20-Year Anniversary
Department of Foreign Languages
Faculty of Economics

History of Department

The Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Economics was set up in January 2000. Since its inception, the department has been headed by Elena N. Malyuga, Doctor of Philology, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Chairperson of the Business and Vocational Foreign Languages Teachers National Association, author of monographs, course books, tutorials, a number of scholarly papers, expert in functional pragmatics, cross-cultural business communication, teaching methodologies, and applied linguistics.

Over the years, the department has assembled a team of 34 highly qualified teachers with basic linguistic education, who have completed exchange programmes abroad, received training at leading Russian universities and obtained certificates in FL teaching methodologies.

The academic staff of the department are deeply aware that teaching foreign languages to students of economics has a specificity of its own. Apart from mastering the basics of a foreign language, the students strive to study the language of business and professional communication.

Another important area of the department’s activities is training translators in the field of professional communication.

The faculty members utilize the best contemporary authentic foreign and Russian coursebooks, new FLT methodologies and technologies. IT technologies are an indispensable part of classroom tuition.

Originally, the department taught four foreign languages - English, German, Spanish, and French. However, that list was quickly expanded. At present, the department also offers Italian, Chinese and Japanese, in addition to the languages mentioned above.

The Business and Vocational Foreign Languages Teachers National Association

Currently, foreign language teachers at non-linguistic universities are shifting to a new paradigm of higher education aimed at training future specialists in line with European educational standards.

Of particular relevance is now the profession-oriented approach to teaching foreign languages at non-linguistic faculties, which envisages that the students form an ability for foreign-language communication in certain professional, business, academic and scholarly situations while taking into consideration the specific features of professional mindset, when organizing motivational and research activities.

Among the academic groups are: profession-oriented teaching of foreign languages in contemporary settings; using the new information technologies in the modern-day educational process; cross-cultural communication in the context of business language; topical problems of teaching a foreign language of business communication; strategy of teaching translation at a non-linguistic university; theory and practice of linguistic testology.

Research at the Department

The research activities of the department are the following ones:

• the study of profession-oriented foreign language
• contemporary trends of specialised translation
• teaching professional communication remotely to students of non-linguistic universities
• use of information and communication technologies in the educational process
• studies of professional discourse, etc.

The Training, Language and Culture Journal

The Training, Language and Culture (TLC) journal (https://rudn.tlcjournal.org) was initiated by the Department of Foreign Languages at the Faculty of Economics. The journal has been founded together with the assistance of The International Certificate Conference – The International Language Association and opens up a new platform for fruitful cooperation among theoreticians and practitioners of linguistics, facilitates the creative search for ways to optimize professional and cross-cultural communication, and encourages young researchers.

In 2007, the Issues of Applied Linguistics academic journal was established. The faculty’s high research potential necessitated setting up a journal which could be used by scholars and teachers to present their latest research findings and share their thoughts with peers from other universities and countries.

The department’s staff members release tutorials, learning and teaching support kits, coursebooks and dictionaries. The department’s management and its staff members strive to generalize and apply to practice the advanced expertise in teaching foreign languages. To this end, the department hosts international conferences devoted to the problems of language of business and professional communication.

During the arc of our operations, the following luminaries have been among the department’s staff members: Mikhail V. Davydov, Doctor of Philology, Professor of Lomonosov Moscow State University, author of books and academic papers on English Phonetics, a professional interpreter, and expert in public speaking; Irina M. Magidova, a specialist in Germanic languages, and specifically English Linguistics, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Department of English Linguistics at Lomonosov Moscow State University; Evgeniy V. Breus, a renowned simultaneous interpreter, translation and interpretation trainer, professor of the Translation Department at the University of Russian Academy of Education. The current chairperson of the State Examination Commission is Olga V. Aleksandrova, Doctor of Philology, winner of the M.V. Lomonosov award for pedagogical activity, one of the leading experts in linguistics, and author of “The Introduction to Contemporary English Philology”. The management of the department places much importance on preparing young academic and research professionals.

Continuing Professional Educational (CPE) Courses

The Continuing Professional Educational (CPE) courses include the Foreign Languages: Professional and Business Communication programme, as well as foreign language courses – English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Chinese. The courses comprise the following programmes: foreign language of general use, foreign language of business communication, foreign language of the specialty (all fields of economics), combined courses (general language + language of business communication), preparation for international certificate exams (FCE, BEC; TOEFL, IELTS, ZMP, PWD, DELF, DALF, BASIKO), intensive courses (general language, language of business communication and language of professional communication), corporate education, written profession-oriented translation (all fields of economics), as well as the Translator programme. The students can choose between an intramural, full-time tuition and a remote, extramural form.

