INRTU won a 3 million ruble grant from the Ministry of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation to create online Russian language courses
The project was developed by Svetlana Latysheva, Director of the BRICS Humanities Department, with the active support of Larisa Chechetkina, Project Manager for International, Scientific and Educational Projects.
According to Svetlana Latysheva, the goal of the project is to form an open educational and enlightening digital platform for foreign applicants and students to popularize Russian academic culture.
The author of the project emphasizes the importance of linguistic and cultural adaptation of foreigners, taking into account the regional characteristics of the Baikal region and the specifics of training in an engineering-technical university:
"The target audience of the project is foreign nationals - students and applicants who considers studying at Russian universities or are already studying at universities in the region. The grant funds will be used to design 20 mass open online courses, creating digital educational and instructional content to fill them (60 video lectures, presentations, test materials, assignments, forum topics, surveys, etc.). The website for posting courses and organizing training is being developed. 150 foreign citizens will take part in approbation of courses".
The project is part of the INRTU development program, which includes the task of attracting foreign students to work with foreign partners and the commercialization of innovations in foreign markets.
The novelty of the project lies in the implementation of a special approach to the creation of electronic educational resources combining content (natural and cultural heritage of Lake Baikal and the Irkutsk region, academic environment and educational infrastructure of the region), and the formation of competencies of Russian as a foreign language.
The number of foreign students at INRTU is increasing, and they are in urgent need of both linguistic and cultural adaptation and further exposure to Russian university culture and the development of communicative skills for successful interaction in the Russian-speaking academic and professional environment.
The theme of the courses implies two sections, one of which is devoted to "The natural and cultural heritage of the Baikal region" and includes not only an introduction to nature - students learn a variety of interesting aspects of the Siberian holidays, the traditions of the peoples of the Baikal region, the wooden Irkutsk, spiritual and theatrical life.
The section "Education and Career in the Baikal Region" will allow you to immerse yourself in the polytechnic atmosphere (formats of exams in Russian as a foreign language, introduction to the university campus, student life at INRTU).
Thus, even at the stage of choosing a university and a major, applicants will be able to dive into the Russian-speaking academic linguistic and cultural environment, get acquainted with the natural and cultural heritage of the region, see the scientific directions, laboratories, developments and projects of the university, as well as making the first steps towards overcoming the language barrier.
It should be noted that the execution of the project, in particular, will strengthen ties between INRTU and Chinese partners, who are ready to invite students to studying with a good discount or even free of charge.
INRTU is actively developing international direction and exporting educational services. In 2017, the university launched the Baikal School of BRICS (BS BRICS), which now enrolls more than 500 foreign nationals studying basic and additional educational programs in Russian and English. In 2020, the BS BRICS created the Department of Humanities to organize the preparatory department of Irkutsk Polytechnic University, implementing language training courses to master the basic educational programs in Russian and currently teaching 250 foreign citizens.
