THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE MOST POPULAR FORUM FOR YOUNG SPECIALISTS IN RUSSIAN STUDIES IN EUROPE IS HELD AT VARNA FREE UNIVERSITY
09 August 2018
The 10th International Qualification School "Modern Pedagogical Technologies in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language" will be held from 13 to 17 August 2018 at Varna Free University. It is organized by the university Russian Centre with the support of the Russkiy Mir Foundation.
The official opening of the 10th Anniversary International Qualification School is on the 13 August (Monday) at 14:00 on the summer stage in the eastern park of Varna Free University.
During the school, a Qualification Seminar intended for teachers of Russian from 23 Bulgarian towns is scheduled for 12 August (Sunday). The seminar will present working innovative technologies in teaching Russian as a foreign language, educational and gaming techniques in linguodidactics, modern digital technologies for teachers as well as topical issues related to Russian language teaching in Bulgaria.
The school has been identified as one of the most successful projects of Varna Free University and the Russkiy Mir Foundation. The project started in 2009 - the year of the opening of the Russian Centre at the University. For the ten years of its existence, it has become one of Europe's most prominent methodological schools for young teachers. A testimony of its authority is the support of the International Association of the Teachers of the Russian Language and Literature, the Municipality of Varna, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Varna, the Representation of the Rossotrudnichestvo in Bulgaria, the non-profit association "Bulgarian National Network of the Teachers of the Russian Language and Culture" and the National Publishing House for Education and Science at the Ministry of Education and Science "AzBuki" - media partner of the event.
More than 560 specialists in Russian studies have perfected their methodological training within the school. Participants are students and lecturers from leading European universities. Varna Free University has welcomed participants from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Estonia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
This year's forum will include representatives of 14 universities from 10 countries. Traditional feature of the school is the unique combination of theory and practice: lectures by leading scientists in the field of Russian language learning combined with workshops and master classes.
The scientific programme includes topics that fall outside the traditional university courses on methods of teaching Russian. It is oriented towards introducing innovative pedagogical technologies and their application in the training process.
The use of innovations in the process of teaching can be identified as a key theme of the school, with an interesting highlight being the use of mobile applications in teaching Russian as a foreign language. The circle of lectures, master classes and roundtable discussions is quite broad.In addition to the impressive participation of students and teachers of Russian, traditionally the school is attended by top lecturers from Russia and Bulgaria.
Among the interesting highlights in the programme of the school are the lectures of Prof. D.P. Leonid Moskovkin, D.Sc. – professor at the Department of the Russian Language and Methodology of its Teaching at St. Petersburg State University - "Cinematography in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language", "Innovation in Foreign Language Teaching: Rationalizing the Experience" and "The Cinema Festival as a Tool for Enhancing Learner’s Creativity. "
Prof. Moskovkin is one of the leading scientists in the field of teaching Russian as a foreign language. He is the author of more than 200 scientific publications on the subject.
One of the favourite lecturers of the young specialists in Russian studies - Prof. Valeriy Efremov, D.Sc. this year also has a strong presence in the programme of the International Qualification School. Professor Efremov's master class in Game with the Language and about the Language will present an analysis of modern learning approaches through entertainment, with an emphasis on the variety of gameplay methodologies for training different types of audiences.Apart from his impressive scientific and methodological work, Efremov is also a presenter in the St Petersburg Radio Russia, where he has been the author of the broadcast What’s This in Russian? since 2005.
Efremov's master class in Myths of the Russian Language: Online will disproves the myths about the Russian language imposed in the virtual space.
In his lecture on "Dictionaries on the Internet and Internet Dictionaries", Prof. Efremov will present the various types of dictionaries on the Internet and will analyze both popular sites (www.gramota.ru, www.slovari.yandex.ru) and lesser known academic ones (www.etymolog.ruslang.ru, www.iling.spb.ru) or general education (www.gramma.ru) resources.
Assoc. Prof. Nadia Cherneva, PhD is known to the specialists in Russian studies in Bulgaria as a lecturer in the Department of Russian Philology and as a Deputy Dean of the Philological Faculty of the Plovdiv University "Paisiy Hilendarski". Her scientific interests are in the field of comparative linguistics, linguo-cultural studies, language philosophy, intercultural communication, theory and practice of foreign language teaching.In the programme of the school Assoc. Prof. Cherneva will take part with a lecture entitled "The Poetics of the Dance in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language" and a master class in The Universal Language of the Dance in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language, where the main focus will be on combining traditional knowledge in the field of music-dance folklore and the acquisition of practical skills in the different stages of mastering the foreign language.
This year's participation in the International Qualification School of the senior lecturer at St. Petersburg State University's Faculty of Philology, Dennis Bukin, is connected with three master classes.The main topic in his work with the participants in the school will be new technologies and innovative forms of training. In the master class in Grammar in Chords, Bukin will pay special attention to the development of grammar skills with the help of songs at different levels of linguistic competence.
During the International Qualification School, the participants will meet again with the famous specialist in the field of foreign language teaching, Prof. Galina Shamonina, PhD - Director of the Foreign Language Teaching Department and the Russian Centre of Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar.”Prof. Shamonina and Prof. Moskovkin will present the plenary lecture on "Modern Pedagogical Technologies in Teaching Russian as a Foreign Language or What does the School Teach you?", which will summarize the good practices in the ten-year history of the school.
Prof. Shamonina is a lecturer in the two roundtable discussions: "The Young Specialists in Russian Studies - an Important Part of the Russian World" and "Methodological Idea or How to Work With Set Phrases in a National Audience?".
The participants in the roundtable discussion "Methodological Idea" will work on a topic related to the use of set phrases from Russian and their native language, semantically related to the notions of "holiday", "jubilee", "Russian". Each team will present a video with methodologically grounded ideas to explain their meaning, origin, their use in speech, and in the teaching process.
"I am convinced that the immersion in the vast world of the Russian language and culture, in the methodology of teaching Russian as a foreign language helps young specialists in Russian studies to make sense of the language command as a competitive advantage and to apply creatively innovative technologies in their day-to-day work. Being a teacher is one of the most responsible and complex, and nowadays one of the most demanded by the state and society professions. We teach professional mastership to young specialists in Russian studies, and it is only achieved by hard work and quests. The responsible role of the educator should not be forgotten because the teacher is "a person who comes into the soul with their words," says Prof. Galina Shamonina, head of one of the most successful projects of Varna Free University and the Russkiy Mir Foundation and she finishes with a quote by the Russian historian Vasiliy Klyuchevskiy, summarizing the power of the educator:" Love what you teach and those who you teach! ".