| Language, Culture and Intercultural Communication (Minor's 1st year, 1-2 modules) | This course introduces students to the key concepts related to languages, cultures and intercultural communication, which are fundamental to language learning and teaching. It will focus on the social and cultural contexts of languages and how language reflects culture and society, and what this means for communication and language teaching. In the part that focuses on intercultural communication, the students will build cultural awareness and will learn how to communicate effectively with members of other cultures, including business settings, and how best to approach and deal with intercultural problems and challenges. The course will also focus on such topics as the theory of linguistic relativity, language varieties, English accents and dialects, endangered languages, language policy and language and power. In addition, this course will review basic linguistic concepts related to language teaching. |
Didactics and Language Teaching
(Minor's 1st year, 3-4 modules)
| The students will develop understanding of teaching in general and how these general ideas relate to teaching second languages. The course will be useful not only for those interested in teaching, but also future educational administrators. This course introduces key concepts in the area of teaching, and language teaching in particular. The students will learn about curriculum, educational management and administration. The course will also focus on teaching methodology, the teacher's role, lesson planning and classroom management, delivering content effectively and building skills, providing feedback and organizing assessment, and how these concepts inform contemporary language teaching. The course will also discuss neurodidactics, online learning and various aspects of language teaching (CLIL, bilingual education, EAP, ESP, etc). |
Learning Foreign Languages Effectively
(Minor's 2nd year, 1-2 modules)
| This course is designed to equip students with knowledge on how languages are learned and how to organize this process effectively. This knowledge will help students to become more efficient and effective language learners and to gain understanding of language learning processes needed to become effective language teachers. The course surveys general issues related to second language learning, discusses key concepts (such as input, output, interlanguage or noticing), focuses on factors affecting language learning (such as age, motivation or first language), learner characteristics and preferences and strategies for effective language learning. Various approaches to language learning will also be discussed in this course. |
Language Teaching Methods and Technologies
(Minor's 2nd year, 3-4 modules)
| This course will equip the students with the skills necessary to become effective, and creative, language teachers, ready to work in various teaching contexts with various types of learners. This course focuses on practical aspects of language teaching, specifically teaching the four main language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) and language systems (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and functions). The students will also design effective tasks and practice learning situations. The course will look at strategies to check meaning and correct errors and will survey project-based learning and peer learning. Working with young learners, adolescents and adult learners, individually and in groups, will also be covered. |