned in this chapter were put into practice in the International Relations Department. Moscow State University of Railway Engineering is the largest transport university in Russia. It has more than 70,000 students and Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes in some sixty specialities related to the transport sector. MSURE carries out sound scienti¿c and research work and develops its own innovative courses. The Institute of Humanities has worked out a number of cases and role-play games mainly for students on the “Tourism” and “Hospitality” Bachelor’s degree programmes, and successfully applies them in teaching foreign languages.

Introduction Contemporary Russian society is characterised by rapid changes in social, economic and political life. Upon joining the Bologna process, Russia faced

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the problem of ensuring compatibility and comparability between the Russian and European educational systems. New Federal State Educational Standards, applicable to higher professional education, have introduced a two-level higher-educational system in Russia and proposed a list of general and professional competences that a future expert should possess. Elevated results can be obtained by applying active learning methods in the teaching process. In accordance with the standards of higher professional education, the role of a foreign language as a subject in the curriculum has dramatically changed. Graduates can either obtain employment or continue their studies anywhere in Europe, which is why foreign language knowledge is becoming a means of integration within the European educational space, and a way of socialising in the European labour market. The purpose of teaching a foreign language in a higher education institution is no longer just a matter of passing on knowledge of the subject (language competence), but the development of certain practical abilities, skills and personal traits, which enable and prepare experts to use language competently in the professional sphere. Professional foreign language competence entails a combination of knowledge and speaking skills applicable to business, plus a mastery of foreign language communication strategies and tactics, combined with the ability to apply special methods of emotional communicative interaction (Galskova, Gez, 2006). How ef¿ciently professional foreign language competence is formed in students substantially depends on how the context of their future professional activity is introduced into the educational process: whether the teacher takes into consideration the students’ experience, interests and requirements, and how the motivation to study a foreign language is ensured. Ef¿ciency increases when students’ future professional activities are modelled in a foreign language class. It is clear that the use of traditional methods of foreign language teaching, such as demonstration, explanation, practice, usage, correction and evaluation, are not enough to prepare a competitive specialist for the global market. In fact, the basis of teaching foreign languages is not only the assimilation of knowledge and skills, but also a way of organising and assimilating training to instill creative potential in future experts (Verbickj, 1999). Verbickj’s ideas were developed and applied to teaching foreign languages by a number of Russian academics: Vera F. Tenishcheva (1992), Lubov’ M. Kalugina (1998), Julia V. Maslova (2000), Olga A. Grigorenko (2001) and others. The works of British methodologists, such as A. P. Howatt (2000), T. Hutchison (1991), D. Crookall and R. L. Oxford (1990), K. Jones (1987), S. D. Krashen (1982), W. T. Littlewood (1981), T. McArthur (1983), R. Ox-

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ford (1990), W. W. Sharrock and D. R. Watson (1985), S. L. Stern (1980), J. L. Taylor and R. Walford (1978) and others, contributed greatly to the methodology of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in general and English for Speci¿c Purposes (ESP) in particular. Nowadays, Russian teachers have access to these vast teaching and methodological materials, and endeavour to adjust them to a Russian reality, applying these materials to their practical work in order to achieve the main goal – forming professional foreign language and communicative competence in Bachelor’s degree students. This chapter is broken into three sections as follows: Section 1: Active vs. “Traditional” Learning Methods – formulates the principles of active learning methods and compares them with “traditional” ones. Section 2: Classi¿cation of Active Learning Methods – classi¿es the principles of active learning methods. Section 3: A Brief Review of Active Learning Methods Applied at Russian Universities – reveals the essence, historical background, bene¿ts and peculiarities of active learning methods in foreign languages, as taught at Tyumen State University and Moscow State University of Railway Engineering.

Active vs. “Traditional” Learning Methods The necessity of using active learning methods is recognised all over the world. Numerous methodological articles by Louise Mauffette-Leenders, R. Linton, William T. Littlewood, Tom Hutchison, Carol Livingstone, Gillian P. Ladousse and others, as well as educational institutions’ websites, advocate active learning methods as an effective tool and a great advantage in the teaching process (University of California, Berkeley: http://gsi.berkeley.edu/teachingguide/sections/active. Html; Michigan State University: http://fod.msu.edu/oir/active-learning and others). Given the wide range of sources on the subject, it is not surprising that educationalists specialising in active learning offer various interpretations of these methods. According to Charles C. Bonwell and James A. Eison, active learning is any activity that involves students in doing something and thinking about what they are doing (Bonwell, Eison, 1991). Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent view active learning as something course-related, where all students in a class session are called upon to act rather than simply watch, listen and take notes (Felder, Brent, 2009). The Northern Ireland Curriculum (http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk) de¿nes active learning as a process whereby students are not passive recipients of knowledge, but active, collaborative and participatory learners energetically

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expressing their judgements. They are able to listen to other people’s opinions, ask questions and, in general, are responsible for their own learning. Russian methodologist Natalya M. Kleymyonova de¿nes active learning methods in teaching foreign languages as a system of interrelated actions between teacher and students, and a set of learning techniques such as games and other types of educational activities, which require a creative approach and establish optimal conditions for students’ independent work (Kleymyonova, 2011). This is exempli¿ed in case studies, role-plays, discussions, group work and collaborative learning jigsaws, think-pair-shares, creative projects, etc. In our opinion, “activity” is a key word to understanding what active learning methods are. Thus, active learning methods in teaching foreign languages can be de¿ned as those that involve students in research, simulation, evaluation and creative communicative activities in a foreign language in order to facilitate communicative competence. In the course of learning, these methods not only mobilise the memory, but also motivate students to study a language and intensify the process of thinking (Hutchison, 1991). Students create interaction themselves, the scope of their creativity increases, they abandon long-held stereotypes and search for independent, original answers and solutions (Littlewood, 1981). These methods include analysing and comparing various factors, positions and conclusions in order to choose and express more clearly a personal point of view, and to form an individual style of effective communication. Active learning methods deal with values and emotions, and, being involved in the interaction process, students express their own opinions, attitudes and intentions (Jones, 1987). They also improve social skills, such as the ability to work in teams and investigate new models of behaviour, and, as a result, formulate general and professional competencies. Students can acquire skills and increase knowledge with active learning more effectively than with a traditional learning approach (McCarthy, Anderson, 2005). Table 5.1 compares some basic features of active and traditional learning methods with respect to teaching foreign languages. The comparison is based on the works of Felder and Brent, McCarthy and Anderson, Natalya M. Kleymyonova, Olga A. Grigorenko and others. Modern society needs Àexible and creative people, who can solve problems, ¿nd new solutions, make decisions, communicate effectively and work ef¿ciently in international teams and groups. Book knowledge alone is no longer enough to succeed in a complex and rapidly evolving world. Against this background, we should consider active learning methods in teaching foreign languages as a strong foundation for future experts.

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Table 5.1. Active vs. “Traditional” Learning Methods Points to compare

Active learning methods

“Traditional” learning methods

Aimed at

Focused mainly on developing thinking, improving speech and business behavioural skills, social skills, forming communicative strategy and tactics, general and professional competencies

Focused mainly on acquiring knowledge and developing memory and language skills

Motivation

Internal motivation

External motivation

Educational materials

Educational materials developed by teachers for particular students – academic literature, textbooks, individually sourced educational materials

Both teachers and students use authorised textbooks

Forms of activities

Intellectual, creative and, more often, independent work; roleplays, solving cases, debating, verbal sparring, making albums, newspapers, etc.

Seminars, lectures, traditional lessons where students are “spoon fed” and become passive recipients of knowledge

Object of control

Mainly Àuency

Mainly accuracy

Results

Professional foreign language communicative competence

Language competence

Classi¿cation of Active Learning Methods in Teaching Foreign Languages In our classi¿cation of active learning methods we use two classi¿cation criteria simultaneously. The ¿rst criterion is the prevailing type of activity, while the second is the type of speech (prepared or spontaneous) that is developed by applying these methods in class. For better representation, in Table 5.2, we have arranged these methods according to prevailing activity type leading to prepared or spontaneous speech development.

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Table 5.2. Classi¿cation of Active Learning Methods in Teaching Foreign Languages Active Learning Method

Activity type

Type of Speech

Role-play games based on social or professional topics/ social or professional communicative situations

Playing activity

Prepared and spontaneous speech in a foreign language

Case studies, debate, discussions

Cognitive activity (critical and analytical thinking)

Prepared and spontaneous speech in a foreign language

Dramas, role-plays based on imaginary or historical situations Quizzes, role-plays based on TV programmes, games, competitions Individual and team projects, conference speeches, articles

Prepared speech Creative activity Spontaneous speech

Research activity

Prepared speech

The teacher decides which active learning method he or she will use with particular students in their study of a particular topic. We think the most valuable foreign language teaching methods for university students are those aimed at teaching both prepared and spontaneous speech, such as role-plays and case studies. Role-plays reconstruct the subject and social content of real communication areas in a foreign language, including those concerning students’ future professional activities. Solving case studies also mirrors constituent parts of professional activity, where students analyse a studied object, phenomena or someone’s actions. The next section covers a brief exploration of active learning methods in teaching foreign languages at TSU and MSURE (Russian universities), and gives expert evaluation of case studies and role-plays.

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A Brief Review of Active Learning Methods Applied at Russian Universities Case studies Among active learning methods aimed at developing prepared and spontaneous speech in a foreign language, the case-study method is the most innovative. It was designed at Harvard Business School for teaching business and economics in the 1920s. Later, the case method was applied to teaching foreign languages at universities. The methodology of utilising case studies for learning was thoroughly developed (Mauffette-Leenders and others, 2005). A case study is a set of educational materials describing a problem situation, which includes texts outlining a business challenge, ¿nancial statements and other reports, short biographies, and audio and video recordings. Each student reads and analyses the case, adhering to a logical procedure: Stage 1 – Independent work. The student analyses the essence of the case and its attendant problems, to ascertain why these have emerged and how they can be solved. He or she then develops a solution to the case. Stage 2 – Discussion in small groups. Students discuss and evaluate alternative solutions, decide on the most feasible, and choose the form the case solution presentation is to take. Stage 3 – Presentation of case solutions in class. Each group presents their agreed solution, other groups ask questions, and ¿nally the students prepare a newsletter about the case, with recommendations and resolutions. Relatively wide use of case studies in teaching foreign languages in Russia started when British publishing houses, like Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Macmillan, Pearson, Longman and ExpressHouse, came to the Russian market. English textbooks used at Russian universities, such as Market Leader, Intelligent Business and Pro¿le, all have Case Study sections. These textbooks have brought authentic materials to Russia; they describe real business problems and open the world of business in foreign countries to Russian teachers and students. Russian teachers, who use the case-study method in their practical work, highlight that if students learn a foreign language using cases connected with their future professional activity, it contributes to their professional education and develops crucial social skills. Having a strong desire to solve a problem, students investigate the case thoroughly, and to ¿nd a solution they read literature on the topic. They widen their vocabulary and learn to use new grammar structures and idioms they came across in the text. Students analyse the problem and generate

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possible solutions. If a case has audio or video supplementary materials, they improve their listening skills. Taking part in a discussion, students try to structure their speech carefully. Case studies also facilitate critical thinking and the ability to learn. A friendly atmosphere in class should be a feature of case discussions, no matter how heated the debates become (Ilyina, 2009; Aikina, 2013; Drutsko, 2014; Voronova, 2014; and others). One of the case studies used at Tyumen State University is based on a facilitation technique known in the business world as Open Space. Open Space is a meeting of people with diverse perspectives talking on selfselected topics in self-nominated groups, where participants can join any group they wish. Open Space usually involves a large number of participants gathering for a long period of intense interaction and reÀection on “hot-button” issues (Owen, 1997). TSU students scrutinise the roots and consequences of racism, consumerism, gender inequality and many other topics included in the curriculum. The ¿rst stage is a kind of speci¿c pre-event preparation: students are instructed to explore academic literature, to compile a glossary of the key terms, to write down all the de¿nitions of the terms related to the topic, and to evaluate various approaches to the problem under consideration. Subsequently, they write an analytical essay that dissects, examines and interprets the main issues of the discussion. So within the topic “Advertising: A Blessing or a Curse?” students explore varying aspects of the issue. They decide whether they are going to be experts on the psychological inÀuence of advertising on people’s minds, or experts on special techniques for creating advertisements, or specialists in social advertising, and so on. Students take on different roles and become specialists in diverse aspects of the case, which makes the event professionally profound. In fact, students participate in the event using a combination of their own personal experiences and knowledge acquired from the academic literature they have studied. In the second stage, students decide which group they are going to join. They form a circle and vote for important topics, within the main one, which they are eager to discuss. These topics are pinned on a bulletin board; students sign up for the topics they are interested in and feel they can contribute to. They organise their groups by announcing their ideas and inviting others who share these ideas to join them. Discussion starts at the third stage. Here the law of two feet works: if you ¿nd yourself in a situation you can neither learn from nor contribute to, then move somewhere else! The purpose of this rule is to involve all students in the discussion, interesting them in the process and the results of the event. Throughout the proceedings, the facilitator is fully present and

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yet “totally invisible”, unassumingly observing the dynamics. At the end of the discussion, students sum up the results, and according to the rules of Open Space methodology, they express their resolutions in the form of minutes, taking into account the KISS approach (Keep It Short and Simple) (Owen, 1997). Informal observation of group dynamics reveals a high level of student engagement, and includes students who are usually silent in class discussions, although they remain the “butterÀies”. In Open Space techniques, active students who move around enriching and inspiring the process are called “bumblebees”, while the less active ones are known as “butterÀies” (Owen, 1997). Usually, after the event, students ¿ll in a questionnaire about their experience. Such a questionnaire gives the teacher an opportunity to understand the extent of the activity’s success. The analysis of the feedback from the questionnaire demonstrates that students comment on the positive and empowering atmosphere of the class. The movement of students among their groups not only enables them to deal with a range of different views, but also creates spontaneous groups of people with similar points of view, which is valuable for overcoming under-con¿dence. Students also identi¿ed the following skills as having development potential with Open Space activities: the ability to back up views with knowledge and the ability to express them appropriately, social and interpersonal skills, listening, co-operation, presentation, reading, communication, teamwork and debating skills. At Moscow State University of Railway Engineering, the English course is divided into two parts: English for General Purposes and English for Speci¿c Purposes. First-year students study English for General Purposes. This course comprises topics such as: “Education in Russia and English Speaking Countries”, “Politics and the Economy of Russia and English Speaking Countries”, “Railways as a Branch of the Economy”, “Ecology and Environmental Problems”, “International Organisations” and others. We maintain that the case-study method can be applied to learning English for General Purposes as well, and elaborate case studies within our role-play games. For example, we use them in the “Student Self-Governance Leader Election” role-play that simulates a round in an election race. During this game, each candidate for the post of Student Council Chairman of the Advocacy Group analyses psychological situations, putting forward alternative policies, evaluating them, and proposing the best solution. The cases could involve any of the following: 1. You plan to take part in a team competition. On the day of the competition it transpires that three players from your team have fallen ill. Describe your actions.

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2. Your University is planning an Open House event. You are the leader of a group of students assigned to accompany the guests and give them the support they need. On the day of the event, you discover that a number of students from the group are absent. What will you do? 3. Cheating in an exam allowed one of the students in your group to get a better mark than yours. You had been revising hard for the exam and had honestly completed your paper. How do you react to this unfair situation? 4. A student who was responsible for taking gifts to orphans didn’t ful¿l the task, and the gifts weren’t delivered. How will you respond to this situation? The methodology of solving these cases strictly coincides with the one described by Louise Mauffette-Leenders and others, and comprises three stages. During the ¿rst stage, each member of every advocacy group analyses the situation and develops their solution. The group discusses alternative solutions, their advantages and disadvantages, chooses the best one, and the group leader presents it to the class. Then all the students evaluate each solution and decide which one is the most reasonable. It takes students some time to solve such cases, but in doing so they gain invaluable experience for further learning. During these diverse role-plays, students learn about raising tolerance levels, how to prevent conÀicts, and about taking responsibility in non-standard situations.

Role Plays The idea of using role-plays in education is John Dewey’s, but the theory and methodology of its application in a language class was developed by William T. Littlewood, Raymond B. Cattel, Carol Livigstone, Gillian P. Ladousse and others, in the second half of the twentieth century. In Russia, at that time, role-plays in language learning were used in elite educational establishments – at schools teaching a number of subjects in a foreign language and leading universities such as MSU and MGIMO. Communicative foreign language teaching, based on a learner-centred and activity-based approach, gained a foothold in Russia in the 1980s. The essence of this approach is an active style of learning a foreign language by means of communication. Role-plays, problem-solving situations and free communication are the means of such activity (Zimnyaya, 1978). Russian scholars and methodologists, including Ⱥlexey Ⱥ. Leontiev, Galina A. Kitaigorogskaya, Alexander A. Verbickj, Eugeniya V. Polat, Galina V. Rogova, Rostislav P. Milrud, Eugeniy V. Maslyko and others, all contributed to role-play theory and the development of its methodology.

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Since then role-plays in teaching foreign languages have become increasingly popular. Today, they are being used at schools, colleges and in highereducation establishments. The use of role-plays enables the simulation of real communication situations, where ideas are discussed and opinions and feelings can be expressed. Role-plays, as a method of active learning, are aimed at both prepared and spontaneous speech development; they are based on interesting social or professional situations, where students learn to communicate in a foreign language. Role-playing increases students’ motivation, as the language is learned in an interesting context and a collaborative atmosphere, where each student is responsible for the group’s results. It facilitates learning social and business behaviour patterns, and also helps to form communication strategies and tactics in order to persuade, argue and reach planned results. Students, who take part in role-play games, make decisions and explain the reasons for these decisions, with the aim of developing Àuency in speaking. The role-play game contains an element of surprise, where students express their own opinions, desires and intentions. Partners have to listen, think quickly, and react appropriately to any changes in the situation. Organising a role-play game requires a preliminary exploration of role features, so that students can personalise their positions. The task of role-play games is to demonstrate models of behaviour in standard social and professional situations. Role-play games help to form such key qualities as communicative abilities, tolerance, ability to work in small groups, independence of thinking, etc. (Kravchenko, 1993). They ensure each student’s activity as the roles are not equal in speech and content; some of them are leading roles, others are subordinate, and it is possible to involve students of a wide range of abilities in a game. Role-plays are relevant to students’ interests, experience and needs, and give them a chance to use language without direct supervision from the teacher. In the main, students consider role-plays a useful practical activity, and their motivation to learn increases. It has been noted that the highest cognitive activity is triggered while using gameplaying forms and methods. This results from the interaction of all the intraand inter-psychic actions of the individuals participating in a professional activity simulation (Nikejceva, 2003). It should be noted that over the past years, role-play games for teaching oral communication in foreign languages have been at the centre of innovative changes taking place in education in Russia. This is due to the following factors: ņ the increased requirement for practical language skills in young specialists, who need a foreign language in their professional activity;

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ņ the paradigm shift in education, whereby a learner-centred and activitybased approach strengthens the axiological aspect of learning foreign languages through its direct practical value to Russian graduates, which connects with Russia’s integration in the European educational space and the global labour market, thus broadening prospects for academic mobility; ņ the emergence of new specialities and Bachelor’s degree programmes, resulting in new themes for role-plays; ņ the appearance of new forms and situations in business communication, such as company presentations, webinars, online conferences and global forum discussions. Experience in using role-plays is still being accumulated. Let us highlight some examples from the experience of Tyumen State University and Moscow State University of Railway Engineering. In Tyumen State University, a role-play conference (Tyumen Model of the United Nations Organisation) is held every year. Its purpose is to enable professional foreign language competence in students majoring in International Relations. Role-play at the conference is endowed with research status and demands the following: a) signi¿cant delegate practice in discussing the burning issues of a UN agenda; b) discussion of the key issues of modern international relations; c) knowledge of the procedure, the format of writing and discussion of UN resolutions; and d) developing negotiation and teamwork abilities, and acquiring public speaking skills. During the preparatory stage, every participant chooses the committee (the body) and the country they are going to represent. They write a thesis explaining their personal position concerning the agenda and go through the procedure of registration. After registration, the delegate produces a report outlining the attitude of the government of the country they represent towards the issue on the agenda. In order to be a good specialist in the chosen ¿eld, the delegate must investigate special academic literature, periodicals, statistics and other sources of information. The delegate should prepare an opening address, which expresses the opinion of the country they represent, but not their own personal opinion. They compose it using speci¿c language, such as: “Her Majesty wishes…” and “On behalf of my people…”. In fact, the representative should be ready to incorporate appropriate and speci¿c vocabulary in their speech for the simulated event. The delegate must have a draft of the resolution, which is a ¿nal document expressing

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the mutual decision of all the countries represented, and takes into account the opinions and interests of each state. The proposed resolution should be consistent in style. Then the simulation of the work of a regular session at the United Nations starts. At the session, in compliance with the parliamentary procedure used by the UN, current international affairs are on the agenda to be discussed. The role-play is conducted over several days. Each conference participant, who has the role of an empowered and authorised representative of the member state in one of the modelled bodies of the UN, defends the national interests of their state. The students demonstrate different strategies and communication tactics involving methods of emotional and communicative interaction. Each committee then considers the results set forth in the ¿nal resolution. This document contains recommendations on resolving the problem debated. Having analysed the procedure and the results of the event and interviewed the participants, we can conclude that the UN role-play gives students an opportunity to experience the dif¿culties and struggles of the political world, and at the same time take pride in being a diplomat. Students acquire deep knowledge of political, economic and cultural issues, they learn to reason and argue their points of view, and they develop their skills in writing, oral speech, public speaking and teamwork – all abilities required in their future professional activities. In this way, professional foreign language competence in students is being formed. A number of role-play games for students who major in Tourism and Hospitality have been developed at Moscow State University of Railway Engineering: “Launching a New Tourist Destination” “Service on Railway Transport” “Advertising a Hotel” “A Company Presentation” The communicative situations simulated during the role-plays include: 1. a production meeting of the company employees; 2. a round-table discussion: meeting of the representatives of different companies providing services in the sphere of tourism and hospitality; 3. negotiations with business partners. We ask our students to simulate such communicative situations within the framework of a presentation for an advertising event and an employees’ meeting, which includes invited representatives from the general public.

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At the preparatory stage, the game’s system of exercises is organised in steps. Step 1. Vocabulary training. This step is necessary to ensure adequate development of professional foreign language competence. Following Galskova and Gez’s de¿nition of professional foreign language competence, given in the “Introduction”, we prepare students in the lexis related to the topic of the game. Students perform exercises: “Fill in the gaps using the given words”, “Match the terms with the de¿nitions” and “Divide the words into thematic groups”. Step 2. Studying role structure and content. At this stage, the use of structural schemas is recommended as they are very effective, illustrative and give students a visual representation of the subject in question, thus ensuring a clear understanding that the same theme can be seen from different angles. During the course of the role-play games “Launching a New Tourist Destination” and “A Company Presentation”, students discuss the organisational structure of the company and its employees’ responsibilities (Fig. 5.1). The schema for the role-play game “Advertising a Hotel” illustrates the structure of the hotel product, functions and modes of advertising (Matveeva, 2013). It becomes clear that the products offered by a luxury hotel, a chain hotel and a small provincial hotel differ from each other, as do their target groups and what the enterprises spend on promotion. It is logical they choose different media for their advertising campaigns. At the preparatory stage of the “Service on Transport” role-play game, students examine the schema representing the concept “Service on Transport”, which includes such notions as service on both passenger and freight transport. The former is divided into service on trains and service at railway stations (Matveeva, 2013). The schema shows how many people are involved in the service sector. Those dealing with clients include: booking clerks and car attendants, cooks and porters, information desk clerks, platform foremen and other station employees. Other railway personnel have no direct contact with customers, but nevertheless ensure a high level of transport service. They work for the Joint Stock Company of Russian Railways and its subsidiary companies, such as the Federal Passenger Company, Railway Stations Directorate, freight and logistic companies and others. The schema helps students to determine roles and discuss problems from different angles. Step 3. Speech forms introduced by the teacher and practised by the students, such as asking questions politely, eliciting and giving opinions on the problem under consideration, making assessments and supporting what

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Fig. 5.1. Organizational structure of the tourist company

someone else has said, and describing tables, graphs, diagrams and so on. During the lesson, students are given a list of speech forms and perform a series of exercises, such as “Express your opinion regarding information provided. Ask necessary questions”, “How will the situation develop?”, “Fill in the gaps in the chart description”, “Continue the diagram description” and “Study the survey results and describe a diagram”. Step 4. A preliminary discussion of the topic issues. Students receive questionnaires, study research results, and the current state of the situation or phenomena under consideration. They express and share opinions or make forecasts and suggest solutions. Step 5. Reading text describing the communicative situation’s peculiarities. This step gives students the opportunity to develop awareness of the

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main features of business etiquette in certain professional circumstances. Here the programme of the forthcoming role-play can be introduced for the ¿rst time. Later it can be corrected, elaborated or expanded. Step 6. As the students’ speech must be supported with lots of facts and arguments, we recommend they search for information on the internet, analyse it and present their ¿ndings in class, for example: “Study the Swedish Embassy site and answer the questions on visas” (while preparing the roleplay game “Launching a new tourist destination”, we considered Sweden a new destination country), “Examine the site http://www.igougo.com/l297c99-Sweden-Sightseeing.html and make a report on sightseeing in Sweden”, “Visit the site http://www. travellerspoint.com/budget-accommodation-enco-195.html and compile a list of budget accommodation” and “Examine the hotel site and say what you would like to improve”. The websites of the Joint Stock Company Russian Railways and its subsidiaries have Russian and English versions and students can use both while preparing for the role-play “Service on Transport”. This work improves their understanding of dif¿cult phenomena concerning railway transport and teaches them to compare the grammatical structures of the Russian and English languages. Step 7. To develop linguistic competence (using vocabulary and grammar rules) students perform a set of exercises, where they translate from English into Russian and from Russian into English. Step 8. The programme is clari¿ed, and roles are distributed. Step 9. Individual role and task preparation. When all roles have been chosen, students are assigned individual identity cards and prepare for the game. To ensure that the students’ speeches are well structured, it is advisable to become accustomed to the general patterns of public speech. That is why instruction describing the structures of this skill is included in the role-play preparation materials; it also contains a list of linking words. Students prepare their roles, using the internet to search for the particular information necessary for the role. Students make presentations in Microsoft PowerPoint (or similar programs, such as OpenOf¿ce, Kingsoft Presentation, Prezi, etc.). To attract and maintain the attention of the audience throughout the presentation, students must follow certain instructions. The presentation needs to be as well structured as the speech itself. In designing slides and choosing the font and animation, students learn how to match visual effects to the content. Good presentations, in their turn, can stimulate communication, prompting students to ask for details and answer questions.

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For the role-play to run smoothly and effectively, interpersonal relations between participants are desirable. The student acting as a moderator, chairperson or a managing director plays a major role in running a role-play. The ability to understand the participants’ feelings and emotions, give approval, and maintain psychological comfort zones is “a must” for these players. The roles of specialists in the industry performed by students help them to think and speak purposefully, to formulate reasonable ideas and practical proposals, to offer constructive solutions and, in general, be in a positive mood, all of which is a hallmark of a person who makes decisions. Roleplay is an effective social technique facilitating collaboration in a student group, where they relate towards each other in the simulation, and use effective social skills (Tompkins, 1999). In the process of preparation and performing a role-play, we use information and communication technology. In E-book format, we organise all the necessary texts, exercises and recommendations on individual role preparation, and the electronic spreadsheets for assessment and self-assessment of students doing the activity. For this purpose we use software development tools, such as AutoPlay Media Studio (Indigorose Software Design Corporation) and CourseLab (Web Soft Ltd. Russia). Students are given a link to download E-books and other materials necessary for role-play preparation (Matveeva, Fedotkina, 2012). During the conference, “The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages”, held in Moscow, 4–5 October, 2013, Professor Jesus G. Laborda noted that modern role-plays have much in common with WebQuest technology. Following his recommendations, we organised one of our role-plays as a WebQuest using Questgarden software. This role-play is currently available at www.questgarden.com/q/newdestination.

Conclusion In this chapter, we have discussed active learning methods as used in teaching foreign languages at Russian universities. These establishments should train specialists able to integrate into the European educational space, interact in the European labour market, and meet all the challenges of modern society. Nowadays, in our diverse and fast-changing world, we must not forget about developing tolerance, which imparts the ability to accept people as they are and respect their values. To meet all these requirements, the methodology of teaching English for Speci¿c Purposes (ESP) is being rapidly developed. An English teacher’s major task is to facilitate the development of communicative competence in a foreign language. It can be

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performed using role-play games simulating professional communication, case studies, and carrying out innovative research projects. Various types of digital technology also contribute to this development. We believe that the future will see further integration of innovative learning methods. Being mutually compatible, they may enrich each other: the elements of case study can be part of a role-play game, and a role-play can take the form of a case-study presentation. Both case studies and role-plays can include innovative research projects, video ¿lms and WebQuests. Certain types of distance education technology can also be useful for online role-plays and case solving activities. We are convinced that if applied in a consistent manner, active learning methods in combination with other innovative methods bene¿t students in terms of developing speaking skills and making foreign language classes informative, intriguing and interesting. They give students the possibility of sharing opinions, feelings and thoughts on professional issues while speaking in a foreign language, thus forming professional foreign language communicative competence. The use of innovative learning methods affords an opportunity to develop communicative skills and form patterns of speech, try on different roles, and imagine feelings and emotions that people of other cultures and social positions experience in reality, all of which prepares students for their future careers, and their lives in society as a whole.

References Aikina, T. Y. “ɋase-Study in Forming Communicative Competence of Students.” TSPU Bulletin 1, no. 129 (2013). Bonwell, C. C. & Eison, J. A. Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom (ASHE–ERIC Higher Education Rep. No. 1). Washington, DC: George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development, 1991. Crookall, D. & Oxford, R. L. (Eds.). Simulation, Gaming, and Language Learning. New York: Newbury House, 1990. Drutsko, N. A. “Case Technology and Project Teaching as an Instrument of Intercultural Competence Development for University.” Obshchestvo: Sociologiya, Psihologiya, Pedagogika 1 (2014). Federal State Educational Standard of Higher Professional Education. Bachelor’s degree programme 031900 “International Relations” December 22, 2009. Or. No. 815. Felder R. M. & Brent, R. “Active Learning: An Introduction.” ASQ Higher Education Brief 2, no. 4 (2009).

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Galskova, N. D. & Gez, N. I. The Theory of Foreign Language Teaching: Linguodidactics and Methodology. Akademiya, 2006. Grigorenko, O. A. Context model of professionally oriented learning (based on foreign language in a military higher educational institution). PhD dissertation. Moscow, 2001. Howatt, A. P. History of English Language Teaching. Oxford University Press, 2000. Hutchison, T. English for Speci¿c Purposes. Cambridge University Press, 1991. Ilyna, O. K. “Case Study in teaching English. Linguistic and Culture Studies: Analysis methods, teaching technologies.” 6th inter-university seminar on Linguistic and Culture Studies. Yazyki v aspecte lingvostranivedeniya. Part 2, 2009. Jones, K. Simulations: A handbook for teachers and trainers. 2nd ed. New York: Nichols Publishing, 1987. Kalugina, L. M. Pedagogical factors for improving schoolchildren’s communication in a foreign language (based on a pro¿le of English camp materials). PhD dissertation. Moscow, 1998. Kleymyonova, N. M. “Use of active methods in French class.” Foreign Languages at School 3 (2011). Krashen, S. D. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Pergamon, 1982. Kravchenko, N. T. “The Algorithm of Situational Field Control while Teaching Foreign Languages.” Informacionnye tehnologii obrazovaniya (2003): 21–25. Kumaran, S. R. & Loganathan, S. The Use of Role-Play in Speaking Activities in Secondary Classrooms. Teachers’ and students’ perception on the use of role-play as a speaking activity in Malaysia. Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010. Ladousse, G. P. Role Play. Oxford University Press, 1987. Language two. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Littlewood, W. T. Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Livingstone, C. Role Play in Language Learning. London: Longman, 1983. Maslova, J. V. ɋontent and forms of communication in a foreign language of the students of a pedagogical higher educational institution in context learning. PhD dissertation. Lipetsk, 2000. Matveeva, N. V. Role-Plays in English Class. MSURE, 2013. Matveeva, N. V. & Fedotkina, E. V. Role-play games in teaching English in the non-philological higher educational institution. Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012.

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Mauffette-Leenders, L. A., Erskine, J. A. & Leenders, M. R. Learning with Cases. 3rd ed. Ivey Publishing, 2005. McArthur, T. A foundation course for language teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. McCarthy, J. P. & Anderson, L. “Active Learning Techniques Versus Traditional Teaching Styles: Two Experiments from History and Political Science.” Innovative Higher Education 24, no. 4 (Summer 2000): 279–294. Nikejceva, O. A. “Using Active Methods while Teaching a Foreign Language.” Progress Pedagoga (2003): 212–221. Northern Ireland Curriculum, http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/ Owen, H. Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide. San Francisco: BerrettKoehler Publishers, 1997. Oxford, R. (Ed.). Using and Learning Language through Simulation/Gaming. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990. Sharrock, W. W. & Watson, D. R. “Reality construction in L2 simulations.” In Simulation Applications in L2 Education and Research. Edited by D. Crookall. Oxford: Pergamon, 1985. Stern, S. L. “Drama in second language learning from a psycholinguistic perspective.” Language Learning 30 (1980): 77–97. Taylor, J. L. & Walford, R. Learning and the Simulation Game. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1978. Tenishcheva, V. F. Forming of professionally signi¿cant qualities of an engineer (context learning). PhD dissertation. Moscow, 1992. Tompkins, P. K. “Role Playing/Simulation.” Internet TESL Journal 4, no. 8 (1998). http://iteslj.org/ Verbickj, A. A. New Educational Paradigm and Context Learning. Research Centre of training specialist quality problems, 1999. Voronova, E. N. Modern technologies and methods of teaching foreign language in higher educational institutions. Perspectives of Science and Education 1, no. 7 (2014). Zimnyaya, I. A. Psychological Aspects of Teaching Speaking in a Foreign Language. Moscow: Prosveshcheniye, 1978.

CHAPTER 6 PROJECT WORK: TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS IRINA E. ABRAMOVA, ANASTASIA V. ANANYINA, ELENA P. SHISHMOLINA, NATALIA E. MEDVEDEVA

Introduction The global inÀuences affecting education and how we assess it have shifted the emphasis in language teaching from a teacher-centred approach to a learner-centred one. Two important consequences of this development are: 1) the continuous effort to move away from the “one-to-many” language teaching approach, and 2) the continuous search for effective and innovative methods and practices, which will enable us to customise education and create maximum learning environments. The necessity and the means for achieving greater learner involvement have been extensively analysed and described over the last three decades or so. According to Sheerin, “we cannot properly speaking teach a foreign language. All we can do is to create the conditions under which it can be awakened.” (Sheerin, 1997). The fundamental principle behind this idea is that learners should be engaged in meaningful activities, which relate to some ultimate “real world” goals. Such goals inevitably involve using the language communicatively by means of tasks in which desire to cooperate and interact are all essential components. Once students are able to communicate their ideas successfully, language acquisition becomes a selfaccelerating process. “Learning is more effective when learners are active in the learning process, assuming responsibility for their learning and participating in the decisions which affect it.” (Sheerin, 1997). The possibility that the learner can make an effective contribution to what happens in the classroom is certainly worth pursuing. It follows that the challenging task for teachers nowadays is to help their students prepare for real world interaction in a foreign language. Therefore the choice of a proper methodological approach that not only enables students and teachers to attain some general educational and research goals,

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but also helps to mitigate a number of negative impacts associated with learning and teaching a foreign language outside a natural language environment, becomes of paramount importance. This chapter deals with project work as a means to create a truly inspiring and innovative learning environment to stimulate students’ progress and raise the level of their academic achievement.

Search for Innovative Ideas and Methods in Russian EFL Classrooms In Russia, there is high demand for bilingual professionals in different economic, technical, organisational and scienti¿c areas, and as a result much focus is placed on the quality of foreign language teaching in Russian universities. Although we clearly understand now that speaking world languages is a key to building academic and professional ties with international partners, this awareness alone is not enough to motivate Russians to use English more frequently for international, professional and academic communication. In terms of practical use of English skills, Europe clearly sets a path for other countries to follow. Many researchers con¿rm that in Europe English has recently been increasingly adopted as an academic lingua franca. Bilal Genç and Erdo÷an Bada, referring to Crystal (Crystal, 1997) claim that it is the common language that enables communication between “academicians from different nationalities, both in the virtual and real world” (Genç & Bada, 2010). Graddol listed the working language of international organisations and conferences, scienti¿c publications, and tertiary (university) education (Graddol, 2006). According to the British Council, “over two-thirds of the world’s scientists read in English”, while Russian Kommersant-Vlast magazine stated in 2001 that 98% of German physicists and 83% of German chemists publish their scienti¿c works only in English (Kommersant-Vlast, 2001). Moreover, one of the Eurobarometer public opinion surveys showed that the proportion of European Union citizens who speak at least one foreign language increased from 47% in 2001 to 56% in 2005. It follows, then, that English is most likely to keep its current status as one of the world’s dominant languages. In a report written for the British Council, Graddol concludes that “English learners are increasing in number and decreasing in age”, and that “countries… in which English is spoken extensively as a second language will play a major role in the development of global English” (Graddol, 2006). It is obvious that profound changes in Russia’s educational paradigm after joining the Bologna process brought the Russian education system closer

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to modern economic realities and market demands. Russian academicians and scholars are very well aware that “according to current labour market trends, university degree holders (bachelors and masters) are expected to have not so much professional knowledge, but rather skills and competences which help them to carry out effective lifelong learning and professional training” (Abramova, Ananyina, Shishmolina, 2013). Among other things, Àuent command of English helps Russian professionals to explore the best approaches and practices of their foreign peers, as well as introduce their own products, services and projects to the global market. However, Russia is obviously lagging behind this global linguistic uni¿cation process. The Russian Census of 2010 (Results of 2010 All-Russia population census, 2011) demonstrated that only 5.5% of Russians speak English as a second language, which obviously excludes a great number of Russians from global cross-cultural communication. Comparative analysis of the 2002 and 2010 Russian Census data showed that, over eight years, the number of English-speaking adults in Russia increased only by 0.7% (from 4.84% to 5.5%), despite the opening of international borders, larger migration or tourist Àows, and much progress in education research (e.g., increase in the number of academic degrees awarded in this ¿eld, implementing various evidence-based teaching methods, publishing new textbooks, etc.). In 2010, Boris Zhelezov, the head of the Higher School of Economics Academic Mobility Department, in his interview to RIA Novosty, revealed that the number of graduate and post-graduate Russian students studying abroad is still small. He suggested some reasons for it, including the lack of foreign language (especially EFL) skills and the immature academic behaviour of Russian students. These factors very often lead to educational failures among those Russians who study overseas, preventing them from understanding foreign lecturers and writing effective essays and reports, as well as precluding them from discussing academic and professional questions (Zhelezov, 2010). In order to see whether this situation has changed, we carried out a survey among ¿fteen students from Moscow State University (MSU), one of Russia’s leading educational institutions, and among 200 students from Petrozavodsk State University (PetrSU), one of the largest regional universities in northwestern Russia. The survey aimed at helping students to self-evaluate their English language skills: identify the spheres of life where their knowledge of the second language could prove useful; give examples of methods and forms of EFL teaching and learning they ¿nd the most effective; and specify the reasons for their failures or setbacks in learning English, if any. It was conducted in 2013–2014 and included students from

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non-linguistic faculties. The ¿ndings revealed that most of the students did not evaluate their foreign language skills as suf¿cient for study or work abroad. Figure 6.1 below presents the survey results in the form of a piechart: only 1% of the respondents planned to study abroad using English as the language for learning; 28% thought that they might need English at work; about 6% considered the possibility of moving to another country; and the rest of the respondents (65%) saw English only as the language of travel. Fig. 6.1.

It was rather surprising that, after 10–12 years of continuous learning, only approximately one third of the respondents plan to use their second language regularly for academic or professional purposes. We believe that many Russian students, especially those from regional universities, have little or no motivation to learn a foreign language for academic or professional purposes, in part because traditional methods of EFL teaching fail to help them acquire versatile language, communication and socialisation skills, or overcome their foreign language anxiety and become con¿dent enough to put these skills to practical use. Therefore, we need a more ef¿cient and innovative replacement for some outdated traditional approaches and methods, but this replacement should de¿nitely be supported by research and analysis. The analysis of the survey ¿ndings helped us to identify three aspects, which seem to constitute the major challenges in Russian EFL classrooms and should be eliminated, or at least minimised, through the use of more innovative teaching approaches and methods.

Challenge 1. Foreign language anxiety and overcorrection of errors Foreign language anxiety can be de¿ned as nervousness or frustration experienced by non-native speakers when using or learning a second language. This problem is commonly associated by scholars and educators with learning foreign languages in an arti¿cial bilingual context, and it is widely discussed

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by both Western and Asian researchers. Despite the large number of quantitative and qualitative studies, some important questions concerning foreign language learning anxiety (FLA) remain unanswered. Some researchers assume that increased language pro¿ciency leads to the decline of language-related anxiety, suggesting that “FLA is more characteristic at the earlier stages of language learning and is becoming less of a problem for more advanced learners” (Toth, 2010). Another important issue is the degree of negative impact FLA has on language learning success and dif¿culties, as well as its correlation with individual learners’ characteristics. As MacIntyre puts it, “some people believe that anxiety is a minor inconvenience for a language student, perhaps an excuse for not participating in class or a guise to hide a lack of study. Others seem to feel that anxiety may be the linchpin of the entire affective reaction to language learning” (MacIntyre, 1999). Our observations suggest that some Russian students begin to feel foreign language anxiety in secondary school, and later retain or even exacerbate it during university or college years. It creates a communication barrier, which was reported by both PetrSU and – though not so often – MSU students during the conducted surveys. Our respondents admitted that learning a foreign language at school contributed to the development of a certain inferiority complex and the fear of using their second language. It was mainly due to the fact that teachers were too judgmental when correcting their mistakes and sometimes expressed their irritation and frustration if they did not know the correct answers to students’ questions. Another very discouraging factor was the strati¿cation of students into “strong” and “weak” learners, which is very common for the Russian system of language teaching. Although this approach helps to make learning groups more homogenous, very often teachers fail to pay enough attention to lower-level students or ignore them altogether. As a result, students formed a strong belief that learning a foreign language is too dif¿cult to be accomplished. Russian students’ foreign language anxiety is further increased by the way their communicative skills are evaluated by teachers. Native speakers usually express a tolerant attitude towards language mistakes made by those who speak their mother tongue as a foreign language – especially if they do not hinder communication. However, when we create a bilingual context in the classroom, we tend to overemphasise a “zero-mistake approach” to foreign language learning. Avram Karlinsky makes a shrewd remark about the crusade of teachers against language mistakes, saying that in an arti¿cial bilingual classroom “both learners and teachers spend way too much time and effort trying to eliminate all the mistakes” (Karlinskiy, 1990:43–44).

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It leads to a situation where teachers tend to use “the letter of the language (the form) as the main criterion for evaluating students’ progress, rather than concentrate on the communicative value of what is said or written.”

Challenge 2. Teaching EFL to small learning groups and lack of language socialisation In a natural language environment, socialisation through language is a life-long process. At each time period, every individual belongs to several speech communities with very speci¿c and distinct social characteristics – i.e. family, friends, professional groups, groups with shared interests, etc. (Gumperz, 1968 quoted in Duranti and Alessandro, 66–73; Labov, 1972; Patrick, 2008; Timofeyev, 1971). This cross-group communication leads to vocabulary expansion and awareness about the social differentiation of language. However, languages in Russia are usually taught to small learning groups of up to 10–12 people, quali¿ed as small self-enclosed social groups. A small social group is a self-contained entity with its own unique characteristics that go beyond the sum of its members‫ ތ‬individual characteristics (Zanadvorova, 2003:367–402; Krichevskiy, 1991; Yule, 2014), which inÀuences the verbal code of the group as a whole and its constituents. In small learning groups, students typically have very limited contacts, not only with native speakers of the language they learn, but also with students from other groups. Therefore, oral communication in the second language has its limitations in terms of density, scope of topics (e.g., due to age and social homogeneity in a learning group) and variety of communication situations, as well as in terms of the number of communicants and interactive and participative involvement. In real life, language role models, who become the quintessence of a particular group’s social and language identity, play an essential role in language socialisation. Other group members imitate their pronunciation, intonation, manner of speaking, word choice, idioms, etc. (Sapir, 1921; Timofeyev, 1971). In small learning groups, this leading role can be taken by non-native English-speaking teachers, who, due to native language interference and the lack of a natural language environment, can make pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and pragmatic mistakes, which eventually will be replicated by students, if they see their teacher as a reliable source of “proper” language and patterns of interaction. Moreover, students get used to this somewhat distorted and non-natural speech and later have problems with perceiving and responding to native-speakers (Abramova, 2012).

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Challenge 3. Ignorance of language norms’ variation and change According to Galina Vishnevskaya, “the choice of language norms is a key element of foreign language learning and teaching in a classroom environment.” (Vishnevskaya, 2002:29–35). Phonetic variation, for instance, is a commonplace thing for native speakers, but for people learning a foreign language it is a challenging task, because very often teachers instruct them that the violation of normative phonetic rules is unacceptable and recommend using outdated or obsolete pronunciation variants. As a result, non-native speakers produce awkward-sounding and unnatural utterances (Vishnevskaya, 2002:29–35). Another problem is lack of con¿dence during communication in the second language, caused by psychological factors. As Viktor Kabakchi notes, in practice it translates into what can be called an “overcorrection” or an intention to eliminate all identi¿able mistakes and strictly follow language rules and conventions, avoiding all new language developments (Kabakchi, 2007:52). While studying at university, Russian students regularly use English for academic purposes, for example, when they read research literature or participate in international conferences and competitions. It shows that although they learn English within an arti¿cial bilingual context, they see it not as a set of language rules and patterns, but as the communication tool, which ensures global social interaction. In this respect, we may say that students’ learning efforts are somehow aimed at language socialisation. However, most of them lack suf¿cient foreign language knowledge and skills, as well as enough language practice to reach a high level of such socialisation. Sadly enough, in Russian language classrooms the main focus is placed on education rather than on socialisation of learners. Traditional teaching methods and practices can help students learn basic pronunciation rules, grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure, but do not enhance their ability to establish and maintain communication using different language varieties (including diction, registers and styles) depending on a speci¿c communicative situation. To date, much progress has been made in the development of methodology and practical guidelines for teaching English for speci¿c purposes. However, textbooks and teachers still neglect the issue of language variation. So, while in most cases students of different majors do not take general English courses anymore, they learn what can be called an “average version” of a professionally oriented second language. Nonetheless, in

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a real working environment, people use different variants of language to communicate with their peers, managers, subordinates and customers. In addition, experts usually use more complex language (verbally and structurally) when talking to their colleagues and simplify it when addressing non-specialists or non-native speakers, etc. Project-based learning seems to be the most effective and Àexible approach for studying and practicing language varieties, because participants of role-play projects, for example, can choose roles for themselves and create corresponding speech portraits, choosing appropriate verbal and nonverbal characteristics similar to those used in real life.

Traditional Project Methodology: Overview The broad term “project methodology” invites consideration of what the essence of the approach should be. Project methodology is widely used all over the world mainly because such a method is an effective strategy for overcoming the limitations of the traditional one-way communication model typical of the modern education paradigm, with its emphasis on science, cognition and reproduction of learned knowledge (Polat, 2000). The methodology of projects can be traced back to the beginning of the century, when pedagogues and philosophers tried to ¿nd methods to encourage independent learners’ thinking by teaching them to adapt a combination of theoretical knowledge and its practical application for use in professional contexts. (For details see W. Kilpatrick, 1918; W. Kilpatrick, 1925). Since then, project-based instructional methods have been comprehensively studied and described by a number of scholars from different countries. Fundamental investigations in the ¿eld were carried out by methodologists such as M. Legutke, H. Thomas, S. Heines, C. Brum¿t, T. Hutchinson, D. FriedBooth and others. There is a wide body of theoretical research proposing the use of project work in English classes, which encourages language learners to become more involved in managing their own learning. This idea was encapsulated by B. Franklin, who wrote: “Tell me and I forget; teach me and I remember; involve me and I learn”. The Russian perspective of the classical project method was laid out by E. Polat (Polat, 1999) and V. Guzeyev (Guzeyev, 2000), who viewed the project method as a path towards developing top-level competencies. According to Polat, the project method is a didactic category, a unity of techniques and operations, aiming at mastering a de¿ned ¿eld of practical or theoretical knowledge, or some skill (Polat, 1997). In other words, project work involves a task which focuses on a topic of interest and

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integrates language skills through a number of activities. These activities include planning, gathering information through reading, listening, interviewing, discussion of the information, problem solving, oral and written reporting, and so forth. For example, students can be assigned to carry out a clearly de¿ned piece of work in a foreign language: to give an oral presentation, or hold a job interview, or organise a conference/ round-table discussion to discuss problems pertinent to learners’ professional interests. From this point of view, project work is considered to be a practical methodology that is both a way of cognition and a means of organising the cognitive process. This teaching model is based on the idea that students need to take an active role in creating social and cultural conditions for forming a common educational space, and the degree of their commitment is directly associated with the success of their learning. This model reÀects several important principles of intensive language teaching and learning, such as the principles of personal interaction, learning by doing, peer-tuition, and the importance of highly dense, multifunctional cognitive and language tasks (Kitaygorodskaya, 2012). The discussion of project methodology is often reduced to an analysis of different types of project activity, which are classi¿ed according to different criteria, such as the method of the project, the number of subject(s) discussed in the project, the number of participants, the duration of the project and the character of the contacts, etc. Although the range of projects is quite broad, traditionally experts in foreign language teaching methodology identify three types of projects (Bloor, St. John, 1988): 1. a group project, which – as is seen from the de¿nition – is implemented by a team of people, with each member investigating a particular aspect of the chosen topic; 2. mini-research which implies individual research based on questionnaires and interviews; 3. an individual project based on studying text sources, which requires selective reading of relevant publications. Whatever the type of project work, this approach differs from other learning activities, such as taking part in seminars or attending lectures, in the sense that the latter, i.e. formal training in the classroom, affords students an opportunity to gain systematic practice in a foreign language. At the same time, project work provides opportunities for learners to try out their acquired input in real-life situations outside the classroom, where language is only a tool to solve professional problems. Broadly speaking, in the classroom it is the teacher who provides the learning context. In project work it is the learners who determine the context of learning by their genuine

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communicative needs. The role and functions of teachers in the teaching process also change: instead of being the only source of knowledge and the subject of control for students, they organise students’ individual cognitive activity, provide help, support and advice. From this perspective, project methodology, being a combined action and reÀection-oriented model of professional education, can be viewed as a viable alternative to the predominant teaching models that emphasise oneway communication and lecturing to a large group of students.

Methods of Organising Student Filmmaking Projects Student video projects are now frequently used in the classroom – you can ¿nd hundreds of examples on Youtube, plus there are many student ¿lm festivals that accept student ¿lms. Videos and ¿lms have been widely used in teaching and learning since the 1970s (see detailed overview in Armstrong & Fukami, 2009). As Armstrong and Fukami put it, “with the evolution of technology came growing recognition that ¿lm and video work well with different student learning styles” (Armstrong, Fukami, 2009). Recently, we have witnessed a growing body of research and practical works (Kearney & Schuck; Asensio and Cuttle; Lambert; Willmot, Bramhall & Radley), which can help teachers to organise student ¿lmmaking projects for their courses or training programmes. Matthew Kearney, in particular, has developed comprehensive guidelines for teachers willing to create a learning design for student-generated digital storytelling (Kearney, 2010). However, there are no elaborate studies or publications providing a theoretical or methodological framework for using such projects for teaching and learning foreign languages. Yet, we can safely assume that in order to implement a ¿lmmaking project successfully, students should go through all the traditional stages, each one of which will include speci¿c individual and group activities aimed at creating a coherent and exciting video ¿lm, and presenting the results of an in-depth investigation of a topic connected with the students’ main ¿eld of studies. Such a cross-curricular approach to EFL teaching is important if we want students to use English not for its own sake, but for acquiring knowledge and skills necessary for their future professional communications within a workplace context. Successful use of project work will clearly be affected by such factors as availability of time, access to authentic materials, receptiveness of learners, the possibilities for learner training, and the administrative Àex-

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ibility of institutional timetabling. Project activity is a different way for students to collaborate towards a common outcome, which requires them to work together over several weeks or months, both inside and outside the classroom. Project tasks require students to research, demonstrate, review language and content, and to evaluate their own progress as well as that of their group mates. In other words, project activity is a multistage procedure and students do not have a free reign over their projects; they are guided, supported and controlled by the teacher at each stage of project accomplishment. Any discussion of teaching methodology naturally raises the question of the teacher’s role in the education process. In students’ academic projects the role of the teacher is that of a facilitator, organiser and instructor rather than knowledge provider. The following is a brief description of the stages of project activity, with a discussion of teacher’s and students’ roles. Although recommendations on the best way to help students carry out their projects vary, most are consistent with the ¿ve fundamental stages, which differ in terms of aims, duration, teaching methods, responsibilities and control. (Medvedeva, 2012). Let us consider the peculiarities of each stage with respect to ¿lmmaking. 1. Preparation stage Selecting an appropriate topic and preparing students for the project is critical for both time management and successful project accomplishment. Therefore this can probably be the most time-consuming period of the project activity, as it requires explanation of project procedure and discussion of different project topics. Also students are made aware of the linguistic and technical support they can get throughout the course of the project. For a particular ¿lmmaking project this phase means discussing and agreeing upon a speci¿c genre for the students’ ¿lms (drama, documentary, mockumentary, analytical programme, etc.), setting expectations for the ¿nal result of the work, arranging time for regular feedback and consultation with the tutor, and de¿ning criteria for the ¿nal assessment. The students should choose the topic for the ¿lm and develop its concept, as well as discuss the individual level of involvement necessary for being credited for this group project work. When it comes to the choice of ¿lm topic, the most productive way to integrate ¿lmmaking projects successfully into EFL teaching is to choose topics connected with the students’ professional interests or their ¿eld of study. For example, history students could make a ¿lm exploring the consequences of a particular historic event or compare a historic event with a similar one in other countries. Whatever the students’

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choice, it will most probably depend on personal preferences and language level. This stage usually takes up to two months and requires one personal class meeting led by the teacher. The remaining pre-planning activities, such as distribution of project roles and responsibilities, data search and analysis and preparation of information and technology resources, are done independently by students. During the whole preparation stage, the teacher maintains a constant dialogue with the students and provides them with necessary feedback, using e-mail or collaborative internet resources. This stage is a great chance to enhance learners’ motivation, since most of the discussion and research is coordinated by the students themselves. Another factor which contributes greatly to the project success is the opportunity for the working group members to identify their strengths and weaknesses and distribute roles and responsibilities accordingly. Setting clear deadlines for the follow up phases of the project activity will help students remain on schedule and prevent work on their project being put off to the last minute. The table below brieÀy summarises the peculiarities of the preparation stage. Duration 1 month

Students’ responsibilities

Teacher’s responsibilities

– choosing ¿lm topic and genre – developing concept and schedule for the ¿lm – distributing project roles and responsibilities

– explanation of project procedure – explanation of criteria for project evaluation – setting a timetable

Methods

Control

– brain– discusstorming sion in – idea classmapping room – data – consearch sulta– data tions via analysis e-mail or in person

2. Research stage The research stage is essential for any ¿lmmaking project, because the key element of creating a ¿lm is writing an effective script. It requires a thorough study of the chosen topic and comprehensive research and analysis of various texts, video and audio recordings. Students are required to review critically the information they have gathered from different sources, synthesise their ¿ndings into cohesive arguments with logical support, and integrate all

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this into their existing background knowledge. An abundance of information sources ensures that during the script drafting students will be able to ¿lter out all extraneous details, leaving only those facts, descriptions and characters needed for an adequate development of the story, the system of characters, their speech portraits and non-verbal characteristics. The script writing process is strongly supported by classroom-learning activities, aimed at forming and developing students’ speaking, writing and listening skills. At this stage, the teacher identi¿es the language skills and strategies students will need to complete their ¿lms successfully. Regular EFL classes are used for building a vocabulary and grammar base for the future ¿lm. It is at this stage that students are confronted with tremendous dif¿culties: they feel confused, discouraged or unmotivated by the shift of responsibility and inability to cope individually with a variety of critical thinking skills in addition to speci¿c language skills and strategies. Very often a short face-to-face meeting with the teacher will be suf¿cient to overcome any problems students may encounter. The verbal expression of the ideas also gives the teacher the opportunity to provide positive reinforcement, which further enhances the students’ con¿dence. Perhaps, most importantly, verbalisation can help a student to learn, because describing an activity is a means of encoding it. All the above is presented in the table below.

