History of the Department of Applied Linguistics
of the Humanities and Law Faculty
of the National Aerospace University
"Kharkiv Aviation Institute"
The establishment of the Faculty of Humanities in 1999 at our university gave the Department of Foreign Languages the task of opening a graduate language specialty. The head of the Department of Foreign Languages, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Professor Ivan Ignatovych Usov, First Deputy Dean, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Yuriy Ivanovich Kysil, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Doctor of Philosophy, Professor Volodymyr Oleksandrovich Kopylov, with the comprehensive support and assistance of the university rector, Professor Volodymyr Stanislavovych, were at its origins. Kryvtsov and vice-rector for academic work Professor Yakov Semenovych Karpov. The intense work continued until the end of March 2003, and already on April 1, 2003, a historic meeting of the Expert Council of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Ukraine took place, at which permission was received to open the long-awaited specialty "Applied Linguistics", which became the youngest specialty of the Faculty of Humanities and the University.
The difficult path was completed, and on September 1, 2003, the first linguist students sat down at the university desk. A new stage of activity of the now graduate Department of Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics has begun.
The young specialty, allocated by a separate section within the Department of Foreign Languages and Applied Linguistics, immediately faced important issues of organization of training and practice for student specialists in the field of applied linguistics: computer linguists, translators of technical literature with knowledge of two foreign languages - English and German, programmers At the seminars and meetings of the section, which was later chaired by the representative of the Kharkiv Linguistic School, candidate of philological sciences, associate professor Viktoriya Vasylivna Ryzhkova, the issues of developing educational programs, studying the needs of the labor market, concluding agreements with enterprises regarding the completion of computer translation practice by students were discussed etc.
The department was headed and is currently headed by Professor Viktoriya Ryzhkova.
Viktoriya Ryzhkova
And again, it is not an easy task: building a new organizational structure within the university, creating the material and technical base of the department, selecting highly qualified specialists to ensure the educational process with linguist students.
The teaching staff of the newly created Department of Applied Linguistics
Under the leadership of Ryzhkova, the team of the newly created department (which included experienced teachers of the department of foreign languages (704): Doroshenko, Denisova, Volchanska, Ivanova, Kosheleva, Zhilyaev, Kotlubynska and young specialists Kravchuk, Kudoyarova, Cherkashchenko, Sotnikova, Vereitinova, Judge; head of the laboratory Fedorenko) continued to crystallize and embody the conceptual principles of the new specialty, which were born in cooperation with specialists of the university departments, namely the departments of higher mathematics, engineering and software, aircraft and helicopter design, aircraft production technology, and Ukrainian studies. Ihori Kravchuk, head of the Department of General and Applied Linguistics of the KhNU, received significant help in its formation; Leonid Chernovaty, head of the department of translation of KhNU, and Frolova, associate professor of the same department; Head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Translation of Germanic Languages at the Institute of Philology of KNU Karaban.
To improve the educational process, professional translators of scientific and technical literature (Kyrilenko), native speakers, were involved in working with students.
The entire further development of the specialty required constant confirmation of the department's staff's ability to carry out educational activities. Work on licensing, accreditation, expansion of the specialty has begun. All this required a significant strengthening of the high-quality teaching staff, which was replenished, by the way, with outstanding graduates of the department (Ilchenko (Heletka), Nosolevska, Pyzina), for whom the defense of candidate theses was only a matter of time. During the past time, 7 candidate theses were defended by the teachers of the department. In 2014, 3 dissertations were defended (at the Kharkiv Karazin National University and the Kharkiv State Pedagogical University named after Skovoroda): 2 dissertations for obtaining the scientific degree of Candidate of Philological Sciences (Judge, Ilchenko (Heletka)) and 1 dissertation for obtaining the scientific degree of Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences ( Chubar (Pizina)). In 2015, 2 dissertations were defended: 1 dissertation for obtaining the scientific degree of candidate of philological sciences (Tikhonova (Nosolevska) and 1 dissertation for obtaining the scientific degree of candidate of pedagogic sciences (Yutkalo). In 2016, 1 dissertation for obtaining the scientific degree of candidate of philological sciences (Ukolova) was defended ). In 2020, 1 dissertation for obtaining the scientific degree of candidate of technical sciences (Fedorenko) was defended. Such a significant strengthening of the scientific component of the department's activity made it possible to start (2010) and annually hold first a regional, and later an international scientific and practical conference " Actual problems of applied linguistics through the eyes of scientific youth" with the participation of students, graduate students, teachers, scientists. Also at the department, under the leadership of Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor Mishchenko, the student scientific circle "Cognitive-discursive aspects of linguistic and cultural studies" (2021) began its work.
Over the years, the material and technical base of the department has improved significantly. Thanks to the efforts of the head of the Ryzhkova department and the support of the rectorate, it was possible to fully provide the educational process with computer and office equipment; to create a laboratory of computer technologies and multimedia tools for teaching foreign languages and computer disciplines, the constant modernization and improvement of which is overseen by the permanent head of the laboratory, Mykola Fedorenko. The department has at its disposal 3 photocopiers (1 color), 1 scanner, 5 printers (1 color), 7 computers and 2 laptops (except for the computer laboratory with 17 computers), 1 VCR, 3 TVs, 2 audio centers ,3 video centers, 4 cassette recorders. Comfortable conditions for holding classes in the hot season are also created by 3 air conditioners located in each multimedia classroom of the department. In 2018, the classroom fund of the department was replenished with two more multimedia classes (with Internet connection), which was very appropriate, because in 2017 the licensed volume of the specialty doubled and reached 225 higher education graduates annually.
