Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics
Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics

The Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics provides philological training to students whose major is “English Philology”. The top priorities for the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics are as follows: 1) organizing an educational process, which corresponds to European standards; 2) improving the quality of scientific research and innovations in the sphere of linguistics and methodology; 3) training highly-qualified specialists in the sphere of foreign philology, capable of further professional work, creativity and self-development. The main task of the Department is to provide education in foreign languages to students. This presupposes mastering foreign languages (English and French) as means of communication in different spheres of social and professional activity in the age of cross-cultural communication.

The Department of Cross-Cultural Communication was founded on September 7, 2009, as a result of organizational restructuring in both the English Language Department and the Department of English Philology named after D. I. Kveselevich of the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology. In September 2014, following the merge between the Department of Teaching Methodology and the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication, the latter was renamed the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics. V. V. Zhukovska (Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor) has been the head of the Department since 2009.

Teaching at the department

The faculty currently teaches about 30 courses for full and part-time students ranging from years 3-6, in the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology, as well as postgraduate students in the Faculty of Postgraduate Education and Pre-University Tutorial of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University.

Following globally innovative approaches to language teaching, all courses incorporate competence-based and intercultural components as well as multimedia technologies and open outreach potential of the Internet, which enhances the quality of education while simultaneously fulfilling its practical side. The courses taught by the Department encompass traditional areas of philological study such as Stylistics, History of Language, Introduction to Germanic Studies, Gothic Language, Linguo-Country Study, Lexicology, alongside more recently developed branches of linguistic study, such as Intercultural Communication, Speech Communication, Corpus Linguistics, and Sociolinguistics. The Department is also responsible for courses on methodology of teaching foreign languages in secondary and higher educational institutions, organizing and conducting teaching practice for 4th and 5th year full-time and part-time students in secondary schools, teaching modern information technologies, etc. Department members also conduct practical courses on the first foreign language (English) as well as a practical course on the third foreign language (French).

Head of the department

Since its foundation the Department has been headed by V. V. Zhukovska, Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor, who is the author of more than 40 articles, textbooks and methodological guides. Her scientific interests lie in the sphere of construction grammar, corpus linguistics, linguistic statistics and stylistics, as well as research methodology in linguistics.

Teaching staff

The faculty consist of 17 teachers; 1 Candidate of Sciences professor; 13 Candidates of Sciences; Associate Professors; and 4 Instructors. All the teachers are highly-qualified professionals, creative personalities and talented educators whose main aim is to improve their professional competence and successfully cooperate with students.

Education work of the department subpanels of the department

The educational work of the Department is organized into six subpanels whose members include teachers of both practical and theoretical disciplines:

  • Subpanel of teachers of “Practical Course of the Main Foreign Language (English)” for Year 3 students, Major Philology. Language and Literature (English) (head of the subpanel — Associate Professor Garashchuk L. A.).
  • Subpanel of teachers of “Practical Course of the Main Foreign Language (English)” for Year 4 students, Major Philology. Language and Literature (English) (head of the subpanel — Associate Professor Gyryn O. V.).
  • Subpanel of teachers of “Practical Course of the Main Foreign Language (English)” for Year 5 students, Major Philology. Language and Literature (English) (head of the subpanel — Associate Professor Solovyova L. F.).
  • Subpanel of teachers of theoretical linguistic disciplines (head of the subpanel — Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V.).
  • Subpanel of teachers of “Practical Course of the Third Foreign Language (French)” for Years 3-5 students, Major Philology. Language and Literature (English) (head of the subpanel — Associate Professor Papizhuk V. O.).
  • Subpanel of teachers of methodology of teaching foreign languages (head of the subpanel — Professor Kalinina L. V.).