Duration 2 months

Students’ responsibilities

Teacher’s responsibilities

– collecting background information – setting the premise – developing system of characters – drafting and editing ¿lm script

– adjusting ELT classes to help students cope with language dif¿culties – providing regular training classes aimed at brushing up grammar and enlarging vocabulary – developing students‫ ތ‬communicative skills

Methods

Control

– reading – regular compre- language hension classes – lis– gramtening mar and compre- vocabuhension lary tests – transla- – situational tion dialogues

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3. ReÀection stage There are times, during project work, when students are especially receptive to language skills and strategy practice. ReÀection, therefore, is by no means an authoritative imposition of the teacher’s own ideas of what is right and what is wrong with students’ work. Outspoken criticism or questioning of students’ ideas will make them lose their sense of independence and will eventually discourage them from this kind of project work. Just like the initial preparation phase, the reÀection phase requires a face-to-face meeting with the students, during which they can talk about all the challenges they have faced so far and ask for advice, get feedback and request additional resources. This task requires a lot of skill, effort, tact and diplomacy from the teacher, and cannot be skipped, because only after the reÀection phase is over, can students move on to making a clean copy of the script, creating a storyboard, planning and completing the ¿lm, from shooting to ¿nal editing. Duration 2 months

Students’ responsibilities – collaborating with team members to work out video sequence – aligning the dialogues, narrations and subtitles with sketches or descriptions of separate video frames – reÀecting on project work

Teacher’s responsibilities – working out evaluation and self-evaluation questionnaires to stimulate the reÀection process – facilitating the reÀection process – reÀecting on students’ dynamics of learning to help students successfully complete the project

Methods

Control

– group discussions based on evaluation questionnaires – peertuition

– present ing scripts – regular faceto-face meetings – consultations via e-mail

If the students seem to be satis¿ed with their progress, while the teacher can see that the project is not developing exactly the way it was planned, he or she can use some methods of indirect control and correction. For instance, asking elaborative questions, changing the perspective or even

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using some provocative examples can reveal the lack of logic or inner inconsistencies and contradictions in the story or characters’ personalities. In other words, stated reÀection activities are aimed at coaching students toward independent self-assessment and decision making during powerful dialogue sessions. Verbalising the thought process is crucial for both the teacher and the students. Through the process of verbalising, students often become aware of speci¿c points they ¿nd confusing. The verbal expression of ideas also gives the teacher the opportunity to provide positive reinforcement, which further enhances the students’ con¿dence. Moreover, it gives the teacher insight into what the student does or does not understand. With this information, the teacher will better know how to help the student. The reÀection process can be stimulated by asking students to review and reÀect on what was learned, and what new questions have come up as a result of their research. Another way to facilitate reÀection is through a class discussion based on evaluation and self-evaluation questionnaires. ReÀecting on what was learned and what is to be learned may lead to increased motivation and satisfaction in learning. 4. Demonstration stage Duration 15–25 min. for each students’ group ¿lm

Students’ responsibilities – organising and conducting Film Festival ceremony – introducing each ¿lm to the audience – watching each other’s projects – reÀections on viewing

Teacher’s responsibilities

Methods

– supporting – discusstudents in or- sions ganising the festival ceremony, if necessary – providing students with evaluation and self-evaluation questionnaires to stimulate the reÀection process

Control – rating

The presentation of the ¿lm is the culminating event of the project activity. Filmmaking projects, in particular, give a lot of creative opportu-

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nities for presenting the results of the group work to a broad public – from group viewing to annual student ¿lm festivals or a similar inter-university event. This will help students get to know each other better and will take peer-to-peer learning to a new level. Students may learn certain lessons from watching other ¿lms, and even those not willing to compare their progress and learning outcomes with those of other learners will be entertained and therefore motivated. Another very important thing is that sharing project results creates the feeling of belonging to a broad learning community, which is crucial for teaching EFL outside the natural learning environment. 5. Feedback phase The assessment procedure is the key component which distinguishes project work from more conventional types of teaching and learning activities. Traditional ways of evaluation, such as oral exams or essay writing, can sample only a fraction of what teachers want their students to produce. Assessment should be wider. Major guidance here came from Jen Brink who wrote that “evaluation is the process of obtaining information and using it to form judgments which in turn are to be used in decision making” (Brink, 1974). It follows, then, that in the assessment procedure the shift should be moved from a judgmental to a developmental role. In this sense the assessment procedure can be regarded as outcome-based education (OBE), an essential function of which is to show the dynamics of achieving competence in language acquisition. Since assessment is a process of making an evaluation of a response, it is desirable to use assessment criteria in the form of peer-assessment, self-assessment and teacher-assessment sheets. These provide a wide range of learner input and help one to take control of one’s own learning, which makes evaluation valid. Self-assessment can use a yes-no check list, or have an open-ended format (see Appendix as an example). It can concentrate on how learners have improved or how their opinions may have changed as a result of project accomplishment. Actually, there is no “right way” of structuring the selfassessment device; rather, something is needed to guide the learner’s attention and stimulate reÀective thinking. Peer-assessment can be de¿ned as a response to other learners’ work. As in self-assessment, these responses are guided by the teacher and negotiated with other learners. Peer-assessment proves to be bene¿cial as it: ņ creates a community of learners; ņ encourages interactive learning; ņ stresses that learners are not working in isolation.

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“If constructive peer-assessment procedures are developed, these can reduce the burden on the teacher and contribute to effective study techniques for the learners.” (Lynch, 1988). The feedback may take the form of a discussion during which students are invited to describe the dif¿culties they encountered, the bene¿ts of the project, and whether they are satis¿ed with the results. Questions, disagreements, moments of confusion etc. contribute to critical thinking and reÀection. Once students are able to communicate their ideas successfully, language acquisition becomes a self-accelerating process. Language skills will improve because students are using language for speci¿c purposes and are working toward personal goals. Duration 40–50 min

Students’ responsibilities

Teacher’s responsibilities

– critically evalu- – facilitate the discussion ate ¿lms produced by group- process mates – reÀect on stu– participate in dent dynamics group discussion – reÀect on group mates’ and own progress

Methods

Control

– group – project discus¿lm sion based on criteria

To conclude this chapter, it is worth highlighting the main advantages of project activity. The ¿rst is that the project is a heterogeneous activity, which allows for more student autonomy and freedom. The project is heterochronic, and makes it possible to rationalise academic time. Finally, project work can be implemented at any stage of the education process: it may be central or supplementary to traditional English classes, or it can also be used as a culminating activity at the end of the term. Whatever its purpose, there are advantages to including this activity at any level. Integrating projects into ELT is a good way to enhance language learning, since students learn how to access information and gain knowledge. These skills can be effectively transferred to further learning. Project activity empowers students by allowing them to take charge of their own learning and communicate their knowledge to others in authentic ways.

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Experiment This part of the chapter describes how incorporating ¿lmmaking projects into the process of EFL learning develops students’ ability to select and adapt to appropriate stylistic conventions in a particular professional context. It goes without saying that language used in professional interactions not only ful¿lls the obvious needs of effective information exchange, it also helps people to develop and maintain social interaction. In other words, people’s ways of speaking in professional contexts inÀuence judgments about them as individuals and professionals. The task of a teacher then is to teach his or her students to understand the language norms of a speci¿c social environment, as well as make them aware of different language behaviour stereotypes. In order to test the hypothesis that integration of project work in EFL learning can teach students to use speech characteristics for personality identi¿cation or creating speech portraits, and make them aware about the variability and social differentiation of English language norms, teachers at PetrSU designed an experiment: the First Annual Students Film Festival. It was decided to run several projects, which resulted in students [n=15] creating professionally oriented ¿lms and presenting them at the PetrSU’s First Annual Students Festival in June 2013. The experiment was conducted from September 2012 to June 2013 and included English teachers of PetrSU’s Department of Foreign Languages for Students of Humanities [n=16] and [n=150] students of the university’s law [n=50], history [n=60] and tourism [n=40] departments. All separate group projects were coordinated and monitored by the University’s teachers and included the ¿ve stages discussed earlier (see Figure 6.2). Before beginning work students received all the project rules and regulations, as well as a detailed assessment rubric. At every stage of the project, teachers participating in our experiment provided students with clear and concise instructions, and offered language and technical support, if necessary. Project development and implementation was tracked by teachers and formative feedback was given to students regularly to reinforce making progress. One key requirement for all the students’ projects was a special focus on creating plausible speech portraits of movie characters at the stage of script writing. Roles played by the students of different departments included crime investigators, attorneys, prosecutors, jury members, witnesses, history experts and scholars, various historic ¿gures, tourists, hotel managers, front-desk clerks, restaurant staff, and so on. The task was to retrieve possible speech samples of each particular professional role from various texts, TV programmes, movies and audio recordings, which students had to ¿nd themselves. All the obtained

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Fig. 6.2.

samples were then analysed at phonetic, lexical and grammatical levels with the focus on both individual (personalising) and collective speech characteristics (i.e., typical for a certain social, professional or age group). It should be noted that teachers did not encourage the “zero mistake” approach to creating speech portraits and writing dialogues between ¿lm

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characters, because it is the deviation from language norms and standards that makes verbal characteristics more vivid. For instance, orthoepic errors, phonetic ellipsis, wrong usage of words and grammar mistakes can reÀect a ¿ctional character’s low level of education, the use of slang can reveal their profession, strong accent – their nationality, and poor vocabulary or many vernacular, vulgar or other low-style words – their social status. Students learn and discuss these topics, among others, during the stages of their projects (Research and ReÀection stages) while analysing the different audio and video materials they have collected for their project. The teacher focuses students’ attention on the differences between the speech of characters with different social status and education level, as well as on the fact that in action ¿lms and documentaries people, who evidently work on their speech and communication style, diction and grammar, intonation, etc., are portrayed as successful and inÀuential. Together students and the teacher come to a conclusion that speech is a crucial element of every person’s image. Conforming to the language rules and conventions, however, can also be an effective means of creating speech portraits of educated people or people with high social status. Law enforcement of¿cers, for example, can speak very formally and elaborately in some professional settings or when talking to intellectual peers, but when they pursue a criminal, talk to lower level co-workers or interrogate uneducated suspects their speech becomes Àat, repetitive, toneless and one-dimensional. Top of¿cials and managers also share common verbal characteristics – their discourse is full of clichés, highly formal, and spoken with neutral intonation. All these aspects were taken into account by the students during the script-writing process. Students of law presented three video projects: “Crime and Punishment” (criminal drama), “Top Criminals of the 20th Century” (imitation of television documentary) and “International Adoption in Russia” (analytical study). The authors of the ¿rst video managed to create a compelling story, visualise crime scenes and properly reconstruct interrogation and examination procedures, show face-to-face confrontation with witnesses and give some insight into expert work with evidence. The authors of the second and third projects successfully performed a search of multiple internet databases and portals, as well as a systemic analysis of the retrieved data. All elements of these two ¿lms, including the reconstruction of events, the style of the narrative, expert ¿gures played by the students, and the visual imagery, contributed to a very close imitation of typical documentaries shown on such TV channels as Discovery or Explorer. Students of history came up with ¿ve video projects: “World’s Voice” (political reality show), “The Fourth Power: Public Opinion and the Press”,

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“Overview of the European Union”, “History of Terrorism” and “Across the Oceans: History of Piracy” (the last four videos imitated television documentaries). These projects comprised multiple elements of the documentary genre, including voice-over, interviews, mock expert commentary, debates, lecture fragments, event reconstruction, and so forth. In order to complete the project successfully, students performed a very thorough search and analysis of numerous literary sources, as well as photo and video materials. Two groups involved their history teachers in the process of creating videos, which made their projects truly cross-disciplinary. All ¿ve student ¿lms were highly informative, evidence-based and entertaining. However, not all the learning groups managed to demonstrate the social differentiation of the English language, because most of the characters that appeared on screen were meant to be educated intellectuals and their speech was very formal. Students of tourism created four video projects – a video tour of the city of Petrozavodsk (Karelia), a video tour of the Island of Kizhi (Karelia), and two learning videos addressing the most common conÀict situations faced by tourism professionals (at the travel agency, hotel, restaurant, etc.). These learning groups had a great chance to focus on the social differentiation of their second language, because tourists can belong to many different social categories with their own verbal characteristics. Top and mid-level managers, for their part, demonstrate different communication styles in different professional situations. Their language should be impeccable during important presentations or negotiations, which can lead to signing big contracts. In these cases, they usually speak very formally and use many clichés and professional terms, as well as well-chosen stylistic, expressive and rhetorical strategies. However, when they address subordinate employees or discuss some issues with their partners informally, they use much more common language to ensure their ideas are understood. The tourism students also managed to capture language differences between tourists, depending on the level of tourism establishment they can afford. Indeed, we can expect that the clients of more prestigious and expensive hotels or restaurants will have a higher social status, which is usually associated with a higher level of education and language pro¿ciency. Three more videos dealing with the problem of drug traf¿cking and abuse were the result of collaboration between the students of all three departments. This drug-related topic was suggested by the regional of¿ce of the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation, which saw our learning projects as a very effective means for preventing drug abuse among university students. After the successful completion of all projects, we surveyed all the teachers and students who participated to see whether

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they found this mode of work effective and encouraging, and to identify the problems they faced during the implementation of their projects. The analysis of the student projects and post-project surveys showed that the project method has a high didactic potential, which can be used for improving teaching and learning outcomes by: helping students to understand the process of interaction between communicants and choose their verbal behavior, acting upon not only their professional challenges, but also the global issues of the modern world; establishing and developing crossdisciplinary collaboration between different university departments; and creating a common EFL learning environment within the whole university. Incorporating ¿lmmaking projects into the process of EFL learning resulted in immersing students in a foreign language, and decreasing their language anxiety and fear of making mistakes when speaking English. The surveys demonstrated that before participating in ¿lmmaking (i.e., when learning English in a traditional classroom) about 71% of students worried about their mistakes, while after completing the projects this number decreased to 29%. Another result was that every student participating in ¿lmmaking was actively involved and had a chance to ful¿ll his or her potential. The new type of learning activity enabled students who fell below expectations and showed poor results in a traditional classroom to use and demonstrate their strengths. Before engaging in ¿lmmaking projects about 81% of all participants evaluated their performance as poor or satisfactory, while after completing the projects only 14% kept this opinion. It seems that the major contributing factors for these results were the creation of a common university learning environment, going beyond small self-enclosed learning groups and immersing students in language throughout all the stages of the project. Besides reading and watching many texts and videos during the research phase, students saw how diverse the English language can be when they watched each other’s ¿lms at the student ¿lm festival. Before participating in ¿lmmaking projects, only 5% of students paid attention to different variants of the English language depending on the conditions of its use and other factors, while, after conducting our experiment, 86% of participants became convinced that there is nothing wrong with language variation and change caused by territorial, social, professional and other factors. According to teachers, engaging students in ¿lmmaking led to many positive changes in the teaching process. It increased students’ motivation and sustained their interest in learning English, gave students a chance to ful¿ll their intellectual potential, and encouraged independent thinking and skill development. In their post-project surveys, project participants stated

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that they had improved self-discipline, cooperative learning skills and their ability to learn independently without being totally controlled by the teacher. A comparison between traditional EFL methods and project-based teaching showed evidence in favour of the latter. The only obstacle identi¿ed by the teachers was that students lack skills for computer ¿lm editing. The graph below shows the students’ main achievements during and after ¿lmmaking projects. More project participants were given good and excellent grades in comparison with students in traditional classrooms. Moreover, the longterm evaluation revealed that more project members retained the skills they acquired when creating ¿lms. Another important thing is that ¿lmmaking projects taught more students how to work with English-speaking information sources effectively.

Discussion Using student ¿lmmaking projects in the EFL classroom boosts learners’ motivation and enhances their creativity, since it goes beyond computer learning and enables students to use multimedia or animation for presenting the results of their academic or professionally oriented research. All these bene¿ts result in improving teaching and learning ef¿ciency, and helping students to acquire and develop the following skills and competencies: ņ public speaking skills, particularly needed for presenting research results; ņ teamwork skills, including the ability to set and meet deadlines, assign and reassign responsibilities, and prioritise tasks; ņ ability to use foreign language skills for building a more tolerant attitude towards the culture, history and contemporary issues of foreign nations, understanding the importance of learning other languages and developing the willingness to use foreign language skills for cross-border and cross-cultural cooperation; ņ ability to use different kinds of reading (skimming, scanning, intensive, extensive, etc.) and to extract speci¿c information from large texts; ņ ability to analyse text structure (differentiate between paragraphs, identify topic sentences, determine the author‫ތ‬s opinion); ņ ability to synthesise research and independently create texts of various genres, topics and subjects, using description, narration, reasoning and argumentation, depending upon the purpose of communication; ņ ability to build up social, cultural and language knowledge through cross-cultural communication; ņ ability to use appropriate vocabulary in speaking and writing for producing a ¿lm on a chosen topic;

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ņ sustainable conversation skills, including the ability to endorse a conversation with multiple discourse participants. Combining traditional and novel approaches to project-based learning enables continuity in the education process and the consistency of progress to be achieved, bringing teaching and learning EFL outside the natural language environment to an entirely new level. Practicing English through ¿lmmaking not only gets students actively engaged in the learning process, but decreases stress and language anxiety, removes communication barriers and develops a more tolerant approach to mistakes. Moreover, when writing ¿lm scripts and developing their characters, students learn to use speech characteristics for personality identi¿cation or creating speech portraits, and become aware of the variability and social differentiation of English language norms. Mixing small learning groups during collaborative project work or when watching and discussing each other’s ¿lms promotes socialisation through language. Creating a common university environment for EFL learning gives students and teachers more chances to communicate productively without immersion in the natural language environment, while establishing a uni¿ed control and assessment system ensures the objectivity of students’ progress evaluation.

Conclusions When looking for new language teaching methods and techniques, teachers often abandon outmoded “one-to-many” approaches and opt for interactive, student-centred creative methods, which help to overcome students’ fears and language barriers, and make them aware of their need to use their second language “here and now”, and not in the distant future. Therefore, the focus of teaching and learning shifts from simply acquiring language skills to language socialisation, which is de¿ned here as the use of language for developing and maintaining social interaction. Rather than memorising and stringently practicing foreign language vocabulary and grammatical structures, students should learn and understand the language norms of a speci¿c social environment, as well as language behaviour stereotypes. Thus, integrating project work into the EFL process by involving students in speci¿c social relations, which will enable them to assimilate cultural and historical knowledge and perform cognitive and language tasks according to the norms of a speci¿c ethnolinguistic culture, can minimise communication barriers and foreign language anxiety. It can also stimulate the students’ need to speak a foreign language, thus enhancing the ef¿ciency of learning and teaching processes.

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Involving students in academic projects aimed at creating ¿lms or video clips of different genres is one of the ways to create a productive EFL learning environment and maximise students’ achievements. Such projects help to increase students’ learning autonomy and the portion of independent work within any foreign language course, which is an important condition for the development of higher education in modern Russia, according to the Bologna arrangements. Student ¿lm projects can form a key component of the integrated learner-centred model of foreign language teaching, which comprises years of EFL learning aimed at fostering a common English-speaking academic community, including students of non-technical majors (such as law, history, management, business, political science, sociology, tourism, etc.) within one university. Moreover, student ¿lmmaking, in fact, is a wonderful tool to support not only such traditional methods as computer-based learning, presentation and research, but also such innovative kinds of work as multimedia or animated presentations. Making videos in a foreign language stimulates active learning through all the senses, and proves to be a highly productive way of acquiring English language skills through the use of technology. This approach helps to minimise a number of problems, typical of classroom language learning. An essential part of the learner-centred approach is a uniform system of students’ progress control and evaluation, which includes the following components: ņ traditional forms of control – tests, text writing and analysis, listening comprehension, translation, situational dialogues, etc. (such control is carried out by the teacher who delivered the particular course); ņ innovative forms of control – complex role plays (¿rst-year students); professionally oriented ¿lms or video clips created by students (secondyear students); preparing and delivering a presentation on a topic related to their future profession at a cross-sectional student conference at the end of the school year (including submitting a structured abstract for presentation [third-year students]); ņ optional (elective) forms of control – performance at the annual student drama contest. Another point worth mentioning along these lines is that integration of academic projects in the EFL teaching process changes teachers’ roles and functions: instead of being the only source of knowledge and the subject of control for students, they organise students’ individual cognitive activity, and provide help, support and advice. The suggested teaching model is based on the idea that students need to take an active role in creating social and cultural conditions for forming a common educational space, and the degree of their commitment is directly

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associated with the success of their learning. This model reÀects several important principles of intensive language teaching and learning, including the principles of personal interaction, education through play, collective learning, and the importance of highly dense, multifunctional cognitive and language tasks (Kitaygorodskaya, 2012). These were the general views based on our personal observations, experience and opinions. We realise there will be English language teachers with different views on how to approach teaching a foreign language. However, there is a hope that this contribution to the subject of developing EFL teaching will give those interested in this expanding area of teaching some guidelines and an alternative perspective to consider.

APPENDIX PARTICIPATION IN THE FILMMAKING PROJECT: SELF-ASSESSMENT SHEET Film title _______________________________ Why is the topic of the ¿lm of particular interest to you? ________________ What did you expect to learn from doing this activity? __________________________ Were your expectations met? Why not? ________________________ ____________________________ 1. Did the ¿lmmaking process go the way you expected? Why? Why not? 2. What kind of problems did you face while doing this activity? 3. How can you account for these problems? 4. Are you satis¿ed with your contribution to the success of the ¿lm? 5. Did you participate suf¿ciently to contribute to the success of the ¿lm? 6. What did you learn from doing this activity? 7. What language and communication skills did you acquire/develop? List them. 8. What language and communication skills could have been improved? General impression: Mark the part of the ¿lm you especially liked. If you were to do the whole activity once again what would you do differently?

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paradigm] Vestnik of Moscow State University 19, no. 1 (2012): 65–68. Linguistics and cross-cultural communication. 2012. – 65–68 p. Meng, Z. “On the Management of Foreign Teachers of English.” // Foreign Language Teaching & Research in Basic Education 9 (2006): 20–21. Patrick, P. L. “The Speech Community,” chapter 23 in The Handbook of Language Variation and Change. Edited by J. K. Chambers, P. Trudgill & N. Schilling-Estes. Oxford,UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2008. Polat, E. Metod proektov na urokah inostrannogo yazyika [Project method in the foreign language classroom]. Moscow: Inostrannyie yazyiki v shkole 2, no. 3 (2000). Polat, E. Novyie pedagogicheskie i informatsionnyie tehnologii v sisteme obrazovaniya [New pedagogical and information technologies in education textbook]. Moscow: Izdatelsky tsentr Akademiya, 2009. Polat, E. Tipologiya telekommunikatsionnyih proektov [Typology of telecommunicative projects]. Moscow: Nauka i shkola 4 (1997). Results of 2010 All-Russia population census, December 2011. Available: http://www.perepis-2010.ru/resultsofthecensus/results-inform.php Sapir, Edward. Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1921. Sheerin, S. “An Exploration of the Relationship between Self-access and Independent Learning.” In Autonomy and Independence in Language Learning. Edited by P. Benson & P. Voller. London: Longman, 1997. Solovova, E. Perspektivnyie napravleniya razvitiya vuzovskoy metodiki prepodavaniya inostrannyih yazyikov [New tendencies in teaching foreign languages at tertiary level]. Moscow: Vestnik MGIMO–Universiteta 6, no. 33 (2013). Available: http://vestnik.mgimo.ni/razdely/k-70letiyu-fakulteta-mo/perspektivnye-napravleniya-razvitiya-vuzovskoymetodiki. [Accessed May 02, 2014]. Ter-Minasova, S. Yazyik i mezhkulturnaya kommunikatsiya [Language and Cross-Cultural Communication]. Moscow, 2000. Timofeyev, V. Lichnost i yazyikovaya sreda [Personality and language environment]. Shadrinsk: Shadrinskiy gosudarstvennyiy pedagogicheskiy institut, 1971. Toth, Z. Foreign Language Anxiety and the Advanced Language Learner: A tudy of Hungarian Students of English as a Foreign Language Zsuzsa Toth 2010 Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010: 28. Toth, Zsuzsa. Foreign Language Anxiety and the Advanced Language Learner: A Study of Hungarian Students of English as a Foreign Language, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010: 13.

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Vishnevskaya, G. “Mezhkulturnaya kommunikatsiya, yazyikovaya variativnost i sovremennyiy bilingvizm” [Cross-cultural communication, language variation and modern bilingualism]. Yaroslavl: Yaroslavskiy pedagogicheskiy vestnik 1, no. 30 (2002): 29–35. Yule, George. The Study of Language 5th ed. Cambridge University Press, 2014: 265. Zanadvorova, A. Rechevoe obschenie v malyih sotsialnyih gruppah (na primere semyi) / Sovremennyiy russkiy yazyik : sotsialnaya i funktsionalnaya differentsiatsiya [Verbal communication among members of small social groups (through the example of families) / Modern Russian language: social and functional differentiation]. Moscow: The V. V. Vinogradov Russian Language Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2003. Zhelezov, B. Mobilnost rossiyskih studentov ogranichena yazyikovyim baryerom [Russian students’ academic mobility is limited by language barriers]. Moscow: RIA Novosti, 2010.

CHAPTER 7 CHALLENGES AND INNOVATION IN COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE ASSESSMENT AT RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES IRINA A. MAZAIEVA, ALEXEY A. KORENEV

This article looks at the present situation regarding assessment at the leading Russian universities, highlighting the major challenges and pedagogical innovations in the areas of continuous evaluation and testing. Traditionally, most university courses used a summative oral interview with every student for marking decisions. At present, more and more communicative language syllabi declare that a combination of testing (oral and written) and alternative assessment forms (portfolio, project, class participation records, and criterion-referenced assessment) is applied. This mix of tradition and innovation created favourable conditions for pedagogical initiative and innovation, while the discrepancy between tradition and innovation is posing a major threat to the consistency of assessment between lecturers and instructors, departments and faculties, as well as to the validity and reliability of assessment systems at university. The aim of this overview is to describe good practices introduced by the teaching staff and to show how all stakeholders could bene¿t from the implementation of modern learning management systems at university level. As a practical example of the good practices in use, the article contains a description of an experimental criterion-referenced assessment marking schemes design based on the theory of the socio-cultural approach to cognitive development (I. A. Zimnaya). The article envisages progress in ESP writing and speaking skills as a part of cognitive development and suggests a pedagogical strategy of developing criteria-referenced descriptors of continuous performance assessment of students’ writing skills, as well as a strategy for implementing the practice. There are also some signi¿cant insights into the effect of criteria – referenced assessment on teacher and student development.

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Introduction World universities are currently experiencing a growing demand for more varied and reliable assessment in higher education. The national governments and governmental agencies, international monitoring organisations, the media and the general public in such varied cultural contexts as Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Latin America, are pressing for more transparency and proof of the achievement of the desired learning outcomes. The global world of higher education is becoming highly competitive as a result of international rankings and increased student mobility. Russia is no exception, and the last ten years have been marked by an intensive search for more valid and reliable assessment methods at different levels of education. Foreign language education in Russia is experiencing a major shift from the traditional grammar-translation method to a more interactive and communicative approach to language learning and teaching, which aims at the development of communicative competence. In the context of language teaching in higher education, particular attention is given to the ESP (English for Speci¿c Purposes) communicative competence. Moving away from the tradition of text- and vocabulary-centred ESP courses, universities are developing more competence-focused syllabi. This leads to the development of assessment scales for speaking and writing, which increases the validity of assessment, and, at the same time, offers more incentive for selfand peer-assessment, which goes in line with the ethos of the Common European Framework of References (CEFR) and promotes conscious independent life-long learning.

Accountability, quality assurance and assessment in higher education at Russian universities The need for quality assurance and valid assessment in higher education evolved 15–20 years ago in Europe, the US, Southeast Asia and Australia as a result of increased student mobility and the increasing standardisation of education. The problem of accountability in higher education and valid assessment has been addressed by researchers in Australia (Saddler, 2009; Nulty, 2012), the US (Banta, Pike, 2012) and Europe (Yorke, 2003). In Russia, the quality of higher education has been a central point of discussion among researchers and educationalists and in the media for the last ¿ve to ten years, after a massive reform of primary and

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secondary education that included the introduction of new national curricula and high-stakes tests. The increased attention to quality assurance at Russian universities is also a result of the poor positions of most Russian universities in international rankings. While the public image of higher education in Russia has traditionally been very favourable, positions of Russian universities in international rankings may lead potential students, their parents and the media to the assumption that the quality of university education in Russia may not be as high as in Germany, France, Switzerland, the UK or the US (see Table 1). It should be mentioned in this connection that none of the modern higher education rankings consider the quality of education per se. Most rankings consider the scienti¿c importance and productivity of research, and the degree of internationalisation. For instance, the QS World University Ranking would assess academic reputation (40 percent) and citations per faculty (20 percent), employer reputation (which may correlate with the quality of education – 10 percent), student-to-faculty ratio (which many rankings relate to the quality of education; however it seems questionable that the number of staff is directly transferrable to the quality of teaching – 20 percent), and international student and staff ratio (5 percent), which may contribute to the internationalisation of higher education, but it (as well as its absence) does not guarantee the quality of teaching and learning at university (QS World University Rankings). None of the most inÀuential rankings attempts to measure the learning that should take place at university, which renders them research rankings and internationalisation markers, rather than educational measurement tools. The current lack of valid and transparent assessment is equally disadvantageous for all stakeholders in assessment in higher education. Students often experience a lack of information about their current and predicted achievement levels, a detailed description of assessment procedures is often not available, which brings about additional stress for the test-takers. The teaching staff can hardly improve their courses without a reliable assessment data analysis system. Insuf¿cient information about students’ educational achievements in similar courses with different instructors may discourage the teaching staff from course development. Moreover, the inconsistency of assessment at university level often leaves the faculty defenceless in cases of grade disputes and complaints. Traditionally, parents in Russia feel obliged to cover the university fees of their children, but are often uninformed about their offspring’s low academic results until his or her expulsion. Most universities do not provide a parent-sponsor with a tool to monitor their child’s progress and take timely measures in case of academic

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problems. In most cases they have no access to deadlines and assignments to help students organise their work and monitor their progress. The government and, correspondingly, society is another major sponsor of higher education. In 2013, the Russian government spent 49.8 thousand rubles per student on higher education compared to 12.1 thousand in 2000 and 26.5 thousand in 2005 (HSE, 2013). The increased investment is accompanied by public demand for more accountability, which puts additional pressure on the university administration. Apart from that, university administrations at most Russian universities are currently hardly able to track students’ progress and ensure standards of education, because of the multitude of procedures and approaches used by different lecturers (which is another threat to validity and reliability of assessment, for assessment literacy as a course was introduced into the teacher training curriculum two to three years ago). Finally, only few institutions use modern learning management systems institution-wide. Fig. 7.1. Assessment in Higher Education: Stakeholders

The general public tends to think that the quality of education is low, which is shown by the polls, and the universities have no proof of the opposite. Only 28 percent of university graduates surveyed in 2007 thought that higher education in Russia matches international standards (FOM, 2007). Thirty-one percent of students indicated that assessment at university was not objective (Career.ru, 2012).

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Table 7.1. How do you think the quality of the higher education system in Russia has changed over the last year? Possible answers

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Improved

16

20

22

23

10

12

11

11

10

Has not changed

37

44

45

47

35

38

34

43

41

Deteriorated

34

23

21

20

29

29

34

32

38

No opinion

13

13

14

10

26

21

18

14

11

The table above indicates that most of the respondents were rather skeptical about the changes in the Russian education system, with only around ten percent mentioning any positive changes during the ten years to 2013. The unavailability of information about the real education outcomes that can be obtained through a valid assessment system makes it dif¿cult for universities to reverse this trend. We contend that the only way to break the vicious circle is to introduce valid and reliable assessment procedures at Russian universities. It is important to consider different assessment levels and formats, rather than searching for the only format or exam. The latter idea has already led to some experiments and resulted in attempts to introduce FEPO (Federal [internetbased] Examination in the area of Professional Education), a common university accreditation test, discussion about the introduction of a common university graduation test, and the suggestion to use international pro¿ciency tests such as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as graduation tests. One major challenge on the way to designing a common graduation language test for all university graduates may lie in the largely irrelevant Common European Framework of References (CEFR) descriptors to various professional contexts. As soon as the student reaches the CEFR B2 level, the area of linguistic development stretches into the ¿eld of English for speci¿c professional purposes (ESP), which means that in order to develop valid language assessment for universities, we need to think about a combination of tests for different professions rather than a single all-inclusive test. The use of international standardised General English or English for Academic Purposes tests, therefore, seems to be missing the purpose of

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language education in Russian universities, reducing it to merely preparing students for further education abroad. Having mentioned the shortcomings of using international standardised tests for ¿nal assessment of graduates’ language pro¿ciency in higher education, we recognize the need for international comparative research in the area. In this context, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) project AHELO (Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes) could be mentioned, which aims to measure generic and speci¿c skills in economics and engineering. The purpose of AHELO is to ¿nd out what ¿nal-year undergraduate students in seventeen countries (including Russia) know and can do when they graduate. This project can be compared to the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) project in secondary education. At the moment, AHELO does not compare the communicative English language skills of university students, using the CEFR. A study of pro¿ciency levels of university students could help reveal if they really possess the CEFR B2 level in all four language skills, and what skills are below or above average in different European countries. EF (Education First) claims to provide such comparison with their EF English Pro¿ciency Index test; however, the test only includes grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening and makes no attempt to assess productive language skills, without which it is dif¿cult to evaluate the pro¿ciency level. Assessment of students’ language pro¿ciency on a national level can generally be done for two purposes – licensing of degree programmes and assessment of university graduates. Traditionally, more attention has been given to the former, while the latter received less emphasis and the universities were largely left to their own devices. The Russian National Accreditation Agency (NAA) was established in 1995 to monitor and ensure the quality of higher education in Russia.The most widely disputed project of the NAA was the introduction of FEPO. The design of the test attracted widespread criticism because of its formal-knowledge orientation (e.g., the English language test has been criticized for mainly focusing on linguistic and cultural knowledge rather than skills). Similar to the above-mentioned EF English Pro¿ciency Index, FEPO does not measure productive language skills. Furthermore, at present, participation in the test is a university decision and not a standard accreditation procedure. We believe that for the establishment of a system of quality assurance at Russian universities, an internet-based test that is not integrated into curricula and syllabi may not be the most practical solution, as it exposes students to another stressful test, interferes with the regular syllabi and may lead to a negative wash back (in other words, teaching for

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the test). Instead of introducing a new test, the NAA could focus on the development of ¿nal quali¿cation tests and the establishment of external quality assurance between universities. The British Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), for instance, sets expectations and reviews university policies, testing the evidence at universities. The QAA provides universities with detailed guidance on how to build an assessment system in accordance with the UK Quality Code for higher education. All assessment procedures are described in detail (QAA, 2014.) This work provides detailed instruction and the best practices to ensure the consistency and compatibility of assessment at the stages of course design, speci¿cation, organisation, administration, marking and validation. QAA recommends that all assessment procedures go through the rigorous process of internal and external validation. It seems that the introduction of such practices as double-marking, internal and external review of speci¿cations of assessment for different courses, administrative support guides to ensure the reliability of assessment procedures, internal and external evaluation materials, marking, and score reports may lead to better compatibility inside and across universities. The role of the NAA as the national agency for quality assurance would then be to make sure every institution of higher education has a reliable mechanism of assessment, and that the standards that are set in the curricula are being met and educational achievement is measured in accordance with the course objectives, as well as that the standards are comparable between educational institutions in the country. A sound system of assessment would then guarantee accountability, and the establishment of the national monitoring test may not be necessary. Nevertheless, the establishment of national graduation tests in various disciplines (including foreign languages) at bachelor’s and master’s level may also be a timely measure. The reason is not only the vast size and cultural diversity of the country, which pose a challenge for any quality assurance, but also the importance of the decision which is made when a graduate is awarded a quali¿cation (basically, a license to perform a certain type of job, e.g. teaching). Taking into consideration the differences in the target language use of different professional domains, we think that developing an obligatory core (B2) module with a choice of ESP modules for different professional ¿elds (English for teachers, Business English, Legal English etc.) could be a more valid decision than a uniform national graduation test (see Figure 2). This may allow an increase in the prognostic validity of the test, with regard to the use of future target language, by bringing assessment in the future target language-use context of the students. Thus, the General and Academic English parts of assessment can be supplemented by

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a professionally oriented module. Potential diplomats will have to demonstrate their ability to solve communicative tasks that may frequently occur in their professional context in reading, listening, writing and reading. Interpreting and Translation students will be asked to perform their speci¿c language tasks (translate a text and/or perform different types of interpreting). Fig. 7.2. A Model of a Graduation Test for Bachelors in Modern Languages

Every module should test each of the four language skills, which means that it will hardly be possible to design this test as a single assessment procedure. More preferable is a system that would allow all units to be taken over the course of two to three years, where candidates would be allowed to retake individual modules. The introduction of the national test could signi¿cantly strengthen the link between the curricula, the syllabi, the assessment and the use of future target language.This bridge between professional practice and assessment may, in its turn, have a signi¿cant impact on language learning and teaching at universities in Russia. Finally, the universities should play a key role in the development of a valid system of language testing for professional purposes. As mentioned above, this can be achieved through a system of internal quality assurance within departments, faculties and universities, and external quality assurance between universities. The system of assessment at university should include both summative and continuous assessment. The context of higher education offers a large scope of continuous assessment that can considerably improve students’ preparedness for their future careers and consequently their employability. EFL trainee teachers can, for instance, be involved in various types of micro-teaching, model assessments, professional training simulations, and build a portfolio of various teaching and assessment materials that they have developed for the course.

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It is important to note that at present there is no reliable and empirically tested model of language teachers’ target language-use domain.The existing models only focus on Classroom English (Walsh, 2011), which leaves several important elements of teachers’ work without attention: communication with colleagues, parents, administration, marking and materials design. These are just examples of how careful consideration and empirical analysis of the target language-use domain could improve its representation in teaching and assessment. The establishment of quality assurance with internal and external review of all examination procedures could contribute to the integrity of the national system of language teaching and assessment in higher education. Internally, the following elements and practices can be introduced to establish a reliable assessment system on an institutional basis: ņ Examination orders (translated from the German “Prüfungsordnung”) – general descriptions of examination procedures for every course, which should include speci¿cations with detailed descriptions of the tested constructs and how the tested skills are developed over the course, administrative guidance for conducting examinations, sample examination materials and assessment scales. ņ Transparency and proper test development – all assessments should be developed in a process of ongoing piloting, testing, data analysis and revision. Speci¿cations of all assessment procedures that will include the descriptions of the tested construct, assessment format, scales and marking systems should be distributed to students and available for the general public on the university webpage. Implementation of assessment procedures (as well as syllabi) should be analysed and revised after every teaching cycle. ņ Consensus moderation (Saddler, 2010; Nulty, 2011) – an internal moderation procedure when, working in pairs, teaching staff analyse and revise the syllabi and assessments to ensure there is consensus about what should be assessed and how this should be done. ņ Assessment boards – every teaching unit (department) should have a group of experts to review assessment procedures, resolve all cases of disagreement and supervise consensus moderation. ņ Departmental banks of tests – every department should have a bank of summative assessment tasks to ensure the consistency of assessment of similar courses with different lecturers and raters. ņ Electronic Learning Management Systems – data operation systems designed to collect and analyse data about continuous and summative assessment will allow ongoing control over the assessment process and

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statistical assessment data analysis. This will allow for the collection of more information about the reliability of assessment procedures (e.g. inter- and intra-rater reliability). The following table summarises the suggested system of assessment levels, formats and purposes in higher education: Table 7.2. Assessment Procedures in Higher Education Assessment types

Assessment objectives

International comparative studies

Pro¿ciency test

Comparative studies of pro¿ciency levels of students from different countries

Standardised tests (written and oral)

International examination systems (e.g. IELTS, TOEFL)

Pro¿ciency test

Assessment of pro¿ciency level for educational and immigration purposes

Standardised tests (written and oral)

National graduation test

Final Assessment of achievement the minimal level test of achievement needed to obtain professional quali¿cations

Standardised test (written and oral)

University assessment practices

Achievement tests and continuous assessment

Academic speaking and writing tasks of different genres, creative and research projects, essays, portfolio, universitywide oral and written examination

Scope

Assessment designed to help students reach their learning goals and establish integrity of grades within a department or university

Possible formats

The development of assessment for the above levels can be a long, dif¿cult and expensive process, but the usefulness of factual decision making in higher education (ISO, 2008) can hardly be overestimated. The second part

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of the article provides an example of how the introduction of good practice in assessment and elaboration of a common assessment scale can improve learning and teaching at university.

Innovative Assessment Development: university practices The necessity for devising comprehensive assessment systems of “English as a Foreign Language” (EFL) and “English for Speci¿c Purposes” (ESP) educational outcomes appears to have become an imperative at both international and national levels. This is the important work of the future. However, as was stated above, universities can considerably contribute to the development of a valid system of assessment of EFL communicative competence, which can be achieved through a system of internal quality assurance within departments and faculties on condition that they have a reliable instrument of assessment. One of the possible approaches to the evolution of innovative assessment practices of communicative competence is described below. The approach is based on the theories of sociocultural psychology (the school of Vygotsky). The practical implementation of the approach took place in the context of a paradigm shift in education, which was accompanied by fundamental changes in language teaching in Russia. The latter involved a move away from the traditional grammar-translation method to the communicative and competence-based approach, which required a considerable change in the concept of teaching and learning and was followed by new teaching materials design, as well as the development of new assessment practices. In higher education, for example at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the transition has taken more than a decade and is still far from being complete. At the beginning of the transition, the English Language Department at the School of Political Affairs and World Politics of MGIMO University focused on marking schemes elaboration and introduction of good practice of assessment as the key mechanisms, which are viewed as instrumental in bringing about the necessary change, as a means which could pave the way to the reassessment of students’ learning objectives and teaching practices, as well as the introduction of authentic assessment to enhance autonomous learning. This was a large-scale project as the Department runs a variety of English language courses at different consecutive levels of language pro¿ciency covering CEFR levels A1–C1 (The Common European Framework of

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Reference for Languages, 2001). For instance, English, as the ¿rst foreign language course, is a four-year course taught ten hours per week. The syllabus (Mazaieva, Pavlova, 2008) includes a wide variety of oral and written activities, such as writing formal and informal letters, surveys and essays, as well as different types of spoken interaction – information exchange, conversations on general and professional topics, goal-oriented cooperation, and so on.The innovative assessment practices of these required a new approach to assessment and evaluation that would meet certain characteristics – to be informative, transparent and continuous. The elaboration of the new assessment practices required theory. 1. The concept of competence-based education The major change associated with the paradigm shift in education is the understanding of its outcomes, which are now understood as competencies (or competency). For several decades there has been a lot of debate worldwide on the right understanding of the phenomena of competence and competency as education outcomes. Within the sociocultural school of thought, Irina Zimnaya draws a clear line between competence and competency (Zimnaya, 2003). In accordance with this theory competencies are “inner, potential, hidden psychological acquisitions such as different types of knowledge and understanding, programmes (or strategies) of action, systems of values and attitudes which can be observed in a person’s competence” (Zimnaya, 2003). From the educational perspective competence “encompasses the work of education” and is “an ethnical and socio-cultural personal quality based on knowledge and derived from experiences” (Zimnaya, 2012). According to the author, competence reveals itself in interaction and activity. It depends on the cognitive and personality development of an individual, which is achieved through education, and becomes an educational outcome (Zimnaya, 2012). To a certain extent the socio-cultural understanding of the phenomenon, with its focus on activity and behaviour as manifestations of competence, is close to how competence was approached in the UK’s Vocational Quali¿cations, which see competence as “the ability to do a particular activity to a prescribed standard” (De Ville, 1986). Mark Smith also cites UDACE’s de¿nition – “competence is concerned with what people can do rather than what they know” and one of its essential characteristics is that it is an educational outcome (Smith, 1996). In the theory and practice of foreign language teaching and learning competence (communicative competence) is de¿ned by Irina

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Zimnaya as an individual’s life-long achievement, which becomes a personal quality arising from the human language ability to acquire and use language units and means of thought formation and expression; so communicative competence is an ethnical and socio-cultural personal quality, which is revealed in verbal communication and involves speech reception and speech production. It also implements the functioning of higher-order thinking and communication ability (Zimnaya, 2012). Following the generativist tradition in linguistics (e.g., N. Chomsky), Irina Zimnaya distinguishes between competencies, which are “inner, mental representations”, something “latent rather than overt” (Zimnaya, 2012), and communicative competence, which is demonstrated through performance. It is revealed in a person’s goal-directed activity, his or her behaviour, as well as in the mode of interaction with other people when a person is involved in problem solving. 2. The theory of assessment Thus, to measure competence means to measure performance – behaviour or observable communication skills. According to many scholars, performance assessment is the most appropriate type of assessment to evaluate the quality of skills, activity or product (for example, Chase, 1999). Clinton Chase de¿nes performance assessment as “the one which involves the evaluation of observable behavior against a rating scale, constructed to measure this particular skill, activity or mode of interaction” (Chase, 1999). Performance assessment varies in its forms and degrees of complexity, depending on the targeted educational outcomes and the correlated educational tasks. Today innovative educational practices at Russian universities employ a wide range of performance assessment tasks and activities such as criterion-referenced assessment, checklists, the portfolio, and so forth. Criterion-referenced assessment as a form of performance assessment is commonly applied for communicative competence measurement both for speech reception and speech production (e.g., FCE exams, IELTS, etc.). This type of assessment is de¿ned by the Analytic Quality Glossary as “the process of evaluating (and grading) the learning of students against a set of pre-speci¿ed criteria”. As Jenny Moon points out, the criteria of performance may be developed from the learning outcomes or from the assessment task, but in either case “there needs to be some sort of statement either of what

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[the] learner will do or a reference to the quality of the work that will be evident in the task in order to meet the criteria for success in the task” (Moon, 2002). 3. The theory of text In order to construct assessment criteria to measure communicative competence, it was essential to decide upon the dimensions along which the performance would be assessed. Within the Moscow psycholinguistic school of thought, texts – oral or written – are regarded as speech activity products. Thus, texts can serve as samples of observable behaviour and provide information for language skills assessment. Irina Zimnaya de¿nes several text dimensions that comprise the major speech characteristics: a) motivation domain – the intended effect of the text on the recipient; b) subject domain; c) meaning domain – the meaning and the message of the text, its logical organisation; d) language domain – the use of language units; e) speech domain – the diversity of means of speech formation and expression, which reÀect the form and the conditions of communication as well as individual peculiarities of the speaker /writer; and f) orthographic and phonological domains (Zimnaya, 2001). These are the theoretical accounts used by the Department to elaborate communicative competence assessment criteria for the needs of foreign language teaching and learning. The next step was to write effective assessment criteria, which meant, in the ¿rst place, the necessity to “translate” the main theoretical text domains (Zimnaya, 2001) into assessment dimensions, or intended learning outcomes – the qualities of speech a student is expected to develop through the learning experience. In accordance with this, the text domains as presented by Irina Mazaieva are: ņ content (coverage of content); ņ text-meaning, logical organisation and cohesion (comprises, for example, whatever the author intended to mean at different levels – the complete in-context meaning or message of the text as well as the sentence-level meaning, plus effective organisation and paragraphing with a variety of linking devices); ņ use of language – accuracy of language, appropriateness of register and style to the target audience and the assessment task, range (the range of structure and vocabulary within the assessment task set), complexity of sentence structures.

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However, these assessment dimensions needed to be modi¿ed in correlation with the assessment tasks, which are also regarded as a source of learning outcomes (Moon, 2002) for the reason that assessment criteria are widely recognised to be task-speci¿c. For instance, the main written assessment tasks employed in the course are formal and informal letters, surveys, summaries and essays of different kinds. Tasks add other dimensions to assessment as they inÀuence nearly all the text domains – content, textmeaning and its logical organisation, the choice of the right register and style as well as the required length of the text. So, two more dimensions associated with assessment tasks were included in the list of assessment dimensions: format and length. Thus, the text and task dimensions provided a common basis for the elaboration of criteria for different types of tasks. It is noteworthy that the set of dimensions devised has a high degree of correlation with the ones applied in the criterion-referenced FCE examination mark schemes, the assessment dimensions of which include content, communicative achievement, organisation and language (FCE, 2014). To further develop criterion-referenced grading and marking scales, assessment criteria were to be written for each dimension at each level. The criteria would specify certain aspects of performance as well as the level or standard that students were expected to demonstrate in the assessment. Furthermore, the adopted general principles of criterion-referenced assessment design required that the number of levels adopted should show progression in different domains (for example, CEFR, 2001). Besides, for any particular assessment task, the distinguished levels of performance should not exceed the number of levels between which teachers are capable of making reasonably consistent distinctions (Moon, 2002). This depends to a large extent on traditional assessment practices and grading scales used in the experience of a teacher. Traditionally, Russian educational institutions have used a four-level grading scale: “full realisation of the task set” (grade – “excellent”), “good realisation of the task set” (grade – “good”), “reasonable achievement of the task set” (grade – “satisfactory”), “poor attempt at the task set” (grade – “fail”). Considering the power of the “mindset” in the traditional grading scheme paradigm, the grading schemes were formed on the basis of a fourlevel performance achievements grading. The schemes were developed through a combination of intuitive, qualitative and quantitative methods. First, criteria were written for every dimension and every level of achievement within it; next, in the intuitive phase, the whole set was discussed and empirically tested by experts on the basis of a more holistic approach to assessment. Finally, quantitative characteristics for every criterion were documented and different weighting was allocated to each dimension to

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account for their relative importance for every level of communicative competence. Thus, for the essay assessment thirty-two criteria needed to be written for a grading scheme that consists of eight dimensions and four levels (8 × 4). A summary assessment required a grading scheme of 5 dimensions – content; logical organisation and cohesion; appropriacy of register, style, and of rewording; length; use of language; and the four levels of performance. The table below shows the criteria for assessing summary writing skills in three of the domains. Table 7.3. Communicative Competence Assessment Criteria. The example of Dimensions for B2 level (CEFR): Content, Logical Organisation and Cohesion, Appropriacy of Register, Style, and of Rewording. Assessment task: Summary (Length – 120 words) DIMENSIONS

LEVELS Excellent

Good

Satisfactory

Fail

Content

Covers all the key ideas of the original

Covers almost all the key ideas of the original (90%); some minor omissions or distortions (up to 10%)

Covers most of the key ideas of the original (80%); occasional omissions or distortions (up to 20%)

Notable content omissions and / or considerable irrelevance (more than 20%)

Logical organisation and cohesion

Skillfully organised, totally coherent with effective use of linking devices

Well organised, mostly coherent with good use of linking devices (not more than 2 cases of breaches of logic or coherence)

Adequately organised, reasonably coherent with some appropriate use of linking devices (not more than 3 cases of breaches of logic or coherence)

Some attempt at organisation, incoherent in places, only limited use of appropriate linking devices (more than 3 cases of breaches of logic or coherence)

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DIMENSIONS Appropriacy of register, style, and of rewording

153

LEVELS Excellent Skillfully reworded, register and style consistently appropriate,

Good

Satisfactory

Fail

Competently reworded, register and style on the whole appropriate (not more than 2 cases of breaches of style or inappropriate lifting)

Adequately reworded, reasonable attempt at register and style (not more than 4 cases of breaches of style or inappropriate lifting)

Inadequately reworded and/ or inappropriate lifting, inconsistent attempts at appropriate register and style (more than 4 cases of breaches of style or inappropriate lifting)

As a result, the Department elaborated and empirically tested grading schemes for eight semesters of instruction in “English as a foreign language” for both written and oral achievement for the levels of communicative competence ranging from CEFR levels A1–C1 (The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, 2001). It is essential that together the grading schemes proposed for various assessment tasks present a sequence of criteria for evaluating speech in the main text domains (dimensions). Thus, they adopt a “hypertext” principle with the vertical dimensions showing progression through all the levels. It is important to note that the effect of introducing the grading schemes on the department’s practices of teaching and assessment has been far reaching. For professors, the schemes have been more than marking guides as they provide both a theoretical and quantitative basis for judging the extent to which an outcome has been achieved and, therefore, have required the department’s staff to reconsider in depth the expected outcomes of student work and their work with students. For students, the assessment schemes help them clarify the learning objectives as well as contain the “pass” / “fail” point information. Besides, as the schemes are aligned through levels of communicative competence and are consistent with one another, students are guided in their learning

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by learning outcome descriptors, which indicate the qualities of better performance that will attain a higher grade. So, students know exactly what needs to be achieved and how they can build on their previous experience to achieve what is required, and, thus, are able to monitor their learning.

