Профессиональное чтение на английском языке = Professional Reading in English. Учебное пособие

I. EDUCATION

entirely opposed to the abolition of old traditions and the levelling down of everything to dull uniformity.” Reconciling those ambitions still seems to be as elusive.

Questions:

•What social planning stood behind the creation of post-War grammar schools?

•What does Mrs Jennings describe as radical and “revolutionary”?

•What is described by Mrs Jennings as the “intellectual life” of her school?

•Why were grammar schools shut down in the 1970s?

•Why does Mrs Jennings describe the way grammars were abolished as a “disaster”? How did former grammars readjust to their new identity?

•What career has Mrs Jennings made?

•Are you yourself in favour of a unified or of a varied educational system?

The Consequences of a Low GPA in College

The reasons for a low college grade point average are almost as varied as students themselves. Laziness, missing classes and inability to complete challenging work can certainly play a role, but major life changes and stress can also interfere with good grades. Some students experience a dip in GPA due to illness, the death of a close friend or family member, disability or financial problems. A low GPA doesn’t necessarily ruin your future, and you can pull bad grades up with hard work. However, a very low GPA can have serious consequences both for your academic life and after graduation.

Graduate School Admissions

Graduate and professional school admissions can be highly competitive, particularly at highly ranked schools. Students who have low GPAs are less likely to gain admission to these schools unless they can compensate for a low GPA with stellar test scores, excellent professor recommendations or impressive research. A low GPA, however, doesn’t preclude grad school altogether, and “U.S. News and World Report” points out that some schools

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И. И. ИГНАТЕНКО. ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЕ ЧТЕНИЕ НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

I. I. IGNATENKO. PROFESSIONAL READING IN ENGLISH

are willing to take students with low grades. The tradeoff is that these schools are often second-and third-tier institutions, and a degree from them may not carry the same prestige as one from a first-rate institution.

Financial Concerns

College scholarships are often tied to grades, and students who fail to maintain a good GPA can lose scholarship money. Some states offer free or discounted tuition to students who maintain reasonably high GPAs. In Georgia, for example, students who maintain a 3.0 GPA can have their college funded by the HOPE scholarship. Although some schools allow students a grace period of a semester to bring up their grades, a low GPA can trigger financial issues and leave students scrambling for money to cover tuition.

Fewer Professor Recommendations

When students don’t excel in their classes, professors might not be willing to provide them with recommendations. These recommendations not only play a role in graduate school admissions, they’re also sometimes required for study-abroad programs, internships and research projects. Professors sometimes help students network to gain access to jobs, academic conferences and similar pursuits, but they are often less willing to help students who have low grades.

Dropping Out

A low GPA can play a role in the decision to drop out, according to an American College Testing (ACT) policy report on student retention. While GPA is not the only factor in a student’s risk of dropping out, low grades can begin a snowball effect. Students may lose funding and the ability to pay for college. Failed courses can delay graduation, and low grades in prerequisite classes may mean the student has to repeat the class. This can be quite discouraging and may cause some students to give up.

Questions:

•What are the possible reasons for a low college grade point average?

•How can students with low GPAs still gain admission to highly ranked schools?

•How can a low GPA trigger financial issues?

•In what way are professor recommendations necessary for students?

•How can low grades begin a snowball effect?

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I. EDUCATION

Hopes and fears of graduates

More than half of European graduates are worried about their careers, a rate that rises to more than 80% in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain according to Europe’s largest graduate survey. The survey, conducted by the trendence institute in Berlin, builds up a picture of an educated European youth firing off scores of applications in vain, waiting months for their first job, and increasingly prepared to take on unpaid internships to get a foot on the ladder – or else emigrate.

It may come as no surprise that in Greece – where the youth unemployment rate reached 62.5% earlier this year – more than 90% of business graduates are worried about their future career. Employment prospects appear so bleak that almost half of Greeks and Spaniards say they are ready to emigrate to find work.

