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Department ¹63. Department of Foreign Languages

Department ¹63. Department of Foreign Languages

The Department of Foreign Languages is one of the leading departments of the University. Its role in specialist training is determined by the importance of knowledge of foreign languages, which is a necessary skill for engineers, economists, lawyers, scientists etc.

The Department of Foreign Languages provides high level of research and methodology for the teaching and learning process and develops special training programs as well as resource and study materials for professionally oriented language teaching.

The Department includes Russian Language and Culture of Speech Section, which teaches classes at technical faculties and faculties of humanities, also for foreign students.

The Department uses modern scientific and technical resources such as computer classrooms, a laboratory of speech, multimedia approach to teaching and control, modern office machines and study materials.

A Glimpse of History

The Department of Foreign Languages was established in January 1941 within the Leningrad Aviation Institute, to be restructured into the Leningrad Academy of Airspace Instrumentation first and later, into the Saint Petersburg University of Airspace Instrumentation. By the late 1950s the main educational, methodological, scientific and research trends had been set. The original faculty was added by the expertise of the State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages after M.M. Pokrovsky. 1960 saw the renovation of the Department, with some of the devices developed by the institute researches. At present the Department is proud to be equipped with a cutting-edge Laboratory of Speech and 3 computer classrooms. The 1970s were the period of the Department’s increased scientific potential and the faculty’s improved qualifications. Educational and methodological standards reached new heights. In 1976 the Head of the Department was appointed Roman A. Orlov (PhD of Philology since 1974 and Professor since 1990). His expertise and experience won the plate “For Excellent Achievements in Work” by the USSR Ministry of Higher Education. R.A. Orlov is also the Honoured Educationalist of the RF Higher Professional Education, along with other State rewards. Head of the Department till 2010, he is still an active translator and lecturer, the author of 6 monographs and 46 scientific and methodological papers. In 1980 about 40 lecturers and instructors made up the Department’s faculty, with 11 PhDs of Philology or Pedagogy and 9 Associate Professors among them. With the 2008 first enrollment in Translation and Translatology, a number of translators and interpreters were invited for training specialized subjects to prove a success in combined educational and professional activities. In 2010 the faculty consisted of 42 lecturers and teaching instructors, with 2 Professors, 11 Associate Professors and 14 PhDs of Philology or Pedagogy. Since 2011 the Department has been headed by Marina A. Chikhanova, PhD of Philology, Associate Professor, the Honoured Educationalist of the RF Higher Professional Education, the author of more than 40 scientific and methodological papers. At present the faculty comprises highly qualified teachers of Russian, English, German, French, Spanish and Chinese. Interactive interdisciplinary courses were developed within the SUAI’s LMS Moodle system. Training in CAT-programmes such as TRADOS and Déjà Vu X3 is part of the course.

Student scientific societies

Student Scientific Society of the Foreign Languages Department, SUAI

Student scientific society (SSS) of the Department of Foreign Languages, SUAI is a voluntary association of students in Linguistics, engaged in research and studies in the areas beyond the curriculum.

The SSS of the Department in its activity is guided by current legislation, the Charter of SUAI, the regulations on scientific and research work of students of SUAI and present regulations.

Any student who is actively engaged or wishes to be engaged in research activities may join the SSS provided they accept the present regulations.

 

The goals and objectives of the SSS

The goals of the SSS are to develop students’ ability and skills in conducting independent research, to stimulate motivation to self-education and self-development, to acquire the skills of planning and organizing their academic and social activities.

 

The main objectives of the SSS are:

  •  Attracting students to scientific research activities from the early stages of studying at the University

  •  Development of motivation to research , mastering of the scientific methods of knowledge and in-depth, creative learning content

  • Involvement of students in activities of scientific schools and scientific and teaching faculty of the University

  • Participation in organization and arranging University’s scientific student conferences and contests, and research activities of other universities

  • Development of skills for writing scientific reports and papers, for presenting the findings of research.

    

The main activities of the SSS of the Department of Foreign Languages

  • assignments of term papers, diploma works and theses, submitted for participation in grants and contests of any level in different branches of linguistic science

  • preparation of presentations, reports, articles and papers for scientific seminars and conferences, including those organized by the SSS

  • monitoring of information about ongoing scientific conferences, competitions, events, etc.

  • monitoring of information about available grant submissions (domestic and international) with subsequent determination of possible participation in them.

 

Structure of the SSS includes: scientific supervisor of the SSS, the head of the specified SSS members research fields.

Organizational functions of SSS are performed by the Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and the Supervisor of SSS.

Supervisor of SSS is one of the Department’s faculty, nominated and approved by the faculty vote.


Conferences

The Department is actively involved in annual SUAI’s Scientific Sessions. Since 2012 the Applied Translatology and Translation Problems Annual Scientific and Practical Conference (whose president, P.S. Bruk, is a Member of the Russia’s Translators Association and the President of the Saint Petersburg Regional Department of the Russia’s Translators Association) has been organized as a joint effort by the Translators Association, the SUAI’s Department of Foreign Languages and the Section of Translation and Translatology. Students studying Linguistics also attend various international, country-wide and local congresses, symposiums and conferences.


Partners

1. Russia’s Translators Association. The Saint Petersburg Regional Department of the Russia’s Translators Union.

2. Proftranslating, Ltd. (St. Petersburg)

3. SDO Orion, plc. (St. Petersburg)

4. EGO Translating, Ltd. (St. Petersburg)

5. RuFilms, Ltd (Moscow)

6. Atril, Ltd. (Paris, France)

7. Translation Bureau “Okey” (Samara)

8. All Correct Language Solutions, Ltd

9. State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, USA

10. Sprachen und Dolmetscher Institut München. The Institute of Foreign Languages (Munich)

11. Cambridge English Resource Centre (St. Petersburg)

12. Cambridge English Language Assessment (St. Petersburg)

13. Book House “BookHunter” (St. Petersburg)

14. EF Education First. EF Language Courses Abroad (St. Petersburg)

15. Garnet Education. A Division of Garnet Publishing. TEFL (UK)

16. Britania. Department for Culture and Education Programmes (St. Petersburg)

17. Macmillan Publishing House. Macmillan Russia (St. Petersburg)

18. RELOD, Ltd. (St. Petersburg)

19. OxBridge: School of Pedagogical Mastery of the 21st Century (St. Petersburg)

20. St. Petersburg University of Economics. Institute of Management