A philologist from Chelyabinsk created a unique dictionary of terms of the USA’s higher education

 

Can we find a common language with America? How to come to an agreement with its leadership elite which almost completely consists of Harvard former students? For that, we need to learn how to understand each other, not to allow language inconsistency and mistakes.

What is the real meaning of the words that Americans want to say? Helping us to understand this is the goal of the Head of the language club “Paradigma” Vera Budykina, candidate of philology, associate professor of the SUSU Department of International Relations and Regional Studies. During 4 month she had been undergoing an internship in Harvard where she studied American terminology of higher education. Following the results of the internship, Vera Budykina has written a very interesting scientific work – the English-Russian dictionary of higher education terms (by the example of USA universities) which has been published this year.

From Arkaim to America!

— What goal did you set sitting in front of a blank paper?

— It is known that the same words in both Russian and English can have different meaning depending on the context. There is the similar situation in higher education vocabulary, particularly in American English. For example, the term “associate professor” which in Russian means both academic title and occupation, in America is only used as a job title; and the words “professor” and “doctor” possess a different meaning.
I decided to create not just a dictionary consisting of a list of words and their translations, but a special lexicographic guide with more extended, extralinguistic information which goes beyond the frameworks of traditional understanding of a dictionary. Hidden behind direct translation, there is often a concealed meaning that is very important to comprehend in order to establish a common understanding between our countries and people, especially in the cooldown period.

— Have you ever been to America before?

— My father is a researcher of Arkaim, professor Gennadiy Zdanovich, and I used to take part in excavations since childhood. Back in the 10th grade, in 1990, in the frameworks of the international program People to People I went to the USA as a member of archaeological expedition, where I took part in excavations of an artifact of the Neolithic age – the heritage object of the ancient history of North American Indians. The excavations took place near the city of Springfield of the state of Illinois, and Americans, as a token of friendship, awarded me the title of an honored citizen of the city of Elton. It was the next year already that Americans came to the South Ural where they conducted archaeological research at Arkaim along with us. And though later, having graduated from the Faculty of Foreign Languages of the Chelyabinsk Pedagogical Institute, I decided to dedicate my life to philology and for many years had been working at the Faculty of Eurasia and East of the CSU, the interest to history remained for life.

In the motherland of Kennedy

— How did you find yourself in Harvard?

— I have long since dreamed about going to Harvard University, because in their time many U.S. presidents – John Kennedy, Barack Obama - graduated from it. Undertaking an internship there was like a wildest dream. And in 2015, in the frameworks of the international program of scientific exchange “Fulbright” I was invited for an internship to Harvard! The invitation was sent by a famous American linguist and educator, the author of the dictionary of pedagogy terms, Professor John William Collins III. After a long selection of candidates, my candidature was approved.
I was undertaking a four-month internship at the School of Education of Harvard University. It is located in a suburb of Kennedy clan’s motherland, Boston – the capital of the Massachusetts state, in the city of Cambridge to be exact. I was provided with all the necessary conditions for research, with the opportunity to attend workshops and lectures of well-known scientists and work at the university’s libraries.

— As I recall, in the movie “The Librarian” the representative of this profession is put in one row with scientists...

— In America, the status of a librarian is very high: he or she is considered as a research scientist who consults students, and books are given by assistants. I was amazed at another fact: there are more than 90 libraries at Harvard! And in an age of Wikipedia and electronic books they are always crammed!
The main university library is a monumental building with columns, which reminds an opera theatre. I was told such story: one of Harvard graduates, a collector of books who died on the sunken “Titanic”, bequeathed his library to the alma mater. After his death, his mother gave the books to the university with one condition: in a hall where they are to be placed should always be sunlight and natural flowers. For the new library, a separate building was constructed and even though it had been rebuilt, these requirements have been scrupulously followed.

In a game form

— What did the “Harvard lessons” gave you?

— For example, I completed a course of teaching a foreign language, which was lectured by Professor Catherine Snow. The system created in Harvard can as well be useful for our students and academic staff. By the way, workshops and lectures in Harvard are a whole science: a professor asks students questions or delivers a lecture, and a master’s degree student helps him assessing if the answers are right. Another assistant illustrates a presentation on an interactive board.

— Does students’ interest in computer games hinder their studying process?

— On the contrary, it helps them in some aspects! Many serious things in Harvard are being presented in a game form. In a row of foreign universities, for example, a virtual game “Second life” is very popular: avatars of real students discuss some problems, establish new enterprises, and organize conferences.
In Harvard they also use case study, or studying in the form of cases – specific situations when you need to make the right decision, with subsequent analysis of possible errors.
For example, during one of the cases, I had the opportunity to observe how students who were “given” 1 million dollars decided how to spend them: organize a business, create a managerial team, set up export... Such learning through playing, in my opinion, is worth borrowing for our universities.

— How is studying in Harvard different from Russian educational model?

— In Russia, education is organized by reference to hours, and in Harvard they use so-called credits which measure the volume of obtained knowledge. Americans think that the important thing is not how long a student sat on lectures, but a real result is. Moreover, the result is not just assessed based on the results of exams, but also on studying during the entire semester. This grade-rating system has already started to be introduced in Chelyabinsk universities as well.
Besides, in America students are expected to buy courses at the beginning of a semester – a student chooses himself which courses to attend and which not. Consulting tutors help him or her to choose, giving advice on which lectures will be more interesting and useful.

— What if there is no additional course in educational program of the university?

— In this case, cooperation of classic Harvard with technological universities, such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, comes to aid. In it, a student can undertake study on some of the subjects, and in Harvard diploma it will be stated as a transferred course.
Exchange semesters, during which a student is studying in another university and get knowledge in the frameworks of global cooperation of higher education structures, are also popular.

Demolishing myths!

— How did internship in Harvard help you when preparing your book?


— Professor John William Collins III consulted me on questions about vocabulary for university use and Harvard slang, explained the correct meaning of words. Some words, as it turned out, have already become out of use, but new words appeared. Next year, the Professor is going to come to Chelyabinsk with his family in order to at least show his grandchildren that people in Russia are the same with American people: they are kind and friendly.
The professor’s assistant Anne Fletcher had already visited us. She is a middle-aged woman with Czech roots who used to work as an organist in a church, and now she’s working in Harvard. After arriving to Chelyabinsk, she helped with designing the dictionary and checked up the text.

— Will your book have its sequel?

— Surely! I studied peculiarities of using foreign languages not only in America but also in Europe – in London’s University of Westminster, in Arnhem Business School near Amsterdam... I traveled about 30 countries and have accumulated a wealth of linguistic material. English-Russian Dictionary of European Higher School is half-ready, I am also working on a dictionary of academic jobs and titles in Russia and abroad. Besides, we are planning on “going public”: create a mobile application, digitalize these scientific works so that anyone could access the information in virtual format.

 

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