Abstract:

According to the federal Program of the Russian Federation, “The Education Development for the years 2013-2020,” the priority task for the new system of education is to create an effective educational system for adults that would be based on modern formats and technologies. Within the system’s framework “the programs of continuing education and retraining for specialists set to work in the government and corporate sectors, as well as the system of an informal education for the adults of all ages should be supported […]. The internationalization of the higher education and increasing the export of the Russian educational services are also a priority.”

The realization of these tasks presumes the development and implementation of educational programs in foreign languages, first of all, in English, which would encourage the development of the domestic education in the context of globalization.

Thus, according to “The Program of Educational Development” in the Russian Federation, as well as the fundamental principles of the Bologna process, at our technical higher education institution (Voronezh State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering) we introduced a new, additional specialty: “Interpreter/Translator in the Field of Professional Communication” (ITFPC). This Program is executed within the frame of the secondary additional federal education, which functions at our institution on the basis of the federal license. The students studying at our institution are given a unique opportunity to obtain two diplomas, degrees: along with the primary Diploma (i.e., the Architect Degree), a young technical degree specialist can also obtain a secondary federal Diploma: “INTERPRETER/TRANSLATOR in the Field of Professional Communication.”

In our presentation we will address the following segments of issues relevant to the process of realization of the ITFPC.:
1) innovative methodologies;
2) relationship between studying activities and academic research, organization of interpreting/translating practice, the issues of effective job placement, etc.;
3) experience and perspectives of the ITFPC development.

The first segment of issues addresses the following questions: Who comprises our student body? How is the educational process of preparing the specialists with the additional federal higher education diploma organized? We will also focus on the issue of “innovative methodology of teaching a foreign language through art,” new digital foreign language teaching technologies, etc.

The second segment of issues is comprised of the following: How do the future technical degree graduates with the ITFPC qualification combine the studying and academic research activities? What are the logistics of the interpreter/translator internship and what are its goals? What are the job market prospects for our graduates?

In conclusion (the third segment of issues), we will summarize our research by answering the following questions: what are the advantages of the type of education that gives the graduates an indepth knowledge of a foreign language (English or German) in their field? What are the new skills sets that young specialists acquire, and how can they affect the quality of their future professional activity, including the prospects on the global workforce market? What are the prospects for this new educational Program’s development within a technical higher education institution?

Keywords:

New educational technologies, foreign language technologies, foreign language through art, globalization, foreign language teaching, professional communication.