The number of applications students expect to send before they get their first job has also risen – up from 28.5 applications in 2012 to 38 for graduates of business schools. On average, graduates in Europe expect to spend 5.5 months looking for a job, up from 4.4 in 2012. In Greece and Spain the length of time expected reaches almost 10 months. The figures are again exceptionally high in Spain and Greece where graduates can expect to send more than 60 applications before they land their first job.

But some of the data is counterintuitive. The UK is still the most popular country for students to emigrate to in search of their first professional role. Germany, which has arguably one of the most stable economic outlooks in Europe and youth unemployment of just 7.5%, follows close behind. The survey of almost 320,000 people also teased out some revealing preferences for employers. Google remains number one, but German companies fare well, with the Volkswagen Group, Siemens and Bosch all gaining in popularity in this year’s survey. Porsche is up amongst engineering and IT graduates whereas BMW’s popularity has risen amongst business students.

The results also illustrate a shift back towards the public sector amongst business graduates hungry for job security. The European Commission, the UN and even the European Central Bank rate highly, whereas not a single commercial bank appears within the business graduate’s top 20 of employers they’d like to work for.

All across Europe, the survey has found a trend towards students becoming disenchanted with long working days and high levels of responsibility. A high salary, status prestige and corporate social

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И. И. ИГНАТЕНКО. ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОЕ ЧТЕНИЕ НА АНГЛИЙСКОМ ЯЗЫКЕ

I. I. IGNATENKO. PROFESSIONAL READING IN ENGLISH

responsibility were equally regarded as the least important factor when choosing an employer. A high salary, despite tough economic climes, has lost its importance when choosing an employer, with job security being favoured over a high wage. Good career prospects and personal development are considered the most important factors by business students, suggesting a move towards challenging roles rather than highly paid positions.

More than half of Belgian, Spanish and Turkish business graduates admitted that they would work for nothing to get a good internship. The percentage of students agreeing with the sentiment in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Poland, is also higher than the European average.

Questions:

•What picture of an educated European youth does the trendence institute in Berlin build in the conducted survey?

•Where are the figures of the youth unemployment rate exceptionally high?

•Why is some of the data counterintuitive?

•What revealing preferences for employers has the survey teased out?

•What is meant by “a shift back towards the public sector amongst business graduates hungry for job security”?

•What are the most important factors considered by business students?

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II. ENGLISH IN ACADEMIC LIFE

English for Academic Purposes

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is generally considered one of two branches within the larger field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the other branch being English for Occupational Purposes. EAP is identifiable by its focus on teaching English with the primary goal of preparing non-native speaking (NNS) learners for academic study and research in English-medium courses and institutions. Although EAP teaching can and does occur at many levels of academic study, it is traditionally associated with study at university or college level in postsecondary or higher education institutions (HEIs). The key characteristics of ESP/EAP are as follows: design which is intended to meet specific learner needs; teaching content (themes/topics) related to specific disciplines; a focus on discipline-specific language use; teaching English with a specific purpose, in contrast with ‘general English.’

EAP programmes can be found throughout the world, but are especially prevalent at tertiary institutions in the English speaking countries of UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Normally, international students who wish to take degree programmes in these countries must meet institutionally-determined language proficiency requirements before commencing their studies. There are usually several ways to do this, but the two most common routes are submission of a satisfactory English language proficiency exam score (for example, TOEFL, IELTS) or completion of a recognised EAP preparatory programme. In some cases, students must achieve a satisfactory proficiency exam score in addition to completing a designated EAP programme. Most institutions will provide EAP programming inhouse, although more universities in the UK, Australia, and Canada are now choosing to outsource their programmes to private schools in so-called ‘pathways’ programmes.

Students can enrol in EAP courses before they study in university content courses, or concurrently with content study. In the UK this is referred to as pre-sessional and in-sessional programming. North American institutions describe these courses as sheltered and adjunct courses. Sheltered, or pre-sessional courses, are more often meant

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I. I. IGNATENKO. PROFESSIONAL READING IN ENGLISH

to prepare students for general academic study, whereas in-session courses may well focus on specific disciplines, with the intention of having the EAP faculty work more closely with the content faculty to deal with the specific language demands of a certain subject.