Conclusion Higher education in Russia is currently at the beginning of a long assessment reform, which is driven by new socio-economic imperatives. The innovation in this ¿eld of education involves a whole range of issues: prevailing educational goals, accountability in higher education, realignment of assessment concepts, competence-focused assessment procedures, development of assessment scales for various courses… the list is far from being exhaustive. ESP at Russian universities, as a sphere of language teaching and learning, has also been subject to such change in its assessment approaches. What is important is that the pronounced reform policies in ESP assessment and evaluation, along with the wide-ranging discussion accompanying the process in Russia, have had a dramatic effect on the understanding of language assessment as well as on the process of language learning. Thus, new assessment concepts have been introduced, such as competence, communicative competence, assessment scales, etc. New assessment procedures have started to emerge that work best for student language development and autonomous learning (criterion-referenced assessment, the portfolio, and so on). These are inevitably connected to the idea that assessment must be based on the results of research into how people learn, that is, on insights from developmental psychology, cognitive science, psycholinguistics and other disciplines, which are at the heart of the emerging focus on evidencebased practice in education. Many of the new assessment practices successfully applied at Russian universities are experiments in assessment reform. The reform has also provided a clearer vision of different types of assessment and the variety of tests available for the accurate measurement of students’ achievements for different purposes. This typology has a strong application effect: to form a reliable nationwide system of ESP assessment able to balance validity of assessment with reliability and provide the necessary grounds for the quality assurance of Russian universities, something much needed in Russia. In conclusion, it is evident that many of the answers are still to be found, yet, it is obvious that ESP assessment has embarked on a fascinating journey: to expand our understanding of language learning and ways to assess it.

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References Analytic Quality Glossary. “Analytic Quality Glossary.” Accessed July 28, 2014. http://www.qualityresearchinternational.com/glossary/ Banta, Trudy & Pike, Gary. Making the Case Against—One More Time. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois and Indiana University, National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment, 2012. Cambridge First Certi¿cate in English 6. Teacher’s book. Examination papers from University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations: English for Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Career.ru. “Quality of Education.” Accessed July 23, 2012. http://career.ru/ article/12288/ Chase, Clinton, I. Contemporary Assessment for Educators. New York: Longman, 1999. Council of Europe. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Strasbourg: Ɍhe Language Policy Division, 2001. De Ville, Oskar (H. G.) (Ed.). Review of Vocational Quali¿cations in England and Wales: Interim Report. London: Manpower Services Commission, Great Britain. Dept. of Education and Science, 1986. First Certi¿cate in English (FCE). CEFR Level B2. Speci¿cations and Sample Papers for Exams from January 2015. Cambridge: Cambridge English Language Assessment, 2014. FOM. “Quality of higher education in Russia.” Acessed July 25, 2007. http://bd.fom.ru/report/map/d070421 HSE. “Education in numbers.” Accessed July 23, 2013. http://www.hse.ru/ primarydata/io2013 ISO. “Selection and use of the ISO 9000 family of standards.” Accessed July 23, 2008. http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_9000_selection_and_use-2009.pdf Mazaieva, Irina A., Pavlova, Natalia N. (Ed.) English as the ¿rst foreign language. Competence-based syllabus for students of Political Affairs. Ɇoscow: MGIMO University, 2008. Moon, Jenny. The Module and Programme Development Handbook. London: Routledge Falmer, 2002. Nulty, Duncan. “Assuring Academic Standards by Building Trust in Academics Judgements: Development and Implementation of an InstitutionWide Framework.” IICE (2012): 376–377. QAA. “Higher Education Review: A handbook for providers (June 2014).” Acessed July 27, 2014. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/HER-handbook-14.pdf

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QS. “QS World University Rankings.” Accessed July 19, 2013. www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013 #sorting=rank+region=+country=+faculty=+stars=false+search= Sadler, D. Royce. 2009. “Moderation, grading and calibration.” Edited Keynote Address presented at Good Practice in Assessment Symposium, Grif¿th University, November 24, 2009. http://www.grif¿th.edu. au/__data/assets/pdf_¿le/0017/211940/GPA-Symposium2009-EditedKeynote-Address-FINAL.pdf Smith, Mark K. “What is competence? What is competency?” 1996. http:// infed.org/mobi/what-iscompetence-and-competency Walsh, Steve. Exploring Classroom Discourse: Language in Action. New York: Routledge, 2011. Yorke, Mantz. “Formative assessment in higher education: Moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice.” Higher Education 45 (2003): 477–501. Zimnaya, Irina A. “Competence and competency in the context of the competence-based approach.” Inostrannye Jazyki v Shkole 6 (2012). Zimnaya, Irina A. “Key competencies: A new learning outcomes paradigm.” Vysshee Obrazovanie Segodnja 5 (2003). Zimnaya, Irina A. Text as a product of speech activity. Language Psychology of speech activity. Moscow: Moscow Psychological-Social University, 2001.

CHAPTER 8 A NEW TEACHER: IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY NATALIA I. TSVETKOVA, ELENA N. SOLOVOVA

Introduction The role of foreign languages in education in Russia, generally, and in higher professional education, particularly, has been growing for the last few decades. The role of FL teachers has also been in a state of Àux. According to our estimates, there appear to be more than 30,000 FL teachers working at Russian universities, while only about forty universities specialise in training teachers and even fewer prepare FL teachers for higher education. Today, university FL teachers in Russia, having a tough schedule of about 22–24 contact hours a week, are very exposed to serious dif¿culties not necessarily connected with teaching as such, but also relating to obligatory additional duties: the enormous amount of paperwork FL teachers have to complete every day, research, publications, networking and other professional activities, which have become a must for all university teachers, not just in Russia, but worldwide. What is more, as a lot of Russian FL teachers work at non-linguistic universities, they have to acquire special knowledge of the disciplines their students are studying, not to mention a good command of the FL and methodology. Needless to say, to stay abreast of recent developments in language and methodology, FL teachers have to update their knowledge and professional skills. As Jun Liu observes in the ¿nal address at the IATEFL 2013 Liverpool Conference, speaking about the issues of ELT discourse in years to come and predicting the competencies an ELT professional will need in the twenty-¿rst century, globalisation, migration, advances in technology and transportation continue to impact the ¿eld of ELT… practitioners, administrators and researchers alike should prepare for new modes of learning that will extend beyond the classroom. As a result of such changes, ELT professionals should be

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prepared to acquire new knowledge, innovative pedagogical approaches, enlightened research perspectives and a fuller, more informed awareness of the very learners whose needs we profess to serve (Liu, 2014).

Arguably, the most ef¿cient way to ensure that FL teachers have expertise relevant for today’s classroom is through innovative in-service training programmes, which have always been an indispensible part of teachers’ professional development. It should be admitted, however, that education in Russia does not always respond promptly to innovations – it is a rather conservative sphere, with teacher training being even more so, which is easy to explain. Apart from the traditional reasons for resistance to innovation (see Yastrebova, Kryachkov, 2013), there is a Russia-speci¿c one: behind the iron curtain a unique methodology of teaching foreign languages evolved, establishing traditions that are still powerful and cherished. The task of reconciling tradition and innovation is very important for Russian education today, especially considering the fact that pedagogical universities do not seem to be ready to accomplish this. Recent publications on FLT suggest that the issue of FL teachers’ professional development is crucial in this day and age (see, for example, IATEFL 2013 Liverpool Conference Selections). Researchers worldwide are trying to ¿nd ways to train “an effective” EFL teacher, analyse existing in-service TT programmes (Wedell, 2013), work out collaborative approaches to running TT projects (Zhou, O’Hare, 2013), and introduce innovative reÀection tools for FLT professional development, such as e-portfolios (Baldwin, 2013). For Russian education TT has always had high priority; today, the urgency to enhance TT is a result of a major upheaval the country has gone through in the past few decades. This chapter looks into the identity of the new FL teacher in Russia through the prism of the new demands of a rapidly changing world; it also examines adequate ways of delivering the desired result, as training FL teachers needs improving.

Why do We Need a New EFL Teacher? As we see it, there are three major reasons for the need of a new breed of EFL teacher in Russia: 1. the changes at a macro level in a new education space, 2. the changes at the students’ level, 3. the changes at the teachers’ level.

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The all-pervasive forces of globalisation introduce new concepts, ideas and technologies into teaching and learning, which brings about a conÀict between new and traditional approaches, attitudes and practices that inevitably affect language teaching. As education sectors adjust to the new global environments, various changes are taking place in education, in general, and in FL teaching, in particular, as it has become less teacher-centred, more Àexible, and interactive. Across the curriculum, students are expected to develop attitudes and acquire skills that are necessary in social interaction, problem-solving and continuous self-development and learning (Sahlberg, 2004). Having signed the Bologna Declaration and having adopted a new model of higher professional education, Russia needs to make certain adjustments both in terms of content and methods of teaching and learning to ensure a more seamless inclusion in the global education space. Apart from the need to take into account the ever-changing educational landscape, the teacher has to deal with an even more sensitive factor – the shift in the mindset of modern students. Young people (and obviously students) in Russia, like everywhere else, are digital natives, who are usually more savvy than their teachers when it comes to new technology. Today’s generation of students (Millennial students) are known for the following characteristics: ņ life online, ņ rapid communication, ņ social networking, ņ digital literacy (see Oblinger, Diana G. & Oblinger, James L., 2005). Not surprisingly, thinking and processing information fundamentally differently from their predecessors (Prensky, 2001), and being over-reliant on communications technology, Millennial students present challenges to teachers in terms of teaching techniques and technologies appropriate for their students’ new needs. Furthermore, life online and social networking are particularly relevant to EFL teaching. It is on the net that students are ¿rst exposed to EL and may have their ¿rst experience of real-life communication in English. Besides, as academic mobility has become a reality for Russian students, they need a kind of English (EAP), which most of them have never learnt; and it is the teacher’s job to make sure students are prepared to study abroad. It is quite natural that if they are to succeed, today’s teachers have to learn to communicate in the language and style of their students (Prensky, 2001), which calls for FL teachers to change and re¿ne their teaching practices. The role of FL teachers in the twenty-¿rst century and the image of a new teacher can be described as one who aims to develop learners instead of teaching

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them, who helps their pupils to become independent (learning to learn), who provides students with motivation and interest in life-long learning and urges them to become autonomous learners (see Verbitsky, 1991; Szucs, 2009). The new expectations dictated by the new education space for FL teachers, the emergence of a new type o student, and a need to reconcile traditions and innovations, all intensify the pressures to change the ways FL teachers are trained. Therefore, to satisfy the needs of a New Student, a New FL Teacher is wanted: one able to succeed in the job of educating a new generation of students by sowing the seeds of FL mastery, which will guarantee them better career opportunities in any ¿eld.

What Kind of a New Teacher do We Want? Admittedly, the New FL Teacher must accept innovation as part of the new educational setting and must be accepted by this educational setting, since he or she should satisfy the criteria the new global environment sets. The new federal education standards of the Russian Federation prescribe that university teachers are expected to do research, take a regular refresher course (every three years), engage in networking, and publish articles in appropriate journals related to FL teaching, as citation index is supposed to demonstrate if the teacher meets the required occupational standards. However, the standards do not de¿ne teaching practices to be used in the classroom, nor do they specify criteria for assessing FL teachers’ practical work with students. The international experience in this ¿eld does not always correspond with Russian traditions and expectations because of initially different approaches to teaching core skills. Apart from that, there is no comprehensive system of self-assessment or self-evaluation, which can serve as a framework for “tracking” teachers’ professional development. So the instruments Russian FL teachers use often happen to be situational and their choice basically depends on a teacher’s personal intuition and experience. So, consequently, the pro¿le of a new FL teacher working in Russia needs specifying. The review of an extensive body of literature on FL teachers’ professional development (for example: Richards, 2011; Ohata: Language Research Bulletin, 22; The European Quali¿cations Framework for Lifelong Learning, 2008; Common European Framework of Reference for Languages; Speaking for Excellence: Language Competencies for Effective Teaching Practice, 2013), the analysis of criteria assessing teachers’ work, and the detailed study of the main requirements of international exams for profes-

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sional teachers of English, such as TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) and Cambridge CELTA (Certi¿cate in English Language Teaching to Adults), reveal the most signi¿cant characteristics and skills a modern FL teacher is expected to possess. In their classroom practice, FL teachers need subject-speci¿c and curricular knowledge, pedagogical and classroom-management skills, contextual awareness, and an understanding of their students (see, for example, Andrew et al., 2005; Andrews, 2003a, 2003b; Elder, 2001; Troudi, 2005). All require the use of language, placing language pro¿ciency among the most important elements in a teacher’s professional repertoire. In order to be effective, teachers must possess the same language competencies they seek to develop in their students, and the procedural and pedagogical competencies required to teach and to support the development of language skills. Teachers use language both as a medium for, and object of, instruction. They are expected to possess “complex language skills encompassing all aspects of language required in the ordinary course of communicating with others, as well as a range of specialized skills.” (Elder, 2001). “Teachers are often faced with the task of teaching diverse groups of students with different levels of skills and various cultural, socioeconomic and linguistic backgrounds. This diversity puts extra demands on the language competencies of teachers” (den Brok, van Eerde, Hajer, 2010), as “they need to modulate their use of language to accommodate the diverse levels of language pro¿ciency their students bring to the classroom.” (Faltis et al., 2010). To provide these students with meaningful learning experiences and to enhance their academic achievement and success in school, teachers also need to take into account and appreciate cultural and linguistic diversity in their classrooms (Ladson-Billings, 1994; Villegas, Lucas, 2002). To accomplish their communicative competence, “teachers need different types of language skills. They are expected to know and use appropriate language structures and forms; they need to understand the social meaning of their utterances; they need to understand how to interpret verbal and written communication in a larger context; and they need to be able to use various verbal and non-verbal communication strategies when there are barriers to, or a breakdown in, communication.” (See Speaking for Excellence: Language Competencies for Effective Teaching Practice, 2013). It is notable that teachers’ reÀective self-assessment skills have come into focus, as they are the most challenging aspect of learning to be a teacher (Jaatenen, 2006). Various projects (for example, Tempus-Proset) have laid the groundwork for trainee teachers to build practical assessment tools that can be used in the classroom. The European Portfolio for Student Teachers

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of Languages (EPOSTL) is published on a regular basis and aims to encourage future teachers to reÀect on their didactic knowledge and the skills necessary to teach languages. What is more, EPOSTL helps FL teachers to assess their own didactic competencies, enables them to monitor progress and to record experiences of teaching during the course of their teacher training. EPOSTL presents 195 descriptors of competencies connected with language teaching that may be considered as a set of core competencies, which language teachers should possess. The descriptors are grouped into general categories, each category representing an area in which teachers require a variety of competencies they need to make decisions related to teaching (see Table 8.1). Descriptors are accompanied by “self-assessment bars” that visualise and chart FL teachers‫ ތ‬own competence (Insights into the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL), 2012). Table 8.1. Category

Components

1. context

curriculum aims and needs, the role of the FL teacher, institutional resources and constraints

2. methodology

speaking, writing, listening, reading, grammar, vocabulary, culture

3. resources 4. lesson planning

identi¿cation of learning objectives, lesson content, organisation

5. conducting a lesson

using lesson plans, content, interaction with learners, classroom management, classroom language

6. independent learning

learner autonomy, homework, projects, portfolios, virtual learning environments, extra-curricular activities

7. assessment of learning

designing assessment tools, evaluation, self- and peer-assessment, language performance, culture, error analysis

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The above-mentioned professional skills and competencies a modern FL teacher is expected to possess fall into several categories according to the sphere of application: 1. teaching and learning, 2. selection and development of teaching materials, 3. assessment of students’ work and self-assessment of teachers. As for teaching and learning, it is obvious that, generally, the new FL teacher should be able and willing, ¿rst and foremost, to develop his or her students’ receptive and productive language skills, both in oral and written speech, monitor development, then assess students’ performance and, ¿nally, give feedback. Speci¿cally, FL teachers analyse and formulate the objectives of the lesson and its parts, and engage all students in different activities depending on learners’ styles and preferences. Selection and development of materials is closely related to planning and conducting a lesson. To do it effectively, the new FL teacher should be able, among other things, to adapt to the target audience, minimise dif¿culties and suggest ways to cope with them. For instance, when preparing and developing additional materials for students, the teacher should be able to devise extra tasks for fast ¿nishers and slow learners. Moreover, the new FL teacher should assess teaching materials in terms of their aims and objectives, interactive and communicative dimensions, and pedagogic and educational values. Assessing students’ communicative and language competencies, modern FL teachers are faced with new challenges and, consequently, must acquire new skills. Grading students’ written work or assessing oral performance by simply giving a mark is no longer suf¿cient to satisfy Millennial students, who always demand an explanation of the assessment criteria their teachers used in grading their work. As for self-assessment of teachers, it must be noted that educationalists and researchers consider this skill a basic element that ensures effectiveness and quality in teaching and learning (see, for example, Chernova, 2005). Professional pedagogical reÀection, critical self-review and self-assessment (of a lesson plan, of one’s work over the term, etc.) offer the new FL teacher an excellent opportunity to become more Àexible, observant and visionary in the classroom when it comes to avoiding possible dif¿culties. Besides, a modern FL teacher cannot do without self-assessment if he or she is to get used to the requirements the new education environment lays down (Chernova, 2005). Last but not least, a teacher-speci¿c skill to be added to the above list is connected with a most important and comparatively new task FL teachers are to accomplish – writing academic papers (portfolio, article, report,

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thesis and so on). The job of the modern teacher is not just to educate students but also to continuously develop professionally, which in the long run should contribute to promoting ef¿ciency in teaching and learning and improving the quality of FL education. Hence, complex language skills, as well as a range of special skills are essential, since FL teachers should be ready and willing to handle extensive specialised literature and resources in order to analyse, interpret and compare various texts and write academic papers. One ¿nal note to be made in this regard concerns the role of pervasive ICT; these technologies have penetrated deeply into education. The skill to use internet resources, integrate WebQuests and podcasts into ELT, etc. deserves special mention, as it is universally believed to be able to enhance learning and teaching, to facilitate selection and development of teaching materials, to make research and writing academic papers easier, and to be congenial to the New Student. Up-to-date assessment materials may also integrate ICT (see The e-book on self-assessment of teachers, Chernova, 2005). So, ICT skills are to be taken into account when developing and upgrading the above-mentioned skills. The image of a modern FL teacher is subject to interpretation not only by researchers, but also by teachers themselves. To get an insight into what Russian university teachers think of the new FL teacher’s identity, a survey was conducted among non-native English-speaking university FL teachers working in Russia.

The New Teacher’s Skills – Russian Perspective The current survey examines the views of more than one hundred FL teachers with different training backgrounds, working at both linguistic and non-linguistic universities in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk, and other cities). The instrument for data collection was an FL teacher’s questionnaire comprising two sections – teachers’ observations and aspirations vis-à-vis the FL teacher we have now and an ideal FL teacher, and challenges FL practicing teachers face every day. The comparative analysis of the data obtained from the ¿rst section reveals the strong and weak points of Russian FL teachers, and indicates the most relevant skills for the New FL teacher working at a university in Russia. The ¿rst striking result is that virtually all teachers (over 90%) associate the strengths of Russian FL teaching practices with solid theoretical knowledge provided during teacher training. The majority (about 80%) also mention the so-called grammar translation approach to teaching FL. Of note

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here is that comments elicited in the follow-up discussions point out the advantages of this approach, if it is modi¿ed to focus on grammar functions. Half of those questioned (mostly teachers whose work experience is over thirty years) mention reading comprehension methodology, developed by Svetlana K. Folomkina (see Folomkina, 1974). We used to pride ourselves on being the most well-read nation in the world, and the motto “teach them to read and the job is done!” when applied to teaching worked quite well: most graduates in the former USSR could read “specialised literature” in an FL (though some with a dictionary only). So it appears reasonable to use this technique in the new education space. There is agreement that reading skills are critically important, as they are an integral part of professional competence in many occupations. When asked what skills they felt a strong need for at the beginning of their teaching career, most respondents answered that they had to learn how to assess students’ written and oral performance (over 80% said so), and adapt materials to the target audience (60%). Some participants (20%) said they needed to do a methodology course. This is, in fact, easy to explain: the EFL teachers’ community is diverse, embracing teachers with different backgrounds. A certain segment of the EFL teaching community is made up of graduates from non-linguistic universities, who had no initial teacher training. This group of teachers (15% of those questioned) admitted that they had to improve their language competence. It should be noted that all respondents equally highlight the importance of language teaching methodology and language competence, asserting that regular language courses should be a key element in FL teachers’ refresher programmes. Further agreement is found concerning the skills FL teachers consider particularly relevant now. The majority of the teachers questioned (85%) regard self-assessment skills as critical for their professional needs, which directly corresponds to the trends that emerged in the course of the literature review (see the beginning of the present section). Thus, it seems clear that FL teachers feel the need to assess their work, so teaching these skills on an in-service TT programme would be appreciated. Presumably, due to the global spread of the internet and inevitable introduction of IT into teaching and learning, computer or IT skills are ranked highest by almost all the teachers who took part in the survey (over 95%). While virtually all the respondents recognise the importance of computer skills, surprisingly, only half of them are aware of the variety of learning technologies the new education space offers (online resources, podcasts, WebQuests, learning management systems, Moodle, Wikis, blogs, etc.), and even fewer (about 20%) use them in teaching. The data also shows that FL teachers view interaction

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skills as necessary, emphasising different forms of interaction inside and outside the classroom and maintaining that good computer skills can facilitate this process (more than 80% said so). It is noteworthy that the ¿ndings reÀect some current requirements teachers have to comply with: 80% of respondents rank basic skills of writing academic papers and scienti¿c research articles as important. At the same time, half of those who mentioned research skills point out that research for practicing FL teachers also involves reading literature in order to extend and improve their practice. Similar ¿ndings were obtained by other researchers. Bullock (2013), for example, highlights that engaging with research allows teachers to question assumptions about language learning and teaching; it keeps them fresh and helps them to become more informed practitioners. Overall, the survey responses demonstrate an increased awareness that competence in research skills is essential if foreign language teachers are to stay in the know regarding world methodology. The following outline, based on our ¿ndings, represents the skills the New FL Teacher should possess to become a highly-quali¿ed professional and a con¿dent practitioner. Skills that are a part of a graduate teacher’s “luggage” A New FL Teacher should gain: ņ theoretical knowledge of psychology and FLT methodology which among other aspects includes reading comprehension methodology and modi¿cations of grammar approach; ņ a high level of language pro¿ciency. New skills to be acquired by a practicing teacher A New FL Teacher should: ņ assess students’ written and oral performance and give feedback in a new way (transparent criteria, immediate and clear feedback, discreet error correction, etc.); ņ adapt materials to the target audience; ņ assess and review one’s own performance; ņ experiment with, and make use of, IT and different forms of interaction; ņ analyse and write academic papers and scienti¿c research articles. Comparative analysis of the data suggests that the desired skills relate to the three spheres of teachers’ professional activities, regardless of an FL teacher’s training, background or nationality. What is more, while the skills selected by Russian FL teachers are listed in order of priority and allow for Russian speci¿cs, it must be admitted that the idea of what skills a modern FL teacher should possess is becoming more universal. The next section takes a look at ways of developing the skills of New Teachers.

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How do We Get a New FL Teacher? 1. What does TT Involve? The teacher is a crucial factor in teaching and learning activities as no worthwhile learning is achievable without teacher availability, development and preparation (Jibowo, 2010). Professional development training is a formal means of improving teachers’ effectiveness and a process that is ongoing throughout a teacher’s career (Watkins, 2013). The extensive body of literature on in-service TT programmes (see, for instance, Wedell, 2013; Zhou, O’Hare, 2013; Fernandes, 2013; Mansur, 2010) contains papers on EFL teacher education possibilities, on-the-job training courses, research on their advantages and disadvantages, as well as publications on what makes an FL teacher effective and how to become one. Researchers point out that teacher development takes many forms: research (e.g., keeping abreast of relevant issues in teaching and learning, initiating case studies, as well as writing articles, etc.see Bullock 2013), staff mobility programmes (enrolling in European exchange programmes for teachers aimed at facilitating the sharing of knowledge, methods and practice), portfolio work (i.e., reÀective writing made by teachers on their experiences, accomplishments and aspirations), online social networking, and classroom observations (Barduhn, 2010). Educationalists tend to focus on different aspects of in-service training. Mansur (2010), for one, maintains that teacher education programmes can be used as networking instances, where teachers with similar interests can work together. Thus, teachers can offer each other informal support (Wedell, 2014), to say nothing of the opportunity to regularly share and reÀect on their classroom experiences (ibid.). Wedell (2014) also elaborates on the most evident Àaws of in-house TT programmes: “Many of them are not planned or designed to adequately address teachers’ needs…”, and concludes that such refresher courses “should be linked to the contexts in which FL teachers work.” Some authors, while speculating on how to become an effective EFL teacher, testify to the importance of bringing research and practice together, which is to be accomplished by ef¿ciently organised teacher training programmes (Tavakoli, Howard, 2012). Others (see, for example, Thomas S. C. Farrell, 2013) address the issue of professional development of teachers from another perspective – reÀective practice. Having analysed the ¿ndings provided by ESL teachers who explored peer development for three years, Farrell comes to the conclusion that reÀective skills constitute the

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portfolio of an effective EFL teacher, and successful development of those may be achieved by teachers through regular group discussions, teacher journal writing, classroom observations and pre- and post-interviews with each other (Farrell, 2013). The foregoing analysis suggests that in-service training tends to focus on three spheres: 1. teaching and learning per se, 2. research, 3. professional and personal growth. Firstly, FL teachers’ in-service training is effected through the process of teaching and learning per se; in other words, it implies teachers’ handson experience, which is a kind of “tinkering” teachers resort to in order to ¿nd better ways to deal with personally important pedagogical challenges (see Woodworth, 2010). It is closely connected with reÀecting on classroom teaching, including peer-review/class observations and self-assessment of various manifestations and forms of interaction inside and outside the classroom. Secondly, in-house TT includes research, which means both analysing various literature, keeping abreast of the latest developments in language and methodology (as a basis for one’s own “tinkering” or formally organised research), publishing their research, doing PhDs, as well as taking part in international, national, regional and other projects. Consequently, FL teachers tackle both theoretical and practical issues, with ¿ndings being presented in different ways, and research and development methods being applied on a larger scale, which in the long run makes research more accessible to other practitioners. Thirdly, in order to facilitate professional and personal growth, FL teachers participate in all kinds of activities (in-house and out-of house formats) abroad and at home (language courses, conferences, seminars, round-tables, workshops, including online TT programmes and webinars). 2. Current Teacher Training Programmes There are currently a lot of different teacher training programmes available both in Russia and abroad. All of them are aimed at developing a deeper understanding of different aspects FL teachers have to deal with, enhancing professional quali¿cations and experience in particular ¿elds. In other words, they are expected to satisfy the needs of teachers in the precise sphere of their professional activity. The programmes may be of several types: ņ language courses; ņ methodology courses (e.g., methods of teaching ESP, EAP, etc.);

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ņ curricular development and design, development of speci¿c courses and materials; ņ designing and creating e-books; ņ using IT in teaching and learning: teaching via Skype, video conference, mobile and blended learning, etc. (see Chapter 4). The above-mentioned types of teacher education programmes take several forms: ņ in-service programmes provided by universities with an emphasis on a certain ¿eld, tailor-made seminars (ESP, EAP, etc.) e.g., San Jose State’s MATESOL (ESP); “Theory and Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching”, “Theory and Methodology of Teaching EAP” and “Current Pedagogical Techniques in FL Teaching” at Tomsk Polytechnic University, Moscow State Linguistic University (MGLU), MGSU; ņ e-courses/ online courses (e.g., CELTA Webinar; IATEFL webinars; Moscow State University online courses and webinars); ņ summer institutes (Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge, Cambridge International Summer Schools, IUPUI in the USA, to name a few); ņ teaching staff mobility programmes/ exchange programmes. 3. Training a New FL Teacher – Russia Speci¿cs As was stated above, few educational establishments in Russia train university FL teachers, and what is more, few universities offer degree courses in this ¿eld (while there are numerous refresher courses available). Regrettably, in most cases, pedagogical universities appear to be cautious about introducing innovative techniques, as a well-trodden path is always safer to take. Moreover, a certain number of teachers at non-linguistic universities come from non-linguistic backgrounds; they are graduates of non-linguistic universities who take language courses and become FL teachers with little pedagogical training involved. And it is not necessarily the best quali¿ed (apart from a dedicated few) who make teaching their career. Hence, inservice TT for Russian university FL teachers appears to be a logical answer in this diverse EFL teaching community. The question is what can make it more effective, as taking a refresher course, which has been obligatory for any university teacher working in Russia, at ¿rst, every ¿ve years, and now every three years, does not automatically mean the teacher gets all his or her professional issues solved. A recent publication on in-service FLT training, containing a survey on why Russian EFL teachers take various courses, concludes that “EFL teachers are highly motivated and are well aware of the need for continuous professional development. They expect in-service training to provide them

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with an opportunity to enhance professional skills so that they can implement innovations and make the teaching-learning process more creative and effective” (Kravtsova, 2014). The survey described in Section II of the current chapter also reveals some interesting facts. When asked what makes them apply for in-service training, most teachers mentioned a necessity for professional development, followed by self-assessment and self-correction skills, and ¿nally, a need to exchange ideas, views, teaching techniques, and so on. There have also been teachers (5%, all with teaching experience of more than thirty years) who consider passing regular performance appraisals to be a good reason for doing a teacher development course. 4. Old and New Challenges In order to ¿nd out what kind of in-service training meets the needs of Russian FL university teachers, the second part of the survey (see Section II of this chapter) focused on the challenges teachers face in the classroom. The instruments used for data collection were narrative accounts written by the participants and oral interviews carried out afterwards. It should be mentioned here that the participants were divided into groups depending on their teaching backgrounds (linguistic or non-linguistic) and experience in teaching (from under ¿ve to over thirty years). The latter is explained by our intention to mark any positive trends in pre-service FL teachers’ training (do recent graduates have to tackle the same problems as their senior colleagues?) and trace to what extent the dif¿culties FL teachers used to experience are different from the current ones. The survey found that some of the problems FL teachers encounter have always been around (for example, developing language competence), as over 95% of those questioned corroborated. The majority of responses submitted by the participants (90%), regardless of their experience in teaching and backgrounds, are expectedly in line with the previously identi¿ed skills and competencies required of a New Teacher. The current challenges are connected with: ņ developing courses and materials (especially when it comes to combining different aspects: EGP, ESP, EAP); ņ introducing IT into the process of teaching and learning; ņ organising independent work of students (using all forms of interaction inside and outside the classroom); ņ self-assessment; ņ writing academic papers and scienti¿c research articles. However, the data also shows some noticeable differences between groups of teachers. While all the teachers questioned (100%) say that teach-

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ing ESP or EAP and developing self-study materials for these courses presents a strong challenge for them, the teachers who did a course on ESP when they were students (90% of them are graduates from non-linguistic universities) face fewer dif¿culties in teaching ESP, unlike their colleagues who did not bene¿t from such courses. None of the participants with teaching experience of more than ¿fteen years say that ESP or EAP were in the curricular 16–20 years ago, but all respondents who have been in the teaching profession for less than ¿ve years admit that they did such courses, which understandably explains why those inexperienced teachers ¿nd teaching ESP/EAP less challenging. All teachers who have ever taught ESP (e.g., Business English, Legal English) or EAP (e.g., Academic Writing) indicate that they have experienced or currently experience certain dif¿culties due to a lack of specialist knowledge, few pedagogical resources, limited teaching experience or unclear criteria for assessment. What is more, those involved in teaching EAP (including Academic Writing) note the differences they felt in what they had been taught at university and what they have to teach to their students, for instance, teaching students how to write different genres of documents while having no experience of this kind of writing themselves. Differences between responses of FL teachers from different backgrounds and age groups occur regarding both IT and students’ self-study. The point is that the new education space along with academic mobility paved the way, not only for New Students but also for the younger generation of teachers, who are also digital natives and who are accustomed to using IT. Thus, those who graduated less than ¿ve years ago (10% of all participants) say that they hardly ever face dif¿culties in using IT in the classroom. What is more, they are familiar with virtually all available innovative online technologies, such as LMS (learning management systems), Wiki, podcasts, etc., and often use them in the classroom. Similarly, in organising students’ self-study, this 10% of young FL teachers resort to all possible forms of interaction (both inside and outside the classroom), beginning with debates, discussions, conferences, roleplays, case studies, and ¿nishing with LMS, Moodle, YouTube (inside the classroom), e-mail, blogs, online seminars, Wiki, WebQuests (outside the classroom). The senior teachers (90% of all respondents) concede that they either lack IT competence (30% with teaching experience of more than thirty years), or feel a strong need to improve it (50%). Only 10% of teachers who have been in the profession for more than twenty years try to use multimedia programmes, e-books, Web.2, and so on, but do not feel con¿dent enough.

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The situation is similar regarding forms of interaction inside and outside the classroom. The majority of FL teachers from leading universities (70%) are in favour of such forms of interaction as: debates, discussions, role-plays and case study (inside the classroom); and only a few FL teachers (about 10% of all respondents) have ever used e-books, e-mail, blogs (outside the classroom). This highlights the need for extra IT skills training to bridge the gap between the above-mentioned groups of teachers. The dif¿culties connected with self-assessment are ranked highest by practically all participants (about 90% admitted this). The majority of teachers (85%) constantly reÀect on their work, but confess that they have no idea how to assess their performance. Another 10% of respondents rely on motivation and the eagerness to study that students demonstrate, and 5% on feedback from senior teachers. However, both groups admit that such ways of assessment are not objective and transparent. Despite the fact that some of the problems persist (mostly in regard to teaching ESP, EAP and assessment), the results of the survey show that the system of pre-service teacher training has been improving: FL teachers who graduated ¿ve or less than ¿ve years ago feel more con¿dent in using IT and various forms of interaction inside and outside the classroom, teaching ESP and EAP, relying on various online recourses. Furthermore, the study displays a strong determination among all groups of FL teachers to develop and upgrade their skills. Nevertheless, the current challenges imply that there are a number of issues teacher training programmes in Russia either disregard or fail to tackle. So, the results of the survey have laid the groundwork for producing practical recommendations on how in-service FL teacher training programmes or courses in Russia may be improved and what spheres of foreign language teaching and learning they should focus on. 5. Recommendations In practical terms the above-mentioned issues and trends may result in the development of speci¿c course materials for FL teachers and teacher training programmes, now that an obligatory refresher course has become a must every three years. The courses for in-service training may focus on: ņ assessment and self-assessment issues; ņ interaction techniques (classroom, blended, online learning); ņ materials‫ ތ‬development and course design, including ways to combine ESP, EGP, EAP and to organise students’ independent work.

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MGIMO University has already launched similar programmes, for instance, in-house training which is carried out on two levels: 1. at the university level a well-established one-year refresher course of 72 hours provides for the immediate practical needs of any language teacher; 2. at the department level a “mobile” training course built around the language content of a particular course and activities aimed at students’ learning this content. Such a course consists of four modules for teachers of General English, which focus on speci¿c issues (e.g., “Teaching communicative grammar to ¿rst-year students”, “Teaching grammar for academic writing to second year students”, “Teaching writing to ¿rst- and second-year students” and “Doing project work”) (Yastrebova, 2012). Another successful attempt in this respect was the international conference “The Magic of Innovation” held at MGIMO University (Moscow) in October, 2013. The signi¿cance of such events can hardly be overestimated, since they offer a perfect opportunity for networking and lead to the creation of research teams dedicated to professional development, this joint publication being a logical result of the work. Besides, the presentations made at such conferences and further discussions have exposed numerous urgent problems FL teachers encounter in their work. Many teachers attended not necessarily to make a presentation but to bene¿t hugely from other participants’ input. Given all of the above, it appears that the best and most productive way to implement in-service TT programmes is to inspire both foreign and Russian universities to organise conferences and seminars or webinars aimed at resolving certain problems FL teachers face. The experience of the recent in-service seminars in Yaroslavl and Voronezh (the 18th NATE–Russia Annual Conference, May 24–26, 2012; Festival of Teaching, Festival of NATE: Proceedings of the 20th NATE–Russia International Conference, April 23–26, 2014) and the contribution MGIMO’s EFL department made can serve as a stepping stone in building an all-inclusive system of in-service, in-house teacher training. The greatest potential, as we see it, in line with developing a globalised education space, is in promoting collaboration between similar departments of universities worldwide, aimed at producing an in-service training network for FL teachers that will ensure a lively inter-institutional and interpersonal exchange of best practices, ideas and insights into effective teaching. The last, but not the least, recommendation is meant directly for New FL Teachers: do not wait for your boss to offer you a training course. Keep your eyes open every day, use the facilities of the international professional teaching community (webinars, various online courses, etc.), as well as national and international teaching associations and conferences and teaching

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journals. As a reward, you will be able to resolve the problems you face on the precarious path of helping your students to become ef¿cient and competent users of a foreign language.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank all the teachers who took part in the survey and made valuable contributions towards writing this article.

References Andrew, M. D., Cobb, C. D. & Giampietro, P. J. “Verbal ability and teacher effectiveness.” Journal of Teacher Education 56, no. 4 (2005): 343–354. Andrews, S. “ ‘Just like instant noodles’: L2 teachers and their beliefs about grammar pedagogy.” Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 9, no. 4 (2003a): 351–376. Andrews, S. “Teacher language awareness and the professional knowledge base of the L2 teacher.” Language Awareness 12, no. 2 (2003b): 81–95. Barduhn, Susan. “What keeps teachers going? What keeps teachers developing?” SPELTA November 22, 2010. Barratt, Leslie. In The NNEST Lens: Non Native English Speakers in TESOL. Edited by Ahmar Mahboob. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. den Brok, P., van Eerde, D. & Hajer, M. “Classroom interaction studies as a source for teacher competencies: The use of case studies with multiple instruments for studying teacher competencies in multicultural classes.” Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 16, no. 6 (2010): 717–733. Bullock, Deborah. “Discovering research: A teacher-friendly approach.” IATEFL ELT Research 28 (Spring 2013). Chernova, Elena Y. Teachers’ self-assessment as an indicator of quality in teaching and learning. 2005. http://www.dissercat.com/content/samoanaliz-deyatelnosti-prepodavatelya-kak-pokazatel-ee-kachestva Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Language Policy Unit, Strasbourg. http://www. coe.int/lang-CEFR Coomes, M. D. & DeBard, R. (Eds.) Serving the Millennial Generation. New Directions in Student Services. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2004. “Course Handbook for Promoting Sustainable Excellence in English Language Testing and Assessment.” http://proset-tempus.net/ Elder, C. “Assessing the language pro¿ciency of teachers: Are there any border controls?” Language Testing 18, no. 2 (2001): 140–170.

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The European Quali¿cations Framework for Lifelong Learning. The European Commission, 2008. Faltis, C., Arias, M. B. & Ramirez-Marin, F. “Identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of English learners.” Bilingual Research Journal 33, no. 3 (2010): 307–328. Farrell, Thomas S. C. ReÀective Practice in ESL Teacher Development Groups. From Practices to Principles. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. Folomkina, Svetlana K. Methodology of teaching reading skills in English at secondary school. Doctorate Dissertation Abstract, 1974. Howe, N. & Strauss, W. Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation. New York: Vintage Books, 2000. IATEFL 2013 Liverpool Conference Selections. 47th International Conference, Liverpool 8–12 April 2013. Edited by Tania Pattison. Insights into the European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (EPOSTL). Edited by David Newby. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012. Jaatinen, Riitta. Learning Languages, Learning Life Skills. Springer, 2006. Jibowo, Adejoke Victoria. “Teacher preparation: An issue in ESL/EAP Teaching in Nigerian tertiary institutions.” IATEFL Conference: Harrogate, UK, April 2010. Kravtsova, Olga. “In-Service Training: University Teachers’ Perspective.” Festival of Teaching, Festival of NATE: Proceedings of the 20th NATE– Russia International Conference, Voronezh, April 23–26, 2014. Voronezh: Publishing House VSU, 2014: 184–186. Ladson-Billings, G. The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers for AfricanAmerican children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1994. Lewis, Michael. The Lexical Approach: The state of ELT and a way forward. Language Teaching Publications, 1993. Oblinger, Diana G. & Oblinger, James L. Educating the Net Generation. EDUCAUSE, 2005. Available electronically at www.educause.edu/educatingthenetgen Ohata, Kota. “Teacher Development or Training? Recent Developments in Second/Foreign Language Teacher Education.” Language Research Bulletin 22, ICU, Tokyo. Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” From On the Horizon, NCB University Press, 9, no. 5 (October 2001). Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. Part 2: Do they really think differently?” From On the Horizon, NCB University Press, 6, no. 5 (December 2001). Richards, Jack C. Competence and Performance in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

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Sahlberg, Pasi. Teaching and Globalization. 2004. http://pasisahlberg.com/ wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Teaching-and-globalization.pdf Speaking for Excellence: Language Competencies for Effective Teaching Practice. Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), 2013. Szucs, Éva Ujlakyné. “The Role of Teachers in the 21st century.” 2009. http://www.sens-public.org/spip.php?article667&lang=fr Tavakoli, Parvaneh & Howard, Michael J. “Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Teachers’ Views on the Relationship between Research and Practice.” European Journal of Teacher Education 35, no. 2 (2012): 229–242. Team CELTA Course Materials. http://www.pearltrees.com/ TKT Materials. https://www.teachers.cambridgeesol.org/ts/…/tkt Troudi, S. “Critical content and cultural knowledge for teachers of English to speakers of other languages.” Teacher Development 9, no. 1 (2005): 115–129. Verbitsky, Andrey A. Active learning in higher education institutions: Context approach. [In Russia] Moscow: Vischaya Shkola, 1991. Villegas, A. M. & Lucas, T. “Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum.” Journal of Teacher Education 53, no. 1 (2002): 20–32. Woodworth, Tessa. “The Professional Life Cycles of Teachers.” Panel presentation at the IATEFL conference in Harrowgate, April, 2010. Yastrebova, Elena. “In-House University EFL Teacher Training: Pros and Cons.” Rivers of Language, Rivers of Learning. Proceedings of the 18th NATE-Russia Annual Conference, Yaroslav, May 24–26, 2012: 165–166. Yastrebova, Elena B., Kryachkov, Dmitry A. “Innovatsii kak forma ustoichivogo razvitiia iazykovogo obrazovaniia v otdel’no vziatom vuze” [Innovations as a Form of Sustainable Development of Language Education at a University]. Vestnik MGIMO-Universiteta 6 (2013): 49–61..

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CHAPTER 9 DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ TRANSLATION COMPETENCE IN THE FRAMEWORK OF NEW EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS LARISA G. KUZMINA, ALEKSEY Y. KRASHENINNIKOV, ELENA V. PIVOVAROVA

Introduction Against a background of rapid technological advance, the globalisation of communication and historical changes in the world, as well as societal shifts in Russia and the educational approaches of the past, do not appear to meet the requirements of the times and society any longer. All these transformations have resulted in “a new educational paradigm” coming to the fore. Table 9.1 (Kuzmina, 2011:235) provides a summary of several characteristic features of the new educational paradigm as they relate to key issues in higher education. Table 9.1. Traditional vs. New Educational Paradigm in Russia Traditional educational paradigm (20th century) Mission of education

– “preparing the young generation for the future”

New educational paradigm (21st century) – providing conditions for learners to ¿nd ways for self-determination and development in order to get better opportunities in life and their careers

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Traditional educational paradigm (20th century)

New educational paradigm (21st century)

Values

– education for society

– education for personal development, self-realisation and growth

Motivation

– learning as an obligation; – broad social motivations

– learning as a personal desire to know more, having interest in learning, enjoying the results, being satis¿ed with the studies; – inner personal motivations

Aims and objectives

– acquiring knowledge and skills; – acquiring life-long learning

– developing learners’ general cultural, social, professional and other competencies; – life-long learning

Teacher– student relations

– “teacher-centred” – “student-centred” education; education; – teacher gives knowledge; – teacher creates oppor– authoritative teaching; tunities for the students – teacher’s authority is to acquire knowledge by based on strict discipline themselves; and an abundance of regu- – student–teacher interaclations imposed on learners tion and partnership; – a democratic style in teaching dominates; – teacher’s authority is based on his/her personal qualities

Methods of teaching

– reproduction of memorised subject-matter; – active studies in class

– knowledge discovered and learned; – active studies in class as well as intensive selfstudy activities outside the classroom

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Traditional educational paradigm (20th century)

New educational paradigm (21st century)

Means of instruction

– textbooks

– textbooks backed up by media and internet resources

Assessment

– mainly by the teacher

– teacher, peer and self-assessment

Thus, under these new educational circumstances, the necessity to implement a comprehensive reform programme in Russian higher education has become urgent.

Challenges of the Reforms In order to meet the requirements of the times, improve educational levels and make it possible to equip young people with the competencies they need in the twenty-¿rst century, Russian universities have been challenged by a new competence-based approach laid down by the National Standards for Higher Professional Education (2010). Competence requirements, which are, in fact, characteristic of educational developments in many countries nowadays (Competences…, 2009; Key competences…, 2009; Borisova, Kuzov, 2010), imply that: ņ higher education should be future-oriented and tailored to meet the students’ needs rather than simply be focused on educational content; ņ educational content should be wider than subject-speci¿c knowledge and should primarily provide students with a range of competencies; ņ “competence” is generally understood as a “… combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context; the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and/or methodological abilities, in work or study situations and in professional and personal development” (Kaminskienơ and Kavaliauskienơ, 2012:142); the development of competencies is based on active and experimental learning, where learners’ individual development and personalised learning are supported; ņ using more individualised approaches to learning implies that students should be granted more academic freedom and have a wider choice in deciding on their educational trajectories;

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ņ teaching and learning the subjects should be well coordinated with cross-curricular elements and teachers should collaborate effectively; ņ teachers and students should have time and space for cooperation. However, all these changes might not bring about the expected impact if the pedagogical practice at universities remains unchanged. This especially refers to teaching translation because the need for highly skilled translators is increasing at a rapid pace. Competent translators are essential nowadays in order to meet the rapidly evolving requirements of the professional environment. Basically, in Russian university FL (Foreign Language) education there exist two pedagogical practices dealing with translation and training translators, which remain virtually unchanged. They are as follows: a) teaching FL/Fls and translation separately (at linguistic departments) and b) teaching a FL and using translation as an instructional tool (at non-linguistic departments). The former is an exempli¿ed approach speci¿cally aimed at training translators while the latter is manifested in a deeply entrenched misconception that translation skills develop per se in the process of FL learning. The problem of modernising “language and translation” education is complex vis-à-vis this second category of FL learners, i.e. for non-linguistic (or, ESP/LSP) students. Translation skills need to be developed in these particular FL learners because, as has been proved by Kaminskienơ and Kavaliauskienơ, they not only equip students for their future work, but also form a basis for their further development as they provide an additional means to update their professional competencies throughout lifelong learning (Kaminskienơ & Kavaliauskienơ, op. cit.). Besides, the problem seems to be even tougher for another speci¿c group of university LSP students – those who major in various international studies as their professional performance depends greatly on how effectively they are educated in FLs and translation. Yet, FL professionals have scant understanding of how this task can be resolved and what should be done. Earlier attempts to teach translation to non-language majors have not always been successful because of a poor understanding of the speci¿city of the teaching process, which caused dif¿culties for learners and resulted in low level translation skills. Stereotypes in professionally oriented language education are still present in the deeply rooted views of FL specialists concerning what constitutes “correct” content in LSP teaching and learning – and they are hard to gainsay! Thus, the aims of this essay are twofold: ¿rstly, to present some of the principal theoretical issues underlying the topics in question; and secondly,

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to illustrate how the authors attempt to implement aspects of these theories in their own work. It should be added that our purpose is not to prescribe a speci¿c approach to the topics under discussion, but rather to show one of the ways in which teaching FLs and translation training can be integrated within a compulsory university LSP course in Russia, and possibly elsewhere. We argue that what is de¿nitely needed in this sphere is a sound understanding of the competence-based approach in educating the target category of FL learners, as well as new courses and textbooks to be designed to back up its realisation.

A Competence-Based Syllabus Design According to recent research (Richards, 2001; Fink, 2003; Borisova, Kuzov, 2010), there are several steps in the process of designing a competence-based syllabus: ņ analysing the educational context (de¿ning situational factors which can be a special instructional challenge of the particular course and deciding how the course ¿ts into a larger curricular context); ņ formulating the learning goals; ņ designing the feedback and assessment procedures; ņ developing an instructional strategy by selecting adequate teaching/ learning activities; ņ designing teaching materials to back the course up. Following these general steps, we have segmented the process of designing a competence-based syllabus, which integrates teaching FLs and translation training within a compulsory university LSP course, into three stages. At Stage One careful consideration was given to a variety of factors.The National Standards for Higher Education were studied to single out professional activities the graduates would be involved in and their “professional portrait” was drawn. It was found that students majoring, for example, in International Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management should be prepared to work in national and international governmental and non-governmental ecological organisations, as well as in representative of¿ces of international companies, ¿rms and research institutions, and foundations that carry out environmental projects and provide ecological education. They have to know how to monitor the balanced social and economic development of communities, too. Besides, having analysed graduates’ professional knowledge and skills, we identi¿ed the role FLs and translation play in their professional competence. The target students have to be able to use a FL for the following:

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to search for, select and report relevant information, study international natural resources law and analyse regional and international developments in the target sphere. While organising nature-conserving activities and campaigns, they must also solve problems, take part in discussions, give interviews, speak in public and write ecological posters, leaÀets and brochures to raise ecological awareness among people. At Stage Two a model of Translation Competence (TC) for this particular category of FL learners was worked out; it was effectively used when providing training in translation for them. Stage Three was devoted to the development of teaching materials to support the model.

TC for Non-Linguistic University Students: De¿nition and Theoretical Model It is reasonable to include training in translation when teaching a FL at a Russian university. However, there is a fear that undergraduate students, who are forced to combine language learning with the process of translational skills acquisition, won’t achieve this. They risk being neither pro¿cient linguistically, nor having ef¿cient background knowledge about target cultures and/or professional spheres. They may not be suf¿ciently aware of translational studies theory either. Schäffner expresses concerns that “the attempt to develop translational competence in them may be a case of trying to make them run before they can walk” (Schäffner, 2000). Still, she ¿rmly believes that it is, nevertheless, possible and even advisable to develop basic translation competence concurrently with language and culture competencies. (ibid.). The analysis of the papers pertaining to the question under discussion (Gerding-Salas, 2000; Schäffner, 2000; Competences…, 2009; Results of Validation…, 2011) shows that the scienti¿c community agrees that translation is a complex activity, which involves expertise in a number of knowledge areas and a wide range of different skills. However, there is no single and universal set of competencies that suit everyone and ¿t into all the different educational contexts. Gerding-Salas (Gerding-Salas, op. cit.) outlines a model of TC, which, in our opinion, is of the most general character and so is applicable for the educational context we are discussing. Her model includes four basic parameters essential to translation competence: 1. knowledge of the languages, 2. knowledge of the cultures,

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3. domain-speci¿c knowledge, 4. transfer competence. With reference to the above, we developed our model of TC to be formed in non-linguistic university students under the new educational circumstances. It de¿nes what knowledge and skills FL learners (referred to as “student-translators”) have to acquire so as to be able to act effectively in bilingual intercultural communication: Linguistic competence in the languages concerned. The main skills to be developed here include: knowing how to understand grammatical, lexical and idiomatic structures in the source language (SL) and how to use these structures in the target language (TL); knowing how to extract and summarise the essential information from an oral or written SL text, as well as knowing how to produce a register appropriate text in the TL. Cultural competence provides for the necessity of a student-translator to have a broad general outlook on a wide range of historical, political, economic and other developments in the world, as well as the ability to recognise elements pertaining to the cultures represented. It also extends to knowing the rules of interaction in a speci¿c community, including nonverbal elements (intercultural competence). The latter sub-competence emphasises the signi¿cance for student-translators to be fully acquainted with cultural phenomena in both the SL and TL, as they have to mediate between various cultural backgrounds. Domain-speci¿c competence presupposes student-translators be aware of the relevant subject ¿eld he or she deals with (for instance, economic, legal or political, etc.), to know the area of expertise, to master its systems and concepts, methods of reasoning, controlled language, terminology (i.e., repertoires of the languages for special purposes). Besides, it means knowing how to search for appropriate information to gain a better grasp of the thematic aspects of a text characterised by specialised pro¿ciencies in a particular domain. Transfer competence comprises the ability to perform translation as such. It deals with the technicalities of the translation process, which include: a) declarative knowledge of the theory of translation, and b) procedural knowledge (cognitive powers and skills) of the tactics used to convert a message from SL to TL. It involves awareness of the stages and strategies for the translation, the abilities to de¿ne and evaluate translation problems and ¿nd appropriate solutions, to justify one’s translation choices and decisions, and the skill of using sources and resources. It also means knowing how to draft, rephrase, restructure, condense and post-edit translated texts. Besides, student-translators have to know how to use tools and search engines effectively (e.g., terminology software, electronic corpora, electronic dictionaries).

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Teaching Materials Development With all these issues in mind, a conceptual framework of a textbook to be used in a traditional university LSP course will be looked at within this discussion. It is claimed that competence-oriented instruction, within a basic university course in FLs for non-linguistic students, will provide for the development of their TC. The textbook under discussion incorporates traditional printed matter and e-learning tools. The latter contain useful links to internet resources, enabling students to search for needed information, and there is a teaching guide on how to use information and communication technologies to organise this process. The textbook consists of a number of thematically related units. Their topics were selected according to the following criteria: ņ the texts should refer to the students’ speciality, be conceptually integrative and rich in relevant information; ņ the information should be interesting for the students, either completely new or offering interpretations of information already known to them from a different perspective; ņ the problems the texts are dealing with make it possible to engage students in useful practical activities, which activate their knowledge and stimulate their motivation to learn FLs and acquire skills in translation; ņ the texts should represent a variety of text types (e.g., printed newspaper articles and features, internet publications, interviews, speeches by politicians and experts, as well as texts of international documents). The range of topics offered for students majoring in International Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Management, for example, can be seen from the following list of unit headlines: ņ Climate Change: How Far Have We Come? ņ Deforestation, Air and Water Pollution – Healthy Environment for Life? ņ Greenpeace and Other International Ecological Organisations ņ Environmental Campaigns: Think Globally, Act Locally ņ Natural Resources Law ņ Tourism Expansion: Cultural Heritage and Social Responsibility Development ņ Ecological Education: When, Where, Why?

