Higher Education in Belarus

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬ

УО «Белорусский государственный экономический университет»

Н.И. Виршиц, И.В. Петрова

 

Higher Education in Belarus.

Belarus State Economic University

Электронное учебно-методическое пособие по дисциплине «Иностранный язык (английский)»  

Виршиц Н.И., Петрова И.В.

  Учебно-методическое пособие содержит тексты для изучающего и ознакомительного…  

Part A. Higher Education in Belarus

GETTING STARTED

1. Read the following passage and comment on the following quotation: Knowledge is the highest privilege of the day. Education is among the national priorities in the Republic of Belarus. Current state and development of all its stages…

USEFUL VOCABULARY

public education—народное образование universal education—всеобщее образование compulsory education—обязательное образование

READING

· education and knowledge · system of higher education in Belarus · institutions of higher education in the RB

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

1) a person with authority to maintain discipline, the head of a department of studies; 2) charge or payment for professional advice or services; cost of… 3) a right, opportunity or means of reaching, using and approaching;

A) higher b) secondary c) post-graduate

2) In 2002 a … system of higher education was introduced in Belarus.

A) three-stage b) four-stage c) two-stage

3) Those who have successfully completed their studies may be given a … degree.

A) Master’s b) Bachelor’s c) Doctor’s

4) …. carries out fundamental research in natural sciences, humanities and other sciences.

A) Academy b) University c) Institute

5) All educational establishments are subordinate to the …. of the Republic of Belarus.

A) President b) Ministry of Education c) Government

6) …. forms of learning are available at Belarusian higher educational establishments.

A) Three b) Two c) Four

7) To obtain free education a person has to successfully pass the compulsory centralized testing in … admission disciplines.

A) two b) three c) four

8) … form of learning is for those with secondary education, who cannot leave their workplace.

A) full-time b) evening c) part-time

9) … disciplines constitute a major portion of disciplines in the curriculum structure.

A) specialization b) general professional c) extra-curricular

10) Belarus provides the … percentage of the national income for education among the CIS countries.

A) lowest b) highest c) fixed

11) The …. is authorized to make some restrictions on pretender’s health conditions for certain specialties if these conditions could be dangerous when student runs the program or starts the profession.

A) Ministry of Education b) Rector c) Ministry of Healthcare

12) The Ministry of education adopted the decision of … scale introducing.

A) 5-grade b) 10- grade c) 100-grade

4. Use the following words in the sentences given below:

Majoring in realistic at the end of the tunnel accomplishment tuition talk it over switch

2) My parents gave me some money to pay for … because I can’t pay for university expenses on my own. 3) I’m thinking about majoring in economics, but I need to … with my… 4) She decided to … majors because she realized studying medicine no longer interested her.

DISCOVERING LANGUAGE

1. Divide the following nouns into countable and uncountable: choice decision datum formula information knowledge …   2. Give the plural of the following nouns:

How to learn vocabulary

  5. Choose aor the in the following passage, in some places neither is… A/the professor is not a/the teacher in a/the secondary school, but has a/the highest academic position in a/the…

SPEAKING

1. Discuss the following question: 1) What to teach and how to teach in modern universities?

FOCUS ON FUNCTION

Agreement and Disagreement

  2. Here are some people's opinions. Make notes on what you'd say in response… 1) “If you want to go to university, you usually apply during your last year at school, when you are 17.”

LISTENING

a) At what age do you think you should ... - stop listening to parents and teachers and do what you feel is right? - be financially independent?

WRITING

1. Using the following diagram explain the hierarchy and links in the system of higher education in writing.

 

Allocation of the HEI students along the forms of study

Public higher educational institution 54.3% Extra-mural students

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

a) diploma b) study session c) tutorials d) register e) degree f) graduate g) curriculum h) seminar i) lecture …   2. Match the synonyms:

TESTS

All students throughout the world sit for … at some point in their lives. If students are …, they get a formal … that enables them to get a job or continue with further … .Most formal testing involves a … of techniques, but the most common form requires students to show that they have a detailed … of the subject area. Students who do not pass, are not considered as …, they simply need more time to study. Some of them are simply …. The … who pass, do so because they have made a good … on the examiner and have also succeeded in showing their ….

5. Insert the necessary words to the following sentences:

Rectors, higher education, national school, fields of study, education, standards, abilities, integration, take into account, state policy, principles, space

1) Every institution has several departments specializing in various… .

2) Higher educational establishments are headed by … .

3) The republic is reforming its system of … today with the aim of creating an independent, qualitatively new …, corresponding to International … .

4) The government guarantees each citizen the right to education according to his … .

5) It trains specialists at all levels of … over a wide range of fields of study.

6) Curricula and programs … both specific features of the national system of higher education and necessity of its … to the world’s educational space.

7) The national system of higher education is based on the … of … in the field of education.

6. Translate from Russian into English:

Для абитуриента выбор факультета является поступком, первичнo задающим цель собственной жизни. Ошибки и просчеты, допущенные молодым человеком при выборе специальности, имеют довольно высокую цену. Для части абитуриентов неудача при поступлении на желанный факультет является стрессом и часто оценивается как жизненный кризис. «Счастливчики» - те молодые люди, которые продемонстрировали довольно высокий уровень знаний и умений в стрессовых ситуациях экзаменов, - зачисляются на первый курс.