EAP programmes and courses are typically intensive. Student contact hours in pre-sessional programmes can reach upwards of 25 hours per week. Teachers can find themselves under institutional pressure to move students through the courses and into full undergraduate studies, as EAP programmes in English-speaking countries are often seen as ‘feeder’ programmes which can serve to boost international undergraduate enrolment.

In post-secondary institutions where English is not the medium of content course instruction, English language courses are normally more general purpose. Students take these courses for a wide range of reasons: out of general interest, to fulfil a degree requirement, or with the goal of overseas travel or study. However, it is increasingly common for nonEnglish medium post-secondary institutions to offer academic content courses which are taught in English. In these institutions, responsive English language programmes may adjust their curriculum and teaching to account for this need, and the teaching may take on more of an EAP flavour by focusing on typical academic tasks and appropriate language use for academic contexts.

Specificity and dual purposes in EAP

Preparing non-native speakers (NNS) for the demands of academic study in an English language environment requires a dual focus of helping students to develop both the language competency and study skills which will help them to succeed. This duality is referred to as ‘general English’ and ‘study skills,’ which includes tasks such as listening to lectures, giving presentations, and academic writing. This approach can be called English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP), aimed at preparing students for general academic studies across disciplines. In cases where more specific needs are identified, either because EAP learners are grouped by their chosen academic discipline or taking insession/adjunct EAP along with content courses, the teaching approach may be more focused and developed based on conventions of disciplinespecific language use. This approach is known as English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP), and is built on an ‘…understanding of the cognitive, social and linguistic demands of specific academic

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II. ENGLISH IN ACADEMIC LIFE

disciplines’. Both the general and more discipline-specific approaches to EAP teaching raise important issues in curriculum design, especially relating to the proficiency levels of students. Specificity is discussed in terms of narrow and wide-angle approaches and outline several theoretical arguments regarding the appropriate blend of disciplinespecific and general or ‘core’ English language in EAP programmes, especially at the lower proficiency levels.

Needs analysis EAP teaching grew from a practical need to prepare NNSs for academic study in English-medium courses. As English emerged as the predominant world language for business, communication, and scholarly work, the demand for English language support grew as more overseas students enrolled in academic degree programmes in Englishspeaking countries. In response to a growing international student population in the UK in the 1950s and 1960s, universities began to offer short ad hoc language courses to support NNS in their studies. It soon became apparent that general English teaching would not adequately prepare these students for academic study. Theorists in ELT methodology were recognising that the traditional linguisticallydriven teaching methods aimed at learning general English would not adequately prepare NNS to use language effectively in disciplinespecific academic contexts. What was needed was an approach to language teaching which was based on descriptions of the language as it was used in the specific target situations. Programmes became more formal and were developed based on analysis of student needs and practical uses of academic language in target contexts. This focus on the practical remains a key driver in EAP from curriculum design to classroom teaching, as programmes and instructors grapple with the continually shifting needs of students and other changes in the contexts in which they teach.

In the field of ELT, it is considered best practice to include some level of needs analysis in course design to help address practical needs of students. In target environments, EAP students can be expected to undertake academic tasks such as listening to lectures and notetaking, writing academic essays, preparing and delivering presentations, and participating in group discussions. Approaches to needs analysis vary by context, and data can be collected through testing, questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, and direct observation of post-secondary classroom lectures or activities. Formal needs analysis studies in EAP have yielded valuable information for teachers and course designers.

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I. I. IGNATENKO. PROFESSIONAL READING IN ENGLISH

Many of these investigations have focused on specific skill areas, such as a mismatch between the typical writing tasks assigned by EAP instructors and the writing tasks actually required by university professors, or large discrepancies in expectations between content instructors and EAP students in listening and speaking tasks.