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These units can be referred to as “modules”, following the Candlin, Burton, Learther and Woods (1986) de¿nition that a module: …represents a discrete unit of learning that has been designed in such a way that sections of it can be expanded or shortened or omitted according to the needs of the learner and the situation in which the instruction is taking place. (110)

The textbook’s ¿rst module introduces the most signi¿cant theoretical aspects of translation, focusing on translation as a professional activity and its role in international bilateral communication. It consists of several sections where key problems of Translation Studies are discussed: ņ terms “translation”, “source Language”, “target Language”, “adequate translation”, etc.; ņ requirements imposed on translation, the concept of translatability; ņ types of translation (written, visual and verbal translation, consecutive interpretation, etc.); ņ translation dif¿culties (grammatical and lexical dif¿culties, the concept of equivalence); ņ translation strategies (translation loan words, types of transformations). This module pursues an informative function. It provides an insight into the principles of translation theory, whereas further modules are practiceoriented. All modules, after the ¿rst, have the same format and each unit looks more or less like those that succeed and precede it (see a sample unit at the end, an appendix after the bibliography). The modules contain: ņ language tasks to deal with speci¿c lexical and grammatical dif¿culties of translation; ņ a text or texts to practice translation on; ņ commentaries to the texts (Translator’s Notes) to enhance their deeper understanding, to enrich students’ extra-linguistic knowledge and, in general, raise their general cultural and/or professional awareness; ņ communicative activities on the text to develop integrative language skills; ņ exercises in translation/interpretation proper. As can be seen in the example, in Section One student-translators are exposed to the grammatical and lexical dif¿culties, which occur due to the differences in the systems of the target languages. They may be called

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“pre-translation” exercises as they provide practice in the peculiarities of translating, for example, articles, verb tenses, modals, in¿nitive and participle constructions in such exercises as rendering sentences containing a particular dif¿culty from the SL into the TL (Task 1.2); analysing individual variants of translation and choosing the best option for a particular context (Task 1.3). Similarly, the lexical problems of translation are dealt with. Studenttranslators have to translate sentences and small texts, discussing and justifying their choice of polysemantic vocabulary, misleading international words, new coins, realia, etc. (Tasks 1.4; 1.5). Sections Two and Three. For these sections a theme-based structure was chosen as an effective way of providing a meaningful context for developing students’ TC and communicative skills in the target FL. It allows for an extensive use of authentic resources within the ¿eld of a student’s speciality. De¿nitely, the text here occupies a central place. It makes it possible to develop both receptive skills (reading/listening comprehension) and productive skills (language in use, discussing and translating/interpreting). A variety of tasks to perform at this stage include: ņ drawing up a plan of the text; ņ formulating the main idea of the author and summarising the information from the text (in more or less detailed formats) (Tasks 2.1; 3.3); ņ answering questions on the text to check on comprehension; ņ answering questions about the text inferring background information (Tasks 2.3; 2.4); ņ discussing ideas from the text (Task 2.6); ņ giving talks and making presentations on the topic (Task 2.7); ņ role playing profession-related situations (Task 3.5). In this section students can also get extensive exposure to grammar and LSP vocabulary. These are lexical, phraseological, grammatical and stylistic exercises. One of the techniques enhancing the development of professional terminology is making-up and using a vocabulary list for each topic (Tasks 2.2; 3.1; 3.2; 3.4). These lists are compiled by the students themselves throughout the course. They arrange professionally relevant vocabulary in blocks following the logic of the subject, which is helpful in producing professional communication. Besides, language activities in this section include tasks in so-called “guided translation” (from German into Russian and from Russian into German). Among these are: ņ commenting on realia and ¿nding their equivalents in the TL (Tasks 2.3; 2.4);

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ņ ¿nding equivalents using dictionaries and internet search engines (Tasks 2.3; 2.5; 3.3); ņ making judgments about the style of suggested translation variants; ņ matching equivalents in the SL and TL (Task 2.5); ņ studying/making up synonymic rows to differentiate shades of meaning; ņ paraphrasing and making other transformations; ņ making corrections in the deviations from the norm or usage in the TL; ņ ¿lling gaps in the pre-translated texts using models and translation techniques learnt in the introductory theoretical module. Section Four provides practice in translational activities proper. They aim at developing skills in written translation, consecutive interpretation and in “two-way”/bilateral translation. They contribute to the development of all the sub-competencies forming the TC described earlier in the paper. This section provides an opportunity for student-translators to implement theoretical and practical knowledge they gained previously and to cope with a professional translation assignment that will stretch their expertise to the full. Here they are gaining some experience in profession-oriented translating situations, completing such tasks as: ņ de¿ning and evaluating translation problems in the text and ¿nding appropriate solutions (Tasks 4.1; 4.5); ņ comparing “parallel” texts in the SL and TL to ¿nd similarities and differences (Task 3.3); ņ analysing translation strategies used by a professional translator and/or different student translators (Tasks 4.2; 4.4); ņ restructuring, condensing and translating texts in different forms; ņ translating the same text in various ways depending on a particular aim and/or the addressee; ņ post-editing translated texts (Task 4.3). The textbook is innovative (or, rather, non-traditional) in character within the Russian educational context, innovations manifested in: ņ a competence-based approach being realised in teaching foreign languages at universities to meet the requirements of the standards; ņ promoting strong links between teaching FLs and teaching translation to non-linguistic university students to help develop their professional competence in the target ¿eld of studies; ņ a speci¿c modular structure of the textbook chosen, and both traditional and modern means of instruction used to structure the teaching materials and organise the teaching process.

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However, it helps to achieve wider goals, as well. It enables students to acquire professional knowledge and skills in their area of expertise, which they will need in their future occupation. Besides, it stimulates the development of students’ cognitive powers, for instance, their analytical abilities and skills in searching for relevant information, in its adequate interpretation, generalisation and integration. It is well known that these skills are of crucial importance for sustaining education throughout one’s life. Moreover, teaching materials in the textbook help to broaden students’ cultural horizons and develop their general intercultural skills. In addition, the modular structure promotes more individualised teaching and learning, provides grounds for self-study, helps to develop learner autonomy, and strengthens their motivation to learn FLs. All these factors, in their turn, cannot fail to enhance the intensi¿cation of the educational process and, in general, achieve better learning outcomes.

Concluding remarks In conclusion, it should be noted that the pedagogical approach described in this paper combines learning FLs with the acquisition of TC by students at non-linguistic departments of universities. It responds to the challenges demanded by the times and shows how contemporary educational ideas can be put into practice. It has proved to be pro¿table because integration of FL learning and translation training effectively contributes to the mastery of the students’ linguistic competence in a FL and their TC. Indeed, with the TC of the target group of FL learners being the focus, the general methodological approach chosen by the authors helps university LSP students to raise the level of their communicative competence, too. The model of TC for non-linguistic university students worked out by the authors is of a universal character. Thus, it can serve as a basis for designing similar courses for other LSP students. Besides, as the structure of the textbook is of a universal nature, it can be reproduced in various educational settings and can help university language professionals to create ef¿cient teaching materials for use in profession-oriented language learning. In general, the pedagogical approach discussed in the paper could be considered as a stimulus for innovations in higher education in Russia or, at least, as a starting point for the reÀection and critical evaluation of the teaching methods currently used in university language education in this country.

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References Borisova, N. V. & Kuzov V. B. Tehnologizatsiya proektirovaniya i metodicheskogo obespecheniya kompetentnostno-orientirovannyh uchebnyh program distsiplin / modulei, practic v sostave OOP VPO novogo pokoleniya: metodicheskieye rekomendatsii dlya organizatorov proektnyh rabot i professorsko-prepodavatel’skih kollektivov vuzov [Technology of Course Design and Methodological Support to Competence-Based Syllabi / Modules, Practices within the Framework of New Curricula of Higher Professional Education: Recommendations to Project Managers and University Faculty]. Moscow: Issledovatel’skiy tsentr problem kachestva podgotovki spetsialistov, 2010: 52. Candlin, C. N., Burton, C. J., Leather, J. H. and Woods, E. G. “Designing Modular Materials.” In English for Academic and Technical Purposes: Studies in Honor of Louis Trimble. Edited by L. Selinker, E. Tarone and V. Hanzeli (eds.) New York: Newbury House, 1981. Competences for Professional Translators, Experts in Multilingual and Multimedia Communication: Report of “EMT expert group”, Brussels, January 2009. Accessed June 13, 2014. at http://ec.europa.eu/emt Fink, L. D. “A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Signi¿cant Learning.” JAMA 287, no. 2 (2002): 226–235. Accessed June 12, 2014. http://www.dee¿nkandassociates.com/GuidetoCourseDesignAug05.pdf Gerding-Salas, C. “Teaching Translation: Problems and Solutions.” Translation Journal 4, no. 3 (2000). Accessed June 12, 2014. http://www. translationjournal.net/journal/13educ.htm Kaminskienơ, L. & Kavaliauskienơ, G. “Competences in Translation and Interpreting.” Kalbǐ Studijos (Studies about Languages) 20 (2002). Accessed June 13, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.20.1772 “Key Competences in Europe: Opening Doors for Lifelong Learners Across the School Curriculum and Teacher Education.” CASE Network Reports 87. Warsaw: CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research, 2009. Kuzmina, L. “PedagogicalPrincipleofLearnerAutonomy in Russian Educational Context.” Perspektivy Nauki (Science Prospects) 10, no. 25 (2011). Results of the Validation of PACTE Translation Competence Model: Translation project and dynamic translation index. Principal researcher: Amparo Hurtado Albir. Accessed June 13, 2014. http://grupsderecerca.uab. cat/pacte/sites/grupsderecerca.uab.cat.pacte/¿les/2011_PACTE_Continuum.pdf

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Richards, J. C. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Schäffner, Ch. “Running Before Walking? Designing a Translation Programme at Undergraduate level.” In Developing Translational Competence. Edited by Ch. Schäffner and D. Adab. John Benjamins Publishing, 2000.

APPENDIX SAMPLE UNIT UNIT TWO. CLIMATE CHANGE: HOW FAR HAVE WE COME? Section One Task 1.1. Study the grammar material below, analyse the sentences and draw conclusions about how participles and attributes are formed in German.

Read the following sentence and its German-Russian translations and evaluate how these grammatical categories are usually rendered in Russian. Der zum Klimagipfel in London angekommene französische Umweltminister traf sich mit seinem deutschen Amtskollegen. 1. ɉɪɢɛɵɜɲɢɣ ɧɚ ɫɚɦɦɢɬ ɩɨ ɜɨɩɪɨɫɚɦ ɢɡɦɟɧɟɧɢɹ ɤɥɢɦɚɬɚ ɜ Ʌɨɧɞɨɧ ɦɢɧɢɫɬɪ ɨɯɪɚɧɵ ɨɤɪɭɠɚɸɳɟɣ ɫɪɟɞɵ Ɏɪɚɧɰɢɢ ɜɫɬɪɟɬɢɥɫɹ ɫɨ ɫɜɨɢɦ ɝɟɪɦɚɧɫɤɢɦ ɤɨɥɥɟɝɨɣ. 2. Ɇɢɧɢɫɬɪ ɨɯɪɚɧɵ ɨɤɪɭɠɚɸɳɟɣ ɫɪɟɞɵ Ɏɪɚɧɰɢɢ, ɩɪɢɛɵɜɲɢɣ ɧɚ ɫɚɦɦɢɬ ɩɨ ɜɨɩɪɨɫɚɦ ɢɡɦɟɧɟɧɢɹ ɤɥɢɦɚɬɚ ɜ Ʌɨɧɞɨɧ, ɜɫɬɪɟɬɢɥɫɹ ɫɨ ɫɜɨɢɦ ɝɟɪɦɚɧɫɤɢɦ ɤɨɥɥɟɝɨɣ. Task 1.2. Translate these sentences into Russian (orally): 1. „Euro-Normen“ für Fahrzeuge haben im Hinblick auf die Senkung der tatsächlichen Stickstoffdioxidemissione (ɜɵɛɪɨɫɵ ɞɢɨɤɫɢɞɚ ɚɡɨɬɚ) auf die in den Rechtsvorschriften festgelegten Niveaus nicht den gewünschten Erfolg gebracht. 2. Die Luftverschmutzung aus den 10.000 größten verschmutzenden Betrieben in Europa kostete die Bürger im Jahr 2009 zwischen 102 und 169 Mrd. EUR. Task 1.3. Translate the following sentences into German: 1. ɉɪɨɛɥɟɦɵ ɨɤɪɭɠɚɸɳɟɣ ɫɪɟɞɵ, ɜɵɡɜɚɧɧɵɟ ɜɪɟɞɧɵɦɢ ɜɵɛɪɨɫɚɦɢ ɜ ɚɬɦɨɫɮɟɪɭ, ɛɭɞɭɬ ɨɛɫɭɠɞɚɬɶɫɹ ɧɚ ɜɫɬɪɟɱɟ ɦɢɧɢɫɬɪɨɜ ɩɪɢɪɨɞɧɵɯ ɪɟɫɭɪɫɨɜ ɢ ɨɯɪɚɧɵ ɨɤɪɭɠɚɸɳɟɣ ɫɪɟɞɵ.

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2. Ⱦɨɝɨɜɨɪ, ɩɨɞɩɢɫɚɧɧɵɣ ɝɨɫɭɞɚɪɫɬɜɚɦɢ ȿɋ, ɜɫɬɭɩɚɟɬ ɜ ɫɢɥɭ ɜ ɫɥɟɞɭɸɳɟɦ ɝɨɞɭ. Task 1.4. The word ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (“pollution”) can be expressed in various ways in German. Look up the following words in a dictionary to differentiate their meanings and then match them with their Russian equivalents. 1. die Verschmutzung, die Verunreinigung 2. die Verpestung 3. die Vergiftung 4. die Verseuchung 5. die Verstrahlung 6. die Verschlammung, die Verschlickung 7. die Verölung 8. die BeÀeckung

a) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɯɢɦɢɱɟɫɤɨɟ, ɡɚɪɚɠɟɧɢɟ ɬɨɤɫɢɧɚɦɢ, ɹɞɚɦɢ, ɜɨɡɛɭɞɢɬɟɥɹɦɢ ɛɨɥɟɡɧɟɣ) b) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɪɟɤɢ ɢɥɨɦ, ɡɚɢɥɢɜɚɧɢɟ; ɡɚɫɨɪɟɧɢɟ ɲɥɚɦɨɦ, ɝɪɹɡɶɸ) c) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɡɥɨɜɨɧɧɵɦɢ ɜɪɟɞɧɵɦɢ ɜɵɯɥɨɩɚɦɢ) d) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɜɨɡɞɭɯɚ, ɜɨɞɵ ɹɞɨɜɢɬɵɦɢ ɯɢɦɢɱɟɫɤɢɦɢ ɜɟɳɟɫɬɜɚɦɢ/ɩɪɢɦɟɫɹɦɢ) e) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɨɬɪɚɜɥɟɧɢɟ) f) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (“ɡɚɩɹɬɧɚɧɢɟ” ɜ ɩɪɹɦɨɦ ɢ ɩɟɪɟɧɨɫɧɨɦ ɫɦɵɫɥɟ) g) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɧɟɮɬɟɩɪɨɞɭɤɬɚɦɢ, ɦɚɫɥɨɦ) h) ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ (ɪɚɞɢɨɚɤɬɢɜɧɨɟ)

(keys: 1d, 2c, 3e, 4a, 5h, 6b, 7g, 8f)

Task 1.5. Render the sentences into German paying special attention to the word “pollution”: 1. ɉɨɫɥɟ ɚɜɚɪɢɢ ɧɚ Ⱥɗɋ ɜ Ɇɑɋ (der Katastrophenschutz) ɨɛɴɹɜɢɥɢ ɨ ɜɨɡɦɨɠɧɨɦ ɪɚɞɢɨɚɤɬɢɜɧɨɦ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɢ ɩɪɢɥɟɝɚɸɳɟɣ ɬɟɪɪɢɬɨɪɢɢ. 2. ȼɵɥɢɜɲɚɹɫɹ (ausgelaufen) ɢɡ ɬɚɧɤɟɪɚ ɧɟɮɬɶ ɜɵɡɜɚɥɚ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɟ ɩɨɜɟɪɯɧɨɫɬɢ ɦɨɪɹ. 3. Ȼɥɚɝɨɞɚɪɹ ɯɢɦɢɱɟɫɤɨɣ ɱɢɫɬɤɟ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɹ ɫ ɨɞɟɠɞɵ ɛɵɥɢ ɭɞɚɥɟɧɵ.

Section Two. (German ĺ Russian) Text “Climate Deal Unlikely This Year”

Commentaries to the text (Translator’s Notes)

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Task 2.1. Give a short summary of the article. What is on the agenda of the summit? What are its outcomes? Task 2.2. Can you explain what the following expressions mean? Add them to your vocabulary list on the topic. globale Erwärmung, Klimawandel, Treibhauseffekt, erneuerbare Energiequellen, Gesamtemission Task 2.3. There are several people mentioned in the article: UN-KlimasekretärEd Miliband, UN-Generalsekretär Ban Ki-moon, der dänische Ministerpräsident Lars Loekke Rasmussen, der US-Klimabeauftragte Todd Stern. What do you know about them? What are they famous for? Search the internet to ¿nd out more about them. Make notes to ¿ll in their Personal Pro¿le card. Task 2.4. There are several realia mentioned in the article: das Kyoto-Protokoll, das Forum der führenden Wirtschaftsnationen (MEF), der Klimagipfel in Kopenhagen. Can you comment on them? Task 2.5. What are the Russian equivalents for the above proper names and other realia? Task 2.6. Follow-up Discussion. With the urgency of the situation in mind, do you agree that the chance of the global community achieving anything legally binding is slim? Or, do you think a “politically binding” agreement can now be achieved? Task 2.7. What do you know about the part Russia plays in solving world climate problems? Does it invest enough political effort in this process? What measures does it take? Search the internet to prepare a talk on one of the questions of your choice. Section Three. Russian ĺ German Text “20 ɥɟɬ ɩɨɞɩɢɫɚɧɢɸ Ȼɚɡɟɥɶɫɤɨɣ ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɢ ɨ ɤɨɧɬɪɨɥɟ ɧɚɞ ɬɪɚɧɫɝɪɚɧɢɱɧɨɣ ɩɟɪɟɜɨɡɤɨɣ ɨɩɚɫɧɵɯ ɨɬɯɨɞɨɜ”

Commentaries to the text (Translator’s Notes)

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Task 3.1. Study the topical vocabulary below and get ready to express in German the information about the measures countries agreed to take. Übereinkommen, n -s, – Syn. das Abkommen, der Vertrag – ɫɨɝɥɚɲɟɧɢɟ, ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ, ɞɨɝɨɜɨɪ völkerrechtlich – ɦɟɠɞɭɧɚɪɨɞɧɵɣ, ɦɟɞɭɧɚɪɨɞɧɨ-ɩɪɚɜɨɜɨɣ eineVereinbarungtreffen (a, o) – ɞɨɫɬɢɱɶ ɞɨɝɨɜɨɪɺɧɧɨɫɬɢ, ɩɪɢɣɬɢ ɤ ɫɨɝɥɚɲɟɧɢɸ Einschränkung, f – ɨɝɪɚɧɢɱɟɧɢɟ; einschränken vt – ɨɝɪɚɧɢɱɢɜɚɬɶ einen Vertrag einhalten – ɫɨɛɥɸɞɚɬɶ ɞɨɝɨɜɨɪ; einen Vertrag verletzen – ɧɚɪɭɲɚɬɶ ɞɨɝɨɜɨɪ Task 3.2. What does “ɧɚɫɵɳɟɧɢɟ ɜɨɞɨɺɦɨɜ ɛɢɨɝɟɧɧɵɦɢ ɷɥɟɦɟɧɬɚɦɢ, ɫɨɩɪɨɜɨɠɞɚɸɳɟɟɫɹ ɪɨɫɬɨɦ ɛɢɨɥɨɝɢɱɟɫɤɨɣ ɩɪɨɞɭɤɬɢɜɧɨɫɬɢ ɜɨɞɧɵɯ ɛɚɫɫɟɣɧɨɜ” mean? What is the German for this term? (Key: der Nährstoffeintrag; die Eutrophierung). Look through the text again to pick up other terms from the Biological Studies. (Keys: die organische Verbindung – ɨɪɝɚɧɢɱɟɫɤɨɟ ɫɨɟɞɢɧɟɧɢɟ; Anreicherung, f – ɨɛɨɝɚɳɟɧɢɟ, ɧɚɫɵɳɟɧɢɟ, ɧɚɤɨɩɥɟɧɢɟ; Lebewesen, n -s, – ɠɢɜɨɣ ɨɪɝɚɧɢɡɦ) Task 3.3. Search the internet to ¿nd the following international documents in German. Choose one of them and present its summary. What similarities and differences do you notice in the “parallel” texts in Russian and German? ņ ɋɬɨɤɝɨɥɶɦɫɤɚɹ ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɨ ɫɬɨɣɤɢɯ ɨɪɝɚɧɢɱɟɫɤɢɯ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɹɯ. ņ Ȼɚɡɟɥɶɫɤɚɹ ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɨ ɤɨɧɬɪɨɥɟ ɧɚɞ ɬɪɚɧɫɝɪɚɧɢɱɧɨɣ ɩɟɪɟɜɨɡɤɨɣ ɨɩɚɫɧɵɯ ɨɬɯɨɞɨɜ. ņ ɀɟɧɟɜɫɤɚɹ ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɨ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɢ ɚɬɦɨɫɮɟɪɵ ɜ ɦɚɫɲɬɚɛɟ ɧɟɫɤɨɥɶɤɢɯ ɝɨɫɭɞɚɪɫɬɜ. ņ Ʉɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɨɛ ɨɰɟɧɤɟ ɜɨɡɞɟɣɫɬɜɢɹ ɧɚ ɨɤɪɭɠɚɸɳɭɸ ɫɪɟɞɭ ɜ ɦɟɠɞɭɧɚɪɨɞɧɨɦ ɤɨɧɬɟɤɫɬɟ. ņ Ɇɟɠɞɭɧɚɪɨɞɧɚɹ ɤɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɩɨ ɩɪɟɞɨɬɜɪɚɳɟɧɢɸ ɡɚɝɪɹɡɧɟɧɢɹ ɫ ɤɨɪɚɛɥɟɣ. ņ Ʉɨɧɜɟɧɰɢɹ ɨ ɦɟɠɞɭɧɚɪɨɞɧɵɯ ɩɨɫɥɟɞɫɬɜɢɹɯ ɩɪɨɦɵɲɥɟɧɧɵɯ ɚɜɚɪɢɣ. Task 3.4. Pick out topical vocabulary to add to your vocabulary list. Add more rubrics to it. Task 3.5. Act out Dr. Matthias Liess’s (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig, Germany) interview to the press. Do a two-way translation. Journalist: Ƚ-ɧ Ʌɢɫɫ, ɧɚɲɚ ɩɥɚɧɟɬɚ ɩɪɟɬɟɪɩɟɜɚɟɬ ɢɡɦɟɧɟɧɢɹ ɜ ɷɤɨɥɨɝɢɢ. Ʉɚɤ ȼɵ ɦɨɠɟɬɟ ɨɯɚɪɚɤɬɟɪɢɡɨɜɚɬɶ ɷɬɢ ɢɡɦɟɧɟɧɢɹ?

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Liess: Die wachsende Weltbevölkerung sowie die steigenden Bedürfnisse vieler Menschen stellen eine Belastung für alle Ökosysteme dar. Zusätzlich werden die Probleme durch den immer stärker werdenden Klimawandel verschärft. Journalist: Ʉɚɤɭɸ ɩɨɦɨɳɶ ɜ ɷɬɨɣ ɫɢɬɭɚɰɢɢ ɦɨɠɟɬ ɨɤɚɡɚɬɶ ɫɨɜɦɟɫɬɧɵɣ ɪɨɫɫɢɣɫɤɨ-ɝɟɪɦɚɧɫɤɢɣ ɩɪɨɟɤɬ ɗɄɈɅɂɇɄ? Liess: Aufgrund der steigenden Belastung der Umwelt mit chemischen Stoffen, sogenannten Xenobiotika, ist es unumgänglich, die Wirkung dieser Stoffe zu verstehen und vorherzusagen. ECOLINK trägt dazu bei, die Prozesse der langfristigen Wirkung von Xenobiotika auf die Umwelt zu erforschen.

Section Four Task 4.1. Read the following text in German and prepare to translate it into Russian. Are you sure you have grasped the ideas of the text? Don’t forget: “If you do not understand it, you cannot translate it.” Have you done all the other “pre-translation” activities as well? Task 4.2. Read the text (translated into Russian) by other student-translators and comment on the quality of translation. Make judgments about whether: ņ a translated text is ¿t for its purpose; ņ the author’s message is conveyed properly; ņ it will/will not be appropriate in a different cultural context; ņ the terms are used properly in the translated document; ņ there are any errors in translation (in terms of grammar, orthography, style, omissions, etc.); ņ in-text citation is done correctly? Task 4.3. Translate the text into Russian. Then exchange your translations with your fellow students and check them for mistakes.Work out an editing plan to ensure a reliable translation. Task 4.4. Read a machine-translated text. Make all the necessary corrections. Task 4.5. Translate the text from Russian into German. Have you de¿ned all the possible translation problems and thought of appropriate ways to tackle them? Make sure you’ve done all the “pre-translation” activities properly. Task 4.6. Translate the following text from Russian into German. Make use of your vocabulary lists.

CHAPTER 10 MODERNISING TRADITIONAL FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSEBOOKS FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS NINA V. POPOVA, MARINA S. KOGAN, DMITRY A. KRYACHKOV

Introduction For Russian education – just as any other domain – it is either keep up or get left behind. To be able to join the highly competitive global world of education, Russian universities do their utmost to embrace the best practices from all over the world, many of which, in pursuit of a higher quality of education, rely heavily on the use of ICT and electronic resources. That computer technologies and web content dominate educational discourse is noted by both Russian and foreign researchers and practitioners in teaching foreign languages (FL). Undivided attention is devoted to various applied programmes, resources and e-tools, which, while inspiring and useful for students, are often not systematised in a textbook format. It should be noted that Western and Russian educationalists seem to view the role of modern textbooks in the CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) context differently. In the so-called “coursebook debate”, most Western scholars are far from being enthusiastic on this issue, and this assertion is corroborated by a study of the CALL bibliography (Kiliçkaya, 2009) including 1,732 entries, with only one entry ɫontaining the word textbooks (Cartes-Enriquez, Solar Rodriguez, Quintana Letelier, 2004) in the title. But even that publication, judging by its title, deals with the comparison of conventional print textbooks and electronic texts. It can be deduced then that most CALL researchers see no need to study the issues relating to the role of textbooks in a modern context, which is characterised by the availability of the internet and vast amounts of open electronic resources.

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Interestingly, even electronic or digital textbooks are hardly supported by the educational community involved in CALL research. For instance, very few WorldCALL (Glasgow, Scotland) participants covered textbook theory and the practice of creating new generation textbooks (Programme, 2013). Exceptions do exist, though. E-learning in the textbook format is, for example, a really topical educational issue in the Republic of Korea, where a national programme to create digital textbooks (Sung, 2013) has been developed for all levels of English language training, starting from junior high school. Yet it seems that e-textbooks are discussed primarily from an economic standpoint (Feifei, 2012; Working, 2009; Yau, 2012), as being cheaper for pupils’ parents to buy: on average, they turn out to be 20% less expensive than conventional hardcopy textbooks. This economic rather than methodological approach, however, cannot satisfy us Russian teachers (oh, those Russians!), who have traditionally relied on textbooks and emphasised their methodological value particularly in an institutional context. We believe that the textbook format should not be viewed as an outmoded idea that is no longer relevant for university education.

Textbooks: More Than Old Wine in a New Bottle? In Russia the textbook is traditionally highly regarded as demonstrated not only by individual publications, but also by the topical conferences held to discuss the role of textbooks in the educational system, for example, a regular conference “Teacher, Student, Textbook,” organised by the School of Linguistics and Regional Studies of Moscow State University. The fact that the most highly ranked Russian university advances the role of the textbook seems to be very meaningful and should not be underestimated. In contrast to Western notions of the textbook’s secondary role, which is not considered to be a mandatory component of university education, the textbook has always had a high status in our education. This is proved by the fact that in the institutional context no syllabus can be approved for teaching purposes unless a de¿nite textbook is indicated as a means of developing the competencies required by federal standards. In our opinion, the availability of modern CALL-oriented textbooks or traditional textbooks modernised with open electronic resources (OER) is one of the key factors in contemporary higher education. OER-based tasks are a key factor when providing ICT integration in FL courses in higher education settings.

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FL teachers can enrich the learning process through appropriate CALLtask creation and use in the textbook format, which is the main means of providing regularity of CALL-oriented teaching. In view of the fact that CALL-tasks are reiterated in textbook units, the digitised new generation textbook may be viewed as a vehicle for providing the sustainability of ICT introduction in the higher-education process. The textbook is intended for all university students and teachers involved, and CALL-tasks are to be selected that aim at the capabilities of average, as opposed to advanced, computer users. A new generation textbook is a means of introducing modern technology in the teaching of foreign languages. The textbook format, with thoroughly selected CALL activities within the scope of average teachers and students, ensures a certain quality standard of teaching in an institution of higher education. Being a teaching method with repetitive CALL activities, the textbook can provide a desirable level of sustainable ICT development and use in an institutional context. Even though the need for new textbooks, modi¿ed and enriched by CALL activities, is in general recognised by researchers, the new textbook format is mostly perceived as an electronic textbook on a disk powered by complex programming with concomitant high costs. For FL teachers, who are not known to be computer programming wizards, the creation of such electronic books is virtually beyond their grasp. The main advantage of the proposed textbook model with a digital component (Ro, 2011) is its potential ability to stimulate the creation of modi¿ed English language textbooks. The new textbook, reÀecting only proven modern CALL achievements, may be referred to as a milestone in sustainable ICT development. Creating a new generation textbook model is an attempt to “¿lter out” the existing diversity of electronic resources useful for learning a foreign language, select those tested in the process of FL learning, and recommend them as a possible learning path in higher education. Such ¿ltering is necessary in order to bring the undeniable achievements of computer linguistics to some “common denominator”, and outline a moderately innovative middle path for the convenience of university FL teachers. We believe that it can bring obvious bene¿ts, as it is an attempt to eliminate the existing “digital divide” among both teachers and learners. A modi¿ed new generation textbook is a format best combining traditional language exercises and innovative CALL elements in the FL learning process. It is a combination of traditional language exercises and CALL activities accessible for both teachers and students alike. Given that the most obvious trend in the improvement of modern FL teaching is the computerisation of the educational process, it seems logical

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to take this into account when creating professionally oriented textbooks and new generation manuals. This is all the more justi¿ed since ICT have become a reality, and almost all students have gained access to computers. A simpli¿ed model of the new generation higher-education textbook (Popova, Vdovina, 2009), with ICT as a universal and variable processual component, is represented in Figure 10.1. Fig.10.1. New generation foreign language textbook model Professionally oriented contents

+

Foreign language

+

Computer learning environment

According to contemporary teaching approaches, foreign language (L2) and computer skills are viewed as functional skills necessary for every specialist, and this is reÀected in the descriptors of European competencies. Recognition of the former as functional skills means that they are needed for every university graduate and are an integral part of professional competence. Note that a characteristic feature of the present stage of computer environment development, for the sake of L2 teaching, is no longer a need for working out a new software product, but a need for careful selection (Bovtenko, 2005) of already existing CALL methods. To create an advanced modern textbook model, we opted for open electronic resources, which we used to create the new generation textbook in order to modernise existing foreign language manuals (Yatunina, Popova, 2009). In our opinion, the use of specially prepared CALL tasks in a textbook format contributes to greater sustainability of CALL introduction into institutional L2 teaching and learning. Observe that, according to Russian scholars, new generation textbooks “should reÀect active use of computer technology in the learning process” (Antonova, Tyurina, 2002:13). One of the main objectives of the national curriculum is to create academic conditions for the gradual transition to a new level of education based on information technologies. This, in fact, is the use of electronic resources in different disciplines to improve the quality of education consistent with federal standards in all areas of higher education. All professional competencies to be fostered in our graduates are associated with the active use of electronic resources. Although the above model of a foreign language textbook, modi¿ed with CALL tasks for teaching purposes, is a modern resource for improving the quality of education, it is hardly comparable with the degree of nov-

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elty and technical excellence of completely electronic textbooks. Electronic textbooks on disks provide the ful¿llment of diverse educational objectives through the use of sophisticated software. Examples of e-books may be well known, e.g. Reward, English Grammar in Use, new editions to prepare for the TOEFL test in internet mode, Market Leader and many others. If we attempt to display all the diversity of foreign language college textbooks on an imaginary scale (Popova, 2011), reÀecting educational process computerisation in higher education (Fig. 10.2), such professionally programmed educational products as electronic textbooks on disks and dynamic online textbooks can take a right-hand position on the scale, i.e., represent the highest technological achievements in educational process. On the other hand, familiar traditional textbooks for learning a foreign language and translation, combining only professional and foreign language components, will occupy the far left end of the scale. Fig.10.2. Location of different textbook models on the general educational process computerisation scale

TT

MT

ET DT

TT – traditional textbook paper MT – modi¿ed textbook ET – electronic textbook on disk DT – dynamic textbook on the internet All the most promising ways of university textbook development, in general, and professionally oriented foreign language textbook, in particular, are, in our opinion, connected with the possibilities of an average computerisation level in modi¿ed textbooks, i.e., with the option of creative interpretation of the middle part of the scale. It seems to us that the middle part of the scale would be most bene¿cial for FL teachers in enabling them to create a new generation of textbooks. The new textbooks should preserve the traditional, time-tested linguistic exercises and need only supplementary CALL tasks, which teachers will be able to demonstrate on their laptops, while students can ful¿ll them independently when doing their homework. The advantage of the middle position for FL textbook creation is an accessible teaching and methodological level of creativity primarily available to all interested teachers, which may include, in addition to traditional ones, only those processual components of the computer learning environment, which have been mastered by the teachers themselves and tested in

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student groups. Despite the fact that truly sophisticated programming skills are inaccessible for FL teachers, it should not be a hindrance to the development of new modi¿ed textbooks and manuals.

From Ideas to Practice Consider examples of updating the existing textbooks. The textbook: History and Culture of English Speaking Countries. The United States of America: Past and Present (Sivanich, Popova, Vessart, 2011) [Istoriia i kul’tura angloiazychnykh stran (Sivanich, Popova, Vessart, 2011)], which is the revised and expanded edition of the 2005 version of Life and Issues in the USA. Past and Present (Sivanich et al., 2005) [Soyedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: proshloe i sovremennost (Sivanich et al., 2005)], was supplemented with Chapter 15, Searching through the Internet. The chapter contains ¿fty CALL tasks aimed at searching for speci¿c information, analysis of supplementary sources (articles and speeches), Power Point presentation assignments, taking quizzes, and writing reports on every topic from the chapter. We believe that any traditional textbook on cultural studies may be updated in a similar way, and an example of such a CALL task, carried out on a computer, is presented below: 37. Prepare a presentation on any American company of your choice, for example visit http://news.prudential.com/ and learn the following information about Prudential Financial: business performance, assets, values, history, principles, portfolio of businesses, leadership imperative, brand symbols, Prudential in the news, etc. Prudential ranks second on the FORTUNE® World’s Most Admired Companies List, so you should try to explain why. See also http://www.allmyfaves.com/ (Banks & Finances) to have more examples for comparison (Sivanich et al., 2011). The above example of updating a published textbook by incorporating computer search tasks into its new edition is not the only way to modernise textbooks. The second method of updating is by means of creating various electronic supplements for the existing textbooks in order to extend and diversify their basic contents. For example, we recently faced the necessity of updating the textbook Disasters and Man (Vorobiev et al., 1998), the main textbook for the ESP course for Complex Safety master-level students. The textbook is a collection of professional texts on different emergency and safety issues and does not have communicative or listening tasks. So we made listening to podcasts related to technological advances and disasters from the well-known website Breaking News English (Banville, 2004–2014) (http://breaking-

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newsenglish.com) compulsory in this ESP course. The complexity of most podcasts corresponds to the Complex Safety students’ level of English language knowledge. Unlike podcasts that are relatively widely used in EL teaching practice for developing listening skills, which is described in numerous publications (see, for example, Dudeney, Hockly, 2008; Sysoev, Evstigneev, 2009; Sysoev, Sysoeva, 2009; Kogan, 2012; Nan, Mingfang, 2009; Artyushina, Sheypak, 2013), playing computer games in such ESP courses is much less widespread. We would risk stating that the introduction of the simulation strategy computer game Stop Disasters! in ESP English courses at university level could be regarded as innovative because none of the papers considering the educational potential of serious computer/video games (Gee, 2009; Prensky, 2001; Hayes, 2004; Glazer, 2006) address this problem directly. The works focused on “language aims” of computer games (Mawer, Stanley, 2011; Beavis, 2004; Turgut, Irgin, 2009; Zheng et al., 2009) deal with a different age group and game types and, consequently, do not contain a ready algorithm of integrating computer games into the ESP course (Kogan, Popova, 2013). We tried two ways of preparing Complex Safety students for the game, with the ¿rst one culminating in playing the game in the computer lab. Students were speci¿cally asked not to play the game at home. The preparatory stage included ten-minute warm-up activities focused on mastering unknown vocabulary at the beginning of the ten lessons during the term. Other activities consisted of discussing professional issues in disaster management and natural disaster ¿ghting, in particular, based on students’ own experience and the textbook materials, making short presentations on emergency monitoring and forecasting, the system of rescuer training and population protection. Student interest in computer games and the simulation computer games dealt with in special courses, e.g., ecological safety, were also discussed in the classroom. The class devoted to game playing in the computer lab was followed by a fruitful discussion at the next lesson. Every student prepared a detailed report on the disaster he or she had tried to stop. They did not rate the game highly overall because its graphics, gameplay, sound and control seem primitive in comparison with the most popular video games, but stressed that it was useful in terms of vocabulary and some specialist knowledge revision. The analysis of the vocabulary used in the game’s pop-up tips during game play was done by the teacher using tools from the VocabPro¿le section of T. Cobb’s website (http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/). Also, the teacher made up matching, gap-¿lling and multiple-choice exercises for introduction and consolidation of the specialised low frequency lexis important for success in the game.

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In the second way of introducing the computer game, we involved students in identifying and selecting unknown vocabulary and relied on their reports when developing exercises with words unfamiliar to students. The students had to play the game at home choosing the Russian language in game-play settings. Then they submitted the list of words and/or expressions they couldn’t translate into English. The algorithm of introducing the unfamiliar words was similar to the one described above. During the term, the students had to play the game two or three times, ¿ghting different disasters and paying attention to unknown vocabulary before they played the game in the computer class at the end of the term. Each time they were required to prove the fact of playing the game at home with an automatically generated Mission Report. The enhancement of their linguistic competence was evident in the results of the ¿nal term test, which included all the core vocabulary of the game focused on ¿ghting ¿re, Àood and hurricane disasters. We would also like to draw your attention to our attempt at updating Popova’s Learning Tasks in Translation from Russian into English textbook (2004). This is the author’s course for Translation Practice developed for students studying for the supplementary quali¿cation of Translator in the ¿eld of Professional Communication. There exists an extensive body of literature on using CAT (computer aided translation) tools and internet resources in translation work. However, there are resources that translators neglect using in their practice, although they know about them, e.g., corpora, as special studies revealed (Bowker, Barlow, 2008; Zanettin, 2002). On the other hand, a number of authorities (Aston, 1999; Bowker, 1998; Laviosa, 1998; Zanettin, 1998, to name a few) repeatedly say that it is worth using monolingual and bilingual corpora in training translators. The ever increasing number of on- and ofÀine, bi- and monolingual dictionaries (Shevchuk, 2010) makes it sensible and reasonable to familiarise students with them. We hope that a mini-site based on Popova’s textbook (Uchebnye zadaniia po perevodu), developed as a supplementary resource, will help to solve this problem. We developed the mini-site using a Google Sites service template. The site contains a number of tasks aimed at consulting online corpora, such as BNC and COCA, which are little known to students. Examples of students ¿nding translation solutions by consulting corpora, which are not available in dictionaries described in specialised literature (e.g., Boulton, 2012), encourage us to assume that if students are taught to consult corpora while doing learning translation tasks, they will do this in their future professional activity. Besides, it is well-known that knowledge acquired as a result of a student’s personal effort and research is more lasting than that gained in other ways, e.g., through direct instruction.

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Russian researchers (Sosnina, n. d.) point out that although corpus linguistics approaches are widely used in translators’ training worldwide and are very effective for the purpose, they are largely underestimated in Russia. So, the necessity to introduce them into teaching practice is urgent and important in Russia today. One of the most important features of the textbook’s mini-site is that the authors can update it regularly and even change its structure if necessary, which is next to impossible with traditional textbooks. For example, we are planning to supply the mini-site with new tasks on information search in glossaries, specialised dictionaries, synonym dictionaries, acronym dictionaries, etc. annotated in Shevchuk’s monograph (Shevchuk, 2010).

Enhanced Textbooks and Beyond If taken one step further, the practice of enhancing print books with e-supplements or web-based tasks inevitably brings us to the domain of blended learning (see Chapter 4 for more information on blended learning). The following example of such practices at Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations (MGIMO) illustrates how an e-supplement to a print book is used to introduce new capabilities to the otherwise traditional classes in order to maximise the learning experience. Based on iTrainium Pro © technology, the e-version of A Course of English for University Students (by Elena B. Yastrebova, Lyudmila G. Vladykina and Marina V. Ermakova) devised by Associate Professor of MGIMO’s English Language Department No. 1, Dmitry N. Novikov, has been used by second-year students in the School of International Relations as a complement to the print book for out-of-classroom language accuracy activities. The e-book is integrated software comprising two user modules, the learner module and the teacher module, and an embedded assessment engine, which provides immediate feedback to the learner and records their progress throughout the stages of completing activities. The developer of the end product (as opposed to the software shell itself) does not have to be an expert in programming. A Word ¿le with the content, the standard copy-paste procedure, and a set of rules is basically all that is needed to create an iTrainium Pro based e-book, which earns it a place in the mid-position of the proposed computerisation scale, although it should be admitted that, depending on how it is used, the e-textbook can gravitate towards ET. It is only natural that the mentioned modules serve different purposes and, therefore, have different architectures and use different procedures.

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The Learner Module. Before logging in for the ¿rst time, students have an induction session during which they learn how to use the platform as well as register to receive a user ID and a password giving them access to the system from any multimedia classroom, or the self-access learning centers at MGIMO University. Alternatively, students can install software on their home computers, which enables them to forward their input to their professor’s email. Professors, in turn, can access their students’ records from any computer connected to the MGIMO University intranet or, if so agreed, receive them in emails. After logging in, a student is given an option of three display modes. Mode 1: The Texbook is a “page ¿delity regime” that rigidly retains the original layout of the print book, with units, texts, exercises and other elements following the same order and sequence. This mode enables the student to read texts and study rules, without having recourse to the paper version. To start doing exercises, the student scrolls down to the relevant section of the unit and switches to the exercise mode by clicking on the task functioning as a hyperlink (displayed in clearly distinguishable bold blue type). Mode 2: The Table of Contents reÀects the structure of the coursebook on a unit-by-unit basis; each link/node of the collapsible tree menu corresponds to the same level element in the book, with exercises being at the lowest level of the tree. Mode 3: The Exercises mode displays a chart of all the exercises, which carry a unit tag, the number of the exercise, the indication of the type (gap¿lling/substitution, correction, search for equivalents, etc.). The exercise is launched by a mouse click on the relevant section of the chart. The learner module’s user interface changes depending on the type of exercise. Out of several available options, the e-version relies primarily on variations of two types of exercises – matching and type-in. In matching exercises (identifying certain language units/grammar patterns, matching parts of words/grammar patterns/text-based questions and answers, etc.), there are two side-by-side sections sometimes separated by a vertical divider, with the “problem” part on the left and possible solutions on the right. These exercises are used to check text comprehension (a list of questions is in the left-hand window; the text is in the right-hand window; to answer the chosen question it is necessary to highlight a relevant sentence/a number of sentences in the text) or to develop word building and sentence structure skills (matching part of a word by clicking on the correct elements in the right and left windows respectively – see Fig. 10.3).

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Fig. 10.3. Cropped screenshot of a matching exercise

In type-in exercises, the screen is divided into several horizontal frames. The bottom one contains the text of the exercise (e.g., a full list of words to be transformed or gapped sentences), with the current element (i.e., a word or a sentence) highlighted in blue. Fig. 10.4. Cropped screenshot of a type-in exercise

Above this frame, there is a white input ¿eld, on top of which there is a frame displaying the user input after either the button SUBMIT or CHECK is pressed (see Fig. 10.4). After either button is pressed, the assessment engine analyses the user input by checking it against the pre-programmed correct answers. This offers one of the most important advantages of this software as compared to traditional out-of-class self-study – immediate, undeferred feedback and

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an opportunity to correct a mistake without delay. The engine visualises the result of the assessment by colouring the student’s input: the green color combined with a pleasant sound is used if the answer is correct; the student’s input turns red and a warning tone sounds if it is wrong; grey means the system does not recognise the answer as either right or wrong (a detailed explanation of what various colours mean is given in one of the tabs). Importantly, the student has several attempts to complete any given exercise. Depending on the level of dif¿culty, the student is given from one to three attempts or “stages”. The total number of possible attempts as well as the number of the current stage is indicated on the screen. If the answer typed in by the student is correct, the system automatically takes him or her to the next element of the exercise. In the case of a mistake, another attempt is given. While doing an exercise, the student can switch to the “Textbook” mode to revise the relevant section/rule or click the “Commentary” tab to make use of the authors’ tips (e.g., “double the ¿nal letter” or “take into account the time context/reference”). If the student has exhausted all the attempts without arriving at the correct answer, the system will not leave him or her guessing what the correct answer is: after all the attempts have been used (and only then), the tab “The Key” is activated and becomes available on click. Thus, for the learner the algorithm can be described as follows: selecting the mode –> activating the exercise –> doing an exercise element by element –> input analysis element by element –> correction where necessary –> correct answer. The Teacher Module. As mentioned above, teachers can access their students’ results from any computer that is part of the university intranet. Once the teacher logs on and chooses his or her class, the system generates a database of all relevant inputs, which apart from the predictables – names, unit and exercise numbers – indicates the time a student activated the exercise and how long it took them to complete it, the number of stages/attempts they needed to complete the exercise, the ratio of completed elements (regardless of whether or not they are right) and the ratio of correct answers at the ¿rst stage. The system can rearrange the results depending on the chosen criteria (e.g., students’ names can be alphabetised or the answers can be ranked depending on the number of correct answers). A particular student’s dossier is just a left-click away. When viewing a student’s input, the teacher sees a frame at the top with the source text (the exercise) and two side-by-side windows below it (the left one being for the student’s answers and the right one – for the correct answer – see Fig. 10.5).

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Fig. 10.5. Cropped screenshot of the teacher’s module

The student’s answers window shows the chosen or keyed-in answer/performed transformations/etc.; it is also possible to track the answers given by the student at different stages. Most importantly, the assessment engine displays all the incorrect answers in red, which simpli¿es the teacher’s work as they do not need to read the entire sentence and do not get distracted by a host of other issues, such as spelling mistakes; all they have to do is compare the student’s result with the correct option given in the window next to it. Consequently, the teacher only has to analyse the typical mistakes and subsequently discusses them with all the students in the group to make sure they are not repeated in the future. The described e-supplement is far from perfect (e.g., it does not offer integrated web browsing yet or a mix of media, which are available in its commercially distributed counterparts released by major publishing houses, see also Chapter 4), yet it has a lot to offer. To begin with, it proved to be a real time-saver for both students and teachers. It helps the former reduce the time required to do language accuracy activities, and spares the latter the time and effort of thoroughly analysing their students’ papers as most of the routine work is done by the assessment engine. When using the e-textbook during self-study, students can work at their own pace, which maximises their learning and helps develop time management, one of the most important key-transferable skills. More importantly, the integrated assessment engine gives them an opportunity to receive immediate feedback and thus correct mistakes before they are hardwired into memory.

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As language competency is developed to a certain extent outside the formal classroom, this helps transform the vocabulary and grammar based syllabus into a truly communicative one: valuable contact time is saved for communicative activities, pair work, role plays and projects simulating real life communication.

Conclusion Modi¿ed CALL-oriented semi-traditional textbooks, like semiconductors in the development of electronics, can play a crucial role in modernising the educational process in higher education. From a practical perspective, in-house material, such as traditional print books enhanced with e-supplements and web-based tasks, is better ¿tted to the needs of the target audience than any commercially distributed materials (need we mention that ESL materials for would-be specialists in international relations and complex safety are dif¿cult to come by). Being modern computerised versions of traditional textbooks or their specially designed electronic supplements, modi¿ed textbook versions retain the advantages of traditional coursebooks and extend the promise of greater ef¿ciency. The added Àexibility they offer – both for teachers and learners – ensures that the tail will not wag the dog (Thornbury, Meddings, 2002), i.e., pre-prepared material will not impose tight restrictions on what can be done in the classroom, which is one of the grievances anti-coursebook educators voice. It is equally important to note that these digitisation efforts are a doubleedged sword: they develop – directly and indirectly – key transferable skills in students and at the same time promote ICT competence among FL teachers. All of the above is crucial and may encourage creativity in the use of computer-assisted foreign language learning. As the bene¿ts come at little or no direct cost and a minimal amount of time-investment, educationalists from all over the world may feel tempted to continue exploring these much talked about, but still in many respects uncharted waters, and emulate the described experience. While this is unlikely to cause an e-revolution, it is certain to bring about a culture change in FL teaching.

References Antonova, S. G. & Tiurina, L. G. Teoriia i problemy sozdaniia uchebnoi literatury novogo pokoleniia [Theory and problems of development of a new generation textbook]. Moscow: Issledovatel’skii tsentr problem kachestva podgotovki spetsialistov, 2002.

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Artyushina, G. G. & Sheipak, O. A. “Peculiarities of podcast use in education.” Proceedings of Theoretical and Practical Conference. The Magic of Innovation: New Techniques and Technologies in Teaching Foreign Languages. 1 (2013): 63–67. Moscow: MGIMO University (in Russian). 2013. Aston, G. “Corpus use and learning to translate.” Textus 12 (1999): 289–314. Accessed September 25, 2013. http://www.sslmit.unibo.it/~guy/textus. htm Banville, S. Breaking News English [website] 2004–2013. Available at: http://breakingnewsenglish.com/ Beavis, C. “Critical perspectives on curriculum and ICTs: The 3D model, literacy and computer games.” Interactive Educational Multimedia 9 (2004): 77–88. Bovtenko, M. A. Komp’iuternaia lingvodidaktika [ICT in Language Teaching]. Moscow: Flinta, Nauka, 2005. Bowker, L. “Using specialised monolingual native-language corpora as a translation resource: A pilot study.” Meta: journal des traducteurs [Meta: Translators’ Journal] 43, no. 4 (1998): 631–651. Bowker, L. M. & Barlow, M. “A comparative evaluation of bilingual concordances and translation memory systems.” In Topics in language resources for translation and localization. Edited by E. Y. Rodrigo. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2008: 1–22. Cartes-Enriquez, N., Solar Rodriguez, M. I. & Quintana Letelier, R. “Electronic texts or learning through textbooks: An experimental study.” ReCALL 16, no. 2 (2004): 539–557. Dudeney, G. & Hockly, N. How to teach with technology. UK: Pearson Education Limited, Longman, 2007. Feifei, F. “Hong Kong: plan to replace expensive school books moves forward.” Digital Textbooks. China Daily Asia Paci¿c newspaper, November 30, 2012. Retrieved from http://digital-textbooks.blogspot. ru/2012_11_01_archive.html Gee, J. P. “Deep learning properties of good digital games: How far can they go?” In Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. Edited by U. Rittenfeld, M. Cody & P. Vorderer. New York: Routledge, 2009: 65–80. Glazer, S. “Video games. Do they have educational value?” CQ Researcher 163, no. 40 (2006): 937–960. Hayes, E. “Rethinking digital literacies and learning.” Proceedings of the 45th Annual Adult Education Research Conference, 2004: 215–220. Kiliçkaya, F. A Topical Bibliography on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL). http://¿les.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506357.pdf

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Kogan, M. “On experience of integrating CALL in everyday practice of language teaching.” The Eurocall Review 20, no. 1 (2012): 91–94. Kogan, M. & Popova, N. “Integration of open internet resources into an ESP course of English for complex safety students.” WorldCALL 2013 conference proceedings. Global perspectives on Computer-Assisted Language Learning, July 10–13, 2013: 145–148. Glasgow, UK. Accessed August 1, 2013. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/p3853ngyb94dazq/ Short%20Papers.pdf Kogan, M. S. “Using ICT for Optimising SPbSPU Post Graduates’ Self-Preparation for the Kandidat Exam in English.” , Proceedings of the X Scienti¿c and Practical Conference on “Dopolnitel’nye obrazovatel’nye programmy po inostrannym iazykam”. Edited by A. S. Asinovskii. Saint Petersburg: F-t ¿lologii i iskusstv SPbGU. 2010: 128–136. Laviosa, S. The corpus-based approach: A new paradigm in translation studies. Meta: journal des traducteurs [Meta: Translators’ Journal] 43, no. 4 (1998): 474–479. Learning Tasks in Translation from Russian into English (n.d.) [website]. Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/zadaniyapoperevodu/ Mawer, K. & Stanley G. Digital play: Computer games and language aims. Surrey, England: Delta Publishing, 2011. Nan, Y. & Mingfang, Z. Using VOA Special English to improve advanced English learners’ productive use of high frequency words. Forum 43, no. 3 (2009): 26–31, 37. Popova, N. V. Uchebnye zadaniia po perevodu s russkogo iazyka na angliiskii [Learning Tasks in Translation from Russian into English]. Saint Petersburg: Nestor, 2004. Popova, N. V. Professional’no-orientirovannyi uchebnik po inostrannomu iazyku novogo pokoleniia: mezhdistsiplinarnyi podkhod [Interdisciplinary Approach to Development of a New Generation Professionally Oriented Textbook of the Foreign Language]. Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo Politekhn. un-ta, 2011. Popova, N. V. & Vdovina, E. K. “Interdisciplinary and Integrated Textbooks in English for Higher Education Institutions.” Nauchno-tekhnicheskie vedomosti SPbGPU 6, no. 70 (2008): 163–168. Prensky, M. Digital game-based learning. USA: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Ro, O. Higher education textbook: ReÀection at parting of the ways. Knizhnaja Industrija 7, no. 89 (2011): 76–80. Shevchuk, V. N. Elektronnye resursy perevodchika [Electronic resources for translators]. Moscow: Librait, 2010.