 

DISCOVERING LANGUAGE

 

1. Transform as in the models:

Mоde1 1: to educate people — education of people

to found the university, to regulate the studies, to examine students, to appoint the tutors;

Mоde1 2: degree of a bachelor — bachelor's degree

degree of a master, life of the students, parents of a student, the report of the scientist;

Mоde1 3: Department of Education — Education Department

centres of research, history of the University, School of Management.

 

 

2. Choose a or the or no article in the following sentences:

 

1) … first-year students of our University have … lot of things to do.

2) If you are not … university student at … age of 18, you have to go to … army to serve.

3) After I leave … school, I want to go to … University.

4) … women are often better teachers than … men.

5) … friend of yours is now having classes at … University.

6) … lecture was interesting on … whole.

7) I go to … University in … morning.

8) How many people go to … university in your country?

9) Nick left …. University without doing his exams.

10) You had … difficult text to translate and you did not take … trouble to consult … dictionary.

11) He is … student you wanted to speak to.

12) It is … translation from … English.

13) … two students entered … room.

 

3. Give adjectives corresponding to the following nouns:

 

Illiteracy, science, education, qualification, experience, pro­gress, ignorance, diligence, ability, competition, industry

4. Insert articles to the following sentences:   They have come to Minsk from many towns of Belarus to acquire knowledge. ...Department of Marketing is very popular…

Illiteracy, science, education, qualification, experience, pro­gress, ignorance, diligence, ability, competition, industry

6. Fill in the missing prepositions:

FOCUS ON FUNCTION

’Knowing and understanding’ 1. Study the idioms useful to say that you know or don’t know something or… A. Knowing and not knowing knowing meaning She knows the system inside out. She…

SPEAKING

  1) In the first week, go to all the meetings to … (get to know other… 2) When you meet the staff, ask lots of questions to …

WRITING

1. You are members of the University Council. You’ve worked out new University Rules for students and for teachers. Suggest and write down a set of sensible rules. These modal expressions are sure to help you:

Should (not)…, be (not) allowed to …, be (not) supposed to …

 

Do & Don’t Do & Don’t

for students for teachers

 

2. Read the text, single out the main facts from it and present your summary in English.

Meждународные связи

o прием на учебу иностранных граждан на контрактной основе и в рамках двусторонних межправительственных соглашений; o двустороннее академическое сотрудничество с зарубежными университетами и… o работа в рамках международных академических проектов/программ с зарубежными университетами и организациями;

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Text 1 University Degrees

Most students wishing to take a degree course seek entrance to a university. In some countries students can take degree courses as external… Most universities require a good pass in the final secondary school… First degrees. First degrees are generally called bachelor's degrees. They include the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and the…

Text 2 Major Developments in Higher Education Today

• Expansion: The share of highly-qualified persons is increasing. This is a world-wide trend not limited to economically advanced societies.… • Differentiation: Apart from providing scientific training in a given… • Greater flexibility: The disappearance of traditional professional patterns and growing individualisation call for a…

New methods of teaching/learning

• Exemplary learning by experience, i.e. forms of knowledge transmission which consist in effective guidance towards a self-reliant acquisition of… • Study programmes which integrate different places of learning, e.g. dual… • Mobile learning (“ubiquitous” learning), i.e. exploiting mobile technologies which enable learning at any place,…

Text 3 Qualification Raising and Staff Retraining

Proceeding from the actual conditions of the Republic of Belarus, a decision was made to create, within the educational system, such educational… There are 130 after graduation educational institutions where about 450,000… The head organization in the qualification raising system is the Postgraduate Education Academy. It is charged with…

Text 4 The History of University Education in Belarus

The universities of Europe appeared during the Middle Ages in connection with the growth of cities, in Italy, Spain, France and England first… Education and science have a very old tradition in Belarus. In the past… The University was a leader in many areas. In 1645 Vilnius University became the first university to recognize and…

Text 5 International Relations

International activity is an indispensable part of the University life. Its major directions are as follows: • bilateral academic cooperation with overseas Universities and international… • participation in international academic proj­ects and programs together with overseas partners;

Text 6 Research Work

University researchers take an active part in developing legislation, programs and conceptions of the socio­economic development of Belarus. They… The University possesses research schools of econom­ics, accountancy, analysis… The Boards on defending Ph.D. and post-doctorate dissertations specialize in six research areas. There is a…

Text 7 Publishing Center

The changes that take place in the social and economic spheres inevitably put forward new requirements to the system of higher education as well as… The publishing center consists of editorial, printing, copying and marketing… In spite of its «young age» (four years since its foundation), the publishing center has published 1,135 works with…

Text 8 Library

The BSEU library was founded together with the establishment of the Institute of National Economy back in 1933, and it has its own rich history to… It is the largest specialized collection of literature in economics in… The section of rare books and manuscripts has 8,667 units, among which there are economic editions of early 19th…

Text 9 Student Activities

The attitude of a student to his Alma Mater depends in many respects on the organization of educational process, daily activities, and leisure. Our… As many as 3,500 non-resident students live on the campus numbering seven… The creative abilities of students are expressed through their participation in the student union which has 50…

Text 10 The Sanatorium-Dispensary of BSEU

The sanatorium-dispensary has the following surgery and body care parlors: therapeutic, dentistry, healing massage, healing physical training,… It is a healing dispensary establishment of sanatorium type; its profile is… The prospective clients get their enrollment on medical grounds at the University's Medical Centre. All the necessary…