Beginning in the academic year of 2012-2013, students in the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology were offered the opportunity to study French as their third foreign language. The instructors of the Department (Candidate of Sciences (Pedagogics), senior lecturer Papizhuk V. O., Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Lisova Yu. O., instructor Tsiunyk G. M.) teach the following courses: “Practical Course of the Third Foreign Language” and “Linguo-Countrystudy of French” for 3rd to 5th year students. With the assistance of the Management of Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology, a specialized French language room has been equipped with an electronic library of audio- and video- resources for self-guided and individual work for students, which provides the necessary innovative tools for teaching these subjects. The instructors of the French language subpanel have also compiled their own study guides titled “Le Français en deux ans.” Students study the third foreign language enthusiastically, which is accounted for not only by their academic achievements, but also by their active participation in extracurricular activities in these disciplines. For instance, in the academic year 2013-2014 Francophonie week was conducted, which among other activities included a wall of newspapers and posters in French, a quiz called “What do you know about France?”, a holiday concert and more.

Starting from the academic year 2014-2015 a subpanel of methodology of teaching the English language has become an important part of the Department. The subpanel is headed by Professor Kalinina L. V, a Candidate of Sciences (Pedagogics). This subpanel is composed of the former members of the Department of Methodology of teaching foreign languages and applied linguistics, which include professor Kalinina L. V., associate professor Petrangovska N. R. and associate professor Shcherba N. S. The main specialization of the methodological unit is developing and implementing innovative technologies into the process of teaching a foreign language in secondary schools and higher educational institutions. To achieve this aim a centre of self-development for foreign language teachers was set up in 1995 as a result of fruitful cooperation with America House as well as the British Council in Ukraine. It has been functioning ever since and contains extensive facilities and resources. The instructors of the methodological subpanel make use of international experience in their work, cooperating with specialists from the British Council, America House, and Peace Corps Volunteers in Ukraine.

Methodologists of the Department are coauthors of the Ukrainian State Standard which refers to foreign languages; a programme in countrystudy for specialized schools; a programme in foreign languages for secondary schools and a series of textbooks for teaching foreign languages in secondary schools, such as “English Smart” geared towards grades 1-7 and “Your English Self” designed for grades 8-11; a methodological study guide “Innovative technologies in organizing extracurricular work for elementary, secondary and specialized schools” consisting of 3 volumes; as well as a multi-author book “Professional and Methodological Preparation of Students of Philological Faculties in Higher Educational Institutions”. The instructors of methodological disciplines publish scientific works on a regular basis in the form of monographs and study guides, aimed at sustaining and improving the quality of studying processes in secondary and higher educational institutions.

Starting from 2013 Professor Kalinina L. V. in cooperation with the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine and the British Council has taken part in the development of the programme of preparation of a future foreign languages teacher “The teacher of the XXIst century”.

Professor L. V. Kalinina is a coauthor of national English language textbooks for secondary schools, a number of study guides and national programmes in foreign languages for students of grades 1-11.

Educational and methodological support of the disciplines

Educational and methodological work of the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics is aimed at improving the educational process, implementing appropriate educational and methodological strategies, and contributing to the overall improvement in teaching quality through innovative teaching methods.

All subjects taught at the Department are equipped with relevant teaching and methodological packages, which are created according to the requirements of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as well as the standards of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University. Each teaching and methodological package contains a syllabus and a work programme of the subject, a teaching and methodological package for the lecture course, instructional and methodological documents for seminars and practical classes, methodological recommendations for the organization of students’ self-guided and individual work, materials for conducting module and final tests (packages for in-class and out-of-school module tests, crosscutting tests, computer tests, a list of questions and tasks for the credit or exam) etc. Topics of course and diploma papers which are defended at the Department directly relate to the scientific topic of the Department and deal with pressing challenges of theoretical and applied linguistics in the sphere of cross-cultural communication.

Educational publications

In order to comply with European standards of excellence and availability of education and to supply our students with national textbooks of high quality, instructors of the Department have published a number of teaching and methodological publications in theoretical and practical linguistic disciplines. The Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine has even recommended the following publications for use in higher educational institutions throughout Ukraine.

