ESP/EAP in the context of Internationalising Higher Education: Trends and Challenges Kazan National Research Technological University May 17, 2012 Role. - презентация

1 ESP/EAP in the context of Internationalising Higher Education: Trends and Challenges Kazan National Research Technological University May 17, 2012 Role of foreign language as a medium for running secondary and higher education programs in the context of Tatarstan and Russian Federation. Farhad Fatkullin KFU Institute of Economics & Finance, Dual Degree Program / English language Risk Management course lecturer RT Presidential Administration Department of State Protocol officer

2 Role of Secondary and Higher Education The business model of educational services in any field is in helping clients: To familiarize themselves with latest discovered facts, relationships between them, and their practical application, To learn best available (model) practices and behaviors, and To develop own skills to use available knowledge and other resources to generate new products, services and/or new knowledge.

3 Culture, Knowledge and Language Culture is a set of experiences, beliefs, traditions and other relational knowledge acquired by individuals and groups. Knowledge is a capacity to transform relationships between people, entities, and tangible/intangible objects. Value of knowledge is in efficiency & effectiveness of applying it for transforming various relationships to reach a desired outcome. Language is a tool, principle means of communicating culture, information & knowledge about people, ideas, facts and their interrelationships.

4 Language Selection Criteria For pragmatic purposes selection of the linguistic tool will be influenced by: available body of knowledge in the language number and relative importance of speakers degree of terminological development, flexibility/ease of use, etc.

5 Development up to the present Historic World languages - 12 Current supra-regional languages – 16 + Hindi group Lingua franca (42) – ELF (328/1800) Original Mediterranian Lingua Franca (80% Italian + Turkish, French, Greek, Arabic, Portuguese and Spanish) Turkic languages – Turkic Khaganate, Golden Horde, Ottoman Empire

6 International English Standardization of GLOBISH is inevitable: * Scholars write and publish works in own language and in English, * Google, Facebook and YouTube are top 3 most visited websites online, the only text-based educational resource in top 10 online resources online is Wikipedia, with around 60% of traffic going towards English section, * Growing number of industry-specific international conferences plus various working meetings on international cooperation are being held in English only.

7 Internet users vs. Internet content by language Source:

8 Global village Surveying Wikipedia search statistics can now be used for predicting global market changes and movements. Joint MSCI ESG Research, Konrad Adenauer Foundation*, RBF / University of St Andrews, UKSIF and Responsible Investor organized Apr 27, 2012 London Conference and Global Video Livestream panel discussion ESG Leadership Forum: The Future of Sustainable Investing

9 Non-native language in education, business and decision making In a study with implications for businesspeople in a global economy, researchers at the University of Chicago have found that people make more rational decisions when they think through a problem in a non-native tongue. People are more likely to take favorable risks if they think in a foreign language, the new study showed. April 25, 2012 UChicagoNews decision-making Examples & years: * Roman catholic monasteries in middle ages, * Arab world – Qur'an: Search for knowledge even if it's as far as in China. * Gymnasiums/Universities in Czarist Russia * Arabic & French in the Ottoman Empire * Russian in the USSR

10 Possible scenarios for Russia Denmark – all movies (except for cartoons for little children) are shown in original language with subtitles (in cinemas or on TV). Mandatory semester in English for all local university students (professional disciplines, usually 3 rd year). Singapore – closed education high-school and university training programs in Chinese (over 75% of population) because graduates from English programs are getting better pay and have better prospects for career growth. Turkey – best private high-schools and private and public universities teach all or significant share of disciplines in English. France announced its decision to introduce learning English idioms at kindergartens beginning at the age of 3 (BBC Mundo, March/April 2011). Europe - Every significant university offers courses and/or degree programs in English. Arab world – Often English is enough to be able to live and work in an Arab country

11 Cultural threat? All those countries have strong advocacy campaigns for speaking in ethnic languages (like Мин татарча сөйләшәм in Tatarstan). Singapore strongly pushes for use of Chinese, Malay, Hindu & others by respective ethnic populations in all non-business settings. Rustam Minnikhanov, current President of Tatarstan: We should use all possibilities to promote Tatar language and traditions. 12 May 2012 meeting with representatives of CIS Tatar communities. Learning and actively using two or more languages (and thus living in/between many cultures) is quite possible and is very beneficial as opposed to the monolingualism/monoculturalism – from very cradle to the grave. Interview with Jared Diamond, aired by BBC World Service in Science in Action program on October 15, 2010

12 Tatarstan experience Arabic at Mektep/Medrese until 19 th /early 20 th century G.Tuqay & other students pushing for learning Russian in medrese Mintimer Shaimiev, 1 st President of the Republic of Tatarstan: We need to make sure that every one of today's first graders in 11 years will speak equally well in three languages: Russian, Tatar and English. Republic's teachers meeting, 10 th of August, Various RT government officials - Often latest materials on the issues I'm dealing with are not available in Russian. The Republic can capitalize on the successful experience of limited scale secondary education (TTL) & higher education (KSMU) programs in English at the end of 20 th, beginning of 21 st century, which can be scaled up to get local economy more competitive in line with Russia's WTO accession.

13 Potential multilingualism support infrastructure * Rebroadcasting educational materials over FM-radio frequencies * Introducing foreign languages as a medium for games and education programs at kindergartens, schools & universities * Mandating educational materials and discipline textbooks in foreign languages prepared by their native speakers * Active use of linguistic knowledge management software for non-native speakers

14 Thank you for your attention. Download full presentation text with links/quotes at Farhad Fatkullin KFU Institute of Economics & Finance, Dual Degree Program / English language Risk Management course lecturer RT Presidential Administration Department of State Protocol officer