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Sivanich, G., Popova, N. & Vessart, O. Soedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: proshloe i sovremennost’ [Life and Issues in the USA. Past and Present]. Saint Petersburg: Filial izd-va “Prosveshchenie”, 2005. Sivanich, G., Popova, N. & Vessart, O. Istoriia i kul’tura angloiazychnykh stran. Soedinennye Shtaty Ameriki: proshloe i sovremennost’ [History and culture of English speaking countries. The United States of America: Past and present]. Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo Politekhn. un-ta, 2011. Sosnina, E. P. (n.d.). Parallel Corpora in Language and Translation Teaching. Prikladnaia lingvistika. Retrieved from http://ling.ulstu.ru/linguistics/resourses/literature/articles/corpus_education_translation/ (in Rus.) Stop Disasters! [computer game]. USA: UN/ISDR Available at: http://www. stopdisastersgame.org/en/home.html Sung, Ʉ. “The OER movement in Korea: A national digital textbook development and an institutional learning archive system implementation.” WorldCALL 2013 conference proceedings Global perspectives on Computer-Assisted Language Learning. Edited by D. Barr. UK: University of Ulster Press, 2013: 327–331. Sysoev, P. V. & Evstigneev, M. N. Web 2.0 technologies: Podcasts social service in foreign language teaching. Inostr. Iazyki v Shkole 6 (2009): 8–11. Sysoev, P. V. & Sysoeva, L. I. The detailed plan of the English lesson on the topic “Education in the USA”. Inostr. Iazyki v Shkole 7 (2009): 60–64. Turgut, Y. & Irgin P. Young learners’ language learning via computer games. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 1 (2009): 760–764. Vorobiev, Y. L., Loktionov, N. I., Faleyev, M. I., Shahramanyan, M. A., Shoygu, S. K. & Sholokh V. P. Disasters and Man. Moscow: AST – LTD Publishers, 1998. Working group on Textbooks and e-learning Resources Development. Main Report. Education Bureau. Hong Kong: Author, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.edb.gov.hk/attachment/en/about-edb/publications-stat/major-reports/wg%20¿nal%20report.pdf Yastrebova, E. B., Vladykina, L. G. & Ermakova, M. V. Kurs angliiskogo iazyka dlia studentov iazykovykh vuzov [Coursebook for Upper Intermediate Students]. Moscow: Ekzamen, 2007: 640. Yatunina, A. I. & Popova, N. V. Meditsina katastrof. [Emergency medicine]. SPb.: Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo Politekhn. un-ta, 2009. Yau, E. “Digital learning may bene¿t students, but it is expensive to implement.” South China Morning Post, September 2, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1027031/digital-learningmay-bene¿t-students-it-expensive-implement

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Zanettin, F. Bilingual comparable corpora and the training of translators. Meta: journal des traducteurs [Meta: Translators’ Journal] 43, no. 4 (1998): 616–630. Zanettin, F. “Corpora in translation practice.” In Language resources for translation work and research. Edited by E. Y. Rodrigo. LREC 2002 workshop proceedings, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. 2002: 10–14. Zheng, D., Young, M. F., Wagner, M. M. & Brewer, R. A. “Negotiation for action: English language learning in game-based virtual worlds.” Modern Language Journal 93 (2009): 489–511.

CHAPTER 11 INTRODUCING CLIL AT RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES THROUGH INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACHES NINA A. ZINKEVICH, BELLA L. IVANOVA

Introduction Since the turn of the century, we have seen many innovative changes in Russia’s higher education, in general, and teaching foreign languages, in particular. They have been brought about by a number of factors: the country’s joining the Bologna Process (2003), which entailed establishing partnerships with many European universities, launching students’ and teachers’ exchange programmes, sharing best practices and designing new foreign language syllabi drawn up on the recommendations set forth in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Today’s learners also differ from previous generations: they have grown up with new technology and are adept users of the latest gadgets and collaborative internet tools. Apart from being technologically savvy, modern students are more demanding (many of them pay education fees) and pragmatic; they do not want to waste time and strive to combine work and studies (mostly at a Master’s level). Russia’s labour market has become more competitive, and its structure is also changing: it needs highly quali¿ed engineers and topnotch specialists in other areas, and only the most skillful and competent will bene¿t from the situation. Given the process of globalisation and vast foreign contacts in various spheres of life, knowledge of a foreign language is regarded either as a prerequisite for applicants’ employment or a valuable asset alongside professional competencies. In view of these changes educators face many challenges: they are obliged to revisit curricula in order to bring the projected objectives closer

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to learners’ actual needs in their professional ¿eld. University teachers seek to accommodate learners’ speci¿c needs in foreign languages and content subjects, and so questions about what and how to teach them inevitably arise. Some of their queries were answered by the advent of the English for Speci¿c Purposes (ESP) approach. The scope of ESP includes four global language skills (receptive and productive), professional language skills and sub-skills, as well as a set of competencies – linguistic, socio-linguistic and pragmatic. ESP and other approaches, such as Content Based Instruction (CBI), focused on the topic (content) that students study and aim at developing their linguistic ability. Content and Language Integrated Classrooms (CLIC), Foreign Languages Across the Curriculum (FLAC) and a plethora of others (Darn, 2012:3) have similar objectives in concert with the newly emerged approach – Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) – to promote content knowledge and foreign language acquisition concurrently.

CLIL Key Features Extensive research carried out to date in Content and Language Integrated Learning and a few recent publications on CLIL issues (Coyle, Hood, Marsh, 2010; Marsh, 2012; Dale, Tanner, 2012; Llinares, Morton, Whittaker, 2012) prove that CLIL is becoming one of the current approaches at all levels of education. David Marsh, who coined the term (1994), de¿nes CLIL as “a dualfocused educational approach in which an additional1 language is used for the learning and teaching of content and language with the objective of promoting both content and language mastery to pre-de¿ned levels” (Marsh, 2012:ii). In Steve Darn’s opinion “CLIL refers to any dual-focused educational context in which an additional language is used as a medium in the teaching and learning of non-language content. It is an umbrella term covering aspects of: Language Across the Curriculum, Bilingual Education, Contentbased instruction/learning” (Darn, 2012:4). His de¿nition of the approach is virtually identical to Marsh’s, but Darn traces CLIL’s roots to other methods, thus asserting that CLIL has evolved from and assimilated the features of approaches known by “other names”. Additional language: used to refer to any language other than the ¿rst or home language or mother tongue. Teaching Knowledge Test. Content and Language Integrated Learning. TKT: Glossary. 2009. University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. English for Speakers of Other Languages. UCLES, p. 3.

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The authors of research into CLIL issues propound a set of CLIL’s distinctive features: learner-centredness, interactive learning involving problem solving and cognition, higher order thinking skills (HOTS) such as analysis and evaluation, and critical and creative thinking. Most importantly, the 4Cs, the principles and dimensions of CLIL, are set forth: content, cognition, communication and culture in their indivisible unity and coherence. The study by Yen-Ling Teresa Ting (2010:1–19) deserves particular attention, as she writes about CLIL from a dual perspective, as a subject and language teacher, and provides a scienti¿c foundation (being a former medical school instructor of Human Neuroanatomy) for the effective teaching of a subject through a foreign language. She argues, “there can be a very clear link between CLIL and what is known about how the brain processes information and learns” (Yen-Ling, Teresa Ting, 2010:3). David Marsh also believes that there could be promising ¿ndings from studying the positive effects that CLIL makes on brain function and memory development. The authors of the publications mentioned above draw a distinction between language-driven “soft” CLIL and “hard” CLIL, when almost half the curriculum or more is taught in a foreign language. The depth of content specialisation may pose a challenge to the given methodology, which needs discipline-speci¿c adjustments. The principles that material developers should follow are: dif¿cult content requires easy language means and tasks, whereas if the content is easy to understand a CLIL teacher can predominantly focus on language development as well as sharpening higher-order thinking skills (based on the Thinking Taxonomy by American educational psychologist Benjamin S. Bloom). Most of the research deals with CLIL at primary and secondary levels, but there are successful (unsuccessful as well) cases of introducing the approach in tertiary settings provided by CLIL Practice: Perspectives from the Field (2009), edited by David Marsh and Peter Mehisto et al. The recently established ICLHE Association (Integrating Content and Language in Higher Education) also provides a platform for exchange of opinions and research findings in teaching CLIL at tertiary level. The relevant documents and helpful guidelines drawn up by the European Commission, Euro-funded CLIL projects, many specialised networks, The International CLIL Research Journal (ICRJ), Cambridge CLIL publications, online presentations, webinars and other sources create a comprehensive picture of what is happening in the ¿eld, not only in Europe but worldwide as well.

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From ESP To CLIL Russia is no exception. The internationalisation of Russia’s education system in the post-Bologna period and the ensuing paradigm shift towards a competence-based approach caused profound changes both in tertiary education, in general, and teaching foreign languages, in particular. The third generation of competence-based standards introduced by Russia’s Ministry of Higher Education sped up the process of designing new programmes and courses, developing subject-speci¿c materials in English, and reconsidering the language teaching methodology and policy at universities. ESP in Russia has always been content-based. In the past, however, ESP instruction at many higher-education institutions was limited to translating subject-speci¿c texts and learning relevant terminology. Meaningful communication in a foreign language, which would centre round students’ content areas, did not often take place in the ESP classroom. More than a decade ago, the British Council in partnership with the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation carried out a survey, which covered over 5,000 respondents and more than 100 non-linguistic institutions of higher learning. The study resulted in: Baseline Study Report Specialist English Teaching and Learning – The State of the Art in Russia, published by the British Council in 2002. The ¿ndings of the survey were far from optimistic: university English courses did not equip students with adequate communication skills for future work or further study. Many more critical observations concerned obsolete and uninspiring teaching methods, lack of classroom opportunities to use the language meaningfully, a shortage of modern teaching materials, no subject-speci¿c video or audio resources, and so on. There have been noticeable changes for the better since the report was published, and authentic course books in Business English, such as Business Opportunities (1995) by Vicki Hollett, New International Business English (1996) by Leo Jones and Richard Alexander, Business Assignments (1997) by Ken Casler et al., and Market Leader (2000) by David Cotton and David Falvey et al. to mention just a few, contributed much to the development of the approach. Foreign language teaching methodology has evolved too: the ideas of an interdisciplinary approach have been increasingly explored (Chabarova, 2012) and broadly implemented at Russian non-linguistic universities. Extensive research conducted into the problem of ESP teaching since the early 2000s has revealed that the main hindrance to the acquisition of foreign lan-

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guage communicative skills for professional needs was “…the existing discrepancy between the theoretical character of language knowledge received and graduates’ real needs [in the] workplace” (Krasilnikova, 2010:12). A modern approach to ESP teaching in Russia is viewed as “…a content-oriented process based on an aggregate of programmes, methods, techniques, models and facilities providing effective problem solving in a particular content and language integrated activity” (Kashirsky, 2006:1).

CLIL Versus ESP This de¿nition reveals a marked af¿nity between ESP and CLIL features: emphasis on content, an amalgam of subject and language learning, and “higher order thinking” necessitated by problem-solving. Some researchers do not draw a demarcation line between these two approaches (Darn, 2012: 3). Moreover, Neil McBeath (2014: 1) is inclined to view CLIL as “deep level ESP” and suggests that much of what passes for CLIL is, in fact, fairly straightforward good practice, and that ESP practitioners, in particular, have been using this methodology for years.” CLIL (although the term itself, unlike the widespread “interdisciplinary approach” is relatively new to Russian teachers) expands the scope of traditional ESP and makes it more pragmatic and job-oriented. ESP and CLIL have some features in common: both approaches are content-based and require teaching/learning content from non-linguistic areas and their pertaining terminologies, they aim to develop academic and communicative skills, and intercultural competence is essential to both. However, there are some perceptible differences in the above approaches. ESP is language-led and focuses on a foreign language appropriate to professional activities, and the responsibility for teaching it rests with language instructors. Besides, they do not necessarily have to know their students’ subject matter beyond the most general concepts and ¿eld-speci¿c terminology. CLIL practitioners are supposed to teach both content and its linguistic expression simultaneously. Content is given priority and its simpli¿cation is not welcome. Language teachers need to know a great deal more about learners’ areas of study, and subject specialists should have at least B2 language pro¿ciency level. Team teaching is generally considered to be an excellent start in the introduction of CLIL, which presupposes close links between language and non-linguistic (NL) departments in an interdisciplinary approach. In tertiary education, English, as a language of instruction, was introduced in the early 1990s. Initially, lectures in English on core subjects

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lacked any regular pattern, occurred at random and were offered mainly by visiting professors. At the beginning of the 2000s, due in the main to the Bologna process, more and more universities started adopting this form of instruction on a regular basis. However, just delivering lectures in a foreign language, without giving due attention to the latter, is a far cry from CLIL theory and practice. In the present article we use the cases of two Russian universities: Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics (ENGECON), and Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations (MGIMO), to illustrate recent developments in teaching approaches and prove that CLIL guiding principles are ¿nding their way into both of them. The article deals with ways of integrating subject and language competencies in Bachelor’s and Master’s courses at ENGECON, and at Master’s level at MGIMO.

Interdisciplinary Teaching at Engecon: Cooperation Across Departments The ¿rst step towards integrating content and language teaching at Russian non-linguistic universities was to establish close cooperation between content teachers and language instructors. Subject teachers use English as the language of instruction while the English syllabus predominantly draws on students’ ¿eld-speci¿c content. At ENGECON, English teachers initiated the ¿rst empirical research projects in this area, focusing on the issues of foreign language awareness and acquisition. At the same time, they realised that future economists, managers and engineers should acquire and develop skills and competencies necessary for communicating in English with their foreign partners, on a broad range of business matters by correspondence and in personal encounters. This understanding led to establishing closer ties with non-language departments to bring subject content into the English classroom. The content instructors play an important role in the process of designing teaching materials by advising language teachers on what content areas can be taught in English, whereas language instructors can share their professional experience of the teaching methodology. Subject instructors, in their turn, needed assistance in improving their command of a second language and received it from foreign language teachers, who launched crash courses for them. The syllabus was intended as ESP classes, where the participants could not only improve their general

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and subject-speci¿c language skills, but also acquire English for academic purposes (English for CLIL) in order to be able to write and deliver subject content, conduct seminars, and deal with students’ questions as well as becoming more ef¿cient at classroom management. A positive shift in cooperation across university departments brought about new forms of interdisciplinary teaching. The interdisciplinary approach, introduced at ENGECON in various forms of interdepartmental cooperation, is implemented at different stages of education in both Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes for students with “Intermediate” and “Upper Intermediate” levels of English at the faculties of World Economy and International Management. The interdepartmental collaborative efforts manifested themselves in team teaching, interdisciplinary seminars, projects, case-analysis, presentations, conferences and business games in foreign languages. Since “case study” and “project” methodologies have become commonplace in modern teaching, it might be interesting to dwell on some other modes of content and language integrating teaching/learning activities, such as “binary seminars”. Binary/bidirectional seminars The seminars are conducted by both language and subject teachers together, and could be considered as a form of team teaching. At the preparatory stage, the non-language teacher speci¿es topics of discussion for the coming seminar and refers students to the relevant subject sources both in Russian and English. Simultaneously, at the ESP lesson, the language teacher assigns them individual home reading on the same topic with a view to further discussion in the classroom. While preparing for the seminar, the students may approach both teachers with any questions regarding content comprehension or language dif¿culties. Two teachers in one classroom hold a binary seminar on the subject in English; student performance is evaluated and assessed by them in two disciplines concurrently. Individual home reading of professional literature is arranged by subject and here the role of English teachers is signi¿cant as most recent monographs and scienti¿c articles on economics and management are in English; they do not exist in a Russian translation. Reading authentic ¿eld-speci¿c literature broadens students’ knowledge of the subject, enhances their acquisition of the core ideas, and develops their ESP reading strategies. Binary seminars also stimulate students’ interest in professional literature produced in English. The experience of bidirectional teamwork also extends to term papers and projects. Students are required to use primary sources in English when

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producing them, and they must compile short glossaries of professional terms and write an abstract. In this way, learners expand their academic English, build awareness about study methods most suited to their subject areas, and acquire research skills. Then the most successful of them defend their projects in English. This experience is especially bene¿cial for those students who are planning to enroll on a post-graduate course and enables them to participate in international, scienti¿c conferences and projects. Team teaching also instills con¿dence in those subject teachers who do not feel quite comfortable switching to the new forms of instruction, as they can always rely on the assistance of colleagues from language departments. Annual scienti¿c conference Another form of dual-focused approach based on close links between subject and language teachers at ENGECON is the annual scienti¿c conference Youth and Business: In Search of New Ideas held in foreign languages. It is a project that attracts not only undergraduates and postgraduates, but also students from their second year of study. The project facilitates students’ autonomous learning and involves them in research activities, which constitute a signi¿cant part of subject and language education. In the course of preparing and presenting their ¿ndings at the conference, the participants acquire deeper knowledge of the subject, improve their ESP reading, speaking and debating skills, and gain invaluable experience in self-study. Students also learn to use graphic organisers and other forms of verbal information transfer, which is an essential professional skill for future engineers, managers and economists. Furthermore, research work develops students’ cognitive abilities, creativity, self-responsibility and self-management – also of particular merit. To encourage students’ involvement in research and participation in the conferences a number of incentives have been developed: ņ awarding certi¿cates of different ranks (Most Active Participant, Speaker and Best Speaker) to the participants in the conference; ņ adding scores (based on the above certi¿cates) to their academic rating, end-of-term/year mark when assessing students’ language and professional competencies; ņ publishing the best articles in the annual proceedings of the conference (in foreign languages, namely, English, German and French); ņ recommending the best researchers for participation in other scienti¿c contests and forums; ņ admitting the most talented students to Master’s or postgraduate programmes without entrance examinations.

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At the end of the conference, participants are requested to ¿ll out a questionnaire to answer questions regarding their motivation for taking part. In the 2010 event, most participants ticked the option “speaking on professional scienti¿c issues in a foreign language” (64%) and “an opportunity to compare my own ESP speaking skills with those of my peers” (49%). During the conference the presenters were also asked to share their feelings and impressions about the event. Here are some typical responses: “The event stimulates the most inspirational discussion in English”; “participation in the conference is the most rewarding experience of my university life”; and “it develops con¿dence in speaking English on research topics and helps become more competent in doing research.” This positive feedback shows that an opportunity to discuss subjectspeci¿c topics in English is one of the most important stimuli for students to take part in the event. Interdisciplinary simulations and business games Other modes of interdisciplinary teaching at ENGECON are simulations and business games conducted in English. They not only integrate foreign language skills and subject content, but also develop higher-order thinking and communicative competencies, hone students’ analytical skills, and develop their ability to take prompt decisions and ¿nd logical solutions to problems arising in quasi-business situations. Non-language and ESP teachers jointly created a number of interdisciplinary business games and simulations in different subjects with “dualfocused” objectives. They are: Economic System (in Economic Theory), Bruce Willis’ Taxi (in Accounting) and European Route and Tour Sales (in World Economy, International Management, Economics of Transport Industry and Organisational Management). The latter was elaborated in 2000 by ESP and subject teachers of the ¿ve corresponding departments, with the idea of “teaching across the curriculum”. The students were to solve complex problems that required knowledge of several subjects. Moreover, the participants in the game were students of various specialisations with different levels in English. These were from different years of study representing the faculties of Economics and Management in Transport (fourth-year students) and International Management (second-year students). Among those who played the game were also members of the English Speaking Club, which was founded at ENGECON in 1993 and welcomes all students, graduates, postgraduates and even subject teachers who want to improve their English speaking skills. The Club members hold weekly meetings with friends and guests of the club, and they

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communicate exclusively in English. Playing in mixed teams enabled the participants of that game to learn from each other and compare their own performance with other students, which always adds an element of competitiveness to the activity and kindles greater interest. At the preparatory stage of the simulation, the teams were assigned a home task, which was to “set up businesses”, namely, transport companies (three teams) and travel agencies (two teams), to present them to “prospective customers” and advertise their services. During the game, after agencies’ presentations, participants were given new tasks. “Transport companies” were to devise some interesting routes (using computer software called Transport Routes), to sell them later to “travel agencies”, which would offer tours to “tourists” to travel across Europe. At the same time, “travel agencies” were doing market research to choose places of interest to tourists. Next step for the “travel agencies” was to buy the routes and offer the tours to travellers. Individual participants (members of the English Speaking Club) were to form tourist groups (two to ¿ve people) to discuss their interests and agree on the places they would like to visit. After this stage of the game, limited to about 40 minutes, a virtual market was “launched” where the “transport companies” sold their routes to the “travel agencies”, which in their turn wanted to sub-contract the most suitable carriers and sell the tours to buyers wishing to buy the most interesting ones at the lowest price possible. During the course of the game – European Route and Tour Sales – the participants had to demonstrate their language skills and communicative competencies, ability to work in a team, as well as knowledge of subject areas referring to: ņ conducting market research; ņ elaborating interesting and economical routes and tours; ņ quoting prices relevant to the market situation; ņ launching an advertising campaign to raise awareness of the services; ņ attracting prospective customers and generating sales. Besides, the game provides learners with an opportunity to display socio-cultural competence, knowledge of business culture and business ethics, as well as educational drive and impulse for self-development. During the game the performance of the participants is assessed by a panel of experts from both subject and language departments. As followup activities in the subject and ESP lessons, teachers and students discuss, analyse and evaluate the game outcomes and share their reÀections on how this simulation relates to their future jobs.

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Given the above, one can say that close interdisciplinary links and interactive activities are de¿nitely more effective at training students for employability and ensure a more relevant, stimulating and less fragmented learning experience. Micro-modular teaching Another impetus for closer cooperation between content and language instructors in integrated teaching was the introduction of CLIL lectures. Transition to teaching with English and through English is not easy. In the ¿rst place, not all students are able to grasp the content of the lectures, or are clear about some subject-speci¿c terminology. At non-linguistic universities (and ENGECON is one of them), there are many students who have a poor command of English, or studied foreign languages other than English at school, and lectures in subject courses are predominantly delivered in English. Attendance is compulsory for every student because lectures in English are embedded in the curriculum. This situation gave rise to a new idea about how to overcome problems of this kind. In 2008, a team of ESP and subject teachers experimented by designing and delivering a micro-module of several CLIL lectures on process management. The module was extra-curricular and all the students interested in the problem could attend the lectures irrespective of their specialisation. They had to apply in advance so that the teachers could offer some preparatory lessons and provide learners with materials such as lists of subject-speci¿c terms, English texts on the essentials of the subject, as well as references to relevant Russian and English literature. Subject and language teachers delivered the lectures in an interactive mode. While the subject teacher was lecturing, the ESP teacher assisted in explaining those parts of the lecture that were dif¿cult to grasp in English. The language teacher also helped with arranging students’ work in microgroups. Most of them had studied the previously assigned sources and were ready to participate actively in micro-group discussions and debates. After the ¿rst lecture, a survey was conducted showing that the overwhelming majority of students were satis¿ed both with the lecture and the teaching mode.They also evinced keen interest in the subject matter, which captured and held their attention throughout the lecture and expressed the hope that this form of instruction would continue on a regular basis. The ENGECON experiment revealed that at non-linguistic universities it is more reasonable to exclude CLIL lectures from the core curriculum and substitute them for elective micro-modules. At present the former are extracurricular and aim to broaden students’ knowledge of core subjects taught in

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Russian. Teaching specialist vocabulary and technical terms to obviate language dif¿culties normally precedes the micro-modules. Task differentiation for students with different pro¿ciency levels in English serves the same end. Each modular course comprises a system of micro-modules covering the most challenging research topics in non-language disciplines. Various departments design the English modules, and motivated students can attend them in connection with their research interests, regardless of their ¿eld of study. Every student can choose a set (sets) of modules in English in addition to those in Russian, which are compulsory. Students are informed in due course about the dates of launching the modules and have time to make their choices. This approach enables students to pursue their individual learning path, makes them more responsible for the learning outcomes, and facilitates their intellectual development and personal growth. Students’ progress in acquiring subject and language competencies also wins them additional scores in academic ratings.

MGIMO Speci¿cs The situation at MGIMO differs to some extent from that in ENGECON. Although MGIMO is a non-linguistic university, it attaches due importance to teaching foreign languages (more than ¿fty in all). It is viewed as part and parcel of overall education, which enables MGIMO graduates to work in various spheres of international activities. As internationalisation is its key strategy, foreign language teaching runs parallel to subject instruction throughout Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes. A foreign language is considered a second major, which is written in diplomas awarded to MGIMO graduates. Moreover, a few years ago the University launched a Master’s programme in Linguistics to train simultaneous interpreters for international organisations, an initiative that proves the high status of foreign languages at MGIMO and distinguishes it from most of the Russian non-language universities. Knowledge of foreign languages (two, or even three) is its graduates’ competitive edge in the employment market. According to the classi¿cation of CLIL curricular variations (Coyle, Hood, Marsh, 2010:24–25), the one used at MGIMO looks like a combination of Model C1 (Plurilingual education) and Model C2 (Adjunct CLIL). A Master’s course normally lasts three terms, with six contact hours of English a week, but these hours are not spread evenly and their number varies depending on students’ ¿elds of specialisation. Some students have an opportunity to study abroad for one term, where instruction is carried out in English. At MGIMO selected courses are delivered in foreign languages,

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either in the framework of joint programmes with a number of European universities, or by visiting professors invited to teach a separate course module. Upon completion of these programmes, students get a joint degree from MGIMO and its partner universities, in our case from: Norway (International Business in the Oil and Gas Sector); France (International Executives, Master in International Management); and Great Britain (Sustainable Development and Strategic Management in Energy Sector). Besides, many subject instructors at MGIMO have a high pro¿ciency level in foreign languages, which enables them to use teaching/learning materials in languages other than Russian, and a number of language teachers are MGIMO graduates who have vast knowledge of the content subjects taught at the university. At English Language Department #4, af¿liated with the School of International Business and Business Administration, all those who teach more subject-speci¿c content are either holders of degrees in economics, or are working towards PhDs in management or economics; some have extensive work experience as translators or interpreters in relevant ¿elds. These teachers constitute about 20 percent of the department’s staff and are familiar with legal, ¿nancial and business English. Although they were not initially trained in methodology, as soon as they join the department they are provided with various forms of on-the job and off-the-job training, not only in foreign language teaching methodologies, but also in pedagogy and educational psychology. Their knowledge of students’ ¿elds of specialisation plays a key role in selecting and designing ESP/ CLIL materials. Members of the department endeavour to keep abreast of the latest developments in foreign language teaching methodology. They are entrusted with teaching English to the groups of learners enrolled on the following Master’s programmes: MIEX (International Executives, Master in International Management); International Business in the Oil and Gas Sector; Sustainable Development and Strategic Management in the Energy Sector; State and Private Partnership within the programme International Business; Sociology of Managing Innovative Development. The main objective of each of the above Master’s programmes is to train future international business leaders, with management being one of the core modules. The curriculum covers many areas of business administration and management at an international level and research in the ¿eld of international business. The programme aims to develop participants’ ability to take innovative management decisions and to do assigned project work with a high degree of autonomy and responsibility. The English course is designed with the objective of teaching students to meet the operational

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needs of companies in the internationalisation of markets. It is worth mentioning that those who apply for a Master’s course are not necessarily holders of Bachelor’s degrees in management; their academic backgrounds are different: many specialised in law, journalism, international relations, international economics, architecture, and other ¿elds, seemingly far removed from management. Some gained Bachelor’s diplomas from universities abroad. More often than not, learners’ pro¿ciency in English varies signi¿cantly too, while the target is C1 level. These objectives seem attainable provided learners have Cognitive Academic Language Pro¿ciency (CALP), the language development needed for studying curricular subjects, which, inter alia, encompasses the ability to justify opinions, interpret evidence, understand lectures and write essays in English.

Competence-Based Approach Launching a new Master’s course poses many challenges to language teachers. Some English curricula need designing from scratch. The aim of each syllabus is twofold: to provide appropriate foreign language training in learners’ professional ¿elds of study, and to prepare students through CLIL for future work and further studies involving a wide range of competencies. Prior to designing a language syllabus tailor-made for either of the ¿ve Master’s programmes, English teachers consult closely with the programme leader from the corresponding non-language department about what content areas should be included in the English syllabus. Sometimes NL departments supply language teachers with subject-speci¿c texts or a corresponding thesaurus. It does not mean that students are taught content already covered in core subjects, but if expedient this could be extemporised and done for the sake of revision and extension. Neither do language teachers encroach on the territory of their colleagues’ teaching disciplines, which require highly specialised knowledge. Before recently switching to a competence approach, every MGIMO department compiled a “competence pro¿le” for MGIMO graduates that encompassed generic (research ability, teamwork, management ability, problem solving, creativity, communication skills, communication of information) and subject-speci¿c knowledge, skills and competencies, based on the TUNING Guide1, which, among other things, includes instrumental, interpersonal and systemic competencies. 1 Competences in Education and Recognition Project (CoRe). A Tuning Guide to Formulating Degree Programme Pro¿les, Jenneke Lokhoff and Bas Wegewijs (Nuf¿c), Katja Durkin (UK NARIC) et al., Bilbao, Groningen and The Hague, 2010, p. 39.

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The transition to a competence-based curriculum led to the understanding that both subject and language teachers have many educational objectives in common: the development of students’ creativity, analytical and critical thinking, IT skills, cross-cultural communication awareness, soft skills and autonomous learning, to name just a few. Some of these skills and competencies are transferable, and needed for both language and content learning. Most of these objectives seem attainable: at Master’s level, English ceases to be solely a target foreign language and becomes a powerful tool for broadening students’ knowledge in their chosen area of study.

Course Description The English course in question comprises two modules: (1) ESP InDepth: English for Management and Finance Studies; (2) Speech Practice (business communication and management). The teaching/learning materials aim to hone learners’ English communicative competence in core subject areas. Professional language is given priority in the ¿rst module, whereas Speech Practice focuses mainly on discursive and socio-cultural aspects of communication in English. As the number of English contact hours varies depending on programme differences, students doing Masters in the oil and gas industry study two additional modules: Intercultural Communication (predominantly between Russians and Norwegians) and Translation of Field-Speci¿c Terminology, which pertains to oil and gas exploration, oil extraction and the equipment used on derricks and pipelines. Besides the authentic course books and the teaching materials designed in the department, the teachers regularly use publications from reputable English and American sources, relevant blogs, videos and other resources to expose students to the latest developments in their subject areas, to recycle the ¿eld-speci¿c language (learning lexis is not a linear but a spiral process) and to familiarise them with new terminology. Whenever possible, language teachers draw on students’ knowledge of the core subjects, which facilitates dual learning. As mentioned above, students’ groups are not homogeneous with learners having gained Bachelors’ degrees in various ¿elds of specialisation. This circumstance may be an advantage: the same problem could be discussed from different perspectives. For example, one of the acute problems studied – Corruption in business and anti-corruption drive in Russia – is viewed from sociological, legal, economic and ethical angles. As a rule, this discussion format raises students’ interest and stimulates their

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deeper involvement; they learn a lot not just from books and their teachers, but from their peers, too. Learner motivation is also increased through the direct relevance of the material to students’ English language needs in the work place. Professional competence in a foreign language integrates linguistic, communicative and socio-cultural components. The linguistic aspect includes the knowledge of specialist vocabulary, major concepts of students’ ¿elds of study, words with no direct equivalents in English or culture-speci¿c lexis, high-frequency words and speci¿c grammar structures typical of texts in students’ content subjects. Each unit of both modules has a “Language Focus” section; lexis consolidation takes place as topics are covered, and new collocations, idioms, synonyms and antonyms are unveiled. As follows from the above, the expansion of learners’ active linguistic repertoire runs parallel to content learning; all kinds of sentence transformation, periphrasis, gap-¿lling, matching, translation and other types of vocabularybuilding exercises and tasks serve this purpose. Close reading of texts in the professional ¿eld is not limited to vocabulary exercises or bilingual translation; it often entails a thorough text analysis, which fosters students’ discourse awareness and enhances their ability to process information in depth. Various forms of free discussion, topical presentations, case studies, and surveys of the best practices of leading foreign and Russian companies are also included, and all these classroom activities enrich learners’ knowledge in their chosen ¿eld of study and expose them to ways of doing business elsewhere. The study of speci¿c areas like “The concept of open innovations”, “The strategies of the stock market: Scalping, momentum and swing trading”, “Dou dogs”, “Bulls or bears market”, “Six sigma” and some others testi¿es to the process of integration of learners’ subject and language competencies. While the module ESP In-Depth is, for the most part, content-driven, and, with some stretching, could be described as “hard CLIL”, the other one – Speech Practice (business communication and management) – aims to develop generic competencies and focuses on the language of management, which, due to disciplinary differences, is less technical and speci¿c than that of banking, ¿nance or stock markets. The materials developed for this module encompass such areas as time and knowledge management, leadership, team building, soft skills, business ethics, corporate social responsibility, womenomics, digital business and others. In the course of study, future specialists acquire the knowledge and necessary skills, in the ¿rst place, to perform organisational and managerial

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functions in those situations where they have to use English. In this module priority is given to communicative competence (oral and written), and the prevailing task-based approach establishes links between language learning and its application in students’ future work. The Speech Practice (business communication and management) module includes inter alia the sections “Business Skills” and “Get Real”, suggesting “real-life” tasks and topics for essays or oral presentations: 1. As a risk manager, calculate the external risks your company may face when entering a new (de¿nite) market. 2. How are you going to motivate and retain young talent? 3. Write a code of ethical behaviour for your employees. 4. Study the experience of some leading companies and make a presentation on the topic: “Corporate social responsibility”. 5. Build up an effective team (using the Belbin table) to solve some (de¿nite) problem in the company. The socio-cultural component of language competence is also given due attention in the English Master’s course. It encompasses types of cultures in their relation to time (polychronic and monochronic cultures; past, present and future-oriented societies) and high and low-context cultures. The students analyse critical incidents caused by misunderstanding arising from cultural differences and discuss expert recommendations on doing business with representatives of various countries, and make presentations on the speci¿cs of cross-cultural business communication. Tasks like “Make a presentation on how this information could affect your marketing strategy, advertising policy and other business activities. In preparation use your core subject knowledge” aim to integrate content and socio-cultural competencies. Socio-cultural competence is indispensable for a person working in the international environment as social and business encounters involve people from different cultures in their speci¿c capacities and speci¿c situations. Cross-cultural communication skills are sharpened through role-plays, simulations, and analysis of “conÀict situations”, which may arise due to cultural differences. According to Dublin’s descriptors, a Master’s cycle necessitates the development of students’ research skills, which involves the ability to formulate problems, tasks and research objectives, the choice of adequate methods, and drawing up a plan of work. Competence in research implies data analysis and synthesis (higher order thinking skills), presentation of ¿ndings in the form of reports, reviews, articles and essays written in conformity with the requirements of a given genre.

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Apart from the content language, the students build up terminology pertaining to research1 in their ¿eld of study and review scienti¿c texts in their areas of study. As the outcome of one of the projects, students prepared reviews of the latest publications in English on the topics of their Master’s dissertations; the surveys were handed over to the department of Management and Marketing to be added to the departmental database of primary sources.

Conferences, Projects and Role Plays Content and language integration at a Master’s level is implemented in such forms as students’ conferences, held in English and jointly organised by the English and NL departments – Management Across Companies; Creating a Better Future Through Innovation being the latest. Students’ presentations included a whole array of topics based on innovative publications in their own ¿eld of specialisation: BrainÀuence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing, We Think: the Power of Mass Creativity, Innovative Outsourcing Practices, The Knowledge-Based Economy: Modeled, Measured, Simulated, etc. In the course of students’ preparation for a conference, subject teachers evaluate the content of reports, while language teachers assess students’ language skills: accuracy and a variety of structures used; appropriacy and register as well as presentation skills using parameters like cohesive devices, signposting, effective beginning and ending, visuals, body language, dealing with questions and others. Case studies, business games, role-plays, panel discussions, simulations, brainstorming and other interactive ways of teaching/learning pursue a multiple goal: to enrich content, develop cognition, and enhance cross-cultural and communication skills in line with CLIL principles. Every year, students present a group project, which necessitates working outside the scope of regular contact hours, autonomous research, teamwork, timing and planning. Projects could deal with cross-cultural communication:“Write a guidebook for MGIMO students, who are going to do MBA in Great Britain”; or ecological issues:“Draw up a business plan to eliminate the dump near Moscow. Research the latest recycling technologies”. Students can also brainstorm some important topics and choose the one they agree on. 1 Research methods can vary across disciplines, e.g., a questionnaire, an interview, a survey, participative enquiry, participant observation prevail in Sociology or qualitative, quantitative and longitudinal studies – in Management.

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At the end of the Master’s course, the students participate in roleplay based on episodes from the ¿lm Other people’s money. The episode, “Shareholders’ meeting”, enables students to display both their disciplinary knowledge and discursive competencies in English: the outcome of “the meeting” and “shareholders’ voting” depends on the participants’ command of functional English and debating skills, and on their ability to persuade the audience using convincing arguments based on deep subject knowledge and effective presentation skills. The group’s capstone project, “Setting up a company”, synthesises discipline and language knowledge; it is the students’ collaboration (they get a group mark for it and are working towards a common goal) that crowns the English course. Learners are free to choose a type of company (production or service) and a project manager. They are supposed to write a business plan and prepare all the necessary documentation “to get the company registered”. Students make a Power Point presentation of their project and submit its hard copy (about 15–20 pages) for marking.

Assessment Apart from the group project and the role-play, summative assessment includes three written tests: listening, translation and an essay. The listening test is BEC Higher, which corresponds to C1 of the Council of Europe Framework Level; text translation tests learners’ knowledge of content, structures and ¿eld-speci¿c terminology, as well as equivalents in the mother tongue. An essay is also discipline-driven and to gain a good mark it needs to ful¿ll the following criteria: adequate task response, richness of lexical resources, coherence and cohesion, grammatical range and accuracy. The oral exam includes reading, mind mapping and a presentation of a subject-speci¿c text (700–750 words). The skills tested are: reading comprehension, ability to structure information, knowing the difference between a fact and an opinion, and between the main and supporting facts. Additional questions (3–4), connected with the topic of an article, serve to assess students’ background knowledge of various aspects of economic (or other) situations in Russia, Great Britain, the USA and elsewhere. Sight translation of a text from English into Russian aims at testing translation skills and knowledge of the relevant terminology. A short (2 min.) spontaneous talk on a given economic topic tests content knowledge and presentation skills. Finally, students dwell on the subject of their prospective Master’s thesis, its objectives and rationale, topicality, applied research methods, and overview of a preliminary bibliography of resources.

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Throughout the English course students build up a portfolio of written papers (which is a part of formal assessment) to monitor their own progress in various genres of business writing: memos, reports, proposals, contracts, codes of ethics, CVs and others. Each unit of the English course book includes a section called ReÀection Spot, which contains questions like:“Did you ¿nd this Unit useful and relevant to your future occupation? If so, in what way? What competencies did it help you develop?” Students’ comments provide useful feedback for the authors and help improve the quality of the teaching materials. Thus, pro¿ciency in English for professional needs is the result of a competence-based syllabus and close cooperation between content and language teachers. The approach to teaching content and English to the participants in the Master’s programmes and CLIL-style instruction have much in common, although CLIL practices can vary subject to educational settings, learning objectives and disciplinary differences. The programmes include: MIEX (International Executives, Master in International Management); International Business in the Oil and Gas Sector; Sustainable Development and Strategic Management in Energy Sector; State and Private Partnership within the programme International Business; and Sociology of Managing Innovative Development. Given the above, it could be concluded that the ¿rst steps towards complementary content and language teaching and introducing some CLIL principles in this particular case have been made.

Conclusions In this article, we have presented two showcases (ENGECON and MGIMO) to exemplify steps taken towards integrated teaching/learning of content and language at these universities. The process of transition is neither quick nor easy as it requires close links between language and nonlanguage departments and their joint efforts to design a CLIL curriculum. There are inherent organisational dif¿culties too, as designing a syllabus and writing material is time-consuming, and is invariably done in addition to, and on top of, a usually heavy teaching load. Nonetheless, both cases signify a movement towards introducing CLIL. CLIL methodology is implemented at both universities in different forms such as lectures, team teaching, binary seminars, project presentations and scienti¿c conferences, and business games and simulations held in English. 1. Introducing some CLIL principles at MGIMO and ENGECON had a bene¿cial effect on both subject and language teachers. The former

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faced the problem of upgrading their knowledge of subject-speci¿c terminology and developing communicative skills necessary for launching lectures and conducting seminars in English. And the latter increased their awareness of the content areas on which ESP teaching materials are based. They have also signi¿cantly expanded the repertoire of classroom activities and devised tasks with students’ ¿elds of study in mind, and incorporated these in the course books. All these turned out bene¿cial for learners and contributed to teachers’ professional growth. 2. Transition to a competence-based approach and its implementation at MGIMO signi¿cantly expands the range of subject-speci¿c and language competencies acquired by students, including culture, communication, cognition and other dimensions, which ful¿ll CLIL principles. Many competencies taught in the language classroom are transferable; they can be easily applied to other content areas, which is another argument in favour of the CLIL way. 3. A dual-focused approach, being pragmatic, helps learners span the breach between classroom activities and real-life needs in their chosen ¿eld, which makes learning more meaningful and motivating. 4. The methodological principles such as learner-centredness and learner autonomy, as well as students’ reÀection on the teaching materials and their feedback, help establish an equal partnership with teachers and raise students’ responsibility for their own academic achievements. Group projects and joint work beyond regular contact hours also contribute to fostering students’ interpersonal, leadership and time-management skills, which are very useful for any professional. CLIL variations also prove that there is no such thing as “one size ¿ts all”. CLIL practices seem to be running ahead of the theory, which still needs further elaboration before we can move further and implement CLIL principles on a larger scale in Russia.

References Chabarova, A. K. Formation of specialists’ content and language integrated competence in bilingual education. Tambov, 2012. Kashirsky, S. N. Problem-modular content design in content and language integrated training of radio engineers. Voronez, 2006. Krasilnikova, E. V. Formation of linguistic and professional integrated competence of future tourist guides. Yaroslavl, 2010. Coyle, Do, Hood, Philip and Marsh, David. CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. Cambridge University Press, 2010.

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Dale, Liz & Tanner, Rosie. CLIL Activities: A Resource Book for Subject and Language Teachers. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Darn, Steve. CLIL: Content and Language Integrated Learning. 2012. http://www.stevedarn.com/PowerPoints Deller, Sheelagh & Price, Christine (series ed. Alan Maley). Teaching Other Subjects Through English (Resource Book for Teachers). Oxford University Press, 2007. “Dublin Descriptors: Quali¿cations that signify completion of the higher education short cycle.” 2004. tcd.ie/teaching-learning/academic-development/assets/pdf/dublin_descriptors.pdf Llinares, Ana, Morton, Tom & Whittaker, Rachel. The Role of Language in CLIL. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Marsh, David. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). A Development Trajectory, University of Cɭrdoba, 2012. www.uco.es/publicaciones McBeath, Neil. CLIL, or Deep Level ESP? 2014. http://www.developingteachers.com/articles_tchtraining/clil1_neil.htm Yen-Ling, Teresa Ting. “CLIL Appeals to How the Brain Likes Its Information: Examples from CLIL-(Neuro)Science).” International CLIL Research Journal 1, no. 3 (2010): 1–19. http://www.icrj.eu/13/article1. html

CHAPTER 12 FROM BACHELOR‫ތ‬S TO MASTER‫ތ‬S: SUGGESTIONS FOR COURSE AND MATERIALS DESIGN ELENA B. YASTREBOVA, DMITRY A. KRYACHKOV

Introduction In the olden days of Russian (Soviet) university education (some might even say golden days), it took students ¿ve years to become fully quali¿ed specialists. For two to four of these ¿ve years, students diligently or not so diligently studied an FL, but if they majored in linguistics or trained to be FL teachers, it was a ¿ve-year endeavour. The idea of becoming a Bachelor in four years or Master in six was entirely alien to a Russian university graduate a mere decade ago. However, with Russia joining the Bologna process in 2003, a two-stage university education became a reality practically overnight, although ¿rst attempts to introduce a two-tier higher education had been made in the early 1990s (Government Decision on Higher Education of 13 March, 1992). Understandably, it involved a major overhaul of the curriculum, including developing programmes for FL studies consistent with the new reality. Naturally, continuity of education and transition from Bachelor‫ތ‬s to Master‫ތ‬s programmes became one of the issues. This chapter looks at a possible way of ensuring a "gentle leap", which is based on a “continuum” model of developing communicative competence of Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s students in an ESP course for non-language majors. The model has been developed and is being introduced into practice at MGIMO University (Moscow) for students of international relations.

The Bigger Picture Back in the USSR, every respectable city could boast at least two higher education establishments, called institutes: one being technical/agricultural

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and the other involved with teacher training. Universities belonged to large cities and capitals of republics. Whatever the establishment, the curriculum at tertiary level invariably included an FL course, be it English, German or French. In the late 1980s, there were around 900 higher-education establishments in 350 cities (Higher Education, 1990:12). Today’s market economy has seen to it that the number of public institutes has decreased: in 2012, out of 1,046 higher-education institutions and their 2,100 branches, there were only 609 public and municipal establishments (http://www.gks.ru/bgd/regl/b13_13/ IssWWW.exe/Stg/d1/07–47.htm). Most survivors received the status of university, a certain degree of autonomy from the Ministry of Education and a different funding pattern, which is a combination of the state’s direct investments and cash Àowing from fee-paying students. Given a squeeze on public funding for university education, FL courses are in a precarious position: whenever it comes to cutting down expenses, they are the ¿rst in line to suffer in terms of their place in the curriculum, and it affects their status (obligatory or optional), duration (two, three or four years) and the number of contact hours per week. Some might be happy to do away with FL altogether, but happily long-established traditions die hard, and FL as an obligatory subject at tertiary level survives, albeit in an abridged version. Traditionally, FL courses at Russian (formerly Soviet) “non-linguistic” universities (in which a foreign language is not a major) provided students with skills deemed necessary for their future work in a situation when communication mostly meant reading professionally relevant texts and, in more advanced cases, making presentations about one’s research. So, they primarily focused on teaching a foreign language for speci¿c and rather narrow purposes. The balance between LGP and LSP at technical universities has always been in favour of the latter, while in TT the situation has been the reverse, as the former seems to be professionally relevant for would-be teachers. However, no matter how little real communication a graduate could hope for, the best institutes and teachers did what they could to develop activities mostly in extra-curricular mode, which later came to be known as best practices within communicative and, subsequently, competence-based approaches. Among these were student scienti¿c conferences, English/German etc. “clubs” (with plays and sketches staged, various contests organised), and the culmination for the chosen few: defence of one’s graduation thesis/paper in an FL. With FL as a major ¿eld of study, the focus was different and not so “lopsided”, although language skills tended to prevail over communicative ones, for real communication was also remarkably scarce. What’s more, graduates, who could easily and enthusiastically discuss highbrow topics, were singularly

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helpless when it came to managing common, everyday matters in an FL. It is remarkable that in both cases LAP was conspicuously absent, remaining until the early 2000s an “unwanted land”, one of no practical relevance to FL education at home and, given the situation, to little academic mobility abroad. At the same time, with certain universities like MGIMO, which have a well-established reputation for training specialists for various internationally oriented careers, the situation has always been different: language education focused for obvious reasons on developing communicative skills; but language for academic purposes was no more part of the curriculum than in other universities. However, MGIMO graduates, having had four to ¿ve years of instruction in two, sometimes three, FLs left their alma mater with much better skills suited to the practical needs of their profession than was the case with many other universities. The shift to a new education paradigm at tertiary level in Russia is ¿rmly associated with the Bologna process, although this was not the situation in MGIMO where Master‫ތ‬s programmes were offered in cooperation with Sciences Po University as early as the 1990s. Still, on the whole, introducing two stages (Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s, the former for quite a while coexisting with a ¿ve-year education culminating in a “specialist” diploma), spelled serious changes in the structure and content of university courses, which, naturally, involved FL as well. This presented new challenges to FL teachers in terms of curriculum, course and materials design. At the nascent stage of the new education reality, providing for an FL course at Master‫ތ‬s level resembled operating in a state of emergency. So, creating Master‫ތ‬s programmes and teaching materials satisfying at least the immediate needs of prospective students in a totally new format in a short period of time left no alternative other than “borrowing” from materials and activities previously meant for the last year of FL studies. Obviously at this “survival” stage no question of “smooth transition” was raised. It took a few years to get down to de¿ning the identities of the new arrivals: Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s in FL studies.

Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s: Spot the Difference The hasty restructuring of Russian higher education and the longstanding traditions of a ¿ve-year university programme led to a rather unexpected reaction on the part of the public at large, students and employers in particular. Although the Federal Law on education explicitly states that Bachelor‫ތ‬s degrees are higher education quali¿cations (http:// www.rg.ru/2012/12/30/obrazovanie-dok.html), they are frequently looked

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down on as an incomplete university education. Finding a job for a Bachelor is not always easy (see, for instance, Sokolova, 2014; Bondarenko, 2013); the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for one, will not normally consider an application by a holder of a Bachelor‫ތ‬s degree in IR unless an applicant possesses unique quali¿cations such as a good command of a rare language. As a Master‫ތ‬s degree holds the promise of better employability and attractive career prospects (Katashinskih, 2013), more and more ¿rst degree holders pursue graduate programmes, which slowly but surely turn MA degrees into “entry-level credential for many careers” (Foote et al., 2012). Although an MA programme seems just a few easy steps away from the undergraduate course, the differences between the two are noticeable, and those are bound to have an impact on how universities deliver programmes. To begin with, more students pursuing Master‫ތ‬s degrees are fee paying. Tuition fees for graduate programmes at MGIMO University, for instance, are fairly high by Russian standards. Some students are supported by parents, while many work to cover the expenses. What’s more, for many it is a kind of stepping stone to building their career. Having a job, part or fulltime, often related to the chosen ¿eld of study1 is quite common, and combining it with a Master‫ތ‬s degree is obviously quite a challenge. It is only to be expected that graduate students have heightened expectations about the relevance of the content and quality of education they receive and are more committed and motivated. Master students come from all walks of university life. This is another difference that distinguishes them from undergraduates, who are mostly school-leavers, whose choice of university and department is dictated either by pragmatic considerations (“Given my grades I can/can’t make it”), by aspirations, sometimes of a romantic nature with no clear idea of what comes after the university of their choice and, more often than not, by the parents, who have a big say in Russian students’ academic lives (see also Chapter 7). With Master‫ތ‬s students the situation is different. The choice, sometimes involving a dramatic change in career trajectory, is usually made responsibly and independently, with consequences well thought out2. This maturity, along with the fact that Master‫ތ‬s students have had a different learning experience and patterns of academic relations and cooperation at university, also has a direct bearing on teaching and learning. According to Russia-wide research conducted in 2009 and 2011, out of 45% of graduate students who work, 65% work in their ¿elds (Bondarenko, 2013). 2 For some of the factors affecting the choice of a graduate degree in Russia, see, for instance, Katashinskih, 2013; Filippova, Kamaldinova, 2011; Kobyshcha, 2011.

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Another feature that makes these categories of students different is graduates’ on-going or future research projects. Unlike Bachelors, whose research activities at most Russian universities are rather limited and are usually con¿ned to various reports and the ¿nal library-research paper (though exceptions do exist), Masters are expected to engage in “real” research and submit a thesis. To be able to cope with this task ef¿ciently, or prepare for a PhD course, very often taken at a foreign university, many of them need a certain level of pro¿ciency in FL for academic purposes (see needs analysis below). More importantly, by the time students enroll in a Master‫ތ‬s programme, they themselves change as they enter what came to be called young or emerging adulthood (Bastable, Dart, 2011; Arnett, 2000). Unlike most undergraduates, particularly in their ¿rst years in college, young adults have accumulated a wealth of learning and some a considerable amount of professional experience, be it in the chosen ¿eld of study or elsewhere; they feel more independent and ready to take charge of their learning; they are conscious of their learning needs and expect the course they take to bene¿t their career; young adults are internally motivated and want knowledge and skills to be practical and relevant, in order to apply knowledge and skills here and now rather than in some abstract future. The features of young adults’ learning include: 1. learning is voluntary and self-initiated, 2. learning is person-centered and problem-centered, 3. information and assignments must be pertinent, 4. the learner is able to participate actively in the learning process, 5. the learner is able to study in a group collaborating with peers, 6. the nature of the learning activity changes frequently, 7. learning is reinforced by application and prompt feedback, 8. the role of the teacher is one of facilitator (adapted from Bastable, Dart, 2011). All of the above have important implications for FLT, in general, and Master‫ތ‬s course design, in particular. 1. The voluntary and (more) conscious choice of the educational trajectory as well as the general characteristics of the learner at this stage speak in favour of the need to give particular focus to profession-oriented1 content of a language course both in terms of subject matter and skills. Profession-related, in our opinion, is an appropriate term/phrase to describe subject matter IR students study in the ¿rst and second years, while professionoriented refers to the studies of senior students.

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Graduate students tend to have greater expertise than Bachelor‫ތ‬s students and, for that matter, most teachers (unless teaching is done as part of a CLIL approach). 2. The course content is to be directly related to a speci¿c ESP identity. 3. To make sure ESP pro¿le elements are professionally relevant, the course is to be based on a needs analysis, which should involve all stakeholders in the process – students, ESL teachers, graduates, experts, and so on. 4. Given the greater degree of independence and intrinsic motivation of graduate students, learner autonomy is to be promoted at all times both as a tool to enhance learning and a way to prepare students for life-long learning. 5. As graduate students are ready to take ownership of their learning, a student-teacher partnership in shaping the course is to be developed as an effective way of enhancing students’ engagement and fostering reÀective learning. 6. Such a partnership inevitably entails shared responsibility for the educational results, which develops students’ understanding of the learning objectives and, therefore, may contribute to their achievement. 7. Problem solving and collaborative work opportunities are to be encouraged at all levels to sustain motivation and achieve synergistic effects in developing critical thinking, communication and language skills. 8. As graduate students may come from various educational backgrounds and, thus, different ESPs with varying levels of EGP pro¿ciency, transition courses aimed at student adaptation are to be an integral part of ESL graduate courses. As professional relevance in an educational environment appears to be a key word in de¿ning Bachelors’ and Masters’ identities, it is only timely now to have a closer look at a particular ESP identity, namely ESP in IR.