Instructors of the Department actively cooperate with educational publishing houses. For instance, Associate Professor Yevchenko V. V. is one of the authors of a series of study guides for reading in English, entitled: “Use Classic Literature to Learn English” for the publishing house “Nova Knyha.” A distinctive feature of study guides belonging to this series is a text that is aimed at teaching the holistic understanding of a literary text through semantic, artistic, stylistic, sociocultural and linguistic contexts. The guidebooks also contain accompanying exercises and philological commentary. The above-mentioned method is aimed at revealing the lexical, stylistic, pragmatic and sociocultural potential of a literary work as well as forming the main components of communicative competence. Study guides in this series develop critical thinking skills from reasoned discourse, using principles of general argumentation theory, which is the first time such methods have been used in a Ukrainian publication.

The usage of innovative technologies of teaching

The Department aims to utilize modern technology for teaching foreign languages to enhance the experience for both students and instructors. The Department’s faculty use technology as a tool that enriches the individual work of students. Teachers of the Department have uploaded educational and methodological materials of 16 disciplines onto the site of Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology.

In January and February 2015 Professor Kalinina L. V. developed an online course on methodology of teaching foreign languages titled: “5 Initial Steps to Turn out a Terrific Teacher”.

Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V. actively uses online technologies (educational and individual blogs, in particular) while teaching and providing individual work to students in subjects such as “Foundations of Scientific Research” and “Stylistics of the English Language” Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V. also teaches graduate students “Corpus Linguistics” where she introduces the possibilities of using linguistic corpuses in scientific and educational work to students.

Associate Professor Shcherba N. S. teaches a course called “Web Technologies of Learning”, which introduces blogs, web-quests, virtual learning environments, website constructors, and electronic attachments to future philologists and teachers of foreign languages. As part of an activity for the scientific-research laboratory titled “Usage of innovation technologies in the course of professional training for 21 century teachers”, Associate Professor Shcherba N. S. has developed a media library, which contains various educational and methodological materials that can be used for the development of foreign languages and communicative competence for high school and university students. Shcherba N. S. also plays an active role in scientific and practical seminars dedicated to the implementation of information-communicative technologies in educational institutions. On February 28, 2015, Shcherba N. S. received an award aknowledging her impact on the development of electronic learning in Ukraine and came first in the chakaton “Electronic learning is simple” (Zhytomyr).

Research conducted by the faculty

The Faculty carries out research within the scope of linguistic and methodological sciences. Specific areas of research include: “Problems of language systems development and functioning in multicultural space” and “Innovative technologies of teaching foreign languages in secondary and higher educational institutions”. Scientific interests of the staff cover a wide range of spheres, including:

  • theories of cross-cultural communication (ass. prof. Savchuk I. I.),
  • theories of speech communication (ass. prof. Savchuk I. I., ass. prof. Rudik I. M.),
  • history of the English language (ass. prof. Yevchenko V. V., ass. prof. Andrushenko O. Yu., ass. prof. Hyryn O. V., instr. Sydorovych L. Ye.),
  • pragmalinguistics (ass. prof. Rudik I. M.),
  • cognitive and communicative linguistics (ass. prof. Savchuk I. I. instr. Chernysh O. A., instr. Matushevska N. V.),
  • generative grammar (ass. prof. Andrushenko O. Yu.),
  • functional grammar (ass. prof. Hyryn O. V.),
  • constructional grammar (ass. prof. Zhukovska V. V.),
  • statistical linguistics (ass. prof. Zhukovska V. V.),
  • corpus-based linguistics (ass. prof. Zhukovska V. V.),
  • aspectology (ass. prof. Solovyova L. F.),
  • linguistic study of genres (ass. prof. Zhukovska V. V., instr. Chernysh O. A.),
  • phonetics (ass. prof. Harashchuk L. A.),
  • comparative pedagogics (ass. prof. Papizhuk V. O.),
  • methodology of teaching foreign languages in educational institutions (prof. Kalinina L. V., ass. prof. Petrangovska N. R., ass. prof. Shcherba N. S.),
  • usage of innovative on-line technologies when teaching a foreign language (ass. prof. Shcherba N. S.).

