In-house Multiplication Training on ESP and ECTS at Vanadzor State University (28 March — 9 April)

In-house Multiplication Training on ESP and ECTS at Vanadzor State University (28 March — 9 April)

We are happy to announce that the in-house multiplication training on ESP launched at Vanadzor State University on 28 March within the frame of Erasmus +‘‘Support for Innovative Methodology, Approaches and Tools for Teaching through the Medium of English in order to improve Educational Yield, Sustainability and Internationalization’’ (SMARTI) Project has successfully been completed. The three -hour face-to-face sessions devoted to ESP (English for specific purposes) and EMI (English as a means of instruction) methodologies as well as academic writing peculiarities were mainly based on the materials provided during the ESP/ECTS Tuning Modular Training held at the Catholic University of Porto, Portugal on January 16-22, 2022. The trainings were conducted by Lusik Vardanyan, local project coordinator, Associate Professor of the Chair of Foreign Languages and Literature and Nune Khublaryan, Assistant Professor of the Chair of Mathematics and Informatics, both of whom participated in the training sessions at UCP. During the first session, L. Vardanyan briefly presented the SMARTI Project highlighting the main activities carried out and the tangible outcomes achieved so far. She also underlined the importance of the ESP training for the VSU academic staff who are expected to implement and/or teach courses or modules in English within two Academic Programs (Bachelor Program “English Language and Literature” and Master Program “Software Engineering”). The choice of English as the working language during the training was largely substantiated by this factor. However, the language didn’t seem to be a barrier for the SMARTI VSU working team and the internal stakeholders (VSU Rector, Vice-rector for Academic Affairs, Head of Educational Process Management Department, Deans of the Faculties, Heads of the Chairs, administrative and academic staff representatives and bachelor/master students) to be actively involved in heated yet lovely and helpful discussions that followed presentations on academic writing techniques and strategies. The participants definitely enriched their knowledge and skills of making effective presentations, interpreting different graphs and charts, identifying the main differences between formal and informal writing in general, and between the types of cover letters in particular. The in-house training sessions devoted to ECTS are to be held on 5-9 April.