In Search of ESP Identity: International Relations Quite naturally “the identity” of an FL studied at university level is de¿ned by its profession-oriented component. More often than not university FL teachers complain about a particular ESP being very speci¿c, “narrow”, which implies learning vocabulary and dealing with texts nobody else can understand. Indeed, a law student (and their ESP teacher, too) is unlikely to feel comfortable with an article or a presentation on microbiology or aircraft engineering. The identity of ESP for students of international relations (IR), which we focus on here, appears, however, to be far more dif¿cult to de¿ne than those

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mentioned for the opposite reason. Given that ESP is, above all, related to a particular professional domain, even a cursory look at what constitutes IR makes it glaringly obvious why ESP for IR de¿es de¿nition. If perceived broadly as “interactions among the various actors that participate in international politics, including states, international organisations, nongovernmental organisations, subnational entities, and individuals” (Essential, 2010), IR comes to comprise a myriad of aspects from culture and history to law and economics. This is borne out by numerous IR glossaries and dictionaries of key concepts pertaining to this fuzzy domain – “balance of payments”, “bargaining power”, “deterrence” and “ICBM” are just a few examples of those strange bedfellows. Thus, apart from core issues directly related to IR/ diplomacy (negotiations, conÀict resolution, etc.), professionals in IR need a profound knowledge of many disciplines combined with a host of professionally relevant skills and abilities, a mix more appropriate for a Jack of all trades, which is quite often the case with junior diplomats starting a career in the international arena. In terms of the language and language teaching, this eclectic jumble of aspects translates into a headache for the course designer. How can all this (see Figure 12.1) be squeezed into an English course? Fig. 12.1. Components of IR ESP identity

There seem to be at least two ways of handling the situation. It is theoretically possible to try and cover the highest possible number of Englishes, perceived as necessary for an IR specialist, in the course. However, this is not just an uphill task, but also one that is likely to result in dissatisfaction and frustration and is, therefore, doomed to failure. It is

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hardly possible to weigh the importance of each variety to be included in the course, which allows for a certain degree of arbitrariness. An ESP teacher cannot be expected to have in-depth knowledge of all those domains1, and a collaborative effort involving both ESP and subject teachers may not produce the desired effect, among other things because of time constraints. Alternatively, and in our view more effectively, one can focus on “target needs” (Hutchinson, Waters, 1987), i.e., speci¿c skills appropriate to speci¿c activities learners will carry out using English in their profession, rather than the content (subject matter and the language). In no case, however, does it mean that the latter are neglected. They simply do not play the leading role in determining the content of the course. The crucial question, then, is where the understanding of “target needs” comes from. Obviously, ¿rst of all, from the teacher. We (teachers) do tend to think we know better and we transform what we think students need into educational aims in compliance with directives from educational authorities. Our perceptions may be based on extensive experience of teaching this particular ESP and advice from our colleagues who are specialists on the subject matter. Some ideas may spring from our own experience of working in IR or from IR experts’ suggestions. What’s more, we can actually ask our students what their needs are and take the answers into account, no matter whether they are well thought out or not. A far more controversial question about students’ de¿ning their needs is whether students really know them. The results of a survey conducted in 2009 by one of the authors revealed a rather alarming discrepancy between students’ (and teachers’) perception of skills particularly important for future work and those of graduates with two or more years of work experience. Fifty students (out of 92 polled) were in the third and fourth year of the undergraduate programme, taking an ESP course, the teachers (26) had taught ESP for more than two years and we managed to contact 18 alumni working in IR. It appeared that 75% of students and the same percentage of teachers thought speaking skills to be the most important, with writing skills at the bottom of the list for both the students (13%) and the teachers (30%). In contrast, the graduates deemed reading and writing skills to be the most useful (~78% of all the respondents) (Yastrebova, 2012:15–19). This is partially in line with Crocker’s view on the role of the ESP teacher as a learning facilitator rather than content provider (Crocker, 1981), although we do not share his ideas about who is responsible for materials preparation – our Department’s experience shows that ESP teachers are fully capable of taking charge of the content due to their hands-on experience of working in IR or IR-related areas.

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In an attempt to verify these results, in 2014 we contacted another twenty alumni asking them to identify the skills most pertinent to their profession. The results were slightly different from those of 2009. All the questioned gave the highest priority to speaking, with reading and writing ranked second (70%) and translation third (60%) in importance. Quite tellingly, in their additional comments, the respondents spoke in favour of expanding modules related to impromptu presentations, discussion and debating skills as well as reading. They also noted that political translation (both at sight and written), text analysis, as well as presentation and discussion skills they acquired at their ESP lessons, turned out to be the most useful in their jobs; those who are pursuing postgraduate studies favoured writing analytical reviews and research proposals. All of the above clearly illustrates that, if we are to avoid imbalances and distortions when drawing up the pro¿le of a particular ESP, it is imperative to take into account as many stakeholders as possible: teachers, students, subject teachers, experts and so on. Our analysis has revealed that IR speci¿c FL skills include (not necessarily in order of importance): ņ translation (English–Russian, Russian–English, written/oral, summary translation); ņ reading and analysing longer texts (10–15 pages); ņ analytical reviews of the press; ņ discussion (debates/negotiations); ņ public speaking (impromptu and prepared statements); ņ drafting of¿cial letters and statements. These speci¿c skills are to be developed alongside general ones. For instance, general intellectual skills such as critical and independent thinking, which play an essential role in decision making, along with skills of looking for and processing information, as well as ability to work in a team, take responsibility, and act as a leader – all contribute to professional communicative competence in IR. With these speci¿c features of the ESP identity in mind, we put forward a case for the “continuum” model of ESP studies based on two different FL course designs, which have been implemented in the English Department of the School of IR since 2009.

Modular Course Design Going Spiral The bridge between undergraduate and graduate EFL courses, which is to link the ¿nal (fourth) year of Batchelor‫ތ‬s degree studies and two years

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of Master‫ތ‬s, has a solid foundation in the whole Bachelor‫ތ‬s course. To design this course, a modular approach and what we call a spiral format were applied. The former is a well-known tool of curriculum and course designers; however, the latter needs specifying, given the nature of the professional component in question (IR). A spiral format is concentric (Solovova, 2004:198) in that it allows for similar topics to be studied at different depths throughout the curriculum. In our case, a spiral design also implies: ņ separate spirals representing EGP and ESP keep intertwining through the EFL course due to lack of a clear demarcation line between the two; ņ a change of focus in teaching and learning within the same topic from content-based to skills-based study aimed at developing professionally oriented communicative competence. Applying a modular approach to course design resulted in transforming the two traditional modules, namely, EGP and ESP, which were chieÀy aimed at teaching political translation, into a number of smaller modules corresponding to particular goals of teaching English to students of IR. English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which – though still a toddler at Russian universities – can serve as a link between Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s, has found its niche at MGIMO as an “Academic Writing” module designed for ¿rst, second and third (winter term) years with one hour a week within the EGP module1. Understandably, academic writing is not the only EAP aspect incorporated in the course. The EGP module is divided into two blocks, one responsible for developing linguistic competence (e.g., “Grammar for Oral and Written Communication”, “Developing Pronunciation Skills”) and the other – for communicative competence per se (examples of the latter include “Reading & Speaking”, “Listening & Speaking”, “Oral Communication: Presentations and Discussions”, etc.). EAP elements are built into both “linguistic” and “communicative” modules. Thus, within the grammar module, second-year students are expected to focus on grammar structure characteristic of academic texts (non-¿nite verbs, for example), a linguistic skill, which is an essential pre-requisite for both analytical reading and academic writing, while building up one’s “academic” vocabulary starts as early as the ¿rst year, when students study profession-related topics. Doing project-type tasks within a topic (e.g., “Abiding by Law”) leads to the acquisition of topical vocabulary, in this case Basic Legal English through The total number of contact hours a week varies: students who study English as their ¿rst foreign language have ten contact hours a week, with ESP being introduced in the third semester, while students studying English as their second foreign language have six contact hours a week, with ESP being introduced in the ¿fth semester.

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individual work with dictionaries at home followed by a team and group discussion in class. Communicative modules give ample opportunity to develop EAP skills, too; the module “Oral Communication: Presentations and Discussions”, which runs through the ¿rst and second years of study, is a good example. When studying most of the topics, students do project work involving individual or team research, culminating in presentations or role-plays simulating round-table discussions or workshops. Both are also profession related, as the following titles demonstrate: “The History of Diplomatic Relations between Russia and UK”, “The US. Political System” (Power Point presentations); “Environmental Protection: Think Globally, Act Locally” (workshop). True to the spiral format, communicative modules are built thematically, with particular topics running through the whole of the EGP course for a given period of study. To illustrate, in the winter term of the ¿rst year these topics are: “The Glorious Past” about the UK, “The Turbulent Present” with the focus on the USA, and “The Uncertain Future” looking at the world at large and other English speaking countries in particular. In all the modules in this term’s curriculum, what students listen to or watch, read and write about is, loosely, or in some cases, rather rigidly, determined by the topic being studied. The EGP covers two academic years, with a good-bye to linguistic modules at the end of the second; in the third year EGP (communicative modules) is at ¿rst “joined”, then mostly “taken over” by the ESP module, with EAP playing a supporting role. In the new design, the ESP module consists of two sub-modules: Political Translation and Professionally Oriented Communication, both thematically built. At the top of the spiral, ESP dominates as out of six or ten contact hours a week only two belong to EAP + EGP, four to ESP (two for each sub module). While doing these modules students are expected to master academic and general communication skills and develop professionally relevant language skills (e.g., certain grammar structures such as inversion for oral presentations or participle constructions for reading and translation), as well as communication skills (public speaking, debating) and the ability to work independently and in teams whenever they are involved in project work. This modular approach to EFL course design has a distinctive Russian touch; we would describe it as matreshka style. Becoming a part of the European education space has not so far changed the rather rigid structure of Russian university education; both curriculum and timetable are built on the compulsory principle, the only exception being a growing number of

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optional courses to choose from. There is little mobility within this system, which remains intact at the Bachelor‫ތ‬s stage. Hence, doing each obligatory EFL module amounts to collecting a set of matreshkas, smaller ones ¿tting into bigger ones, with the two largest (EAP+EGP and ESP) representing the language “luggage” of the future Bachelor. Another thing about EFL course design for IR students is that given the IR (ESP) identity and close links between EAP+EGP and ESP, the spiral design appears to be a logical choice. Topics or themes MGIMO students look at from historical or humanitarian perspectives in the EGP module in their ¿rst and second years (UK or USA, or Poverty, Environmental Protection to name a few), later in the day, i.e., in the ESP module in the third and fourth years, surface as profession-oriented, with students studying them through the prism of international relations. What’s more, communication and general intellectual skills (critical thinking, for instance) develop further and acquire a professional touch. As a result, the two matreshkas of EFL luggage our students aim to pack into their suitcases at the ¿nal turn of the spiral merge into one, which is Bachelors’ profession-oriented and communicative competence. Particularly relevant to the above aim is a new approach to designing an ESP course for students of IR (Professionally Oriented Communication) in the ¿nal year of their Bachelor‫ތ‬s study. It consists of focusing on professionoriented activities rather than profession-oriented content (subject matter). The academic year for fourth-year students comes after a month of ¿eld practice in the Foreign Ministry, which gives them a chance to learn a thing or two about their future profession ¿rst hand; the situation that makes it possible to apply some of the principles stated in Section 2: student-teacher partnership in achieving the course objectives and shared responsibility for the educational results. If we follow the matreshka style of modular course design, the smaller ones should be those that contain selected skills vital to developing profession-oriented and communicative competence of a future Bachelor in IR. So the starting point in designing this module is deciding on activities that contribute to this development and are feasible for a particular group size (ca. 8–10) and the time allocated for the course. These, in our view, are: ņ skimming and scanning large quantities of text mostly from periodicals and internet publications; ņ analysing and evaluating text(s) in terms of their relevance and signi¿cance to the issue discussed or topic studied; ņ looking for information on the internet and choosing reliable sources including video and audio sources;

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ņ writing a summary of a text; ņ writing an argumentative essay on a political topic expressing one’s opinion or giving a balanced analysis of an issue; ņ writing a survey report and a statistical story; ņ making a presentation based on one’s own analysis and conclusion and one based on the results of team work; ņ taking part in a round table discussion; ņ taking part in a debate; ņ doing research in team project work format and presenting its results in oral and written form. Focus on activities implies a different set of materials and organisation of students’ work in and out of the classroom, with a greater emphasis on independent work than is typical of EFL university classes. To facilitate this shift, the e-platform OpenClass was incorporated into the teaching and learning process, which served as a kind of e-library for materials prepared by the teacher, for texts/articles found and uploaded by the students, a forum to discuss these materials and a separate platform divided into “compartments” for team project work, which are accessible to the team members and the teacher. Materials developed for this course present a combination that differs from a traditional set. At the centre is the Assignments and Activities (A&A) File that sets objectives, gives guidelines on what is to be done, deadlines and points a student can get doing this or that assignment. There’s a “must” set of assignments, which everybody has to complete, and a number of optional ones for those who like challenges. Instead of a regular textbook, students rely on the Reader, which is mostly virtual, the Manual and the Language File. The Reader consists of texts on a particular topic (there are six to be studied during the academic year), this part being made up by the teacher responsible for the course, and texts compiled by students after scrutiny and approval by their peers and the teacher. The Manual is a kind of handbook with instructions on the main activities; the Language File produced by the teacher offers exercises on active (aka topical) vocabulary and grammar revision. To complete the pack, the Individual Plan form is offered online, which students have to ¿ll in guided by the A&A File, thus choosing their own trajectory to achieve the score their ambition desires. This way of organising teaching and learning appears to bene¿t students by increasing their autonomy as they can ¿nd all the information in OpenClass and communicate with the teacher electronically when necessary, submitting their papers online, and their presence in the classroom may not be always necessary. Peer assessment is widely used, which tends

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to increase responsibility and, hence, establish student-teacher partnership, thus enhancing chances of better learning outcomes. The bene¿t to the teacher appears to be greater transparency of learning and availability of a tool to keep tabs on individual students’ progress.

Building Bridges: Helping Incoming Students’ Transition The course and materials design for MGIMO Bachelor‫ތ‬s students in their ¿nal year described above serves as a sound “training ground” for a Master‫ތ‬s course in IR, but MGIMO is not an elitist preserve and attracts prospective students from all over the country, despite its long-standing and underserved reputation as a university for the chosen few. As mentioned above, recruitment of graduate students can go along different paths: students can do their Master‫ތ‬s in the same department they did their Bachelor‫ތ‬s; they can choose a different department at the same university, thus, changing their education trajectory, or go to another university. Every year MGIMO University’s Master‫ތ‬s programmes progressively increase the intake of “outsiders”: in 2014 out of 782 admitted students 30% were Bachelors from other Russian universities (Itogi, 2014) as compared to 28% in 2013 (Itogi, 2013). It stands to reason that applicants who have earned various undergraduate degrees from other universities, and who have, therefore, been exposed to various educational environments, will come to MGIMO differently equipped for learning, frequently being academically underprepared to take up the graduate course due to disparities in curricula. For instance, unlike MGIMO’s School of International Relations, where at least two FLs are taught throughout the entire study, most universities only offer a two-year mandatory FL course, with unfortunate effects on the development of their students’ language and speaking skills, particularly pro¿ciency in a second FL. More importantly, despite the variability in the learner pro¿les, few, if any, incoming students will have translation skills, an important element of the ESP identity, which match the requirements of the graduate course. MGIMO offers prospective graduate students several opportunities to achieve integration in its academic environment. Moscow-based applicants from other universities enjoy the privilege of a pre-sessional preparatory/ remedial FL course aimed at addressing their academic de¿cits. But quite naturally even locals do not always have an opportunity to attend the course, and this option is totally unavailable to prospective students from other cities (a distance prep course is only just being contemplated).

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Under such circumstances, it was decided to invest in the graduate course itself and equip it with an in-built foundation component to help incoming students tune in and, hopefully, bring them up to a level that is needed to complete the FL course successfully. In terms of the course design, the most feasible solution was seen as a combination of the modular approach and matrix framework. This implies that on the one hand all elements/modules are closely intertwined (the degree of their integration is evidenced by the fact that students get one grade for the course), and, on the other, each occupies a strategic position, which holds the whole EFL course together, geared towards achieving the ultimate goal of delivering much more versatile “luggage” than that of a Bachelor‫ތ‬s degree holder. In other words, a Master‫ތ‬s in IR develops a professional (as distinct from profession-oriented in the case of a Bachelor‫ތ‬s) communicative competence in an FL, which is aimed at making them equally competent as a negotiator, analyst, researcher (new dimensions) and translator. Compared to undergraduate programmes, Master‫ތ‬s degrees at Russian universities are characterised by a greater Àexibility and a real opportunity to choose courses they are interested in. However, the EFL course for IR Master‫ތ‬s students, which is mostly ESP, consisting, like the Bachelor‫ތ‬s ¿nal year, of two modules: Political Translation and Professionally Oriented Communication are obligatory. Students do have a choice, which, in fact, is limited to what kind of EAP+EGP module, or rather sub-module, students are prepared (motivationally and, ¿rst of all, operationally) to take: a combination of “maintenance” and advanced, which culminates in writing a research proposal for a Master‫ތ‬s thesis, or a “foundation +”. Students are encouraged to make an extra effort and choose the more advanced trajectory, because underperformers who do not reach the requisite grade level (70% out of 100%) in the ¿rst semester will have to follow the “foundation +” trajectory. Similar to the undergraduate course, the Master‫ތ‬s course comprises two major modules: EAP+EGP and ESP, both of which contain elements of the foundation course. The graduate course in English runs for three semesters. Three classes a week are distributed between two modules: an integrated EAP+EGP and ESP (Political Translation and Professionally Oriented Communication). In the ¿rst semester, students take two ninety-minute classes of EAP+EGP and one class of political translation; in the second and third semesters the situation is reversed, with EAP acquiring a new dimension and EGP being relegated to the role of a supporting element.

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One of the perceived bene¿ts of this arrangement is that students are not overwhelmed with course content that is beyond them since they have only one political translation class a week. As noted above, political translation, being the core element of the ESP module, is one of the toughest, although not the only challenge incoming students face when they enroll in a graduate programme related to international relations and regional studies. During this “transitional” semester, students familiarise themselves with the typical features of “political parlance” and the language of of¿cial documents, and study basic translation transformations while translating from English into Russian. This prepares students for a lot more challenging content awaiting them in the second and third semesters, when they deal with Russian–English translation. The prevalence of EAP/EGP at this stage offers an additional advantage of developing students’ four skills, thus helping bring them up to the level that is necessary. If Andy Gillett views EAP as part of ESP (Gillett, 1996), at this stage it is treated more as a boot camp preparing for ESP through the activities described above; it is only in the second and third semesters that students write analytical reviews and research proposals, undertake group projects and analyse case studies. However, it should be mentioned that despite the watered down version of ESP students are exposed to in the ¿rst semester, all the content is taught in contexts related to their future careers. The components of the course are bound together not only by the matrix itself, but also by certain administrative arrangements. What used to be – and in most Russian universities continues to be just an oral description of the course at the beginning of each semester – now exists as a printed course outline (also made available online), and apart from the elements which have always been there, such as a course description and course objectives, required textbooks, examination requirements, and so on, the syllabus includes components that are relatively new for the Russian educational milieu: topics, deadlines and test dates, late work policies, academic honesty issues, attendance policies and clear-cut grading criteria for all types of assignments. Seemingly insigni¿cant and trivial for most Western universities, this “topography” of the course serves at least two purposes. It gives students an idea of what is in store for them, thus helping to manage the intensity of study more consciously and effectively (“forewarned is forearmed!”). Equally important is the student responsibility and autonomy this practice fosters: the print syllabus becomes a sort of contract between the teacher and students, which cannot be shrugged off or “forgotten”.

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Conclusion Although the “continuum” model of developing communicative competence of IR Bachelor‫ތ‬s and Master‫ތ‬s students in an ESP course for nonlanguage majors concerns a particular educational project, we do believe it has “something for everyone”, namely university FL teachers working in similar or very different educational environments. The strategic takeaways that can be applied to any situation involving a BA–MA transition include: 1. ESP course design depends on a particular (ESP) identity. 2. Needs analysis is effective provided all stakeholders contribute to designing the content. 3. The level of learner autonomy and shared responsibility are determined by the learner’s pro¿le and are at their highest with graduate students. 4. Smooth transition from Bachelor‫ތ‬s to Master‫ތ‬s requires a built-in foundation course for in-coming students. 5. ESP course is more effective if designed around activities aimed at developing professional skills rather than around subject matter. Of course, the proposed general principles do not cover all the possible contingencies, yet they can help avoid some of the inevitable “teething problems” facing any new programme.

References Aarnett, J. J. “Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties.” American Psychologist 55, no. 5 (May, 2000): 469–480. Bastable, S. B. &, Dart, M. A. “Development Stages of the Learner.” In Health Professional as Educator: Principles of Teaching and Learning. Edited by S. E. Bastable & M. A. Dart. Jones & Bartlett learning, 2011: 151–198. Bodarenko, N. “Vysshee obrazovanie v sisteme lichnykh tsennostei i rynochnykh orientirov” [Higher Education in the System of Personal Values in the Context of Market Economy]. Otechestvennye zapiski, No 4 (55), available at: http://magazines.russ.ru/oz/2013/4/24b.html (accessed on 01.09.2014) Crocker, A. “Scenes of Endless Science: ESP and Education.” In The ESP Teacher: Role, Development and Prospects. ELT Documents 112 (1981): 7–15. London: The British Council.

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Essentials of International Relations. 5th ed. W.W. Norton & Co., 2010: 370. Filippova, D. & Kamal’dinova, L. “Magistratura GU VShE: prichiny vybora magisterskoi programmy vypusknikami VShE i drugikh vuzov” [Higher School of Economics’ Master’s Programme: Why do undergraduates of HSE and other universities choose it?] Monitoring universiteta no. 5 (2011). Accessed September 1, 2014. http://cim.hse.ru/ data/2011/04/20/1210865952/5–5.pdf Foote, K., Bednarz, S., Monk, J., Solem, M. & Stoltman J. “Rethinking Postgraduate Geography Education in the USA: Issues and Concerns.” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 36, no. 1 (2012): 57–64. Gillett, A. What is EAP? IATEFL ESP SIG Newsletter 6 (1996): 17–23. Higher Education in the USSR. CEPES, Bucharest, 1990: 95. Hutchinson & Waters. English for Speci¿c Purposes. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Itogi priema v magistraturu MGIMO v 2013 godu. 2013. [MGIMO Master’s Programmes Entrance Examinations in 2013]. Available at http:// mgimo.ru/news/ university/document240723.phtml Itogi priema v magistraturu MGIMO v 2014 godu. 2014. [MGIMO Master’s Programmes Entrance Examinations in 2014]. Available at http:// mgimo.ru/news/ university/document258430.phtml Katashinskih, V. Institutsional’nye osnovy magistratury v sovremennykh usloviiakh [Institutional Foundations of Master‫ތ‬s Programmes in the Modern Context]. PhD Dissertation, 2013: 171. Kobyshcha, V. “Postuplenie v magistraturu v kontekste obrazovatel’nykh i trudovykh strategii studentov GU VShE” [Joining a Master’s Programme as Part of Students’Educational and Employment Strategies]. Monitoring universiteta, no. 5. Accessed September 1, 2014. http://cim.hse.ru/data/2011/ 04/20/1210865965/5-6.pdf Sokolova, A. A. Problema trudoustroistva vypusknikov vysshikh uchebnykh zavedenii v kontekste bolonskogo protsessa [Job Placement for University Graduates in the Context of the Bologna Process]. Fundamental’nye i prikladnye issledovaniia: problemy i rezul’taty, no. 10 (2014): 142–146. Solovova, E. Metodicheskaia podgotovka i perepodgotovka uchitelia inostrannogo iazyka [Training and Professional Development of FL Teachers]. Moscow, Glossa-Press, 2004: 198. Yastrebova, E. Teaching Writing to Students of International Relations. Professional and Academic English. Journal of the English for Speci¿c Purposes Special Interest Group, IATEFL, no. 39 (Winter 2011–Spring 2012): 15–19.

PART IV: FROM RESEARCH FINDINGS TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

CHAPTER 13 THE METHOD OF COGNITIVE MODELING IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE ELENA G. BELIAEVSKAYA, NINA A. LEVKOVSKAYA

Introduction Since the second half of the 20th century, English has become the lingua franca for many people in the world and the working language of many, if not all, international organisations. In addition, English is on its way to becoming an all-conquering language on the internet. No wonder so many people start studying English. This gives an impulse to further elaboration of the methods of teaching the language; these are becoming increasingly sophisticated and advertise achieving the best possible results within the shortest period of time. Usually, it is assumed that most effective second language comprehension is achieved if a more expedient methodology is introduced into teaching (and learning) practice. Teachers of English as a second language know (and have probably practiced) audio-lingual methodology, the PPP (presentation, practice, and production) model, the communicative approach, taskbased learning, suggestopaedia, the role-play approach, intensive methods, etc. However, the general conclusion, after consideration of all the important factors ¿guring in the theory of English language teaching and learning, can hardly be considered optimistic: “It is extremely dif¿cult to come to conclusions about which approaches and methods are best and/or most appropriate for our own teaching situations; … both theorists and practitioners argue constantly about how languages are learnt and the best ways to encourage this” (Harmer, 2004:96). Another important conclusion can be made to supplement the above. If one looks at the existing approaches to language teaching in general, and English language teaching in particular, it is possible to see that the majority

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of innovations concern the wide use of computers and the internet, which provide vast amounts of information, new material concepts, creative inspiration for teachers, and individualisation in teaching students. Whatever the changes in the ¿eld of ESL learning, few, if any, bring anything new to the table concerning English language teaching, which by tradition comprise pronunciation, basic rules of grammar, vocabulary lists covering topics under study, and communication patterns (functional dialogues). In this chapter we set out to show that the results of research in cognitive linguistics, if introduced into the practice of second language acquisition, can contribute to making the teaching of English as a second language more effective.

The teacher’s worst enemies (What the main dif¿culties in learning a second language stem from) What innovations concerning information about the system of the English language are called for? In the accepted practice of ESL teaching (and learning), information on the system of the English language is basically the same irrespective of the methodology adopted. The material to be used is shaped by study goals. It is quite obvious that those who come to an English-speaking country for the ¿rst time have to meet new people and provide information about themselves, to ask the way, to go sightseeing, to order a meal at a café or a restaurant, etc. Those who learn English for special purposes would, quite logically, need terminology covering the special sphere they are to study, as well as other information that helps them to specialise in their chosen ¿eld. However, all such restrictions imposed on the language material to be used in the classroom do not imply much change in the basic facts about the phonetic, grammatical, and lexical set up of English. And can there be anything new about grammar and lexis, especially about basic grammatical rules, which need to be covered in the teaching process? In their turn, texts teachers use as material for students may be adapted for beginners or lower intermediate students, but that is about all one can do to modify them and make them more comprehensible for learners. It seems that no “improvements” to the practice of learning and/or teaching English can be introduced through some new explanation of the language material under study. The tasks elaborated in this paper cannot be tackled without considering the factors that hinder ESL learning, and an analysis of the sources

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of mistakes students make and continue making, even when such mistakes have been repeatedly pointed out to them. One source stands out as obvious, and that is L1 interference – confusions arising when L1 (the native language of a learner) and L2 come into contact. We shall consider two main varieties of L1 interference – cultural divergence and negative transfer. Cultural interference. The assumption that language and culture are closely bound together has become quite common in modern linguistic research. The scope of cross-cultural studies is vast, since practically any discussion of cross-language differences brings in new information about the mode of expression typical of different language communities. The interpretations and approaches to the study of language and culture inter-relation are versatile. However, there is one trend that seems to be more popular than others: scholars mainly look at lexical units to demonstrate the difference in the “world view” of different language communities. It is generally assumed that it is words, above all, that help to reveal “cultural emphasis” that “may indicate environmental or economic factors which are critical to subsistence; it can also comprehend aesthetic, religious, or other kinds of values” (Hickerson, 1980:108). Projected onto the practice of teaching English, the cultural component of second language acquisition gets somewhat transformed to ¿t concrete teaching purposes. The following aspects may be singled out: ņ There may be a difference between two educational cultures, i.e. the educational culture of the teacher (if he or she is a native speaker of English) and the educational culture of the student, who might rely only on the teacher for guidance without recognising the different roles a teacher might play in the process of teaching (Harmer, 2004:93–94). ņ Since second language students, by de¿nition, belong to a non-Englishspeaking culture, one is likely to expect that learners will demonstrate communicative behaviour and activities typical of their native language culture, although they will use the language they learn. ņ One of the most noticeable groups of culture-bound elements in the practice of English language learning is probably so-called “realia” – lexical units denoting objects and phenomena of political and cultural life of English-speaking countries that have no direct equivalent in the native language of learners. Numerous examples may be provided by British Parliament terminology: Chief whip, division, backbenchers, etc. Although much spoken about, this section of vocabulary is relatively easy to digest for students, especially if they have access to the internet or traditional reference materials.

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The latter group of culture-bound lexical units is closely linked to the sphere of “semantic ambiguity” reÀected, for instance, in political language, as well as in words denoting important social, religious and ideologically relevant notions. An extensive list is provided in Seeing Through Language (Carter and Nash, 1997:129–147) who claim that “… direct ‘decoding’ is foreign to the spirit of the political language game, in which expression is conventionally formal, circuitous, abstract, and sometimes ¿gurative, and then only in metaphors which put reality at a safe distance, a little out of reach. Political language in all its forms turns all references into abstractions. When and if it becomes concrete and speci¿c, it loses its power to suggest power” (Carter & Nash, 1997:132). Different cultures have their own idea of honesty in business, loyalty, and the like, which might bring cross-cultural problems even into business communication. All the above widens the scope of culture-bound elements, which students of English should be at least be aware of when they study English as their “second” language. It is a generally recognised fact that knowledge of cultural concepts is indispensable for second language acquisition, since it ensures a better comprehension of the text, and promotes adequate communicative behaviour among language learners. It seems, however, that the approach highlighting “cultural emphasis” is somehow one-sided; it leads to the conclusion that cultural areas are restricted, and the number of culture-bound phenomena in a language system is rather small compared to the number of “culturally neutral” or “culturefree” phenomena. Recent years have seen a pronounced tendency to broaden the scope of cross-cultural research, bringing in data from phonetics, grammar, phraseology, and rhetoric (including oral and written discourse [Shore, 1996; Connor, 1996]). Negative transfer. The problem of cultural differences between the native language of the learner and English is closely linked with another issue, which popular methodology of second language acquisition fully recognizes, but further on tends to somehow ignore, and that is the issue of cross-language transfer, which is known to manifest itself both positively and negatively1. The idea of “positive transfer” becomes clear if one considers the English phrase “in the following weeks” (meaning in the weeks to come). The inner logic of the expression under analysis is dif¿cult to understand: the verb to follow means to happen or come after something else (MED), so it is implied that the following weeks are not ahead, but behind the speaker. (Editor: The type of modeling we propose is applicable to any language, but further on we are going to use Russian learners of English to illustrate how the model operates. 1

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As a native speaker, I ¿nd this premise dif¿cult to come to terms with. Perhaps I am missing something, but I cannot see how “the following weeks” can possibly be construed as “behind” us?) However, learning this mode of expression would not present any dif¿culty to a Russian-speaking learner of English as a similar model of time relations is typical of Russian, where they say: ɜ ɬɟɱɟɧɢɟ ɜɫɟɯ ɩɨɫɥɟɞɭɸɳɢɯ ɧɟɞɟɥɶ. Thus, due to positive transfer, Russian-speaking learners of English will easily understand the sense conveyed, and would use the English phrase further on without mistakes. Unfortunately, negative transfer is much more common. The greatest number of mistakes second language learners make in speech stems from the wrong choice of words and violation of the rules of word combinability (collocation), things that seem relatively simple to native speakers. A Russian learner of English is very likely to say: *Dust stood in the air (ɪɭɫɫɤ. ɉɵɥɶ ɫɬɨɹɥɚ ɜ ɜɨɡɞɭɯɟ); *Dust was Àying in the air (Editor: You could say this in English, if, for example, the dust was the result of some explosion, earthquake or similar violent upheaval, or even if there was just a strong wind causing the dust to Ày about and swirl, as in a sandstorm.) (ɪɭɫɫɤ. ɉɵɥɶ ɥɟɬɚɥɚ ɜ ɜɨɡɞɭɯɟ); *I want my money to lie in the bank for a while (ɪɭɫɫɤ. ɉɭɫɬɶ ɦɨɢ ɞɟɧɶɝɢ ɩɨɥɟɠɚɬ ɜ ɛɚɧɤɟ); *The tape-recorder stands on the night table (Editor: Again, I don’t think this is wrong per se. In answer to a question or to make an emphatic statement you would doubtless say, “the tape-recorder is on the table”. However, if you are talking about the usual and habitual position of the machine, you might easily pronounce, “the tape-recorder always stands there on the table” or something similar. What is more, a tape-recorder is actually a thing that can “stand”!) (ɪɭɫɫɤ. Ɇɚɝɧɢɬɨɮɨɧ ɫɬɨɢɬ ɧɚ ɧɨɱɧɨɦ ɫɬɨɥɢɤɟ); *He sits in prison (ɪɭɫɫɤ. Ɉɧ ɫɢɞɢɬ ɜ ɬɸɪɶɦɟ). For a native speaker of English these phrases, which are, in fact, word for word translations from Russian, would make little sense, and some of them might even seem inconceivable. (Editor: This is not true of all the above.) Negative transfer is the result of the difference in the way language systems are organised. When acquiring knowledge of a “second” language system, students tend to make sense of the new linguistic environment through the linguistic world they already know – their mother tongue. Thus, the language and communicative patterns of the “¿rst” language system are projected onto “second” language performance, which results in the numerous mistakes learners make. So, if one sets out to achieve better results in second language acquisition, it is necessary to minimise, if not eliminate, L1 interference in the practice of English language learning.

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What is to be done? (How cognitive modeling can help minimise L1 interference) L1 interference, as was shown, stems from the fact that speaking a foreign language is, in fact, translation (almost without thinking) from L1 into L2, particularly at elementary and intermediate levels. It is not eliminated at advanced level either, and, as a matter of fact, takes place in any case when one speaks a “second” language. The process of the “second” language speakers’ performance is schematically presented in (Fig. 13.1), from which it is clear that negative transfer is rooted in the natural process of translation from L1 into L2. Fig. 13.1. Model A. Mental procedure underlying “second” language speakers’ performance (without information on conceptual structuring)

But what can be done to eliminate mental translation from L1 into L2? We hypothesise that the negative inÀuence of a learner’s ¿rst language on the acquisition and use of other languages may be minimised, and ultimately eliminated, if the process of second language teaching and learning centres not only on what words and other language units mean, but also on the conceptual structures underlying their semantics. Methods of teaching English as a second language have always been rooted in linguistic theories supplying information on the language system, and our hypothesis owes its existence to the latest developments in linguistics. Namely, to the cognitive model of language semantics, which strives to compensate for the drawbacks of structuralist semantic models.

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The structuralist approach in semantics failed to account for the fact that words of different language systems, which seem to have the same meaning, convey different senses and so have different collocational applications. This seemingly paradoxical phenomenon may be explained if one turns to cognitive linguistics, which proceeds from an assumption that language use is based on conceptualisation (Croft & Cruse, 2004), and assumes that the semantics of any language entity is a two-layer structure comprising the surface level (which is constituted of what is generally known as meaning, or vocabulary meaning), and the deep structure level (or the level of conceptual structures underlying meaning [Beliaevskaya, 2006]). The conceptual structures underlying meaning foreground some semantic features and background other semantic features forming a culture-speci¿c image of the object denoted. As a result, a conceptual basis of meaning is formed, and expressions that evoke the same content may contrast semantically by virtue of their choice of this or that conceptual basis. Since the conceptual bases of corresponding lexical units in different languages are, with few exceptions, different lexical pairs: “to stand – ɫɬɨɹɬɶ”; “to sit – ɫɢɞɟɬɶ”;”to swim, to Àoat – ɩɥɵɬɶ, ɩɥɚɜɚɬɶ”, and the like, they have similar referents yet are based on different images; so they will convey slightly different senses and, consequently, will be used in different collocational patterns. This approach seems to somehow broaden one’s idea of culture-bound lexis. If conceptual structuring, underlying the semantics of a word in a language system, does not coincide with the conceptual structuring underlying the semantics of its equivalent in another language, then all the lexical units of a certain language system are, in a way “culture-bound”, and none are “culture-free” in the sense that they can be easily transplanted into another language system. In other words, it is not a restricted number of culture-bound language units, but the whole language system that should be regarded as a manifestation of culture. The cross-cultural differences in the use of what is usually called “culture-free” vocabulary are rooted in the conceptual systems of the languages, and so, because of its unique conceptual base, each language unit might be considered “culture-bound”, and language might be seen as a unity of “culture-bound” elements. Therefore the conceptual basis of the word semantics is instrumental in shaping the inner structure of lexical meaning; we think it might be called the conceptual inner form of word semantics (Beliaevskaya, 2007). The language and communicative competence of native speakers is based on intuitive knowledge of conceptualisation principles in their native tongue, and if the conceptual inner form of word semantics, as well as the conceptual structures underlying different types of argumentative discourse

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in English are reconstructed in the process of linguistic analysis and applied in teaching and learning English as a second language, they help avoid subconscious translation from the learner’s ¿rst language (Russian) into the second language (English), thus ameliorating the effect of negative transfer from the native language. Reference to conceptual inner forms of lexical units allows us to focus on Model B (Fig. 13.21), where the stage of mental translation from the learners’ “ative” language into their “second” language is eliminated. Fig. 13.2. Model B. Mental procedure underlying “second” language speakers’ performance (with information on conceptual structuring)

The model proposed is workable both in teaching productive and receptive skills. The knowledge of underlying conceptual structures, besides helping to choose the right lexical unit in speech, ensures a better understanding of the text.

Where to apply? (Possible spheres of practical application) In our opinion, the introduction of the conceptual inner form of semantics into cross-cultural studies might make our judgment on the differences between various languages more grounded. Hopefully, it may also help eliminate some mistakes second language learners make. Below we shall consider the teaching and learning problems, which knowledge of the conceptual structures underlying semantics could help solve. The dotted line stands for semantic correlation (and not word for word correspondence) between the Russian (native language) and English (second language) variants that express the sense the speaker wants to convey to the listener. 1

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Choosing the right word The approach described eliminates the stage of mental translation from the native language of the speaker into the second language, because in Model B the choice of words to form utterances in the second language is determined not by their Russian equivalents but by the conceptual structures the speaker has in mind. In other words, the speaker forms the idea of what he or she wants to say, and at the next stage of mental operations starts matching the initial idea with the conceptual inner forms of the English (second language) words that might be used to express it. For example, a Russian learner of English might discover that the conceptual inner form of the English adjective “common”, bringing out the “mental picture” of something frequent and/or of something in wide use, is a perfect match for the sense “appear very often”, and thus it is better to say “such statements have become quite common in the press” rather than “such statements appear very often in the press”. The notion of the conceptual inner form helps to account for the peculiarities of the contextual realisation of a word. Thus, the conceptual inner form of the English word “to sit” encompasses the idea of a stable position and the idea of purpose, while the corresponding Russian – ɫɢɞɟɬɶ – is based on the idea of a stable position, and the idea of a passive agent of action. In other words, for the speaker of Russian the verb ɫɢɞɟɬɶ has a very strong implication of lack of activity and energy. Hence, it is possible to say in Russian: ņ Ɉɧɚ ɧɟ ɪɚɛɨɬɚɟɬ, ɚ ɫɢɞɢɬ ɫ ɞɟɬɶɦɢ (*She does not work because she sits with children), implying that the woman in question is a housewife having no other ambitions. ņ ȼɫɟ ɭɠɟ ɧɚɲɥɢ ɧɨɜɭɸ ɪɚɛɨɬɭ, ɚ ɹ ɜɫɟ ɫɢɠɭ ɧɚ ɩɪɟɠɧɟɦ ɦɟɫɬɟ (*Everybody has found a new job, and I still sit where I was), meaning to stress one’s inability to change the course of events. ņ Ɋɚɡɝ. Ⱥ ɬɵ ɜɨɨɛɳɟ ɫɢɞɢ! (*And you just sit), has the sense of “don’t interfere” in English. Presented with a word for word translation of these Russian phrases into English, a native speaker of English would hardly understand what was meant. On the contrary, in English the verb to sit implies a protected position and some purpose of the action, and so it is possible to say: ņ I left my books sitting on the table. ņ I want my money to sit in the bank for a while to grow a little. ņ She said the biscuits should sit in the fridge for an hour before they’re ready. ņ The village sat on the side of a hill.

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Similarly, in the English language system dust cannot stand in the air, because the verb “to stand” implies immobility and upright position, which is metaphorically associated with readiness for action (UP is ACTIVE). In English, they would refer to “dust Àoating in the air” as the conceptual inner form of the verb “to Àoat” highlights the idea of slow (circular) motion of any object suspended in gas or liquid. Note that a literal translation of the phrase into Russian – ɩɵɥɶ ɩɥɚɜɚɥɚ ɜ ɜɨɡɞɭɯɟ – would be perceived by Russian speakers as a genuine metaphor. Synonym discrimination Another teaching problem closely related to the previous one is synonym discrimination – the ability of a student to recognise the difference between two or more synonyms. As is known, synonyms are words, wordcombinations, or grammatical structures that are different in form but similar in meaning. However, similarity in meaning does not signify the units are identical in import, and, as language evidence suggests, if one synonym is substituted for another in a context, the meaning of the context can be changed, not drastically, but enough to somehow modify the sense conveyed. Since synonyms, in fact, denote one and the same object, action or quality, it is very dif¿cult to explain what the difference between two synonymous meanings is, and synonyms still remain one of the major sources of persistent mistakes seen in the practice of second language teaching. Although synonyms denote one and the same idea, in each case this is viewed from a different angle rendering the conceptual structures underlying the semantics of synonyms dissimilar. For example, according to lexicographic sources the meaning of the English verbs to stare and to gaze is to look at something ¿xedly, or to look at something for a long time, and Russianspeaking learners of English repeatedly misuse the two verbs. Reference to the conceptual inner forms of the two lexical units may help here. Thus, if the teacher explains that the meaning of to stare is based on the image of eyes that are absolutely immoveable, while to gaze implies that the pupils of the gazer may move slightly, the learners can easily imagine the action denoted because they know it from experience, and can draw certain inferences. So, if a person stares, he or she is fully concentrated on the object observed, or sees it in their mind’s eye, and the look on their face is vacant. While gazing a person wants to get more information about the object, and the meaning here is close to the meaning of the Russian verbal combination ɜɧɢɦɚɬɟɥɶɧɨ ɪɚɡɝɥɹɞɵɜɚɬɶ. This explanation of the difference between to stare and to gaze aids better understanding of the following context, where two brothers with no love lost between them meet after many years:

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They stood staring at each other. Lydia caught her breath. She thought: “How absurd! Like two dogs – looking at each other…” Pilar’s gaze widened even further. She thought to herself: “How silly they look standing there…” (Agatha Christie. A Holiday for Murder)

In fact, the above described principle of synonym discrimination is already realised by many English teachers, who explain the difference between to go and to come saying that to come suggests approaching the speaker, and to go suggests moving away from the speaker: to go – to move or travel to a place that is away from where you are now; to come – to move or travel to the place where you are (MED). Writing a text of argumentation As conceptual structures underlie the semantics of any language entity including texts, they may prove helpful in improving learners’ composition and writing skills. Surprisingly, it was discovered that argumentative discourse, although based on universal, logical reasoning, and thus seemingly independent of any cultural inÀuence, reveals obvious cross-cultural peculiarities stemming from the difference in the conceptual structures underlying argumentation texts in different languages (Connor, 1996). Linguists were bound to conclude that argumentation is culture-bound and texts of argumentation in diverse languages are constructed on different conceptual grounds. Cross-cultural studies (Beliaevskaya, 2010) have shown that argumentative discourse in English, unlike argumentative discourse in Russian, is structured as a journey which starts (We start with the description of… It provides an excellent point of departure, etc.), continues (Now we pass over to the discussion of… proceeding from… etc.), and comes to an end (We are close to our destination now…). Here the writer and the reader may depart from the main line of thought (It is a sideissue in our discussion, but…), and return to the point previously taken up (Going back, it is possible to state that…). Literal translation of these phrases into Russian reveals that not all of them are admissible in the Russian language system: Ɇɵ ɧɚɱɢɧɚɟɦ ɫ ɨɩɢɫɚɧɢɹ… *ɗɬɨ ɫɨɡɞɚɟɬ ɩɪɟɤɪɚɫɧɭɸ ɨɬɩɪɚɜɧɭɸ ɬɨɱɤɭ ɞɥɹ (ɞɚɥɶɧɟɣɲɟɝɨ ɢɡɥɨɠɟɧɢɹ)… Ɍɟɩɟɪɶ ɦɵ ɩɟɪɟɯɨɞɢɦ ɤ… ɢɫɯɨɞɹ ɢɡ… *Ɇɵ ɩɪɢɛɥɢɠɚɟɦɫɹ ɤ ɩɭɧɤɬɭ ɧɚɡɧɚɱɟɧɢɹ… *ɗɬɨ ɩɨɛɨɱɧɵɣ ɜɨɩɪɨɫ ɜ ɧɚɲɟɦ ɨɛɫɭɠɞɟɧɢɢ… ȼɨɡɜɪɚɳɚɹɫɶ (ɤ ɭɠɟ ɫɤɚɡɚɧɧɨɦɭ), ɦɨɠɧɨ ɤɨɧɫɬɚɬɢɪɨɜɚɬɶ, ɱɬɨ…. Such difference in text construal accounts for the abundance of connectives in an English text of argumentation, while in Russian many such connectives are likely to be omitted.

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Besides, English, unlike Russian, treats a text as a CONTAINER where information is enclosed. As a result a strong spatial element is felt in the text when one speaks about the way it is constructed. Moreover, in English the text of argumentation is personi¿ed: The text centers on… (lit. – *Ɍɟɤɫɬ ɤɨɧɰɟɧɬɪɢɪɭɟɬɫɹ ɧɚ…); The text contains three parts (lit. – Ɍɟɤɫɬ ɫɨɞɟɪɠɢɬ ɬɪɢ ɱɚɫɬɢ); The text presents an episode… (lit. – *Ɍɟɤɫɬ ɩɪɟɞɫɬɚɜɥɹɟɬ ɷɩɢɡɨɞ…); The text summarises up-to-date ¿ndings (lit. –*Ɍɟɤɫɬ ɫɭɦɦɢɪɭɟɬ ɢɡɜɟɫɬɧɵɟ ɤ ɧɚɫɬɨɹɳɟɦɭ ɜɪɟɦɟɧɢ (ɧɚɭɱɧɵɟ) ɪɟɡɭɥɶɬɚɬɵ); Further on the text develops the theory of…(lit. – *Ⱦɚɥɟɟ ɬɟɤɫɬ ɪɚɡɜɢɜɚɟɬ ɬɟɨɪɢɸ…), etc.

So, in English a text can tell something, sum something up, analyse some problem, discuss a problem, etc. In Russian, in all such cases, an impersonal mode of expression is preferable. The conclusion one is bound to arrive at is that if Russian-speaking students of English are not informed about the conceptual organisation of the English argumentative discourse, they will imitate the forms generally accepted in Russian; this would not allow them to achieve adequate writing skills in the process of ESL learning. Ensuring better understanding of political discourse Conceptual structures underlying the semantics of language units and texts seem omnipresent; they underlie even humour and evaluation – the most dif¿cult and controversial aspects of teaching English as a second language. Experience shows that Russian-speaking English students ¿nd it dif¿cult to correctly assess the way English language newspapers evaluate things. It happens mainly because evaluation often stems from the conceptual “lining” rather than the use of evaluative lexis. Thus, the phrase “Russia is a big country” seems absolutely neutral to native speakers of Russian, but, to many Europeans living in countries much smaller in size, a big country like Russia might look imposing and formidable, and the above-cited would be perceived as bearing negative connotation. (Editor: I have to say I’m not convinced by this argument. I take “Russia is a big country” as just a literal construct and don’t imbue it with any “negative connotation”. It’s just a huge place!) Evaluation in political discourse is usually formed on the basis of the underlying principle of perceiving the world through the prism that differentiates between “us” and “them”. On the one hand, this is an objective phe-

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nomenon because the perception of the world by a group or an individual is based on the acknowledgment of their territorial borders, i.e. home, family, country, identi¿cation with age groups, gender, class, interest groups, and so on. Thus, the need to locate the con¿nes of one’s environment is inherent in all human beings. On the other hand, the extent to which we differentiate ourselves from the outer world creates a natural juxtaposition between “us” and “them”, which is used at the cognitive level with regard to practically anything around. According to Eric Berne, our conceptual picture of the world is based on a strange urge created by our upbringing, to maintain the conÀict between contradictory perceptions (Berne, 1964). The need for this cognitive dissonance lies at the foundation of the archetypical opposition: “us vs. them”. This opposition is characteristic of practically all discourse types, and is most prominent in political discourse. The distinctive feature of political discourse is struggle for power, therefore the opposition of the ¿ghting parties is inevitable, and the key function of political discourse can be de¿ned as agonism1. The core principle of agonism is to defeat your opponents, i.e., “others”, by enhancing their negative features and emphasising the positive features of “us”. That explains an obvious negative axiological character of the “other” concept as opposed to the positive colouring of “us”. In political discourse, the principle of agonism is realised through the use of two opposing strategies: intensi¿cation, i.e. the highlighting of “our virtues” and “their vices”, and understatement, i.e. diminishing and glossing over “our vices” and “their virtues”. In other words, the categorisation into “us” and “them” is in itself an attribution of positive or negative features to the referent of speech, which presupposes the perception of “us” as “natural, right and normal”; however, “them” associates with “unnatural, wrong, abnormal” (Levkovskaya, 2008). In simple terms, “us” is positive and “them” is negative. The conceptual opposition of “us” and “them” is one of the core oppositions of any human society, de¿ned by Yuri Stepanov (2004) as a cultural concept of all times and nations. The importance of this conceptual opposition is that it belongs to the basic cultural archetypes that form an axiological scale of socio-cultural values within society. These values are associated with the priority task of differentiating “us” from “them”, thus building up a framework of cultural standards around the positive and negative poles of the opposition. 1

See (Sheygal, 2004) and (Aliyeva, 2013) for more detail.

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As an example, let us consider a text from the British weekly The Economist, “The English Empire” (The Economist, February 15, 2014, p. 57) addressing the adoption of English as an of¿cial language in Chinese, Japanese and the corporations of other countries. Culturally related mechanisms of evaluation can be traced in the attitude towards “corporate English” as a “global business language”. The bene¿ts of the adoption of English in business are openly acknowledged by the columnist, who claims “it is impossible to progress through its management ranks without good English”, stating that the adoption of “ ‘corporate English’ promotes free thinking”, its use is a “policy designed to bring employees together”, “English is the language on which the sun never sets”, etc. The last metaphor in combination with the repeatedly used neologism “Englishnisation” is the climax of the mounting emphasis on the power of the English language as it spreads across the globe, creating a new type of “English Empire”. The speakers of other languages might perceive “Englishnisation” as something negative, but from the point of view of the text’s author it is highly positive, since it gives access to a vast information pool in business and elsewhere. The article censures reticent learners of English, referring to them as a “clique” who “join a guerrilla resistance that conspires in its native language”. An ESL learner might fail to sense the jocular tone of the writer here, and might even be offended. It would be interesting to see the same situation through the eyes of the poor “clique” of slow learners, who will most probably express a very different opinion about the need to learn English at the workplace twisting the opposition “us – them” along their socio-cultural axes. As we can see, the opposition “us – them” has an inherent contradiction because, being dependent on individual (local) environments, this cognitive framework is highly variable. As such, it presents itself as a phenomenon that can be studied from both cognitive and socio-linguistic perspectives. The universality of the “us – them” framework as an invariant is actually expressed in an in¿nite variation of patterns that are formed on the basis of the speakers’ socio-cultural environment on a vast scale of levels, from personally individual to ethnically national. It seems logical to describe the framework “us = good” vs. “them = bad” as a core model, a sort of prototype that forms the nucleus of the frame. All other models, including neutral variants and the reverse model of “us = bad” vs. “them = good” can then be viewed as peripheral. The “us – them” opposition used in political discourse is expressed at higher levels of socio-cultural hierarchies, i.e. at the level of political/interest groups, demographic and ethnic communities, nation states, and the like. It is a challenging task for English learners to decipher all the conceptual oppositions underlying political discourse in English, but their value as an ele-

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ment of teaching English is indisputable, since learners should try to emulate the knowledge of the conceptual oppositions generating evaluation in their “second” language. The socio-cultural nature of the opposition “us – them” may present a sensitive issue for second language learners in their comprehension of texts. The dif¿culties are related to different cultural backgrounds and the resulting difference in the perception of “us” and “them”, which may cause misunderstanding of the text in a second language. Second language teachers, especially those who base their practice on the analysis of political discourse, must take this into account.

Recommendations for the teacher The model we worked out does not mean that existing practices of teaching English as a second language should be totally revised. Innovations, we suggest, almost exclusively concern some changes in the methods of introducing new language material in the classroom, and here some practical recommendations are obviously called for. It is necessary to state emphatically that we do not propose to make rather complicated theoretical terminology (including the very term “conceptual inner form”) part of the teaching set-up, since it will mean taking up subjects far removed from the scope of teaching English as a second language. What we propose fully complies with existing practice. For instance, audio-lingual methodology owes its existence to behaviorist linguistic models (Hammer, 2004:79), but that is information for teachers rather than students. In the model we suggest it is quite suf¿cient to tell students that the meaning of each language unit they learn (and have learnt) is based on a schematic mental image, which becomes obvious if we try to ¿nd some common ground for all the meanings this unit might have. It is advisable to call such schematic images “pictures in your head” – a good way of looking at what the conceptual inner form really is. When giving the learners Russian equivalents, which may be highly misleading because of the differences in their conceptual inner forms, or vocabulary de¿nitions that call for a far more advanced level of English than learners currently possess to decode all optional meanings, it is plausible to provide simple image-schematic presentations; these help learners form a mental image of the conceptual structure underlying the semantics of the lexical unit they learn. Such “pictures in your head” are very effective, and experience shows they help to eliminate mistakes Russian-speaking learners often make.

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Since cognitive linguistic studies are still in progress, there is no readyusable information on the conceptual inner form of the language units that students might encounter1. However, for teaching purposes one can stick to two analytical procedures that give an insight into what the conceptual inner form of some particular word might be. The ¿rst analytical procedure entails looking at the etymology of the word in question. For example, the verb to leave comes from Goth. – laibjan – to leave behind and from O. Teut. *lajįjian – remainder, relic. The logical consideration of etymology shows that the schematic image underlying the meanings of the verb to leave possibly includes the idea of departure as well as the idea of leaving something behind. The other analytical procedure that might be used has already been mentioned above, and that is the study of all the meanings the unit has, since all of them are based on one and the same mental image – the “picture in one’s head”. When presented with information on some mental images underlying the semantics of language units and texts, second language students usually become interested in and start researching English themselves, which adds creative overtones to ESL studies.