The staff of the Department actively take part in a range of Ukrainian and international scientific and practical conferences, seminars, round-table discussions, forums, training programmes, as well as academic exchanges and grant programmes. Members of the Department also publish the results of their scientific findings in Ukrainian and foreign publications.

Scientific conferences and seminars

The Department of Cross-cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics has initiated and organized seminars regarding topical questions in modern linguistics and cross-cultural communication, welcoming teaching staff of other departments and universities. In particular in 2011 the Department conducted three seminars (“Language and Communication in Globalized World”, “Philology and Pedagogics in Historic Perspective” and “Problems of Communicative Linguistics: Linguo-Didactic Aspect”). Prominent scholars from Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University and other higher educational institutions within the Zhytomyr Region also presented their findings there.

In 2012 the Department was a co-organizer of an interuniversity academic and research seminar called “Problems of Generative Grammar and Theory of Grammaticalization”, where prominent Ukrainian scientists in the sphere of generative grammar contributed. Participants included: Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Buniyatova I. R., Doctor of Sciences (Philology), Professor Dolgopolova L. A., Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Associate Professor Plotkina M. G., Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Associate Professor Andrushenko O. Yu., Candidate of Sciences (Philology) Associate Professor Polkhovska M. V.

In 2013 the Department held a interuniversity academic and research seminar called “Latest trends in modern linguistics”. The Department also co-organized a regional academic and research seminar titled: “Pressing issues of usage of electronic resources in academic and research work of future teachers”. The department was responsible for organizing the interdepartmental academic and research seminar “Prospects of implementation of online education at the university”, where Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V. shared her experience in using innovative online technologies in her theoretical linguistic courses such as “Stylistics of the main foreign language”, “Corpus linguistics” and “Foundations of scientific research”.

In 2014 the Department conducted an online seminar titled “Pressing issues of foreign philology and methodology of teaching foreign languages”. Leading scholars from Ivan Franko State University and other higher educational institutions took part in this seminar.

In October 2014 the Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University’s Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics and the Department of Foreign Languages of Zhytomyr State Technological University organized a joint all-Ukrainian academic and methodological conference on “Modern communicative methods of teaching foreign languages”. Workers of Ukrainian higher and secondary educational institutions took part in this event. The participants of the conference discussed burning issues in the sphere of teaching foreign languages in higher educational institutions, usage of innovative technologies for professionally oriented learning, and teaching foreign languages in higher educational institutions.

In February 2015 the Department conducted an online seminar called “Pressing issues of modern linguistics and methodology of teaching language and literature”. More than 30 leading scientists from Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State Universisty and other higher educational institutions took part in this event. Themes presented in conference reports included: burning issues of discourse studies, communicative linguistics, virtual communication, argumentation theory, grammar, gender linguistics, axiology, history of the English language, and methodology of teaching foreign languages.

The materials of the online seminar are published in the collection of scientific works entitled: “Pressing Issues of Modern Philology and Methodology of Teaching Foreign Languages”.

On May 12, 2015 the subpanel of methodology of teaching foreign languages, headed by Professor L. V. Kalinina, conducted a seminar on the organization of summer language camps for teachers of secondary educational institutions in Zhytomyr at the Foreign Philology facilities at Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University.

On-the-job trainings, grants, competitions

The Faculty of the Department actively participates in academic exchange programs, grant programs, and continually work on their professional growth by partaking in educational courses organized by foreign associations as well as on-the-job training.

Associate Professors O. Yu. Andrushenko and I. M. Rudyk received training under the Fulbright Program in 2009-2010, Stanford University; and 2006-2007, University of California, Berkeley, respectively.

In 2010-2011 Associate Professor O. Yu. Andrushenko received a grant “Scholarship for Teaching and Learning” from Central-European University, aimed at optimization of students’ work in the course “Introduction to Germanic Philology”.