Technology and EAP

Current needs analysis in EAP reveals that, along with linguistic demands, many academic tasks involve the use of technology. Students and faculty are expected to produce word-processed reports and documents, create digital slides to enhance presentations, use email tocommunicateandcollaborate,accessandparticipateinonlinelearning platforms, and conduct research using online electronic databases and the internet. This expectation is still growing, and forward-thinking EAP practitioners realise it makes good sense for students to develop technology-related knowledge and skills as part of their EAP study. For today’s NNS students being able to operate efficiently, effectively, and appropriately in academic contexts has an additional element, and that is being able to do so in an electronic environment. Such environments have, of course, become a prevalent feature at many higher education institutions (HEIs) across the globe. From a needs-based perspective, the use of technology to support academic study can be viewed as part of the study skills side of EAP. In their purposeful efforts to prepare students for the academic contexts they will enter, EAP teachers are integrating a variety of technologies into learning experiences which support language learning. Many of these learning experiences also mirror current uses of technology in target post-secondary learning environments.

Researchers argue that context and purpose are what drives the teaching and research in EAP, distinguishing it from more general approaches to English language teaching. Each type of technology use in EAP teaching is rooted in learner needs as recognised by researchers and classroom instructors, and the classroom illustrations of technology use are inextricably linked to the EAP teaching contexts they are embedded in. First discussed is the use of technology to help EAP learners build accurate linguistic knowledge through concordancing. Next, the need for learners to develop critical e-literacy skills is examined, and examples of hands-on webpage searching and evaluation experiences are presented. Following this is an example of how a simple class wiki

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II. ENGLISH IN ACADEMIC LIFE

can help EAP learners share and build the important cultural knowledge needed to more fully participate as members of the wider communities in which they live. Finally, web-based learning management systems (LMS) are explored, and an example shows how flexible learning opportunities can be provided where learners see limited class time in intensive programmes.

Questions:

•What are the key characteristics of ESP/EAP?

•What language proficiency requirements must international students who wish to take degree programmes in English speaking countries meet before commencing their studies?

•What is English for General Academic Purposes aimed at?

•What is the approach is known as English for Specific Academic Purposes built on?

•In what way do many academic tasks involve the use of technology?

•What technologies are used in the EAP teaching contexts?

•Render the article.

English as a Medium of Instruction for Academics

The definition of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is, surprisingly, not as simple as it might seem, with EMI contexts tending to be quite different from each other. Moreover, the implications of the decision to teach through English in higher education vary greatly depending on the location and reasons for this decision and this can put different pressures on teachers and students from a variety of first language backgrounds that now have to succeed using English. This short article will explore some of the different ways that EMI is implemented around the world.

The challenge of EMI

EMI often presents a substantial challenge to policy makers and universities when it is implemented. Talk to educators around the world and you will probably hear anecdotes of programmes being described as ‘EMI’ without actually teaching through English at all, due to the lack of ability or motivation among students, and sometimes staff, to use

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I. I. IGNATENKO. PROFESSIONAL READING IN ENGLISH

English. In such cases, questions have to be asked about how appropriate it is to use English when another language is a more convenient teaching medium, and when there is little motivation among staff and students to use English.

To motivate engagement with English in universities, some institutions begin by placing English as the medium of assessment, hoping the pressure of having to write assignments and deliver projects in English will force students and staff to use English in their practices. This policy often involves a period of transition, where other languages are used with English in order to bridge the gap between the abilities students will need to pass the course in English, and the content understanding that needs to be developed in order to pass the course at all, and this is often achieved most effectively in students’ first languages.

Using other languages on EMI programmes

The extent to which a mixture of languages can be used on EMI programmes can depend on the language backgrounds of students studying on the programme. If there is another dominant language (other than English) that students and educators can understand, more negotiation between languages is possible, and variations in the amount of English used can often be apparent, or code-switching can be used to enhance students’ understanding and build on the language resources available in the class besides English. In these situations, it is common for English-medium course books to be followed, whereby students read and write in English, but they can switch between languages in seminars and lectures to understand the English content more fully. In some situations, the language practices in class might not align with the original intentions of using English as the medium of education, and they might make using English seem slightly artificial or inauthentic (as a more effective medium can and is used), but many find this approach to be a practical response to the difficult task of educating students with a range of proficiencies and often a lack of confidence in using English.

In situations where the capacity to study through English attracts a diverse student population, and therefore no other commonly understood language is available, English becomes the default language of administration, the classroom and the assessment tasks. These situations can benefit from the opportunity for genuine intercultural

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