BLENDED LEARNING COURSE IN ENGLISH FOR DOCTORAL STUDENTS: SOUTH URAL STATE UNIVERISTY EXPERIENCE

Blended learning is one of the key technologies being widely adopted and rapidly developed recent years along with flipped learning and online courses. Originally being part of distance education, it provided knowledge to distant places to bridge space. The new technology had the potential not only to bridge space, but also to bridge time (through recording), and to individualize learning (by giving the students control over their path through the material, and over the pace of learning). This quartet of time, place, path and pace meant that different educators could value the new technology for different reasons, and have different conceptions of what the 'blended learning' might mean.

5-100 initiative launched in 2012 influenced critically the development of English language courses at the university. The initiative has been designed to boost the number of international faculty in Russian universities to 10% and international students to 15% by 2020 as part of a wider plan to develop the global competitiveness of Russian research and higher education. South Ural State University as a participant of 5-100 initiative aims to introduce an innovative system of English language training for doctoral students, which is impossible without the usage of new educational technologies, namely, blended learning

The purpose of the paper is to describe the outline of the course for doctoral students and its content. The content developed is based on the concept analysis of blended learning, its didactic possibilities for doctoral students and the needs analysis of the first-year doctoral students enabled the authors to define the skills doctoral students need to acquire during the ESP postgraduate course. Some of the skills that doctoral students defined as critical ones for a professional career are: writing papers for international conferences, preparing research reports, applying for grants, writing CV and covering letters, networking, fundraising for research.

The author developed three modules for the ESP course: Module 1 - Critical reading skills; Module 2 – Presenting at international conferences; Module 3 – Writing research papers. The modules’ content is divided into two parts – the one delivered in the classroom, the second one put in MOODLE to support learning and provide self-study.

The course for doctoral students was launched in September, 2016. The satisfaction survey developed for doctoral students says the course is well-designed, its content corresponds to the needs of doctoral students, it facilitates learning and provides much interactive practice for a self-paced mode.