In 2012 Associate Professor V. V. Zhukovska completed the on-line teacher training course “Building Teaching Skills Through the Interactive Web” from the University of Oregon’s American English Institute with support of the U.S. Embassy as part of an E-Teacher Scholarship Program.

In 2011 and 2012, Associate Professor O. Yu. Andrushenko was recognized as the “Researcher of the Year” by Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University as a result of her significant scientific accomplishments.

In 2013, Associate Professor Rudik I. M. received a grant that allowed her to spend a summer at Saint Petersburg State University through the New York Summer Institute of Linguistics, Cognition, and Culture. In 2014, Associate Professor Rudik I. M. also took an online training course titled “Understanding Language: Learning and Teaching organized by the British Council and University of Southampton”.

In 2015, senior instructor Sydorovych L. Ye. took a month-long training course on the methodology of teaching the English language and received a Cambridge Certificate of Teaching English Language to Adults (CELTA).

In February 2015, Professor Kalinina L. V. took part in a joint project by the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science and British Council in Ukraine called “New Generation School Teacher”.

In June 2015, Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V. took a training course in “Academic Writing in English for Linguists” in the Centre of Postgraduate Education and External Studies of Kyiv National Linguistic University.

The faculty of the Department are also active members of the international organization TESOL and the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL).

Scientific research laboratory

Professor Kalinina L. V. leads a departmental scientific-research laboratory entitled “Usage of innovative technologies of professional training of a future teacher of the 21st century”, for schools and pedagogical colleges in the Zhytomyr region, which creates active cooperation between scholars and other members of the methodological laboratory. Its members organize yearly field meetings in educational institutions of the Zhytomyr region, where they discuss demo lessons, extracurricular activities connected with English, and organize master classes focused on the implementation of new technologies for teaching foreign languages. Schools (members of the laboratory) in their turn are invited to methodological seminars, conducted by members of the Department as well as foreign consultants from the American Council, Peace Corps, and the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology.

In 2015 the laboratory presented its project, “New teacher needs new technologies” at the fair of Ukrainian educational institutions in Kyiv, on the topic of: “Implementation of information and communication technologies in the learning, research and managerial work of an educational institution”.

Cooperation with educational institutions

The Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics actively cooperates with other higher educational institutions from around Ukraine. Some such examples include cooperation with: Kirovograd State Pedagogical University named after Volodymyr Vynnychenko, Kyiv University named after B. Grinchenko, Khmelnitskyy National University, Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazin, Kyiv National Linguistic University as well as local educational institutions in the city of Zhytomyr and the Zhytomyr region at large.

Members of the laboratory closely cooperate with the Institute of Pedagogical Innovative Technologies and with the laboratory of teaching foreign languages of the Institute of Pedagogics of Ukraine. A series of electronic textbooks have been published as a result of this cooperation, including: “Countrystudy of Great Britain and the USA”, “Methods of teaching foreign languages in Elementary school”, “Literature of Great Britain and the USA”. The laboratory creates a network of cooperation between universities such as Mykhaylo Dragomanov National Pedagogical University (Kyiv); Institute of innovative pedagogical technologies (Kyiv), Taras Shevchenko Chernihiv State Pedagogical University, Dnipropetrovsk University of economics and law as well as other Ukrainian higher education institutions. The laboratory cooperates with British Council in Ukraine, Goethe Institute in Kyiv, America House and Peace Corps in Ukraine.

As of September 2015, Amelia Oliver, an American grant-holder of the Fulbright academic exchange program, has been working at the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics as an English Teaching Assistant. In the academic year 2015-2016, Amelia Oliver will assist members of the Department in conducting classes in practical English, and will be responsible for the organization of a discussion club for all students at Ivan Franko State University.

Student research student education and research laboratory

The new framework for the system of higher education in Ukraine encourages the stimulation of students’ scientific inquiry, development of self-discipline, and cultivation of their desire to work independently, creatively, and persistently. An essential condition for meeting this requirement is including students in education and research work, which leads to their involvement in the sphere of scientific life.

