On June 17, 2021 the International Linguistic Science and Practice Conference "Methods of Teaching Foreign Languages 2.0: Real vs. Virtual" was held at the Financial University online.
The conference was attended by more than 400 participants from 24 countries of the world: Russia, the USA, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, Algeria, Turkey, Syria, Cambodia, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, as well as representatives of 34 regions of the Russian Federation. Teachers and employees of more than 50 leading Russian and foreign universities, colleges, schools, ministries and the private sector also joined the event.
Key speakers of the plenary session:
Alexander Linnikov, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Assistant Professor, Department of World Economics and World Finance, Financial University;
Andrey Rementsov, Ph.D. in Technical Sciences, Professor, Deputy Vice-Rector for International Cooperation at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation;
Irina Klimova, Ph.D., Professor, Head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation;
Marklen Konurbaev, Ph.D, Professor, Academic Adviser to the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication of the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Professor at the Department of English Linguistics at the Faculty of Philology, Moscow State University;
Andrea Liebschner, Ph.D., Lecturer at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Yekaterinburg, Associate Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation at the Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin;
Irena Mikulaco, Ph. D., Head of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Humanities, Head of the Pushkin Institute Center, Professor of the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia;
Galina Mozhaeva, Assistant Professor, Director of the Institute for Online Education;
Natalia Yudina, Ph.D., Director for University Branch Activities Oversight Development, Professor at the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.
During the event, all scientists, experts, university professors and guests of the conference were welcomed by Vice-Rector for International Cooperation Alexander Linnikov. During the opening statement, the Vice-Rector noted that in the modern world linguistics is the foundation of effective communication between people of different cultures.
"I would like to thank the organisers of today’s conference for their hard work and openness to dialogue, and wish all participants a lot of success and new professional achievements. I am sure that today’s conference will be successful and productive", says Alexander Linnikov.
In the end, Alexander Linnikov quoted Nelson Mandela:
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart".
The new conditions dictated by the global pandemic have led to the search for new formats of scientific dialogue. Online communication enabled more participants from all over the world to join the academic debate about the future of language education.
At the event, the problems and prospects of the development of modern language education and the role of the COVID-19 pandemic in its digitisation were discussed. These issues aroused great interest among the participants, allowing to connect thoughts of leading scholars in a single canvas.
After the plenary session, the following sections began to operate intensively:
Section 1. Linguodidactic innovations during the pandemic: experience, practice, prospects.
Section 2. Building the intercultural communication competence in students as a goal of teaching a foreign language at the university.
Section 3. Educator's role in distance learning: mentoring, coaching or tutoring?
Section 4. Methods of teaching German online and in reality: experience, technology, and new methods?" (in German).
Section 5. Pedagogical practices during the pandemic: experience and prospects (in French).
Within the framework of the conference, Deputy Vice-Rector for International Cooperation Andrey Rementsov made a presentation on "Learning Russian by Foreign Citizens: Opportunities and Perspectives". Mr Rementsov elaborated on the importance of training domestic labour, noted the reasons for getting higher education in Russia, mentioned the world trends, and shared his experience of working with remote technologies at the Financial University.
"International education is one of the fastest growing exports. The demand for international education is growing, new technology in education is developing, therefore quality education of foreigners is more relevant than ever", shares Andrey Rementsov.
Foreign language teachers from around the world shared their expert opinions in Russian, English, French and German. The presentations were of great interest to the audience, that is why it was decided that the videos and presentations would be made publicly accessible.
Papers presented at the Conference will be published as a collection of scholarly articles and indexed in the leading scientific journal database "Web of Science". Submissions for publication are accepted until July 20, 2021 by e-mail methods.conf@fa.ru.
Moderators of the sections:
Management and teachers of the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication: Head of the Department I. Klimova, Deputy Head of the Department N. Chernyshkova, E. Ganina, N. Kozlovtseva, Prof. N. Yudina, Assistant Professors N. Malyugina, S. Khalevina, T. Kopus, G. Tretyakova, senior lecturers E. Belozyorova, A. Torosyan, D. Sukhorukova.
External moderators:
A. Liebschner, Ph.D., Lecturer at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Yekaterinburg, Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Translation at the Ural Federal University named after the First President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin, L. Thibonnier-Limpek, Russian Language Department Associate Professor, Head of the Bachelor's Degree in Russian Philology and International Mobility in Russia at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, member of the Center for Contemporary Slavic Studies (CESC) and the Institute of Languages and Cultures of Europe, America, Africa, Asia and Australia (ILCEA4), University of Grenoble Alpes (UGA), A. Krupchenko, Ph.D., Professor of Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching at the Institute of Foreign Languages of the Moscow State Pedagogical University.
The organisers and moderators received a lot of positive feedback about the conference.
"I really enjoyed the dialogue — a powerful creative energy from the fireworks of professional discoveries and just human joy from communicating with talented colleagues. It is obvious that, with such a passionate attitude to our work, readiness to face the challenges and mobility of thought, distance learning has every chance to succeed and can, in the long run, be seen as an opportunity to become a real and full alternative, complementing the traditional strategy of knowledge transfer and forming unique competences of our students and colleagues", shares Marina Salkova, Head of the Department of Grammar and History at the Department of English Language, Moscow State Linguistic University.
The Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication thanks their colleagues for their participation in the conference and interesting scientific discussions and hopes to strengthen scientific contacts and continue cooperation that has begun within the framework of this conference!