Conclusion The approach we suggest has been tested and proven effective in teaching a text analysis course at Moscow State Linguistic University and a translation course at MGIMO University; it integrates existing methods with data obtained through studies in cognitive linguistics. As such, it is based on adding to existing practice, rather than replacing adopted procedures with something entirely new and dif¿cult to digest. The method of cognitive modeling introduced into teaching English as a second language combines studying English and researching English, and is applicable to teaching speaking, structuring discourse, reading and writing in an effort to acquire both receptive and productive skills. The ultimate aim of the approach suggested, and the method as a practical realisation of the approach, is to try to build up in the mind of a second language learner at least some of the conceptual structures underlying language competence, which would be similar to those of a “native” speaker of English. The method of cognitive modeling can supplement other new trends aimed at making teaching English as a second language more effective, 1

For the procedure of discovering the conceptual inner form of a word see (Be-

liaevskaya, 2005).

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such as providing access to language laboratories, to computer corpora, to new self-study programmes, or incorporating the use of the internet in the teaching process.

References Aliyeva, T. V. Language means actualising the conceptual “us – them” in British political discourse: candidate of philology dissertation: 10.02.04 / Aliyeva Tatyana Vladimirovna. Moscow, 2013. [Yazykovyie sredstva realizatsii kontseptual’noi oppozitsii “svoi – chuzhoi” v britanskom politicheskom diskurse: dis. … cand. philol. nauk: 10.02.04]. 2013. Beliaevskaya, E. G. Conceptual Structures Underlying the Semantics of Language Units (from lexicology to phraseology) // Multiword language units in English (from lexicology to phraseology). Proceedings of Moscow State Linguistic University. Moscow: MGLU University Press, 500 (2005): 9–24 [Kontseptual’nyie osnovaniya semantiki yazykovykhy edinits (otleksikologiyi k fraseologiyi) // Neskol’koslovnyiey edinitsy nominatsiyi v angliyskom yazyke (otleksikologiyi k fraseologiyi). Vestnik MGLU, vypusk 500]. Beliaevskaya, E. G. “Cultural Information in Lexical Units Semantics.” Issues of Cognitive Linguistics, no. 4 (2007): 44–50 [Kul’turologicheskaya informatsiya v semantike leksicheskikhy edinits. Voprosy kognitivnoy lingvistiki, no. 4. S. 44–50]. Beliaevskaya, E. G. “Text as a Spatial Structure (the problem of the levels of categorization).” Cognitive Studies of Language 7 (2010): 101–109. Types of Categories in the Language. Collection of papers. Moscow – Tambov [Tekst kak prostranstvennaya struktura (k problem urovney kategorizatsiyi) // Kognitivniye issledovaniya yazyka. Vyp. 7. Typykategoriy v yazyke. Sb. nauch. trudov. Moskva – Tambov, 2010. S. 101– 109]. Beliaevskaya, E. G. “Towards a uniform procedure of conceptual analysis.” Issues of Cognitive Linguistics, no. 1 (2005a): 5–14 [Vosproizvodimy li resul’taty contseptualizatsii? (K voprosu o metodike rognitivnogo analiza). Voprosy kognitivnoy lingvistiki, no. 1. s. 5–14.]. Berne, E. Games People Play. New York: Grove Press, 1964. Carter, R. & Nash, W. Seeing through Language: A Guide to Styles of English Writing. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1997. Connor, U. Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-cultural aspects of second-language writing. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

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Croft, W. & Cruse, D. A. Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Harmer, J. The practice of English language teaching. 3rd ed. Pearson Education Ltd., Longman, 2004. Levkovskaya, N. A. “Ⱥ Conceptual Basis in Expressing Opinion.” In Language as a Means of Understanding and Misunderstanding: RussianAmerican Comparative Studies: The Materials of the International Academic Conference. RSUH (Moscow), February 26–27, 2008: 135–140. Macmillan English Dictionary (for advanced learners). International student edition. Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2002. Sheygal, E. I. Semiotics of political discourse. Moscow: Gnosis, 2004 [Semiotika politicheskogo diskursa. Moskva: Gnosis, 2004]. Shore, B., Culture in Mind: Cognition, culture and the problem of meaning. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Stepanov, U. S. Constants: The Dictionary of Russian Culture. 3rd ed. Moscow: Academic project, 2004 [Konstanty: Slovar’ russkoi kul’tury. 3rd izd. Moskva: Akademicheskiy proyekt, 2004].

CHAPTER 14 BIOSEMIOTICS AND PROTOTYPE SEMANTICS IN UNDERSTANDING LEXICAL POLYSEMY: IMPLICATIONS FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS DMITRY N. NOVIKOV, SVETLANA A. PESINA

Introduction Why should we understand the nature of polysemantic words? Since time immemorial words have been accorded a particular role and importance: as is well known, it was the Word that was in the beginning. Few will deny today that words of any language tend to be interpreted in various ways: people are quite accustomed to applying the same word to different fragments of the world they live in. It would suf¿ce to take a look at almost any vocabulary entry in a dictionary, whether explanatory or bilingual, to become certain that one form will be followed by several de¿nitions explicating its senses. Lists of such senses, which Alexandr Smirnitsky designated as lexical-semantic variants (Smirnitsky, 1954), can be very compelling and embrace dozens of lexical units, as they are thought, fairly enough, to be interconnected and overlap in a certain way. A different case is that of homonyms (homographs and homophones): while they share identical forms in writing and pronunciation, these are acknowledged to have nothing in common in their meanings. Hence, being different words, they would normally be allocated by lexicographers to different lexical entries. However, some questions crop up naturally when, after comparing quite a few authoritative dictionaries, it becomes clear that the ways their authors treat the same words are often different, not to say arbitrary: a survey of over twenty English (mostly explanatory) dictionaries issued over the last few decades has revealed that they run the gamut from fervently

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maximising homonymy (CIDE) to denying it altogether (COBUILD). Nor is there any unanimity among them as to the order of presenting lexicalsemantic variants (LSVs) within an entry, whose number will not coincide either. Thus, if we look up the noun craft in different dictionaries, we will ¿nd at least ¿ve senses: Craft-1: skill in planning, making or executing; Craft-2: an activity or occupation connected with making things by hand; Craft-3: skilful deceit; Craft-4: (members of) ɚ guild; Craft-5: ɚ kind of vehicle. Traditionalists believe that in ɚ polysemantic word there must be obligatorily one sense thought to be the main or primary one; the rest of the LSVs are considered to be derived from the primary one through mechanisms of semantic transfer (metaphor and metonymy), generalisation or specialisation of meaning. Speaking of the noun craft, dictionaries are, as it were, “in two minds” as to which meaning should be awarded the primary status: ņ an activity such as weaving, carving or pottery that involves making things by hand, often in ɚ traditional way (COBUILD); ņ skill or occupation, esp. one requiring the use of the hands (CHAMBERS); ņ skill in planning, making or executing (WEBSTER); ņ ɚ trade or employment, esp. one in which the use of the hands is needed (ALDCE). As is seen from this short list, there is no distinct notion of what the main sense of craft in modern English might be. Furthermore, the Cambridge International Dictionary of English divides craft into two homonyms: SKILL and VEHICLE. So, where does the truth lie? One other important question arising from this linguistic conundrum is how to help someone, who has embarked on a journey of studying and training to learn a foreign language such as English, to successfully navigate all those “lexicographic ambiguities” – at the very least – and give them a clue to understanding the essence of any word in question.

What is home to words? To answer the questions raised above we must be fully aware of the fact that it is not in hard-copy or electronic dictionaries that words or any other language units “live.” Man has merely made effective use of paper, printing ink and – later on – computers to simplify the task of interpreting and

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systemising knowledge. It is only the human mind con¿ned within the human body of a language speaker, actively using the language in cooperation with other members of their language community, which can be the natural environment of words. That language is the method of human communication using spoken or written words can become clear from the very ¿rst de¿nition of the word language in a dictionary (www.macmillandictionary.com). However, by the late 20th century and in the ¿rst decade of the 21st century, a large number of linguists were increasingly dissatis¿ed with the model describing language as a means of communication effected through a system of signs and consisting in information exchange. The model did not provide any explanation about the purposes of such exchange, which means that linguistic analysis was focused on but a surface level of communication immediately available to the Observer, who naturally concludes that information is transferred thanks to the addresser/sender (speaker or writer) and the addressee/ recipient (hearer or reader) both following a mutually accepted procedure of analysing signs into quanta of meaning and retrieving signi¿cations encoded therein (Kravchenko, 2004:40). The earlier phase of development of cognitive linguistics was characterised by the prevalent understanding of language as a system of signs for categorising, storing, retrieving and processing information, with the process of thinking seen as calculation in terms of the arti¿cial mind theory. That approach described signs as physical entities (acoustic word forms) containing mental entities (word meanings), which implied that if the body, or vehicle, of a linguistic sign is in itself the carrier of meaning, then meanings are some non-material entities which must pre-exist the physical entities – linguistic signs, which make it possible to perceive meaning (Kravchenko, 2006:54). As for the language speaker, he turned out to be excluded from any process of sign generating. However, more recent data has proven that semiosis is based on experience; in other words, just in the same manner as mind develops (emerges) simultaneously with the development of the body in the course of its functional interactions with the environment, meaning emerges in the course of an organism’s functional interactions with physical entities that constitute this environment. (Kravchenko, 2006:55).

These entities and phenomena, Alexander Kravchenko argues, may or may not become signs, depending on “whether in the course of routine encounters

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with them an organism assigns value to them, which is largely individual rather than social in nature” (Kravchenko, 2006:55). Therefore, communication itself is not so much an exchange of anything as involving another person in the sphere of one’s own interactions with the environment, with a view to exerting orienting inÀuence on that person to alter, to a certain degree, his or her state of environment and thus provoke a certain behavioural response on his or her part (Kravchenko, 2008:90). Hence it must be recognised that information, and knowledge in general, is not literally conveyed in communication, as it results from an individual organism’s biological function of cognising, i.e. learning through experience, and it never leaves the con¿nes of that organism. Instead, language as a kind of adaptive behaviour provides a description of the state of an observed organism to an observer. The observer interprets this description using his experience of interactions with the observed in their consensual domain, and this interpretation triggers change in the observer’s state which the observer describes as “understanding” (Kravchenko, 2014:2).

By the same token, Uriel Weinreich seems to have been quite right in his observation that unlike sounds, meanings with which sounds are somehow connected are not present physically in either spoken or written sentences (Weinreich, 1981). As was noted by Mikhail Nikitin (Nikitin, 1988:16), signs are not to be treated as carriers of meanings in the sense that meanings are not contained therein; signs will only induce identical or similar meanings, triggering analogous processes in two, or more minds. Such a mechanism can be called “consensual” (Maturana, 1970), or “congenial” (Mamardashvili, 1999). The basics of this mechanism are described by Igor Arkhipov (Arkhipov, 2009), who argues that semiosis as sign formation goes through two stages. The ¿rst stage – object identi¿cation – involves observing a real world object, such as a stone on the ground; bundles of rays reÀected by this object innervate the retina of a person’s eye. As part of living human tissue, the retina perceives these rays as signals, which in turn convert into neuronal signals received by the relevant parts of the brain, where they alter the state of the brain tissue to bring about a visual image of the stone. This visual image serves as a signal for the system responsible for construing biological signals according to a person’s view of the world, or otherwise, as restricted by the knowledge already existing in one’s mind. Thus, if one’s mind is able to relate the image with the idea of “stone as a piece of rock”, then we can speak of reference, or understanding.

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The second stage – mental sign formation – is premised on 1) intention to engage in communication with another mind, or other minds, to tell them something about the stone, and 2) on the nature of the knowledge emerging from the depths of an individual mind. The latter is revealed by Igor Arkhipov as follows: Being a property of the nervous tissue, no thought (content of a form: meaning, idea etc.) can be separated therefrom just in the same way as it is impossible to separate red from tomato tissue. Hence it cannot be transferred over a distance, or even get through the thickness of the human body. Therefore, any thought can only be represented in the world of material objects by one of such objects that is able to change its location in reality. In our analysis, this will be the sound form /stoun/ (Arkhipov, 2009:108).

This stage starts with one’s intent to communicate something to somebody about a stone as a piece of rock (as opposed to a pebble or a boulder). This idea is what the sound form /stoun/ associates with in most minds in the ¿rst place, so if this association has become an act of consciousness in a language speaker engaging in communication hic et nunc, then the formation of a sign can be placed on record. That is how two “mental imprints”, the content image of “a piece of rock” and the sound form image of “/stoun/”, merge into one sign-image, which is a unity of the “piece of rock” concept and the sound form image of “/stoun/”. That is the way a lexical-semantic system consisting of signs gradually emerges from potentiality. And it is solely in a real mind and at a real time only that such a system can exist. It is actualised in a conscious mind in a real-time context by a de¿nite sense in combination with an individual’s knowledge of what can be done with this particular sign (Arkhipov, 2009:108–109). Based on such understanding of semiosis, language and words can “materialise” within the context of a real communicative act the moment a particular languaging person connects his or her thoughts with images of linguistic forms, with no communication being possible without a person’s precedent knowledge of which units are to be constructed in each situation. This knowledge is accumulated, or informed, in a person’s mind from birth, as a result of his or her interactions with other people engaging in communication, whose minds have similar cognoscitive powers. Thus rooted in intersubjective behaviour, meaning can be understood as a phenomenon generated by a speci¿c area of cognitive interactions, i.e. a consensual area, while communication can be treated as “efforts to establish common goals

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in a particular situation of interactions” in order to create (to infer) meaning (Kravchenko, 2006a:153, Arkhipov, 2011). Then comes the process of speech actualisation, unfolding as a stage of creating material linguistic forms that are able to travel from one language speaker to another, innervating the latter’s end organs and thereby triggering his/her mechanisms of sense/knowledge construction. This stage is characterised by the sign leaving the focus of its creator’s attention and entering the speaker’s operative memory, where it is retained as a basis for comparing and checking on further steps of producing the sound form of the word and sending it to the hearer. By holding signs in the operative memory, the speaker establishes ad hoc links between the context and the co-text, as well as between individual text fragments. With the sign leaving the focus of attention and with “space cleared out” for signs that will follow, mechanisms are turned on that consecutively convert mental signals into biological and motor ones, which cause the vocal cords, mouth and nasal cavities, and lips to produce air waves perceived as sound signals. Therefore, the immediate effect of the form /stoun/, carrying no content, boils down to nothing else but “shaking the air” (Arkhipov, 2009:111).

The stage of sign actualisation in speech draws to a close when the material sound form ¿nds its way into the environment (or when its written form is imprinted on any material object). Only at this moment can we speak of a word emerging in discourse. This seems to be a very compelling claim by Igor Arkhipov given that the two entities of different natures, i.e. the real objective world vs. the human mind “reÀecting” this world are physically incompatible: a stone as a real world object and the sound form /stoun/, on the one hand, and the mental images of the same form and its content, on the other, belong to absolutely different, never immediately overlapping spheres. This dichotomy is conditioned by the different properties of the entities under analysis. Thus, a stone as such does not have any intrinsic property of being reÀected in a human mind. It turns out to be in possession of such a property only within one individual mind, only because the latter has, at some moment, established a reference between a stone and the sound form /stoun/ (Arkhipov, 2009:111).

What follows from these considerations is the essential difference between the sign and the word resulting from the real characteristics of both, the sign being a unidimensional entity, a dialectical unity of mental images

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wholly belonging to one individual mind, while the word (thought of in terms of its form and content rather than a sequence of sounds or letters) being something that is involved in a certain event unfolding among three participants: a material form object (/stoun/ or “stone”), a stone and a languaging person. More precisely, the event unfolds among the knowledge of a stone in combination with a wish to tell somebody something about it and the thought that the knowledge of the stone and the sound form image /stoun/ are correlated (Arkhipov, 2009:112).

In such a semiotic situation the sound form, which is a material object, stands for (or represents) another material object in the world of other material objects and serves as a means of transfer in the real space. Therefore, despite a common and deep-rooted linguistic tradition to treat words as signs, it will be very reasonable to agree that “sign” and “word” are far from being near-synonyms. If we agree, following the tenets of biosemiotics, that the sign is a mental unity of the images of form and content, which is in itself a property of the nervous tissue, then we have to admit that “although referents and material word forms are the necessary precursors to the formation of signs for the latter to become words, semiosis can in fact result only from associations” (Arkhipov, 2009:114). That can be very well deduced from analysing the verbal message received. The moment the sound signal /stoun/ produced by air vibrations of a certain frequency reaches the hearer’s eardrum, or, by the same token, the written form stone starts stimulating the reader’s eye retina by light wave vibrations, a process of interpreting the relevant signal gets triggered. Such signals launch sign formation in the recipient mind regardless of whether there are any stones around the person. Moreover, words like honesty or mermaid can have no referents in the real world at all. Semiosis in the recipient mind starts with transmitting the neuronal signals received from air or light vibrations (or even stimulations of tactile end organs, if we take into account Braille books for visually challenged language users). Based on the linguistic code, the signals invoke a relevant sound form image (which is /stoun/ in our example) in combination with the associated content image (“a piece of rock”), thus resulting in sign formation and understanding as to what must have been the addresser’s most probable subject matter of thought (Arkhipov, 2009:114). It will be appreciated that philosophy of biology holds that both language and consciousness are distributed in the whole human body and they

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extend into the organism’s environment due to the contingent character of the environment “which is uncertain, unpredictable, and liable to change. Hence, an individual mind is constantly set to access as many sources of pertinent signals as possible, and a languaging person is, metaphorically speaking, an ‘open radar of cognition’ ” (Arkhipov, 2011). That means that semiosis is always bound to be affected by the factors of the environment with which the communicating language speakers are in immediate contact (such as shapes, scents and sounds surrounding the human organism, the weather and so on); in other words, meaning is formed through experience in multiple sensory-motor modalities (Hoffman, 2013). Therefore, signs become signs only if and when human beings (or other semiotically competent creatures) attach a signi¿cation to it that goes beyond its intrinsic physical properties, whether in furtherance of a particular programme of activities, or to link different aspects or phases of their activities, to enrich their understanding of their local circumstances or general situation (Love, 2004:531).

Unlike the sign, which is an altogether mental entity, the word form is a real world object capable of changing its location in physical space. As put by Arkhipov, the word, whether written or uttered, can actually be a word only at those (short) instances when the “life” of a sign Àares up… Only the moment a linguistic form triggers a languaging person’s mechanism of creating signs, and insofar as this moment lasts, does the word become a word, a unique dyadic entity, one “side” of which functioning in the real world and travelling from the addresser to the recipient and back again, and the “other” side in ideality, within one’s mind, stimulating the relevant centres of consciousness (parts of the nervous tissue) which determine the corresponding changes in the behaviour of communicating individuals. The understanding of a word received is the result of the recipient bringing certain parts of his or her nervous system to a state which causes a corresponding behavioural change (Arkhipov, 2007).

Why do polysemantic words still have one meaning only? Language vs. Speech – Revisited As emerges from the above reÀections, the word stripped of any duality in terms of its physical characteristics can be de¿ned as a ¿xed discrete

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acoustic, visual or tactile signal, whose form invokes de¿nite states of neuronal activity (i.e., the word-form image in one’s mind). A discourse-based meaning of the word (i.e. what is traditionally called a lexical-semantic variant or word sense) is to be understood as an instantaneous conventional connection between (the change of) the state of the nervous tissue corresponding to the perception of the word form and the relevant bodily reactions. The recursive mechanisms involved in such associations and remembered by the body constitute the codes of the language system. Hence, the response of one’s memory, resulting from the total of such conventional responses to a given word-form signal experienced by the body, underlies the systemic meaning of that word. The existence and the properties of systemic meanings can also account for the conclusions drawn by psycholinguists who posit that an individual’s memory is not able to hold all variants of meaning of all the words that he or she knows. Instead, as was suggested by Aron Brudny (Brudny, 1971:19), the word can exist in two semantic states: potential, or systemic, and contextual. Furthermore, experiments by Natalia Bekhtereva revealed that, at least within six millimetres of the cerebral cortex, there were processes indicating both analysis of the constituents of speech and the perception of it at a more global level: “a differentiated response depending on the character of ‘mistake’ in a phrase or its accuracy can be treated as resulting from comparison with a template and even reaction caused by agreement or confrontation with it” (Bekhtereva, 1994:165). A similar approach was adopted by Aleksey Leontyev, who maintained that the word is recorded in the form of a word search; therefore, by operating with relevant semantic features we thereby “read off” a record in our lexicon. “Words are not stored as words, but as clusters of features. When words are used they are reconstructed from their constituent features rather than reproduced by the memory” (Leontyev, 1971:18). Essentially, Leontyev seems to be speaking here exactly of a language speaker in search of an actual word based on his or her knowledge of its systemic meaning. According to Humberto Maturana, any living system functions always in a predictive manner: what happened once will occur again. Its organisation… is conservative and repeats only that which works… If a given state of relative activity in the nerve cells originates a given behavior, a recurrence of the “same state” of relative activity should give rise to the “same behavior” no matter how the recurrence originates. The relevance of such a behavior is determined by the signi¿cance that it has for the maintenance of the living organisation, and it is in relation to this relevance that any subsequent behaviors are the same (Maturana, 1970:15–16).

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Based on this approach, it will be quite logical to believe that the actual word sense, just as the understanding of the whole discourse, stems from all bodily sensory signals received by the brain, for meaning is the relationship between an organism and its physical and cultural environment, determined by the value the environment holds for that organism (Zlatev, 2003; Kravchenko, 2006:70). The organism’s descriptions of its niche, i.e., (the changes of) the state(s) of the nervous tissue resulting from comparing, evaluating, generalising and storing these niche parameters in the bodily memory, become meanings of the corresponding word forms perceived by the organism among other signals. This is the way linguistic-somatic or somatic-linguistic mechanisms of bodily responses to different word senses work. And vice-versa, should there be any need to respond to any changes in the niches by using different word senses, the corresponding changes of the state of the nervous tissue trigger the mechanisms leading to semiosis (Arkhipov, 2009:136). This focal theory also rests on the notion of homeostasis developed in physiology and other sciences, which means the ability of a system to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function (dictionary.reference.com), to pursue a dynamic equilibrium. With this in mind, a natural language must be recognised to be a human organism’s function aimed primarily at human adaptation to environment, whether physical or virtual, social or cultural. As a matter of fact, at this point we have moved closer to solving the language versus speech correlation problem and can say with more or less certainty that 1) one is not just a mere mirror-like reÀection of the other; 2) they belong to different operative levels of consciousness/memory; 3) they stand to one another in a relation of reciprocal causality.

Lexical prototypes: Identifying systemic meanings of words The above-described key principles of semiosis and verbal communication based on biological foundations appear to dovetail nicely with recent ¿ndings in prototype semantics, in which progress has been made in working out linguistic parameters of lexical meaning at the level of the language system, with the notion of systemic meaning correlating with the term lexical prototype, which is de¿ned as a minimal bundle of communicatively signi¿cant conventional semantic features shared by language speakers, both markers and distinguishers, necessary to identify an object or ɚ concept and which function in the human mind at the highest level of abstrac-

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tion or generalisation. The lexical prototype provides the semantic core for all actual senses of the word and “evolves as part of an individual’s life-long experience of using that speci¿c verbal pattern in relevant contexts, as well as a result of one’s past observations of interlocutors acting in a similar manner” (Arkhipov, 2012). Henceforth we are going to describe a methodology of bringing out a feasible lexical prototype underlying all actual senses of a polysemantic word and providing the content of a lexeme likely to be stored in one’s long-term memory. Trying, for the purposes of our study, to leave aside all possible (contextual, cultural etc.) associations and connotations that may and do arise in an individual mind in relation to a particular lexeme or lexical-semantic variant, and aiming to expose the features typical of a lay person’s linguistic mind, we will analyse vocabulary entries in explanatory dictionaries, as they themselves are to a large degree a product of their authors’ cognitive analysis. The analysis of senses that are (traditionally) based on mechanisms of semantic transfer, such as metaphor, will be carried on, proceeding from the postulate that word forms are invariably associated with their systemic meanings in various contexts. The proposed cognitive investigation will therefore involve a componential analysis based on the cognitive image of the word as a means of explicating its semantic potential. Thus, the primary, or literal, sense (1) of the word tooth, which belongs to the lexical-semantic ¿eld “parts of the body”, can be de¿ned, based on information from over twenty dictionaries, which allows to determine the most frequent semantic features, as “one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing.” The dictionaries do not provide any metonymic senses of the lexeme tooth, and the phraseological expressions, i.e., idioms, use the word under study invariably in its primary sense, e.g.: (2) “kick someone in the teeth” – “to disappoint or discourage someone very much, especially when they need support or hope” (Why is it that whenever I ask you for help you kick me in the teeth?). The cognitive image underlying the constituent elements of this idiom, at their face value, invokes a picture of some being hit in the face near the jaw. However, in this case we see a change of reference: this image does not ¿t into the context where it was used. Yet the hearer, based on that same image, infers another sense within the semantic structure of the whole utterance, which emphasises a person’s negative attitude to someone, hurting someone as if by kicking them in their “set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which are used for biting and chewing.”

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In general, the metaphorical senses of the word tooth reÀect something being likened to the appearance and function of teeth (1): Sense (3) “tooth of a comb / rake / saw / zip etc.” – “one of the pointed parts that protrude from a comb, tool or piece of equipment (Each of these cogs has ten teeth), resembling one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing.” This LSV, like tooth (1), is also based on the semantic components one of the pointed objects; protruding from anything. Besides that, such components as arranged in a row; coming into contact with other objects are not to be ignored either. Sense (4) “tooth of a wheel or gear” – “one of a series of projections which engage with corresponding parts of another wheel or body”, one of a series of projections which engage with corresponding parts of another wheel or body (which resembles a tooth (1) “one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing”). Such objects also resemble a human tooth both in form and function, so the basic semantic features underlying this sense are: one of the pointed objects; protruding from anything; arranged in a row; coming into contact with other objects. Sense (5) “tooth of paper / stamp / a negative ¿lm” – “a projection of paper between perforating holes on a severed perforated edge”. This sense also stems from the components one of the pointed objects; protruding from anything; arranged in a row. A row of projections edging a stamp etc. has a similar geometry to that of human teeth, which are sharp /pointed projections growing from the gums of the mouth. So this case of metaphorical transfer is based on similarity of form, whereas the functional components are not relevant here. Analogously to LSV (5), sense (6) – “tooth of a wall” – “any of the bricks or stones left projecting from a wall to provide for a subsequent extension” can be rephrased as “any of the bricks or stones left projecting from a wall to provide for a subsequent extension which resembles a tooth (1) – one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing.” The tenor of this metaphor is based on the same components as sense (5). Sense (7) “tooth of a leaf” – “one of a series of projections around the edge of a leaf” is based on similarity of form and can also be presented as “one of a series of projections around the edge of a leaf which resembles a tooth (1) – one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing.” Tooth (7) is likened to tooth (1) based on similarity of form and rests on the features one of the pointed objects; protruding from anything; arranged in a row.

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Sense (8) – “any projection resembling or suggesting a tooth”; “a sharp jagged point or projection” – appears to be the most abstract as it suggests a wide range of referents that can ¿t into this concept and fall within this de¿nition based on the same bundle of semantic features (one of the pointed objects; protruding from anything; arranged in a row; coming into contact with other objects). They very well cover all the foregoing senses, including the primary one. Tooth (8) came into existence, that is to say started to be registered by dictionaries as soon as the human mind (the mind of a lexicographer) began to reÀect upon its experience of encountering the word in various real time contexts. And each time, in this case, it was the primary sense that served as the basis of comparison. From this sense metonymic LSVs (if any) can be derived and construed without much dif¿culty. However, it is but a few semantic components of the literary sense that provide the ground for the metaphorical senses. Yet they are essential in construing the lexical prototype, which can spare a person much mental work when metaphors are used in discourse. Hence the systemic meaning can be formulated for this word as “one of a set of hard white objects in the mouth, rooted in sockets in the jaws, which is used for biting and chewing or something like a tooth (one of the pointed objects protruding from anything; they are arranged in rows and often come into contact with each other or other objects)” (Pesina, 2011:196–202). As soon as the word tooth is perceived by a language speaker, a corresponding image of its content, which amounts to its primary sense, emerges in his or her mind. This can be called the literal lexical prototype, the “best representative” of the word’s semantics. Then the meaning of the whole utterance is formed subject to the context of discourse, which may result in either the literal sense being “retained”, or a transferred sense inferred by the hearer, after which the transferred sense instantaneously enters the semantic structure of the whole utterance, per saltum, inducing a third sense, or the meaning of the utterance. This once again reinforces the idea that any linguistic unit, which tends to be described by dictionaries as having a good many transferred meanings, is in fact monosemantic in the language system. The emergence of new senses can only occur in real time communication, which renders polysemy a discoursebased phenomenon rather than an intrinsic property of language as a system. Over time the number of contexts, in which a word appears, may become large enough for its lexical prototype to develop in an individual mind an extension of a more abstract character, i.e., a potential lexical prototype, a certain invariant of all possible LSVs of that lexeme, which allows all language speakers to use words and understand one another (more or less) correctly.

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From theory to practice Since we can talk of polysemy only at the level of discourse analysis as resulting from the Observer’s (Viewer’s/Conceptualiser’s) insight into various contexts of word occurrences, any dictionary is only an arti¿cial linguistic system, which may well exist in a lexicographer’s mind. A true natural language system in all probability, we shall stress this once again, admits of one meaning only for one linguistic form, both constituting a sign. That said, we still believe that “bridging the gap” between these systems is not an altogether hopeless or unnecessary enterprise, for it may have a few practical implications. Implication 1 Modelling lexical prototypes will provide a solid foundation for a lexicographer to differentiate between senses of the same word and its homonyms (Novikov, 2010). To illustrate this point, we will hark back to the example used at the very start of the chapter. As the identi¿cation of the literal sense of the word craft by consulting dictionaries poses quite a serious challenge (although such a sense must exist in individual minds of language speakers belonging to different social groups, this task would require particular psycholinguistic methods), it will be very useful for our purposes to try to ¿nd the potential lexical prototype of this noun and see if there is an invariant connecting all its senses. As ɚ result, the lexical-semantic variants under analysis will display the following sets of markers and distinguishers: Craft-1 (She has learnt to trust her craft and professionalism. You can always tell by the piece of furniture if it was made by someone who knew their craft): 1) ɚ person’s ability (= activity); 2) based on thinking or doing things skilfully or artistically, quickly, easily and well. Ⱥ specialisation of the previous sense will be craft-2 (Since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, the craft of the smith has been held in repute): 1) ɚ person’s occupation or trade (= activity); 2) based on/consisting in doing things skilfully or artistically, quickly, easily and well; 3) mostly performed with hands. These two senses are connected by the group of non-trivial features of activity in the aspect of its skilful performance. The same components also inÀuence the next two LSVs: Craft-3 (You have that crooked wisdom which is called craft) – one more specialisation from craft-1: 1) ɚ person’s ability (activity); 2) consisting in deceiving; 3) skilfully or artistically, and easily.

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Craft-4 (He represented the craft of brewers) – ɚ metonym from craft-2: 1) an organisation of people; 2) who professionally make things (perform an activity) with hands; 3) skilfully or artistically. Thus, the cognitive image actualising all the four LSVs can be worded as “any activity characterised by skilful, artistic or easy performance” and the corresponding vocabulary entry, seeking to be more explanatory, might look as follows: CRAFT1(n) any activity characterised by skilful, artistic or easy performance 1. skill in planning, making or executing; ability to perform activities skilfully or artistically {from Lexical Prototype}; 2. an occupation or trade (professional activity) requiring artistic skill or ease in using the hands {specialisation from Sense 1 or from Lexical Prototype}; 3. ɚ guild, an organisation of people whose professional activity requires manual dexterity, skill in using the hands {metonymy from Sense 2 or from Lexical Prototype}; 4. skill in performing the activity of deceiving to gain an end {specialisation from Sense 1 or from Lexical Prototype}.

However, craft-5 (Small craft took shelter along the east coast during the storm) does not display any semantic features characteristic of the previous four senses: 1) ɚ vehicle; 2) ɚ vessel, i.e. used in/on water, in the air or in space. Therefore, this one is naturally to be considered ɚ homonym: CRAFT2(n) – ɚ vehicle for travelling on water, through the air or space, such as ɚ boat, ɚ ship, ɚ space-ship.

Implication 2 Another implication, which is immediately related to the previous one, is that such an approach to lexical semantics, being much more consistent in exposing the cognitive image “binding” all the contextual senses and demonstrating that graphically (ad oculos), will considerably increase the ef¿cacy of dictionaries, reference books and vocabulary lists in foreign language coursebooks. This will allow teachers to devise types of lexical exercises based on the semantic motivation of words in combination with students’ abilities to construe various contexts. Aware of pertinent lexical prototypes, students will ¿nd it much easier to identify, understand, learn and produce corresponding words in their own speech, wherever this is justi¿ed by the relevant semantic features of the lexemes (subject to “stylistic restrictions”). Here is an example of possible activities:

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Chapter 14. Biosemiotics and Prototype Semantics... Match the following groups of contexts with the most likely potential meaning of the underlined words. What are the actual senses of each of them? The ¿rst piece of equipment you need to buy to have ¿sh as pets is obviously a ¿sh tank. A cat fell asleep and woke up 100 miles away, after he decided to sleep on a warm coach fuel tank. The tank commander was among the ¿rst to enter Brussels in 1944.

An object having a Àat level surface, often used to arrange or hold things on.

I need a change! I have been dreaming of a new kitchen table for a while now. The ten commandments were given to Moses on tables of stone. The tribe was relatively safe on the table, but they had to descend into the valley for water.

A large container with thick/protective walls, which can be used for holding Àuids or anything similar.

Some tasks can be based on students' own cognitive faculties of comparison: Why do you think English people use the same word to call … ? a) beam: 1) a long thick heavy piece of wood used in building; 2) a stream of rays emitted from a source of light; 3) a radio signal transmitted along a narrow course to guide pilots in darkness or bad weather, when short waves are sent in one direction only so that they are made stronger; 4) a bright look or smile b)…

Either individually or in groups students are expected to arrive at the potential meaning that can be (with or without their teacher's help) worded, for example, as “any long straight thick horizontal support or carrier.” Implication 3 Semasiologists, lexicographers and language teachers alike have always been concerned with the task of identifying and explaining differences and subtleties between synonyms and selecting them for teaching purposes. Posing a major challenge to students, synonymic relations tend to come into focus at an advanced level of language study. With that in mind, teachers (legions of them being non-native speakers) often have to rely on their own intuition alone, which can turn out to be misleading, and the existing dictionaries do not always come to the rescue, using one synonym to de¿ne

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the other (e.g., break: if a bone in your body breaks, or if you break it, it cracks or separates into two pieces; crack: if something cracks, a line or long narrow hole appears on its surface, but it does not break into pieces (www.macmillandictionary.com). Nonetheless, describing the systemic meanings of such verbs as elementary cognitive models will empower teachers with a more effective tool for teaching synonyms even at earlier stages. For example, the following model of discriminating between the synonyms of the verb break is offered by Anna Shiryaeva (Shiryaeva, 2008:273), who has made an attempt to bring out the relevant semantic value of each of them: break (the synonymic dominant) – to cause integrity to cease to exist or it ceases to exist; to split – to cause integrity of object to cease to exist or it ceases to exist, as it were, due to (forcible) separation (along line of natural division); to burst – to cause integrity of object to cease to exist or it ceases to exist, as it were, suddenly and violently due to excessive pressure causing something to appear; to explode – to cause integrity of object to cease to exist or it ceases to exist, as it were, suddenly due to enormous pressure with great force and (loud noise) causing something to appear; to bust – to cause integrity of any object to cease to exist or it ceases to exist, as it were, by damaging it extensively and making it inoperative.

Implication 4 This point concerns interpreters and translators, who may either fail to ¿nd the right equivalent in a dictionary or come across a rare sense of a word not registered by dictionaries. An experienced interpreter will have developed a language system similar to that of a native speaker, allowing them to achieve greater adequacy when rendering words and ideas in a target language. Thus, analysing the English noun closure in his Unsystematic Dictionary (Palazhchenko, 2005), Pavel Palazhchenko points out that most senses of this word (school closure, military base closure, closure of debate etc.) are quite easy to express in Russian based on the Russian equivalent: zakrytiye / zaversheniye / prekrashcheniye, meaning the act of closing; the state of being closed; bringing to an end; conclusion, which must comprise the literal prototype of the noun under discussion. Yet this is not the case in We need to come to closure on this issue before the summit, where closure is very likely to be based on its potential prototype feature completeness of something and can

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be more adequately translated as soglasiye or soglasheniye (= agreement, for agreement is normally achieved as soon as an argument or discussion comes to a close, or is completed). The same potential prototype feature may become actualised in some abstract senses from the ¿eld of psychology, such as …Research suggests that we have a need for closure that motivates us to see the world as orderly and predictable and to do whatever we can to promote a positive view of ourselves (www.dailymail.co.uk), where closure corresponds to the Russian tselostnost’ vospriyatitya (the tendency to see an entire ¿gure even though the picture of it is incomplete, based primarily on the viewer’s past experience; a sense of psychological certainty or completeness).

Conclusion We have made an attempt to demonstrate that cognitive methods and approaches to studying the nature of language can yield very positive results for understanding why people use the same words in different contexts. Deducing, or modelling, invariant prototypes helps to explain why the numerous dictionaries differ so desperately in presenting the hierarchy of senses within the same polysemous words. The obvious truth lies in the correlation between the semantic structures presented by lexicographers with those existing in people’s minds: the former and the latter are not identical; the average human being is not able to hold, say, over thirty meanings of the noun head that appear in texts. The potential lexical prototype is ɚ very good means for that: whenever its bundle of semantic features ¿ts the occasion, ɚ person will choose the right word for the right situation from the “stock” of lexical prototypes formed throughout his or her life experience, corresponding to certain states of his or her neuronal activity and serving the purpose of his or her adaptive behaviour. Besides making it possible to differentiate between homonyms and polysemantic words, identify synonymous lexemes and discriminate between them, looking for lexical prototypes will make language learning more insightful, turn it from mechanical language “acquisition” into a more stimulating language construal (Arkhipov, 2012), enhance understanding of native speakers’ worldview and thereby allow students to orient themselves more effectively in discourse, and, if need be, achieve a more adequate translation. In general, bio-cognitive methods of studying and teaching languages seem to be gaining in popularity in Russia, a good example being the course books “The English Verb: A New Grammar for Everyone” by Alexander Kravchenko and “The English Grammar: Articles” by Igor Arkhipov, who also supervises a “Translation-free language teaching methods: Cognitive

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technologies in linguistics” project under the aegis of the English Philology Department of Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia. We believe the value of this methodology is hard to overestimate and in the very near future it will win over a greater number of researchers and practitioners.

References Arkhipov, I. K. “Polifoniya mira, tekst I odinochestvo poznayushchego soznaniya.” Studia Linguistica Cognitiva 1. Yazyk i poznaniye: Metodologicheskie problemy i perspektivy. Moscow, 2006: 157–171. Arkhipov, I. K. “Znak ili slovo yavlyaetsya yedinstvom formy i soderzhaniya?” Lingvistika teksta i diskursivnyy analis: Traditsii i perspektivy. St. Petersburg, 2007: 157–171. Arkhipov, I. K. “Yazyk i yego funktsiya: smena paradigm nauchnogo znaniya.” Studia Linguistica Cognitiva 2. Nauka o yazyke v izmenyayushcheysya paradigme znaniya. Irkutsk, 2009: 100–152. Arkhipov, I. K. “Biology of Cognition, Biosemiotics, and Second Language ‫ލ‬Acquisition‫ތ‬.” In Cognitive Dynamics in Linguistic Interactions. Edited by A. Kravchenko. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012: 185–213. Bekhtereva, N. P. O mozge cheloveka. Razmyshleniya o glavnom. St. Petesburg, 1994. Hoffman, Paul & Lambon Ralph, Matthew A. “Shapes, scents and sounds: Quantifying the full multi-sensory basis of conceptual knowledge.” Neuropsychologia 51, no. 1 (2013): 14–25. Kravchenko, A. V. “Kognitivnaya lingvistika segodnya: Integratsionnyye protsessy i problema vybora.” Voprosy kognitivnoy lingvistiki 1 (2004): 37–52. Kravchenko, A. V. “Cognitive linguistics, biology of cognition and biosemiotics: Bridging the gaps.” Language Sciences 28, no. 1 (2006): 51–75. Kravchenko, A. V. “Yavlyayetsya li yazyk reprezentativnoy sistemoy?” Studia Linguistica Cognitiva 2. Nauka o yazyke v izmenyayushcheysya paradigme znaniya. Irkutsk, 2006a: 135–156. Kravchenko, A. V. Kognitivnyy gorizont yazykoznaniya. Irkutsk, 2008. Kravchenko, A. V. “Language as human ecology: A new agenda for linguistic education.” Paper presented at the International Conference, “Finding Common Ground: Social, Ecological and Cognitive Perspectives on Language Use.” 12–14 June, 2014, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. https://www.academia.edu/7370491/Language_as_human_ ecology_A_new_agenda_for_linguistic_education

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Leontyev, A. A. “Psikhologicheskaya struktura znacheniya.” Semanticheskaya struktura slova. Psikholingvisticheskie issledovaniya. Moscow, 1971: 7–19. Love, Nigel. “Cognition and the language myth.” Language Sciences 26 (2004): 525–544. Mamardashvili, M. K. “O prizvanii i tochke prisutstviya.” In Kongenialnost’ mysli: O ¿losofe Merabe Mamardashvili. Edited by V. A. Kruglikov. Moscow, 1999: 93–122. Maturana, Humberto R. Biology of cognition. Biological Computer Laboratory Research Report BCL 9.0. University of Illinois, Urbana, 1970. Nikitin, M. V. Osnovy lingvisticheskoy teorii znacheniiya. Moscow, 1988. Novikov, D. N. Leksicheskaya neodnoznachnost’ v kognitivnom aspekte: Prototipicheskaya baza angliyskogo leksikona. Moscow, 2010. Palazhchenko, P. R. Nesistematicheskiy slovar’. 2005. Elektronnaya versiya. http://unsys.narod.ru/book/ht_start.htm Pesina, S. A. Slovo v kognitivnom aspekte. Moscow, 2011. Smirnitsky, A. I. “K voprosu o slove (problema tozhdestva slova).” Trudy instituta yazykoznaniya. Moscow, 4 (1954): 3–9. Shiryaeva, A. V. “Prototipicheskaya semantika kak osnovaniye sinonimii glagolov.” Izvestiya Rossiyskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta imeni A. I. Gertsena 54 (2008): 269–274. Weinreich, U. “Opyt semanticheskoy teorii” [Explorations in semantic theory]. In Novoye v zarubezhnoy lingvistike. X. Lingvisticheskaya semantika. Moscow, 1981. Zlatev, Jordan. “Meaning = life (+ culture): An outline of a uni¿ed biocultural theory of meaning.” Evolution of Communication 4, no. 2 (2003): 1–37. Cited Dictionaries: http://dictionary.reference.com/ http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ CIDE – Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Cambridge University Press, 1995. COBUILD – Collin’s COBUILD Dictionary of English. London & Glasgow: Collins, 1990. CHAMBERS – Chambers Encyclopedic English Dictionary. Edinburgh, 1994. WEBSTER – Webster’s New World Encyclopedia. New York, 1993. ALDCE – The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. Sengiley: Stavropol, 1992.

CHAPTER 15 INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: FROM COMPETENCE TO PERFORMANCE NIKOLAI V. BARYSHNIKOV, KLÁRA KOSTKOVÁ

Introduction The current multicultural world, full of intercultural contact, brings new demands to many areas of human existence, since successful intercultural communication is the key to peaceful coexistence. It has become a fundamental in international relationships, in the development of international economic and cultural cooperation, and in the expansion of intercultural relations in different spheres of professional activity. We de¿ne professional intercultural communication as a process of interaction between professionally trained specialists, who represent different languages and cultures aimed at resolving international conÀicts, counseling, discussion of global, regional and in-company issues (depending on the rank of the communication parties), and so on. Professional intercultural communication is realised by specialists, whose preparation takes place, as is the case in the Russian Federation, in institutes of higher education in the ¿eld of international relations, international security, conÀict management, theory and practice of translation, etc. They are taught special intercultural strategies and tactics in order to act as mediators in different kinds of situations on the intercultural level. The main target of their training is their ef¿cient performance as a practical result of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) formation. It took a long time to realise quite an obvious truth: apart from foreign language communicative competence (FLCC), one needs to acquire knowledge and skills that enhance and complement FLCC to communicate successfully across cultures on a professional level. It is thus necessary to master the whole complex, i.e., FLCC and other intercultural components

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that together form ICC and, moreover, to master a set of proper intercultural interaction strategies. This chapter is, therefore, devoted to the issue of ICC as a prerequisite of successful intercultural communication. It focuses on conceptualisation of the ICC model and, consequently, on its development and strategies for its realisation in a real intercultural dialogue, including the performance of speci¿c intercultural approaches entailing communicative attacks and communicative self-defence that provide an equal status for intercultural communication.

Intercultural Education Intercultural education, although a relatively new concept, has rich roots. Cushner and Mahon (2009:305), among others, pointed out that as early as in the seventeenth century, Comenius proposed that “multiplicity of perspectives not only was foundational to knowledge acquisition but also encouraged mutual understanding between people of differing backgrounds”. Piaget (1957:2) designated Comenius as “the apostle of international collaboration” (in Cushner, Mahon, 2009:305). Intercultural education, however, conceptualises aspects of Comenius’ ideas, which only gained attention in the ¿rst half of the twentieth century; with intercultural competence appearing only recently (Cushner, Mahon, 2009:305). Intercultural education is the basis for identi¿cation and analysis of opportunities and requirements of professional training in the linguistic and intercultural area for real-life communication with representatives of different languages and cultures. Their preparation includes such professional areas as international relations, conÀict management and translation. The prospects of intercultural education are evident, as people, able to perform different types of intercultural strategies, create a special atmosphere in intercultural situations and ¿nd the most ef¿cient ways to obtain a communicative result; at the same time some kind of harmony must be achieved in the interaction between people of different cultures. Intercultural education has already been reÀected in various curricular documents, for instance1: in the Czech Republic mainly in the National Programme for the Development of Education in the Czech Republic (2001) and consequently in the Framework Educational Programmes (2007) for various levels of the educational system; in the Russian Federation a similar aim of teaching foreign languages and cultures is presented in the 1

The examples mentioned reÀect the nationalities of the authors.

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Federal State Education Standard of Higher Vocational Education (2010). Although intercultural education has its place in the curricular documents, it is still a ¿eld that remains terminologically unclear. Its aims, content and developmental processes are saturated with heterogeneity of thought; that is to say the approaches to intercultural education vary. Moreover, questions about its practical application exist. One of the most important is related to the analysis of the subject of intercultural education and its components. It is evident that the process of intercultural education and its ef¿ciency depends on those aspects and dimensions we de¿ne in the structure of ICC, which represents the subject of intercultural education in our study. Heterogeneity of thought, mentioned above in connection with intercultural education, is also related to different teaching approaches, methods and techniques of ICC development in order to reach the whole complex of dimensions. What is more, the variety of a number of different disciplines, which may be perceived as the foundations of intercultural education, needs to be reÀected; among the most inÀuential, we may mention: cultural anthropology, ethnography, sociology (ethnosociology), intercultural psychology and ethnopsychology, comparative linguistics and ethnolinguistics, pedagogy, international law, history, literature and culture studies, aesthetics, and so on. PrĤcha (2001:46–65), however, emphasises the need to study and understand how individual disciplines contribute to the theory of intercultural education and how they inÀuence understanding of each ICC dimension.

Conceptualisation of the Construct: Focus on Intercultural Competence and Intercultural Communicative Competence ICC, as a multidisciplinary concept (discussed above), is labelled with various terms. As Sinicrope et al. (2007:1) claim: Throughout the literature, researches and theoreticians use a range of more or less related terms to discuss and describe intercultural competence […] What all of these terms attempt to account for is the ability to step beyond one’s own culture and function with other individuals from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.

In the broadest sense, ICC may be de¿ned as “a complex of abilities needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself” (Fantini,

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Tirmizi, 2006:12; emphasis in original). Similarly, Deardorff (2009:xi) de¿nes intercultural competence as appropriate and effective communication and behaviour in intercultural situations. In the presented de¿nition, it is important to emphasise that Deardorff speaks about intercultural competence being a prerequisite for intercultural communication; however, the question is why the notion of “communication” is not reÀected in the label/title of the competence discussed. We subscribe to Deardorff’s opinion that ICC is the ability, required as a prior condition, to realise appropriate and effective communication and behaviour in intercultural situations. Besides, it is important to note one of the signi¿cant features of professional intercultural communication: for one of the participants the language of communication may be native, and for the other, it may have been mastered at the operational level, but is, all the same, foreign. This circumstance is fundamental in the study of the phenomenon of intercultural communication, since the level of FLCC also determines a choice of intercultural communication strategies. This brings us to a broader question concerning the coexistence of two concepts: intercultural competence and intercultural communicative competence. In some sources, these two concepts are used and understood interchangeably (e.g., Fantini, 2001; PrĤcha, 2010); others, including us, claim the possibility and need to distinguish between the two (e.g., Byram, 1997; Kostková, 2012). The distinction states that interculturally competent (IC) individuals are able to interact in their native language with people from other countries and cultures; while doing so, they draw upon their knowledge about intercultural communication, their attitudes, skills, previous experience, etc. On the other hand, intercultural communicative competence (ICC) enables individuals to interact with people from other countries and cultures in a foreign language; their knowledge of other cultures, their values, habits, etc. are linked to their language competence through the ability to use the language appropriately and their awareness of the speci¿c meaning, values and connotations of the language. Byram (1997:71) presents the relationship between intercultural competence and intercultural communicative competence as one of degrees of complexity and ability to deal with a wider range of situations of contact in the latter than in the former. Simply said, ICC – the wider, i.e., more complex concept – could be perceived as a blend of foreign language communicative competence and intercultural competence as reÀected e.g., by Byram, 1997, Fantini, 2001. ICC is thus perceived as a construct comprising communicative as well as intercultural components.

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This approach is also reÀected in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001), which formulates the aims of “The user/ learner’s competences” as: ņ general competences – i.e., intercultural aims (such as knowledge of the world, sociocultural knowledge, intercultural awareness, etc.); ņ communicative language competences – i.e., foreign language communicative competence (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences) (see Chapter 5 of the document; pp. 101–130). Related to the theoretical foundations presented, we incline to the construct of ICC, in the sense of intercultural competence dimensions, being interconnected with foreign language competence.

Intercultural Communicative Competence: Related Models and their Analysis Based on a general de¿nition of the ICC construct and its two parts, intercultural and communicative competence (discussed above), our aim is to shed light on the particular components/dimensions that constitute ICC. However, theoretical sources vary in the conceptualisation of ICC dimensions. Therefore, a variety of relevant accessible models and de¿nitions were analysed in order to render the results as comprehensive as possible. The key criteria for selection of the models and de¿nitions are theory driven, i.e., taken from the theory of ICC. As already mentioned, ICC is a multidisciplinary concept, thus, not only models and de¿nitions from educational contexts were investigated, but other disciplines and backgrounds have also been employed, since although we focus on ICC development in the context of formal education, our students will communicate interculturally in various ¿elds of human life and in different professional spheres, such as business affairs, diplomacy/foreign affairs, humanitarian help/peace workers and human resource management. We did not, however, aspire to analyse all the existing models. Therefore, models irrelevant to our discussion were deliberately omitted (e.g., Rathje, 2007; Bennet, 1986; Gullahorn, Gullahorn, 1962; Hammer, Wiseman, Rasmussen, Bruschke, 1998; Navas et al., 2005). To sum up, the key criteria for selection were, in accordance with the theoretical de¿nition of ICC presented above, that the models and de¿nitions chosen for our analysis attempted to capture appropriate and effective communication and behaviour in intercultural situations, i.e., intercultural and communicative aspects of ICC. These were essential features of ICC for our choice and analysis. Seventeen concrete models and de¿nitions,

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selected according to the criteria formulated above, come from the following sources: Kim (1988); Imahori, Lanigan (1989); Byram (1997); HowardHamilton, Richardson, Shuford (1998); Ting-Toomey, Kurogi (1998); TingToomey (1999); Grif¿th, Harvey (2000); Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (2001); Fantini (2001); King, Baxter Magolda (2005); Deardorff (2006, two models); Hunter, White, Godbey (2006); Arasaratnam (2007); Morgensternová, Šulová et al. (2007); Kupka (2008); PrĤcha (2010) (for more information about the concrete ICC components/ dimensions see Kostková, 2012:70–72). Through a process of familiarisation with the relevant models (ibid.), two qualitatively diverse groups and de¿nitions were investigated: ņ models resulting from empirical studies (e.g., Delphi methodology employed by Deardorf, 2006; Hunter, White, Godbey, 2006); ņ models resulting from an analysis of relevant theoretical sources (e.g., Byram, 1997; Ting-Toomey, Kurogi, 1999; CEFR, 2001). Such a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches to ICC conceptualisation is rather positive, assuming more complex results can be aspired to. The results of our analysis showed that the de¿nitions and models under investigation mostly share the view that ICC is an integrated whole consisting of a variety of components/dimensions; their number and quality may vary according to the approach chosen (disciplinary, paradigmatic, etc.). Some of the models stress global knowledge and sensitivity; others stress certain skills, positive attitudes or various types of knowledge. Many models examine ICC as effective cross-cultural adaptation and require experience of foreign cultures; others focus on appropriate competent dyadic interactions in intercultural relationships, or appropriate and effective interactions on intercultural topics. In order to quantify the most common components/dimensions of the models, we had to uncover the meanings behind the variety of characteristics, descriptors, traits, domains, dimensions, de¿nitions and general terminological plurality of the analysed models.