The faculty of the Department support talented students, who show a desire to take part in education and research work. The Department offers students an opportunity to engage in scientific study of various issues of theoretical and applied linguistics. In October 2011 the Department founded Student Education and Research Laboratory, its main goals being:

  • To facilitate student research in Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology and provide improved training for future professionals in the field of English philology;
  • To promote and encourage student research by initiating, supervising and coordinating investigations in theoretical and applied linguistics;
  • To foster student participation in scientific conferences and academic competitions;
  • To implement significant student scientific achievements into teaching and learning processes at the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology;
  • To publish the results of student research in collections of student papers;
  • To mould future experts with wide linguistic outlook.

The following members lead the laboratory:

  • Head of the Laboratory — head of the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics, Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor Zhukovska V. V.;
  • Deputy Head of the Laboratory — Candidate of Sciences (Philology), Associate Professor Savchuk I. I who is responsible for the organization of student research work at the Department of Cross-Cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics;
  • Head of the Student Council — Shymanska A. I.;
  • Secretary of the Laboratory — instructor Chernysh O. A.

In 2012 and 2013 the laboratory took part in the fair “Modern educational institutions” which included projects such as: “The role of student education and research laboratory in forming and developing a talented personality” (category “Innovative technologies of finding, teaching and supporting the development of talented youth”) and "The work of the students’ education and research laboratory while forming and developing a talented and creative personality in the age of innovative society (category “Innovative technologies of finding, training and supporting the development of talented youth).

In 2015, the project of the laboratory titled “Support and development of talented students as part of the work of students’ education and research laboratory” was presented at the fair of educational institutions of Ukraine (Kyiv, 2015) (category “Innovative technologies of finding, training and supporting the development of talented children and youngsters”).

Student focus groups

Student focus groups exist as part of the students’ education and research laboratory. Such groups specialize in a number of areas including: Stylistics, Semasiology, Pragmalinguistics, Communicative and Cognitive Linguistics, History of English, Historical Syntax of English, Topical Issues of English Grammar, English Dialectology, innovative technologies of teaching foreign languages in educational institutions, problems of teaching English in the polylogue of cultures, and usage of web technologies when teaching foreign languages in secondary and higher educational institutions.

Student research conferences

Beginning in 2009, the Department has held annual student research conferences. Students of Zhytomyr Ivan Franko State University as well as students from other Ukrainian and foreign educational institutions take part in such conferences. Examples of the conferences include the following:

  • I All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Germanic languages: main research trends of language and culture”, 2009.
  • II All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Pressing issues of modern linguistics and methodology of teaching foreign languages”, 2010.
  • III All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Modern trends of research in cross-cultural communication and methodology of teaching foreign languages”, 2011.
  • IV All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Modern trends of linguistic research in cross-cultural communication and methodology of teaching foreign languages”, 2012.
  • V All-Ukrainian research and practice conference of students and young scholars “Modern trends of linguistic research of cross-cultural communication and teaching foreign languages in the age of sociocultural education”, 2013.
  • VI All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Modern philological research and teaching foreign languages in the age of cross-cultural communication”, 2014.
  • VII All-Ukrainian research and practice conference for students and young scholars “Modern philological research and teaching foreign languages in the age of cross-cultural communication”, 2015.

Scientific and practical workshops and lectures are conducted for students and instructors of the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology as part of the conference titled “Possibilities of Getting Education Abroad” (2011), presented by participants of the Fulbright academic exchange programme; “American Modern Literature” (2013) with the participation of the Fulbright scholar, PhD M. James (the USA): “The Privatization of Education in British Columbia and Alberta and How the Fraser Institute is Contributing to It” (2014) with the participation of the instructor Paul Broadoway (the University of Alberta, Canada).