Translator Programme

The Translator programme offers English, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese languages. This track gives the following possibilities to the students:

• to master the skills of profession-oriented foreign language and translation;
• to have training under the double degree programme (joint programme with London Metropolitan University, UK);
• to receive additional competitive advantage for employment;
• to have language and translation exchange programmes in the target language country.

Foreign Languages: Professional and Business Communication Programme

This programme features the same languages as the Translator programme. The programme enables the students:

• to have a training in the professional and business communication in the oral and written forms;
• to earn international certificates in foreign languages (Academic, Business and Professional aspects);
• to have language exchange programmes in the target language country;
• to be taught by native speakers using information and communication technologies and contemporary methodologies.

This programme has been reviewed and endorsed by the University of Cambridge.

Cambridge Assessment Centre

The Faculty of Foreign Languages at RUDN’s Faculty of Economy also cooperates with the Cambridge ESOL Assessment Centre in terms of preparing students for Cambridge certificate exams both as part of the curriculum and in the Centre for Continuing Professional Education at the Faculty of Economics (foreign language courses).

Cambridge ESOL cooperates with many institutions of higher education across the world helping them organize their educational process so as to ensure that the students’ language abilities and acquired skills are assessed in strict compliance with the international standards. Such assessment is guaranteed by taking an external test in all the main language skills at Cambridge ESOL, a trusted partner of employers, universities and public agencies worldwide.

Double Degree Programme in Translation (Bachelor Degree)

Since 2009, the Department of Foreign Languages at RUDN’s Faculty of Economics implements a joint bachelor programme in Translation with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of London Metropolitan University (London Met).

This cooperation provides the students pursuing the Translation track at RUDN’s Faculty of Economics and the Institute of World Economy and Business with the opportunity to enroll with a double degree programme in Translation. Following a two-year training at the Department of Foreign Languages at the RUDN’s Faculty of Economics, the students spend their third year at London Met (UK).

Admission to this programme requires passing the CAE (Cambridge Advanced English) international exam with C grade and higher. After completing the programme the students are awarded a bachelor degree in Translation from London Metropolitan University. The tuition during the fourth year is provided by the Department of Foreign Languages at RUDN’s Faculty of Economics. The programme results in the students taking the State Qualification Examination and being awarded the Translator degree qualification.

Thesis Defense in a Foreign Language

The students of the Translator and Foreign Languages: Professional and Business Communication programmes at RUDN’s Faculty of Economics enjoy the opportunity to defend their theses in foreign languages. The defense is assessed by the staff members of the Department of Foreign Languages, apart from members of the State Examination Commission.

After successfully defending their thesis in a foreign language, the graduates receive the option to have this fact recorded on their DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT based on the European standards.

Language Exchange Programmes

The Department of Foreign Languages offers the students an opportunity to have a language exchange experience abroad, as it actively cooperates with universities and non-linguistic colleges of Great Britain (Westminster University, Oxford Brooks University, London University, London Metropolitan University; Excel linguistic colleges, St.Giles International, St. George International, British Study Centres), Germany (DID, Sprachcafe, Berlin), Spain (Malaga Instituto, Malaga, Italy (Tiberius International, Rimini), France (University of Nice), and China (Sprachcafe, Beijing).

Master Degree English-Language Programme in Linguistics (Foreign Language of Professional Communication and Specialised Translation)

The master programme Foreign Language of Professional Communication and Specialised Translation provides theoretical and practical training in the field of professional communication, as well as specialised translation and interpreting required for both teaching and working in such professional areas as economics, management, and business.

The completion of the Foreign Language of Professional Communication and Specialised Translation programme at RUDN’s Institute of World Economy and Business gives the students an opportunity to acquire the skills of oral and written professional and business communication in foreign languages and specialised translation and interpreting (translation of business documents, utilising the information and communication technologies in the given field, translation of financial and economic texts, mastering specialised terminology, etc.) as well as to do without the help of an externally sourced translator/interpreter, which increases the market value of the employee.

The students of the master programme enjoy the opportunity to pursue the double degree track (RUDN University and London Metropolitan University), as well as have a language exchange experience and internship abroad (Great Britain Germany, Spain, Italy, China and France).