Interfaculty Department of English

Interfaculty Department of English

The Interfaculty Department of English delivers English learning courses that help student to gain  language fluency essential to study at the UK university and provides academic support for basic educational programs by helping students develop their skills in academic writing, working with English data sources, conducting discussions, preparing presentations, taking part in seminars, etc. The teachers of the language courses communicate with students only in English, which ensures complete language immersion.

Academic English courses are presented by two modular programs: English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP); each program includes courses designed to fit Shaninka's Master and Bachelor Degree programs. EGAP courses develop general academic skills, and ESAP courses teach students how to apply these skills in relation to specific disciplines. The program primarily focuses on developing academic writing skills, since the ability to write independent research texts is the basis of education in any Western university.

The staff of the Department initiated these programs in Russia and now the Department is one of the leading languages centers in Russia offering authentic programs and specialized academic English courses. The modular teaching principle helps to deliver an EGAP course aimed at developing a separate set of general academic skills (academic writing, reading, listening, or vocabulary) or design a specialized ESAP course (English for psychologists, managers, lawyers, etc.).

Academic writing has been delivered by the Department in English since the 1990s, and it also develops as a separate discipline as part of international scientific research. The Head of IDE I.B. Korotkina, author of over 80 relevant scientific and educational publications has significantly contributed to the development of academic writing as a new discipline in the Russian education system. In her doctoral dissertation, she outlined the foundations of academic writing for the Russian higher education system, while in her textbooks and monographs she formulated approaches to teaching writing for academic and scientific publication purposes in Russian.

The IDE staff members are fluent in English and practice the advanced UK and US academic English teaching methods. A number of teachers have received higher education abroad or continue to study at UK and US universities; they also take regular advanced training courses on authentic materials application, participate in international conferences and conduct researches on two topics approved by the Shaninka Academic Council: “Methodology and Didactics of Teaching English for Specific Purposes” and “Analysis of International Experience in Teaching Academic Writing and its Development as a Separate Discipline in the Russian Federation.” The IDE is an acting member of the National Association of English Teachers (NATE) and the Association of Academic Writing Experts “National Consortium of Writing Centers.”