Participation in academic competitions and olympiads

Every year several students under the supervision of the faculty of the Department take part and receive scholarships from “Zavtra.UA”, a program sponsored by the Viktor Pinchuk Foundation. In 2013-2014 students Vasylenko I. V. and Klymova O. I. received a scholarship from the program “Zavtra.UA” through their research entitled: “Lexis and marking concepts of governmental control: linguocultural aspect (a case study of lexicographic sources)” (scientific supervisor Ass. Prof. Solovyova L. F.) and “Informational and structural peculiarities of locative adverbs is Middle English” (scientific supervisor Andrushenko O. Yu.). In 2015 a student of the Institute of Philology, Shymanska Alina, received a scholarship from the program “Zavtra.UA” through her research entitled: “Strategy of achieving success, a case study of the life of British billionaire Richard Branson”. The head of the Students’ education and research laboratory Zhukovska V. V. and its secretary Chernysh O. A., supervised Shymanska’s exploration of this topic.

In 2014, associate Professors Solovyova L. F. and Andrushenko O. Yu. received an official message of thanks for effective supervision of students’ research work and high level of students’ preparation from the scholarship program “Zavtra.UA”.

Students are prepared for All-Ukrainian academic competitions in the areas of English language and literature under the supervision of Associate Professor Rudik I. M. As part of this work students deepen their knowledge of English through complicated tasks in all language aspects including: reading, writing, listening, as well as monological and dialogical speaking. Over the past year, Skorokhod Olena, Chaykivska Anastasiya, Voroniuk Liliya were the participants and winners of university academic competitions in English language and literature.

Educational work of the department

The faculty of the Department as well as curators of academic groups, promote students’ creative work, which stimulates their involvement in extracurricular instructional and educational activities that are organized by the Department as part of their education and research work. When organizing training and educational work, the staff of the Department strive to mold highly-qualified specialists in the field of foreign philology, who are capable of working at high standards and are interested in creativity and self-development. The Department has recently conducted a number of events, among which include: a contest of course papers in foreign philology, a contest of essays dedicated to “Teacher’s Day,” meetings and consultations with workers of the university library in order to introduce principles of searching for scientific information to students, an exhibition of students’ creative work, and flash-mobs conducted on both “Student’s Day” and St. Valentine’s Day.

As part of the teaching process, the faculty of the Department often conducts educational work. This work aims to shape highly qualified specialists, who inculcate humanist ideals of Ukrainian patriotism, international equality and friendship, as well as embody the cultural and spiritual heritage of humanity.

The new framework of the system of higher education in Ukraine encourages the stimulation of students’ scientific activity, by training their self-discipline, and developing their desire to work independently, creatively, and persistently. An essential condition for meeting this requirement is involving students into education and research work, which leads to their involvement into the sphere of scientific life.

At Department meetings, the faculty present reports on the conducted educational work in the dormitories, and on the content and condition of educational work performed in classes and extra-curricular activities.

The faculty of the Department and the students organize and conduct concerts, themed nights, trips to picturesque places in Ukraine such as Lviv and Uman, meetings with representatives of different companies—all of which provide students the possibility of developing their language skills and creating the possibility of experience in English speaking countries through programs such as Work and Travel.

Traditionally, teachers of the subpanel of the French language (Ass. Prof. Papizhuk V. O., Ass. Prof. Lisova Yu. O., instructor Lozko O. V., instructor Tsiunyk G. M.) lead a week of the French language (Francophonie) at the end of March at the premises of the Education and Research Institute of Foreign Philology. The event includes a number of activities, such as a competition for the best translation of a French poem “First Step in Writing”, a festival of French films, a holiday concert and a flash-mob.

Various educational events are organized during yearly students’ scientific conferences (exhibitions of students’ creative works such as drawings, bead weaving articles, embroidered and handmade goods, performances of bands (Old Tree Fellows 2015), and contests for reciting poems in foreign languages.

In 2015, Ass. Prof. Papizhuk V. O., the curator of academic group 35, took part in the all-university contest “Curator of the year” and won first prize.

Thus, training and educational work of the Department of Cross-cultural Communication and Applied Linguistics is aimed at increasing students’ cognitive ability, forming their active social stance, and creating an overall culture of positive learning and motivation.