英语单词大师：English in Russia

 I'm Avi Arditti and this week on Wordmaster: teaching English in Russia.

(MUSIC)A lunchtime concert at Saint-Petersburg State University.

Last month I had the opportunity to speak at two conferences -- one was a meeting of SPELTA, the St. Petersburg English Language Teachers' Association. The other brought top English teachers from across the Russian Federation¹ to Kursk State University, in the Kursk region bordering Ukraine.

Both conferences were about using technology to teach English. But it was also a chance to talk with several English language instructors² about other developments in the field.

LUDMILA KUZNETSOVA: "I'm Ludmila Kuznetsova, a professor of Saint-Petersburg University. I've been recently elected president of [SPELTA.]"AA: "What's it like teaching English today, at a time where traditionally British English has been taught in the Russian schools, but now there seems to be more and more interest in American English?"LUDMILA KUZNETSOVA: "Well, all students have to learn a foreign language. And the English language is taking over, and American English is also taking over from the British version of the language. So there is more and more of American language taught at Russian colleges and universities, as a compulsory³ course. But also Russian schools and university teachers teach more courses on American culture."AA: "What advice do you have for English teachers who are in a situation where they're trying to get their students to communicate more, to talk more."LUDMILA KUZNETSOVA: "I'm also a teacher trainer and I always tell my trainees⁴ that they shouldn't be afraid of giving their power over to students, to trust them more and to involve them more. Not only in responding to the teacher's questions or doing exercises, drills or other tasks, but to create materials for the language classroom -- to unleash⁵ their creativity and use it to the benefit of the students."AA: "And what use are you making of Internet technology in language teaching in Russia?"LUDMILA KUZNETSOVA: "Only recently have we started using Internet technologies. And basically we at present are the takers of the information, of the materials from the Internet, and we are learning to use the resources that are out there, but not yet creating our own. This will be probably our next step."DMITRIY KLIMENTIEV: "My name is Dmitriy Klimentiev and I'm associate professor of English language, Kursk State University."AA: "Now you're something of a legend here, it seems, with Internet and information technology. What advice do you give to teachers who are thinking about using the Internet in their lessons, or maybe already using it and not sure how to make the most effective use of it?"DMITRIY KLIMENTIEV: "What I usually say, the first thing we should think about is the reasonable approach. You should use each teaching tool only when it is really more efficient than the one you used to offer before.

"So if you need more information, if you need something which the students are not used to, then you go online and you look for something. If the Web connection is not very good, if your computers are old, then don't waste time. Choose whatever is more efficient, whatever saves time and whatever is more motivating for students.

"Now you can even make use of a cell phone which plays MP3 files. And they can listen to a book which they download from the Internet or somebody from a CD into their cell phone, and then after having listened to this book, they will just share the contents with the others."Dmitriy Klimentiev teaches at a university, but one of his projects has been to work with local high school students to create English-teaching CDs of their own. They used Microsoft's PowerPoint software to develop a volume of interactive⁶ presentations, based on VOA's Special English programs for English learners. They downloaded transcripts⁷ and MP3 files from voaspecialenglish.com.

And if you're looking for more English teaching advice, check out voanews.com/wordmaster.

That's Wordmaster for this week. Next week -- more interviews from Russia. I'm Avi Arditti.

1 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

2 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

3 compulsory   

n.强制的，必修的；规定的，义务的

参考例句：

• Is English a compulsory subject?英语是必修课吗？
• Compulsory schooling ends at sixteen.义务教育至16岁为止。

4 trainees   

新兵( trainee的名词复数 )； 练习生； 接受训练的人； 训练中的动物

参考例句：

• We've taken on our full complement of new trainees. 我们招收的新学员已经满额了。
• The trainees were put through an assault course. 受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

5 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

6 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

7 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句