Intercultural Communicative Competence Dimensions: Model and De¿nition The outcomes of our analysis suggest that ICC is far more complex than any of the individual views mentioned above. Despite the great complexity of the ICC construct components, the analysis uncovered some common components among the seventeen models. The results are presented successively, i.e., from the highest frequency occurrence:

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Diagram 15.1. ICC model

ņ attitudes – 16; ņ language – 14, 9 of which is explicitly a foreign language. However, this might be inÀuenced by the fact that many of the models are from English language speaking countries as a result of English linguistic imperialism; therefore English is viewed as the primary language of intercultural communication – lingua franca); ņ skills – 13; ņ awareness of self and others – 13; ņ knowledge – 12; ņ interaction – 10; ņ communication – verbal/nonverbal, communication styles, … – 9; ņ context – environment,culture, … – 7; ņ understanding and comprehension – 6; ņ development/al process/ – 5; ņ external and internal outcomes – 5; ņ individual/personality – 5; ņ effective relationships – 5; ņ intercultural experience – 3. We believe that a qualitative interpretation of the analysed components as well as the mutual inÀuence of all the variables covered and their position within the construct deserves further discussion. Firstly, in addition to an ICC model (Diagram 15.1), a complex de¿nition based on the components should be proposed. Secondly, the most important components should be elaborated on for various purposes. Attention should be paid, for instance, to the distinction between observable and unobservable ICC components. We incline to the opinion that competence is tacit and, thus, cannot be noticed directly, although it can be detected through

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observing how some perform. In other words, competence and performance are closely interrelated, the former being abstract, the latter observable (which also means assessable). Due to the limited space and purpose of the chapter, attention will be paid to the former, i.e., to an ICC model and a broader complex de¿nition of ICC derived from the components analysed. A model designed on the basis of the analysis outcomes and mostly occurring components, or dimensions, is presented in Diagram 15.1 (Czech version: Kostková, 2012; English version: Kostková, 2013). The model comprises two levels that are integrated and inÀuence each other. The two levels are: (1) foreign language communicative competence – the base of the model, and (2) intercultural competence – the four intercultural dimensions arch over it (see above). In communication, the intercultural dimensions are demonstrated in the language one uses, in other words, in FLCC (compare the competence–performance distinction mentioned above). Attention should be paid to the elaboration of individual ICC dimensions, both at the level of theoretical foundation and that of how to capture these individual dimensions didactically. Foreign language communicative competence: This is probably the most elaborated dimension since it has been in the focus of foreign language teaching methodology for decades (the milestones of its development are presented by, for example, Campbell, Wales, 1970; Halliday, 1970; Hymes, 1972; Widdowson, 1978; Canale, Swain, 1980; Littlewood, 1981; Savignon, 1983; Van Ek, 1987; Bachman, 1990). Generally, less elaborated is the ¿eld of the four intercultural dimensions. Awareness and attitudes: Especially problematic are the dimensions of awareness and attitudes, which are strongly culturally bound as well as deeply rooted in one’s family background. Thus, the dimensions of awareness and attitudes are considered to be rather dif¿cult to be inÀuenced in the context of former education (i.e., in the educational institutions), and they hold their strong foundations in the ¿eld of psychology. Many interculturalists perceive awareness (of self and others) as the central and most important dimension (Byram, 1997; Fantini, 2001, etc.). It is one that arises from the other dimensions and their understanding and, at the same time, it supports their development.

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The dimension of attitudes is closely related to one’s values and in the classroom it is often connected to working with stereotypes, prejudice, etc. Moreover, in the foreign language classroom it also includes the aspect of motivation towards studying the particular foreign language in order to be able to integrate into the target culture, i.e., integrative motivation (Williams, Burden, 2007:116–117). According to Byram et al. (2001:5), the intercultural attitudes of a successful intercultural communicator should cover curiosity and openness, and a willingness to suspend disbelief and distrust about other cultures as well as beliefs and convictions about one’s own culture. One should be open to relativise his or her own values, beliefs, opinions and behaviour, and not perceive them as the only right and natural way. Knowledge: The knowledge dimension is very closely related to beliefs and assumptions and, thus, they are in a certain aspect closely related to the abovementioned dimensions. Lustig and Koestner (2006:87) describe beliefs as thoughts about the world which one believes are true. It is thus evident that what we know is greatly inÀuenced by what we believe, which is further inÀuenced by our cultural background (for the difference between beliefs and knowledge see Woods, 1996:194). Knowledge dimension covers much more than factual knowledge about the target culture, often also called the Big CCulture (arts, classical music, literature, etc.); it also includes so-called small c-culture, which elaborates everything in human life (beliefs, religion, values, traditions, habits, etc.). Byram et al. (2001:6), however, point out that it is not possible to acquire all the knowledge connected to the target culture or cultures; therefore, it is also very important to develop special intercultural skills. Skills: Among the most important intercultural skills are those governing behaviour in particular situations and how to gain the knowledge one needs in a particular situation. Moreover, Lustig and Koestner (ibid.) emphasise the skills of comparison, interpretation and searching for connections and mutual relationships among cultures as well as the facility of discovery and interaction, i.e., the skill to discover information about the target culture and the knack of being able to operate with such acquired knowledge in a real life interaction. It is evident from the brief discussion above (as well as from the ICC model in Diagram 15.1) that the ICC construct functions as a whole – its dimensions are mutually integrated and should all be paid attention to. However, it is also quite apparent that the dimensions of FLCC, knowledge and

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skills are less problematic for didactic transformation than the dimensions of awareness and attitudes. Having elaborated on the most important dimensions, we consequently proposed a detailed de¿nition – including all the components analysed. ICC may be de¿ned as follows (identi¿ed components emphasised): ICC consists of dimensions of attitudes, skills, awareness, knowledge and foreign language communicative competence. ICC is developmental – it is viewed as arising from dynamic and meaningful interactive processes in the (intercultural) communication of an individual within a given context. Such competent (intercultural) interactions, based on previous internal as well as external outcomes/abilities, should lead to the establishment and maintenance of effective relationships – those which one is able to perform effectively and appropriately with members of another language-culture and background on their terms. The ICC model is realised through special intercultural strategies, which provide professionally trained specialists with ef¿cient performance in reallife intercultural communication. These strategies can be revealed as their actualisation in practice. For example, the attack strategy, which is aimed at the creation of the most favourable conditions for the speaker (it will be analysed below), cannot be realised without the dimensions ICC consists of. Its usage in real-life intercultural situations includes special knowledge and skills, and an advanced level of FLCC and awareness.

Intercultural Communicative Competence and Professional Activity We believe that intercultural education should focus mainly on core intercultural dimensionsand strategies, with due regard to the fact that within FLCC much from the other dimensions is being demonstrated. FLCC itself and its linguistic elaboration, however, brings its own theory to the ¿eld of interculturality (as discussed above while listing the disciplines inÀuencing the multidisciplinary construct of ICC). We should mention that intercultural communication partners can be fair and unfair (manipulators). As a rule, communication with a fair partner who follows the rules of mutual respect and cooperation does not present any dif¿culties. In this context, it is essential that students learn strategies to suppress manipulations and, in other cases, they should use the strategies of communicative attack and self-defence. Accordingly, we concentrate on intercultural communication and its performance caused by dif¿culties and manipulations and how they should be taught.

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Considering the implication of attack and defence communicative strategies and the behavioural aspects of intercultural communication, it is vital to take into consideration Byram’s opinion that “intercultural education involves causation or facilitation of intercultural citizenship experience, and analysis and reÀection on it and on the possibility of further social and / or political activity – i.e., activity which involves working with others to achieve an agreed end; creating learning / change in the individual: cognitive, attitudinal, behavioural change; change in self-perception; change in relationships with Others (i.e., people of a different social group); change that is based in the particular but is related to the universal” (Byram, 2008:200). It means that intercultural education should concentrate on preparation for ef¿cient performance and the educational process will only achieve this if we understand that it depends on a complex of changes. The intercultural strategies, including those of communicative attack and self-defence, will represent those peculiarities that inÀuence personal transformation and lead to ICC dimension forming. We focus on one aspect of ICC development connected to authentic intercultural strategies, which enable learners to communicate appropriately and effectively in the professional arena. Specialists in the area of intercultural communication are supposed to possess the strategies incorporated in ICC. It is clear that a very high level of FLCC cannot be compared with native language abilities. It should be taken into consideration that communication in the native language presents dif¿culties to foreign language speaking partners. This may lead to a certain disequilibrium in status. As a rule, professional activity on an intercultural level faces this problem by having professionally trained specialists in the area of intercultural communication perform as mediators, and this implies the use of a foreign language for the fruitful development of international cooperation between representatives of different cultures. As mentioned, intercultural competence is to be communicative because it is an implementation medium of ICC. In the proposed ICC model, foreign language communication is a very important component, the basis for attitudes, skills, awareness and knowledge actualisation. ICC implementation in professional activity displays some contradictions between attitudes towards the principle of tolerance and its usage in real life communication. The importance of it is declared by everybody, while at the same time, all the participants in intercultural communication are convinced they are right and, unfortunately, more often follow the rule: do not do what I do, do what I tell you to do. Such examples frequently take place in communication on an intercultural level and they

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emphasise the necessity of teaching these strategies as a part of the ICC model formation. At the same time, we understand that professionally trained specialists should mediate intercultural communication in a non-manipulative way and their communicative and non-communicative behaviour should be restricted along respectable and honest lines. We prepared an “Intercultural Communication Code of Honour” (Baryshnikov, 2010:247), the fragments of which we provide below.

Intercultural Communication Code of Honour Having chosen one of the noble humanitarian trades – a specialist in intercultural communication with an excellent command of two or three foreign languages, you pledge to devote your professional life to the realisation of your main professional goal: the establishment, preservation and development of contacts among representatives of different cultures and languages for the purpose of promotion, renewal and detection of new opportunities offering interaction, mutual understanding, bene¿cial cooperation and team work. Your professional competency, inclusive of ICC, should serve elevated purposes, therefore: ņ do not use your professional mastery of foreign languages to impede mutual understanding, or to incite ethnic discord and bigotry toward representatives of other languages and foreign cultures; ņ strengthen the authority of your country which you represent in the process of intercultural interaction; ņ remember that in every international contact you stand as an of¿cial and plenipotentiary representative of your country whose interests you advocate; ņ in the process of intercultural communication be governed by the ideas of friendship, mutual help, trust, tolerance, and desire for mutual understanding; ņ in pursuit of noble goals under no circumstances adhere to communicative manipulations, tricks, deceptions, dirty technologies, and rules of black rhetoric: remember, the noble goals of intercultural communication cannot be achieved by immoral and unprincipled means (Baryshnikov, 2010:247–248). Intercultural communication at the professional level suggests impeccable demeanour, slight elation, unobtrusive empathy, natural courtesy, amicable attitude, and the desire to set up a psychologically favourable environment.

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Studying further professional intercultural communication strategies, and taking into account our ICC models analysis results, we came to the grounded conclusion that the application of the Code of Honour in intercultural communication cannot be ef¿cient, as far as the latter has some rules and sets of black rhetoric, according to which the conversation should be led in a way “so that the speaker could always win by hook or by crook” (Bredemajer, 2007:12). The ICC model is relevant to the professional level of intercultural communication, which is characterised by the application of all possible methods, tricks, traps, manipulations and special technologies. If one of the partners uses different manipulation strategies and the other carries on a fair and simple dialogue, such intercultural communication cannot be quali¿ed as one of equal status. In tough conversation, which is a characteristic of modern civilization’s development, pro¿ciency in a foreign language and even eloquence appear to be insuf¿cient. A new generation of intercultural communication participants should possess behaviour competence, including conversation manipulation strategies, which are based on all the components mentioned above: knowledge, awareness, skills and attitudes. They feed the dialogue and it is not possible to overlook the fact that a partner’s communicative strategies could be based on telling half-truths, leading to open deception taking place in intercultural communication practice.

Attack Strategies and Self-defence Strategies in ICC Performance A modern intercultural communication specialist should know how to compare not only an apple with an apple, i.e., know symmetrical communication strategies, but also an orange with an apple, i.e., know attack and defence communicative strategies (Baryshnikov, 2013). It is evident that these strategies are not unique but in our study we focus on the dif¿culties related to asymmetrical intercultural communication performance, and professionals who interact on an intercultural level should be able to spot and understand them and know how to organise their communicative and non-communicative behaviour to obtain necessary results while speaking to representatives of different cultures. We de¿ned attack strategies as rabulisticones, derived from the Latin rabula – hollow, shouter, empty talk – meaning, according to Bredemajer (Bredemajer, 2007:12), the art of sophisticated reasoning, allowing the discussion subject or thoughts to be expressed in ways that don’t always correspond to reality.

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Self-defence strategies are called eristic ones, derived from the Greek eristike meaning technique, method and mastery of argumentation, knowledge of unanswerable discursive methods, heralding a principled victory (Bredemajer, 2007:12). Rabulistic strategies of communicative attacks are based on manipulations and tricks and are used in order to create the most favourable conditions for the speaker and diametrically opposite ones for the interlocutor (the other participant in communication). Ⱥ wide range of communication attack strategies, considered as a form of ICC representation, depends on the situation in the intercultural dialogue. As an example, we give the dyad of communication attack strategy a compliment and an adequate reaction in the form of communication defence strategy – a remark, bluff – impromptu, negative imperative – transformation of the negative imperative into a positive interaction. Compliment: It is signi¿cant to note that in professional intercultural communication a compliment can be used as a strategy of communicative attack because it allows the partner to feel his or her importance. It is paradoxical but it is a fact that representatives of different cultures, no matter how original their mentalities, equally respond to compliments and Àattery, because as it turns out egocentrism is an international phenomenon. Although it is an ef¿cacious way to optimise intercultural interaction, we can ¿nd a great number of natural and cultural restrictions concerning a compliment and its perception; nevertheless the pragmatic meaning of a compliment in almost all cultures is reduced to an expression of admiration for the partner: “I want you to feel good” (Larina, 2009:362). ICC dimensions, such as attitudes and experience, should be the basis for adequate perception and reaction to this rabulistic strategy. It is necessary to model real-life situations so students become aware of typical conditions when it is common to resort to this strategy. Besides, comparisons made between native and foreign cultures can develop students’ intercultural sensitivity and carry out intercultural education with maximum ef¿ciency. The matter gets more complicated when you consider the divarication in consciousness of an ill-experienced intercultural communication participant – a case that often happens in real-life. It means that, on the one hand, the person understands a compliment and, on the other hand, he or she becomes more and more subconsciously convinced that their partner is communicating honestly. It is obvious that specialists in intercultural communication should be ready to act and react accordingly as their ICC dimensions include at-

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titudes towards such remarks or acts expressing respect or admiration, and which do not contradict the norms of another culture (Baryshnikov, 2013). However, any excessive compliment can lead to communicative failure. Therefore it is necessary to be guided by the rules of rabulistic strategy regarding the attack “compliment”: ņ a compliment should be at least partially true; ņ ambiguity should be completely excluded from a compliment; ņ there should not be a gross exaggeration of the partners‫ ތ‬virtue in a compliment; ņ a compliment should not be didactic, i.e., it should not contain recommendations, exhortations, morals; ņ a compliment should be unexpected, neat and well-turned. When an experienced communicant hears a ¿ne compliment from his or her partner, they should prick up their ears and instantly choose a conversational move of self-defence from his or her arsenal, most suitable for a speci¿c situation. ICC dimensions thus play a crucial role in the actualisation of intercultural communication specialists’ behaviour. Attitudes and awareness help to act as mediators that overcome stereotypes related to native culture. “Witty remark” – Bluff Of the defence strategies under analysis, a “witty remark” which represents an eristic strategy of self-defence is the only one aimed at showing the partner-initiator of the rabulistic strategy that the meaning of their “¿ne compliment” is quite clear. A linguo-didactic point of view requires special skills, which provides students with abilities to differentiate situations where it is natural to use a “witty remark” strategy. Interestingly, bluff, used both for attack and for self-defence, is based on the creation of a favourable impression as an indispensable condition for the strategy’s success and it should be performed in a masterly fashion. K. Bredemajer actively recommends: “You should bluff if circumstances require it. A successful bluff is better than a painful defeat” (Bredemajer, 2007:95). The ability to bluff well is based on a number of professional abilities that an intercultural communication specialist possesses. A “bluff” attack strategy creates an inconvenient and uncomfortable situation for a partner who is unable to take the initiative in the intercultural dialogue. In the educational process, bluff as an attack strategy should be analysed to ¿nd an appropriate answer, which doesn’t allow a partner to take the situation into his or her own hands. A welltimed reaction to a bluff is very important. The main indicator of bluff is

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deliberate deception intended to create the impression of a stronger position or greater resources than one actually has. It often ¿nds expression in the form of excessive praise of the partner, the exaggeration of their achievements, hints of mysterious actions and their incredible effectiveness. It has some features in common with a compliment, but the main difference between them is the level of Àattery, which is absent in the case of a sincere compliment. Impromptu: The best improvisation, as we know, is a well thought-out remark, which is ready to slip from the lips at any time in the form of an attacking tirade. The protective function of an impromptu is an apt remark or a pre-prepared successful quotation which “at the right time is better than wealth” according to K. Bredemajer (2007:27). Negative imperative transformation into a positive interaction: This is an eristic strategy involving self-defence transformation of a negative imperative into a positive interaction, which consists of two things: a) neutralisation of a negative imperative; b) replacement of it with a positive interaction. Verbal means are positive remarks which begin with words like “on the contrary”, “quite the opposite”, etc. They refer to the students’ abilities to create appropriate types of discourse using discourse markers and help them to vary their reactions depending on the situation and his or her partner’s communicative behaviour. Irony and self-irony: They are actually multifunctional and ambivalent as attack and self-defence strategies, but their common usage is to prevent the continuance of intercultural dialogue for whatever reason and its transition to a non-conÀict zone. The aims achieved by the usage of irony and self-irony can be seen as follows: 1. to interrupt a discussion, 2. to offset an undesirable discussion, 3. to provide a “waiting” situation, 4. to drag out time and glean more information to formulate counter-offers, 5. to overcome visible and invisible obstacles in an intercultural dialogue. Ironic remarks as an attack strategy are aimed at the intercultural communication partner. The protective effect of irony is directed at the interloc-

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utor-manipulator and results from the negative-to-positive transformation of the intercultural dialogue. The most effective action against irony is self-irony. The mechanism of self-irony is based on the withdrawal of an initiative from the partnermanipulator, thereby keeping the situation of intercultural dialogue under control. Successful self-irony in response to irony clearly shows that it is necessary to change a communication strategy, move it in a constructive direction, just to detect the partner-initiator’s manipulative strategies. It is said that as long as you are ready for self-irony, you are invincible; in fact, this harbours a profound idea: self-irony is a powerful and secure tool to achieve the most ambitious plans. Self-irony is closely connected with self-esteem. High self-esteem is usually an obstacle to self-irony; an adequate self-esteem is when a person accurately evaluates his or her strength, and makes the strategy of self-ironic relation to the situation spectacular and effective. All sorts of replies, phrases, judgments, colourful expressions and citations may serve as linguistic means of self-ironic expression in an eristic strategy. Each language and culture has a rich array of epigrammatic statements expressing self-irony, which can be used as prepared beforehand. Future participants in intercultural communication must be able to maintain, quickly and adequately, mockery, irony and sarcasm in a foreign language, and at the same time sound natural and appropriate to their interlocutor. First of all, it is necessary to stress the complexities related to the actualisation of these strategies in the educational process as they are linked to psychological aspects and personal features. However, when analysed as examples of ef¿cient intercultural situations, they can be included as a part of intercultural communicative specialists’ experience. Moreover, we should take into account that irony in an intercultural dialogue is conditioned by the difference of cultures the partners belong to. Understanding ironic statements often requires recognition of cultural symbols, as their meaning can only be grasped within the con¿nes of this culture. Nevertheless, intercultural education should involve not only acquaintance with these symbols while developing ICC, but activate a complex of all psychological, personal elements and all ICC dimensions. Silence: It can be argued that there is no need to posit silence as a strategy of intercultural communication and pay attention to it in the process of ICC formation. But its role in intercultural communication is signi¿cant and thus it cannot be ignored in intercultural education.

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We stress that a good performance can be achieved only if students have adequate preparation, including an acquaintance with different models of behaviour on an intercultural level. The comprehension of this strategy especially depends on high standards of intercultural awareness as a component of ICC. Silence is a universal strategy of intercultural communication, which transmits or conceals important information in the intercultural dialogue. In professional intercultural communication, it is quali¿ed as a universal strategy of attack and self-defence, which can ful¿ll a few functions; in particular, silence can be equated to: ņ expressive speech embellishment; ņ eloquent communicative action; ņ form of communicative behavior. The possession of “silence” strategy by intercultural communication specialists must be culture-oriented, because in different cultures attitude to “silence” varies depending on ethnic norms, customs, traditions and religious aims. In general, cultural attitudes towards silence are divided along eastern and western lines (Baryshnikov, 2013). The geographic location of cultures is a differentiation sign in their notions of silence. In eastern cultures, it was traditionally considered that silence must be prolonged. Silence is interpreted as a display of sincerity. Confucianism prescribes the bases of attitude towards silence in eastern cultures. Confucius af¿rmed: “Silence is a great friend which will never betray you.” Attitude to silence in eastern cultures, as a virtue, is reÀected in proverbs in many eastern languages. For instance, “Those who know – keep silent, those who don’t teach”, “speech is silver, but silence is golden”. With regard to the meaning of “silence” in Russian culture, nothing is absolute or de¿nite. On the one hand, Russian culture is silent, chaste, shy, taking care of its own secret meaning, ashamed to make it public, while on the other hand Russian culture is immensely talkative. In the ¿eld of intercultural communication, one should take into account the attitude of the communicative partner to peculiarities of silence in the culture he or she belongs to. Knowledge of the universal strategy of silence gives one a skill: the art of dialogue, so to say, through manipulation of silence. A partner in intercultural communication tries to change the way of understanding the point, and gains advantages and preferences. K. Brademajer was right to say “you should not trust only the magic of the word, because the strategy of silence has plenty of privileges” (Bredemajer, 2007:90). A number of eristic self-defence strategies, including communicative resourcefulness, silence exposure, communicative boomerang and tricks sup-

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pression, can act as a response to a rabulistic “silence” attack. When we use the strategy of communicative resourcefulness in response to the rabulistic strategy, it is important to bear in mind that the sudden silence must be followed by a remark, which will cause even a mute person to talk. Pauses and silence are energy-saving components of intercultural communication. Certainly, participants in a competent intercultural dialogue cannot transform respectable intercultural communication into a silence game. It is more likely that after testing each other in keeping silent, partners return to a constructive direction in the intercultural dialogue. Boomerang: One of the best responses to the strategy of silence is communicative boomerang. The peculiarity of this strategy consists in its mechanisms based on partners’ being on equal footing. During communication, one partner uses the strategy of silence attack, while the other responds using the same method. Without asking any questions, without any explanations, he or she uses the strategy of silence in its eristic self-protecting sense. As a rule, after maintaining some eloquent pause, the intercultural dialogue resumes and develops in a productive direction. It should be noted that this strategy is not always related to silence. It may involve the exact and precise remarks communicative partners make. Such interaction develops as a discursive way of intercultural interaction. Teaching this strategy includes logical aspect acquaintance and the formation of all ICC dimensions.

Conclusion The conceptualisation of ICC construct and the de¿nition of its main components (dimensions of FLCC, attitude, awareness, knowledge and skills) allow us to determine the aspects of intercultural communication that are relevant for any competent (intercultural) activity, such as verbal and nonverbal communication and behaviour, respect for the culture of a partner, and cooperation that overcomes cultural differences. Examining the individual dimensions of ICC may provide us with deeper understanding of some speci¿c characteristics of the educational process. It means that the development of ICC as a whole, and in particular of the dimensions of FLCC (attitude, awareness, knowledge and skills) is the basis for effective and adequate performance and its dynamics depend on the interactive processes of (intercultural) communication of an individual within a given context.

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Dif¿culties in intercultural communication can inÀuence performance greatly and, thus, analysis of self-defence and attack strategies can help participants in intercultural communication be natural and achieve communicative results. Without exaggerating too much, it can be said that identi¿able ICC components and dimensions cannot be implemented using only a symmetric intercultural communication strategy that simply compares “apples with apples”. Specialists in intercultural communication should be able to compare oranges and apples in a consummate way, that is, to be familiar with the rabulistic strategy of communicative attack and the modus operandi of eristic self-protection.

References Aminov, J. J. Prichel, uvidel, ubedil! Mejlichnostnoe poznanie: Psichologia den za dnem. Moscow: Akademkniga, 2002. Baryshnikov, N. V. Osnovy professional’noj mezhkul’turnoj komminikacii: uchebnik. [The Essence of Profesional Intercultural Communication.] Moscow: Vuzovskj uchebnik: INFRA-M, 2013. Baryshnikov, N. V. “Myths and Reality about Intercultural Dialogue in Foreign Language Teaching.” Journal of International Scienti¿c Publication: Language, Individual and Society Society 4, no. 1 (2010): 144–151. Baryshnikov, N. V. Professional'naya mezhkul'turnaya kommunikatsiya. Monogra¿ya. Pyatigorsk: PGLU, 2010. Baryshnikov, N. V. “Socio-political background of cross-cultural communication.” Journal of International Publications Language, Individual and Society 5, no. 5 (2011). European Union. Published at http://www. science-journals.eu Bredemajer, K. Chernaja ritorika: Vlast’i i magija slova; per. s. nem. 5-e izd. [Black Rhetoric: The Power and Magic of Language] Moscow: Al’pinaBiznesBuks, 2007. Byram, M. Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1997. Byram, M. From Foreign Language Education to Education for Intercultural Citizenship. Multilingual Matters, 2008. Byram, M., Nichols, A. & Stevens, D. Developing intercultural competence in practice. Great Britain: Multilingual Matters, 2001. Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment. Cambridge University Press, 2001.

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Cushner, K. & Mahon, J. “Intercultural competence in teacher education.” In The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence. Edited by D. K. Deardorff. USA:Sage Publications, Inc., 2009: 304–320. Deardorff, D. K. “Implementing intercultural competence assessment.” In The SAGE handbook of intercultural competence. Edited by D. K. Deardorff. USA:Sage Publications, Inc., 2009: 304–320. Fantini, A. E. “Exploring intercultural competence: A construct propsal.” PĜednesenona: NCOLCTL Fourth Annual Conference. USA: Barttleboro, Vermont, 2001. Fantini, A. E. About Intercultural Communicative Competence. 2001. Available at: http://www.sit.edu/SITOccasionalPapers/feil_appendix_e.pdf. Fantini, A. E. & Tirmizi, A. Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. 2006. Available at: http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=worldlearning_publications. Howard-Hamilton M. F., Richardson B. J. & Shuford, B. “Promoting multicultural education: A holistic approach.” College Student Affairs Journal 18 (1998): 5–17. Khaleeva, I. I. Interkul’tura – tret’e izmerenie mezhkul’turnogo vzaimodeistviia? Aktual'nye problemy mezhkul’turnoi kommunkiatsii. – Moscow: Izd-vo MGLU, 1999: 4–14. Kostková, K. “Teacher and intercultural communicative competence as a challenge.” Edited by T. Janík & P. Knecht. New pathways in the professional development of teachers. Wien, Münster: LIT Verlag, 2010: 232–240. Kostková, K. Rozvoj interkulturní komunikaþní kompetence. Brno: MuniPress, 2012. Kostková, K. Intercultural Communicative Competence: Conceptualisation and Development. In Konference MGIMO Magija INNO: Novyjetechnologii v jazykovoj podgotovke specialistov meždunarodnikov. Tom 1. Moskva: Izdatelstvo MGIMO Universitet, 2013: 146–151. Larina, T. V. Kategoriia vezhlivosti i stil' v kommunikatsii: sopostavlenie anglijskih I russkih lingvokul’turnih tradicij [The category of politeness in the English and Russian communicative cultures]. Moscow: Rukopisnye pamjatniiki Drevnej Rusi, 2009: 512. Leeman, Y. & Ledoux, G. “Teachers on Intercultural Education.” Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 11, no. 5 (2005): 575–589. Lustig, M. W. & Koestner J. Intercultural Competence. USA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. National Programme for the Development of Education in the Czech Republic, White Paper. Prague: Institute for Information on Education, 2001.

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PrĤcha, J. Multikulturní výchova. Teorie – praxe – výzkum. Praha: ISV Praha, 2001. PrĤcha, J. Interkulturní komunikace. Praha: Grada, 2010. Sinicrope, C., Norris, J. & Watanabe, Y. Understanding and assessing intercultural competence: A summary of theory, research, and practice (technical report for the foreign language programme evaluation project). Second Language Studies 26, no. 1 (Autumn 2007): 1–58. Williams, M. & Burden, L. R. Psychology for language teachers: A social constructivist approach. Cambridge University Press, 2007. Woods, D. Teacher cognition in language teaching. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Chapter 1 Olga V. Lvova is an Associate Professor at Moscow City Pedagogical University, chair of Education Informatisation. Her research area includes Internet discourse, features of telecommunication and application of information and telecommunication technologies for informatisation of linguistic education. She is the author of a book entitled “Translation by means of information and communication technologies” (2013). She has published more than 30 articles in various journals. Maria Y. Kopylovskaya is an Associate Professor of the English Language Department for the School of International Relations at Saint Petersburg State University and a researcher at the Department of Foreign Languages and Lingvodidactics at the same University. Her research area is second language identity, which embraces the issues of EFL acquisition and error analysis, globalisation of English, intercultural competence and the inÀuence of information technologies on learning and teaching foreign languages. She is the author of a number of publications on these issues in various high pro¿le journals. Tatiana M. Shkapenko is an Associate Professor of the Department of Slavic Languages at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University (Kaliningrad). Her research interests focus on cognitive and political linguistics, pragmatic linguistics and e-learning in higher education. She is the author of textbooks of the Russian and Polish languages for foreigners: Pol’skij s ulybkoj (2012) and Russkij tusovochnyj kak inostrannyj (2003).

Chapter 2 Sergey S. Khromov is Head of the Department of Linguistics and Cross-Cultural Communication of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI). His research areas include phonetics, general and comparative linguistics, modern Russian linguistics and cultural studies, innovative methods of teaching Russian and

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English as a foreign language. He is a co-author of the monograph Syncretism and Polyfunctionality in the Language (2014), the Czech Republic. He has published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Journal of Russian Peoples’ Friendship University. He is the author and the host of a popular linguistic programme “S Russkogo na Russkiy” (“From Russian into Russian”) on the radio channel Radio Rossiya. Natalya N. Udina is an Associate Professor at Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia. Her research areas range from theoretical English grammar, forensic linguistics, legal English studies to teaching LSP/ESP. She has published in a number of journals both in Russia and abroad. Her textbook for law students Forensic English (2011) has been revised and updated to an e-version.

Chapter 3 Galina G. Artyushina is Head of the Foreign Languages Department at the Institute of Economics, Management and Social Technologies in MATI – Russian State Technological University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky. She has worked in higher education for 25 years and has extensive experience in distance education, online education and instructional technology. Her graduate degrees are in Chemistry, Economics and Linguistics. She has published in the International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, the International Women Online Journal of Distance Education. Olga A. Sheypak is a professor of the Foreign Languages Department at the Institute of Economics, Management and Social Technologies in “MATI – Russian State Technological University named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky”. She has worked for over 30 years in higher education and has experience in distance and online education. Other areas of experience are ecology, history of science and technology, Esperanto. She has graduate degrees in Biology, English and Economics. She has published in the International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, the Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, International Women Online Journal of Distance Education. Elena I. Baguzina is an Associate Professor at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University). Her research areas

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include integration of internet and digital educational technologies into teaching English for university students, development of students’ foreign language communicative competence and critical thinking by means of WebQuests as well as comprehensive methods of learning oriented assessment. She has been published in research journals of Moscow University for the Humanities and the State University of Management. Olga G. Plekhova is a Lecturer at the St. Petersburg Academy of Graduate Teacher Education and a teacher of English at Gymnasium (Classical School) 32 in St. Petersburg. Her area of research is the use of technology in modern English language classrooms. She is interested in teaching historical discourse through English lessons at secondary schools.

Chapter 4 Olga A. Kravtsova is an Associate Professor at the English Department of the School of International Relations of MGIMO University, Course Coordinator for the ¿nal year Bachelor’s Course. Her research areas include competency-based and task-based learning, ICT in language teaching, course design, and in-service training. She has published in national journals and presented national and international papers on these subjects; co-authored the Coursebook of English for Students of Diplomacy and Regional Studies (Bachelor Level, Competency-Based Approach). Anna Galiguzova is a Lecturer at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University). She is interested in sociolinguistics, pragmalinguistics, semiotics, and teaching foreign languages. She is a co-author of the book entitled English for Academic Mobility (2013). Currently she is writing her PhD thesis Sociolinguistic and Pragmalinguistic Approaches to Business English Communication.

Chapter 5 Elena A. Mensh is an Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Professional Communication (Tyumen State University). Her research interests involve various aspects of intercultural communication and methods of teaching English. The recent book published by the author is Life is What You Make It (a textbook for teaching communication skills in English). She is the author of more than 30 articles both in Russian and English.

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Natalya V. Matveeva is an Associate Professor at Moscow State University of Railway Engineering, Russia. Her research area includes methodology of teaching English as a foreign language, particularly using role-play games and computer technologies in a language class. She is a co-author of the book Role-play Games in Teaching English at the Non-Philological Higher Educational Institution (2012). She has published in the Journal of Secondary Vocational Education, the Journal of Moscow State Linguistic University and the Domestic and Foreign Pedagogy.

Chapter 6 Irina E. Abramova is Head of Foreign Languages Department for Students of Humanities at Petrozavodsk State University, Russia. Her research areas include sociophonetics, experimental phonetics, contact linguistics, multilingualism and bilingualism. She is the author of the books Phonetic Variability in Non-Native English Speaking Teachers’ Classrooms (2012) and Personality Identi¿cation of Bilingual Speakers by Non-Native Accent (2012). Anastasia V. Ananyina is a Senior Lecturer at Petrozavodsk State University, Russia, and a researcher at the Petrozavodsk State University Laboratory of Lifelong Learning. Her research area is focused on translation teaching and learning, translation theory and practice, and praxeological approach to EFL and translation teaching. She has contributed to a number of joint articles covering arti¿cial bilingualism and the sociolinguistic approach to language learning, published in Russian and foreign journals, including the European Social Science Journal and the American Journal of Educational Research. Elena P. Shishmolina is an Associate Professor at Petrozavodsk State University, Russia, and a researcher at the Petrozavodsk State University Laboratory of Lifelong Learning. Her research areas include foreign language teaching for professional purposes, language education and sociolinguistic. She contributed to a number of joint articles covering such issues as arti¿cial bilingualism and sociolinguistic approach to language learning, published in Russian and foreign journals, including the European Social Science Journal and the American Journal of Educational Research. Natalia E. Medvedeva is an Associate Professor at Moscow State University, Russia. Her research areas include Business English, communica-

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tion theory, methodology, discourse analysis and conÀictology. She is the author of Practical Guide to Business Writing (2010, 2014).

Chapter 7 Irina A. Mazaieva is Head of the Department of English at the School of Political Affairs, MGIMO University, Academic Director of Master’s Degree Programme “Translators’ and Interpreters’ Training for International Organizations – Methodology of Training Translators and Interpreters for International Organizations”. Her research areas include communicative competence, competence-based approach, performance assessment, curriculum and instruction innovation. She is a co-author of Vocabulary for Political Science Students (2008) and the author of the book Experimental Competence–based Foreign Language Syllabus Design at University (2010). She has published in leading Russian journals. Alexey A. Korenev is a Senior Lecturer at Lomonosov Moscow State University. His major research area is language teaching and testing. His PhD research focused on social and cultural inÀuences on national language examinations between school and university in Russia, the UK and Japan. He is currently the head of the “Language Teachers’ Target Language” international research project aimed at the development of teaching and testing materials for trainee teachers.

Chapter 8 Natalia I. Tsvetkova, a PhD in education, is an Associate Professor of the English Language Department of the School of International Relations at MGIMO University, Russia. Her research interests lie in ELT and Applied Linguistics, especially in the sphere of developing students’ strategic competence and communicative strategies. Also Natalia I. Tsvetkova conducts research in the areas of education quality improvement in general and language education in particular. She has published in a number of national journals. Elena Solovova, Ph.D., Dr. of Education, Director of the FL Department at National Research University Higher School of Economics; the author of textbooks and EFL teaching materials for Russian secondary schools and universities; coordinator of national and international projects in TEFL methodology, pre-service and in-service teacher training and language assessment; leader of the group of item writers for the Uni¿ed National Exam in English.

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About the Authors

Chapter 9 Larisa G. Kuzmina is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of English for the School of International Relations at Voronezh State University, Russia. Her main research interests include Language Pedagogy, ESP, and Teacher Development. She is the author of over 60 publications, including peer reviewed articles, book chapters and conference papers. She is the co-author of a number of EFL textbooks for Russian secondary schools (Moscow 1997, 2002) and a co-author of the textbook for Russian university students entitled Avoiding Socio-cultural Pitfalls When Presenting in English (Moscow, 2010). Elena V. Pivovarova is an Associate Professor at the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University). Her research areas include neology, cognitive linguistics, and translation of political neologisms. She is the author of over 20 publications. Elena V. Pivovarova is a co-author of a number of coursebooks of German for university students including: Deutschland und die Welt: sozial, politisch, kulturell (Moscow, 2011), Ist die Berliner Mauer Weg? (Moscow, 2013). Aleksey Y. Krasheninnikov is a Senior Lecturer at the Moscow Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University). His research areas include political discourse, political lexis, and translation. He is currently writing his PhD thesis on political discourse. He is a co-author of the coursebook of German for university students Politische Sprache (Moscow, 2010).

Chapter 10 Nina V. Popova is Doctor of Pedagogy, Professor at Linguistics and Cross-Cultural Communication Department of St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University. Her areas of research focus on interdisciplinary links, integration of technology into ESP courses, textbook theory as applied to foreign language teaching. She is the author of three monographs: on interdisciplinary discourse practice in linguistic curriculum; on modular education as supplementary resource in foreign language teaching; on the new generation textbook enriched with CALL tasks (winner of the all-Russia contest Zolotoi Korifei, 2012). She has also co-authored some textbooks and monograph chapters, including Interdisciplinary Links in Higher Education (2013), The English Language. Practical Course for Master Stu-

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dents Majoring in Science and Technology (2011, 2013); a chapter for the monograph Professional Education: Modernisation Aspects and a chapter for the Worldcall book Sustainability and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (in press). Marina S. Kogan is an Associate Professor at Linguistics and CrossCultural Communication Department of St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University. Her current research interests include integration of technology in ESP courses, applying corpus linguistics approaches to language teaching and training translators. She is a co-author of some textbooks and monograph chapters, including The English Language. Practical Course for Master Students Majoring in Science and Technology and a chapter for the Worldcall book Sustainability and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (in press). Dmitry A. Kryachkov heads the English Language Department of the School of International Relations of MGIMO University. He combines teaching and research with working as a translator and conference interpreter. He is the author of English for Students of International Relations and Regional Studies. Master’s Level (in print) and a co-author of the Coursebook for Students of International Relations and Regional Studies. Bachelor’s Level. Competence-based Approach (in two parts, 2009). His current interests include ESL materials design, blended-learning and lexicology.

Chapter 11 Nina A. Zinkevich is a Professor at Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations. Her academic interests include methodology of teaching English and teacher professional development as well as modern English literature and literary criticism. She completed a Certi¿cate in Course Design, Materials Writing and Trainer Development and was awarded a Certi¿cate of a Teacher Trainer in ESP by the British Council. She is a co-author of ESP Teacher Development Course (2005) and has run it for many groups of young teachers. Nina A. Zinkevich is the author of the coursebook English of Education (2005), a co-author of English Masters Course (2011) and the editor of the coursebook Academic English for Students of Social Sciences by L. B. Kuznetsova and S. A. Suchkova (2013). She has published a number of articles on English literature, English language teaching, course design issues and cross-cultural communication.

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About the Authors

Bella L. Ivanova is a Senior Lecturer at Saint Petersburg Institute of International Economic Relations, Economics and Law (Department of Linguistics and Translation). Her areas of research involve pedagogical management, interdisciplinary approach in teaching ESP at university, innovative technologies and active teaching methods as well as issues of translation and interpretation. She co-authored the recently published Developing Professional Foreign Language Competence at Foreign Language Lessons (in Russian), International Activity of Higher Professional Education Institutions, Linguoprofessional Micromodules and Block-modular Management and has published over 80 academic papers and teaching materials.

Chapter 12 Elena Yastrebova, PhD in Education, is a Professor of English at MGIMO University. She has been teaching university students for over 30 years and is also involved in university teachers’ training. Her interests are course design and materials development for teaching ESP and General English, ICT in FLT, cross-cultural communication and learner autonomy. She is the author of a number of course books for students of international relations. She has been an active member of the Applied Linguistics Association of Russia since 1993 and a member of IATEFL, has written numerous articles for national journals and regularly presents at national and international conferences. She is the author of a number of course books for students of international relations, the latest being Twenty-Two Steps to Effective Writing (2013). Dmitry A. Kryachkov heads the English Language Department of the School of International Relations of MGIMO University. He combines teaching and research with working as a translator and conference interpreter. He is the author of English for Students of International Relations and Regional Studies. Master’s Level (in print) and a co-author of the Coursebook for Students of International Relations and Regional Studies. Bachelor’s Level. Competence-based Approach (in two parts, 2009). His current interests include ESL materials design, blended-learning and lexicology.

Chapter 13 Elena G. Beliaevskaya is Professor of the Department of English Stylistics of Moscow State Linguistic University, Honorary Fellow of Higher Professional Education. Her habilitation degree thesis Cognitive Structures

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of Formation and Functioning of Polysemantic Words (1992) was practically the ¿rst in the domain of cognitive studies in linguistics in Russia. Professor Beliaevskaya has authored over 100 academic papers, articles and monographs on various aspects of semantics, cognitive linguistics, English stylistics and lexicology, among them Principles of Minimizing Negative Transfer in Second Language Acquisition. Conceptual Structures of Time and Space in English and Russian (2011). She has supervised 41 Doctoral and PhD theses. Nina A. Levkovskaya is a Professor of the English Language Department, the School of International Relations of MGIMO University. She has a vast experience of teaching English to students of foreign languages and international relations. Her research areas include stylistics, text linguistics and discourse analysis. She has more than 30 papers published, Professor Levkovskaya has supervised nine PhD theses.

Chapter 14 Dmitry N. Novikov is a PhD in Linguistics and an Associate Professor at the English Language Department, the School of International Relations of MGIMO University. His research interests and areas of expertise include cognitive linguistics, biosemantics, pragmatics and communication theory. He is the author of The Cognitive Aspect of Lexical Ambiguity: The Prototype Base of the English Lexicon (2010) and a number of papers on word semantics, theory of translation and FLT. He is also a member of the Russian Cognitive Linguistics Association. Svetlana A. Pesina is a Doctor of Philology and Professor of Magnitogorsk State Technical University named after Grigory Nosov. She has been doing research in lexical semantics and linguistic philosophy since the early 1990s and has produced a number of books and papers on cognitive semantics, among them A Cognitive Dimension of Polysemy (2005) and Philosophy of Language (2014). She is also a member of the Russian Cognitive Linguistics Association.

Chapter 15 Klára Kostková works as an Assistant Professor at Charles University in Prague and as a Senior Researcher at the Masaryk University in Brno

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About the Authors

in the Czech Republic. Her research interests cover intercultural education and intercultural communicative competence, teacher professional development, teacher education and English language teaching methodology. She is the author of the book Intercultural Communicative Competence Development (2012, in Czech) and a co-author of two books dealing with theory and research in the area of foreign language teacher expertise development and maintenance (2011, 2013). Nikolay V. Baryshnikov is Doctor of Philology, Professor of Pedagogy and Head of the Department of Intercultural Communication at Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University, Russia. His research areas are: theories of foreign language learning and intercultural communication studies. He is the author of the book The Basics of Professional Intercultural Communication (in Russian). He has published in leading Russian journals. Nikolay V. Baryshnikov has also supervised over 40 PhD and Master’s theses.

INDEX A analytical reviews 245, 252 argumentative discourse xvii, 263, 267, 268 arti¿cial mind theory 277 assessment assessment engine 205, 207, 209 criterion-referenced assessment xiv, 137, 149, 154 continuous assessment xiv, 144, 146 summative assessment 145, 233 assessment dimensions 150, 151 assessment scales 138, 145, 154 self-assessment xv, 37, 103, 121, 122, 132, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 168, 170, 172, 174, 181 peer assessment 122, 123, 138, 162, 181, 249 autonomous learning 30, 31, 39, 147, 154, 222, 229 B Bachelors programmes xvi, 221, 226, 228, 237 Bachelors degree/ Bachelor’s degree 9, 28, 63, 87, 89, 98, 109, 228, 229, 239, 240, 251 binary/bidirectional seminars 221 biosemiotics xvii, 275, 281, 293 business games xvi, 221, 223, 232, 234 C CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) 4, 29, 30, 34, 35, 69, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 210, 322 case study xiii, xiv, 93, 95, 104, 172, 221 CLIL xvi, 16, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 225, 226, 227, 228, 230, 232, 234, 235, 242 cognitive modeling xvi, 257, 262, 272 collaborative learning 4, 74, 90 collaborative work 242 Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL) 75, 147, 153, 160, 215, 299

328

Index

Common European Framework of References (CEFR) descriptors 138, 141 competence/competency communicative competence xi, xii, xiii, xiv, xvi, xvii, 14, 17, 18, 32, 35, 36, 37, 43, 44, 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 69, 71, 78, 88, 89, 90, 91, 103, 104, 137, 138, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152, 153, 154, 161, 163, 190, 223, 224, 229, 231, 237, 245, 246, 248, 251, 253, 263, 295, 297, 298, 299, 300, 302, 304, 319, 321, 326 competence-based approach xv, 77, 147, 181, 183, 189, 218, 228, 235, 238, 321, 323, 324 competence-based curriculum 229 competence-based education 148 competence-based syllabus 183, 234 domain-speci¿c competence 185 language competence 88, 91, 98, 99, 100, 165, 170, 231, 272, 298, 299, 324 linguistic competence 17, 77, 78, 79, 102, 185, 190, 204, 246 professional competence 13, 88, 91, 165, 183, 189, 200, 230 professional foreign language competence 88, 98, 99, 100 pragmatic competence 63, 299 sociolinguistic competence 17 transfer competence 185 computer learning environment 200, 201 conceptual inner form xvii, 263, 264, 265, 266, 271 conceptual structures (structuring) xvi, xvii, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 271, 272 continuous evaluation 137 Course/courses xv, xvi, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 17, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 45, 52, 59, 63, 64, 68, 69, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 87, 90, 95, 100, 113, 116, 117,131, 138 ,138, 140, 143, 144, 145, 147, 148, 151, 154, 160, 161, 162, 165, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 177, 183, 186, 190, 198, 202, 203, 204, 205, 218, 220, 222, 224, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 265, 272, 277, 278, 290, 292, 319, 322, 323, 324 criteria-referenced descriptor xiv, 137 criterion-referenced grading and marking scales 151 cross-curricular approach 116 cultural concept 260, 269 cultural interference 259 culture-bound elements 259, 260, 263

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culture-bound language units 263 culture-bound lexis 263 D discourse-based meaning of the word 283 display mode 206 E EAP (English for Academic Purposes) xv, xvi, 13, 159, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 246, 247, 248, 251, 252 educational activities 90 e-learning xi, xii, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 28, 29, 186, 198 ESP identity xvi, 242, 243, 245, 248, 250 e-supplement 77, 79, 80, 205, 209, 210 F face-to-face mode 78 feedback 18, 34, 52, 63, 69, 70, 73, 79, 95, 117, 118, 120, 122, 123, 124, 163, 166, 172, 183, 205, 207, 209, 223, 234, 235, 241 FEPO (Federal [internet-based] Examination in the area of Professional Education) 141, 142 ¿lmmaking project 116, 117, 118, 121, 124, 128, 129, 132 foreign language anxiety xiv, 110, 111, 130 functionality 78 G general didactic principles 77 grading schemes 151, 153 graduate programme 240, 252 “guided translation” 188 H homonym 275, 276, 288, 289, 292 hyperconnectivity 72 I ICC model 296, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 ICT xi, xiii, 5, 7, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 75, 164, 197, 198, 199, 200, 210, 319, 324

330

Index

in-built foundation component 251 individualised approach 70, 181 information overload xiii, 17, 71 in-service teacher training (TT) 321 integrated teaching xvi, 225, 234 intercultural communication xvii, 7, 19, 185, 229, 295, 296, 298, 301, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 319, 326 Intercultural Communication Code of Honour 306 intercultural communicative competence xvii, 295, 297, 298, 299, 300, 304, 326 intercultural competence 185, 219, 296, 297, 298, 299, 302, 305, 317 intercultural education 296, 297, 304, 305, 308, 311, 326 international examination systems 146 international exams 160 International Relations (IR) xvi, 11, 13, 17, 75, 76, 77, 87, 98, 147, 205, 210, 220, 228, 237, 242, 248, 250, 252, 295, 296, 317, 318, 319, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325 intrinsic motivation 10, 71, 242 L language norms’ variation 112, 113 language socialisation xiv, 112, 113, 130 language vs. speech 282 learner autonomy 69, 71, 162, 190, 235, 242, 253, 324 learner module 205, 206 learner-centredness 217, 235 learning effectiveness 76 learning management systems 4, 137, 140, 145, 165, 171 lexical prototype 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 292 lexical units 259, 260, 263, 264, 266, 275 lexical-semantic variant (LSV) 275, 276, 283, 285, 288 M manual 12, 200, 202, 249, 289 Master’s programmes 221, 226, 227, 228, 234 Masters degree 9, 87, 240, 251 matching exercise 206, 207 matrix framework 251 mental sign formation 279 mental translation 262, 265, 264

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method active learning methods xiii, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 103, 104 project method xii, 54, 114 Millennial students xv, 159, 163 modular xvi, 75, 189, 190, 225, 226, 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 322, 324 modular approach 246, 247, 251 modular course xvi, 245, 248, 226 modular course design 245, 248 modular structure 75, 189, 190 micro-modular teaching 225 modularity 77 module 33, 75, 76, 77, 143, 144, 173, 187, 189, 205, 206, 208, 209, 225, 226, 227, 229, 230, 231, 245, 246, 247, 248, 251, 252 Moodle 4, 74, 165, 171 multiple-choice exercise 203 N national graduation test 143, 146 needs analysis xvi, 241, 242, 253 negative transfer 259, 260, 261, 262, 264, 325 networking 69, 157, 159, 160, 167, 173 new educational paradigm xv, 179 non-linguistic universities xviii, 34, 157, 164, 165, 169, 171, 218, 220, 225 O object identi¿cation 278 Open-Class 80, 249 opposition 269, 270, 271 overcorrection 110, 113 P plagiarism 73 podcasts xii, xiii, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 64, 65, 164, 165, 171, 202, 203 political discourse 268, 269, 270, 271, 322 political language 260 polysemantic word xvii, 47, 275, 276, 282, 285, 292, 324, 325 portfolio work 167 positive transfer 260, 261

332

Index

Power Point presentation 58, 59, 202, 233, 247 “pre-translation” exercises 188 presentations xvi, 13, 37, 38, 52, 57, 58, 63, 64, 70, 79, 98, 102, 127, 131, 149, 173, 188, 203, 217, 221, 224, 230, 231, 232, 234, 238, 245, 246, 247, 271 problem solving 115, 149, 217, 219, 228, 242 Problem-solving 7, 77, 96, 159 professional intercultural communication 295, 298, 307, 308, 312, 326 profession-oriented content 248 programme xv, xvi, 7, 28, 30, 31, 33, 39, 44, 52, 63, 64, 75, 87, 92, 98, 102, 116, 117, 124, 142, 148, 158, 165, 167, 168, 169, 171, 172, 173, 181, 197, 198, 201, 207, 215, 218, 219, 221, 222, 226, 227, 228, 229, 234, 237, 239, 240, 241, 244, 250, 251, 252, 253, 273, 282, 296, 318, 321 project-based learning 53, 114, 130 proximal development 77 public speaking 98, 99, 129, 245, 247 Q quality assurance 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 154 R receptive and productive language skills 163 research paper 241 research project 36, 104, 146, 220, 241, 321 research proposal 245, 251, 252 research simulation xiii, 90 S second language acquisition 35, 45, 258, 259, 260, 261, 325 self-study mode 76, 78, 79, 80 semantic transfer 276, 285 semantics xvi, xvii, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 268, 271, 272, 275, 284, 287, 289, 325 semiosis 277, 278, 279, 281, 282, 284 shared responsibility 242, 248, 253 simulation computer game 203 skills four skills 252 communicative skills 20, 21, 69, 111, 142, 188, 219, 235, 239 core skills 160

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reading skills 31, 32, 38, 46, 75, 95, 101, 115, 119, 128, 129, 142, 144, 162, 165, 166, 188, 221, 222, 230, 233, 238, 244, 245, 246, 247, 272 writing skills xiv, 32, 38, 99, 119, 131, 137, 152, 164, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 174, 202, 234, 244, 245, 246, 249, 251, 267, 268, 272, 275 speaking skills 20, 38, 44, 75, 88, 98, 99, 104, 107, 108, 109, 112, 115, 119, 124, 128, 129, 137, 138, 146, 162, 223, 244, 245, 246, 247, 250, 272 listening skills 31, 43, 44, 48, 50, 52, 75, 94, 95, 115, 119, 131, 142, 144, 162, 188, 202, 203 language skills 30, 31, 36, 55, 78, 79, 91, 97, 109, 110, 115, 119 , 120, 123, 129, 130, 131, 142, 144, 150, 161, 163, 164, 187, 216, 221, 223, 224, 232, 238, 242, 247 transferable skills 209, 210 general intellectual skills 245, 248 time-management skills 75, 235 IT skills 165, 172, 229 computer skills 165, 166, 200 productive language skills 142, 163 research skills 67, 166, 222, 231 translation skills 37, 182, 233, 250 programming skills 202 specialisation of meaning 276 speci¿c language teaching principles 77 speech actualisation 280 spiral design xvi, 246, 248 spiral format 246, 247 strategy attack communicative strategies xvii, 296, 304, 307, 308, 314 bluff as a communicative strategy 308, 309 boomerang as a communicative strategy xvii, 312, 313 compliment as a communicative strategy xvii, 308, 309, 310 impromptu as a communicative strategy 245, 308, 310 irony as a communicative strategy xvii, 310, 311 self-defence communicative strategies 296, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309, 310, 312, 314 silence as a communicative strategy 311, 312, 313 structuralist semantic model 262 student-teacher partnership 180, 242, 248, 250 student conference 131

334

Index

subject-speci¿c materials 218 sustained attention 72 synonym discrimination xvii, 266, 267 T target language use context 143 target needs 244 teacher module 205, 208 testing xiv, 10, 11, 31, 33, 34, 63, 137, 141, 143, 144, 145, 233, 313, 321 textbook e-textbook 29, 38, 198, 205, 209 digital textbook 198 modi¿ed textbook 201, 202, 210 dynamic textbook 201 digital component 199 professionally oriented textbook 200 new generation textbook 198, 199, 200, 322 textbook’s mini-site 205 transition course 242 translation competence (TC) xv, 38, 180, 184 translation training 183, 190 type-in exercise 207 W web-based task 205, 210 webinar 33, 98, 168, 169, 173, 217 WebQuests xii, xiii, 43, 44, 52, 53, 55, 56, 58, 63, 64, 65, 104, 164, 165, 171, 319 Wikies 8, 165, 171 Y young/emerging adulthood 241