For success in studies, scientific work, and social activities, the graduates of the specialty receive scholarships named after: the President, the Verkhovna Rada, the Cabinet of Ministers, various funds and programs. Among the laureates of the Department of Applied Linguistics, the winners and prize-winners of a number of competitions, Olympiads and scholarship funds in 2013-2018 are:
- in 2013, a student of the Kuiko department took first place at the city competition for the best translation from the German language "The Best Master of the Artistic Word", which was held by Kharkiv National University on April 25, 2013;
- in 2013, a student of the Khizhnyak department took first place in the city round of the German language Olympiad, which took place on November 30, 2013, at Kharkiv National University;
- in 2014, a student of the Khizhnyak Department took III place at the All-Ukrainian Student Olympiad in the discipline "German language" for students of non-linguistic specialties in the nomination "Excellent command of oral communication", which was held on April 15-17, 2014 at the National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute" ;
- in the 2015–2016 academic year, a student of the Biletska department became a laureate of the city competition "Young person of 2015" in the nomination "Student of a higher educational institution of the III-IV level of accreditation", which was held by the Kharkiv City Council (2016);
- in 2017, a student of the Biletska department won the 2nd place at the All-Ukrainian competition of student research papers in political sciences, which was held on March 20-21, 2017 in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk;
- in 2017, a student of the Kutsenko department took 3rd place at the All-Ukrainian Student Olympiad in English, which took place on April 19-21, 2017 in Lviv;
- in 2018, student Tymoshenko won the 3rd place at the regional stage of the 18th International Ukrainian Language Competition named after Petro Yatsyk.
For achievements in education and scientific activity, students of the department received the following scholarships:
- scholarship named after Zhukovsky:
Sorokolat (2011–2012 academic year),
Khizhnyak (2012–2013 academic year),
Okhrimenko (2013–2014 academic year),
Kutsenko (2015–2016 academic year),
Rybak (2015–2016 academic year),
Kutsenko (2016–2017 academic year);
- scholarship of the President of Ukraine:
Biletska (2015–2016, 2016–2017 academic year).
Students of the specialty take an active part in the life and activities of both the university and the city of Kharkiv. Many times won personally or among educational groups of the humanities faculty or university as the best student or the best academic group for academic success; worked as volunteer translators at city events for the Euro 2012 Football Championship, the 2017 European Boxing Championship, etc.
Knowledge of two foreign languages enables our students, communicating freely in English and German, to expand their outlook while traveling abroad; develop intercultural communication skills necessary for a modern translator; to join the customs, traditions and culture of other peoples; to continue studying abroad.
Today, the scientific-pedagogical staff of the "Applied Linguistics" specialty prepares specialists who speak two European languages (English, German), which involves preparation for taking the test for obtaining an international certificate of English proficiency B2/C1; qualified translators capable of using appropriate software (Translation Memory systems – SDL Trados Studio 2011, Wordfast, Startransit, etc. and electronic dictionaries / terminological databases) to translate from/to English/German written scientific and technical, journalistic, legal, economic and other texts with their further editing; specialists capable of creating, filling and ensuring the functioning of websites on the Internet; use modern applied computer technologies, software, network and mobile technologies to solve professional tasks (Python, HTML, Word, Excel, Access, Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.).
Among the scientific and pedagogical workers of the department are: the winner of the regional competition "The Best Young Scientist of Kharkiv Region" (associate professor Kudoyarova); young scientist-opponent of a dissertation defended abroad (Autonomous University of Barcelona: Enhancement of Post-Editing Performance: Introducing Machine Translation Post-Editing in Translator Training, 2018 - Ilchenko); participants of international conferences abroad and webinars: Global Summit on EducationGSE-2018, Dhaka, Bangladesh on March 16-17, 2018; the 5th International Scientific Conference "Science progress in European countries: new concepts and modern solutions", February 28, 2019, Stuttgart, Germany; Webinar organized by National Geographic Learning and Linguist LTD "Giving a Voice. Critical Thinking in English Classes, 2018; III International Scientific Conference "Perspectives of World Science and Education", November 27-29, 2019, Osaka, India (Shkrabachenko, Ryzhkova) and others.
With the appearance at the department in 2015 of the doctor of philological sciences, professor Lidia Pikhtovnikova, the scientific component of the department's team was significantly activated. Doctor of philological sciences, professor Pikhtovnikova - DAAD scholarship holder, Germany; graduate in the nomination "Teacher of humanitarian disciplines" of the regional competition "Higher School of the Kharkiv region - the best names" (2002); The laureate of the regional festival "Woman of the Year - 2003" in the nomination "Woman - worker of education and science" is the head of the scientific school for researches of linguosynergy, pragmastylistics and linguopoetics of discourse. Under her leadership, 16 candidate theses were defended, 9 monographs were published, a large number of scientific articles were written in specialized publications, theses. Professor Pikhtovnikova is a member of the specialized scientific council D 64.051. 27 at Kharkiv National University named after V.N. Karazina, member of the specialized scientific council D 17.051. 02 at the Zaporizhia National University (since 2013), Chairman of the DEC at the Zaporizhia National University (2016-2019).
Lidia Pikhtovnikova
In the direction of research on pragmastylistics, linguosynergetics and linguopoetics, headed by Professor Pikhtovnikova, the synergistic aspects of the formation of discourse of various types, the informational and cognitive aspect of the self-organization of speech works are studied, the issues of self-organization of various types of speech are developed, the synergy of style and composition of individual types of discourse is studied, and also carried out publication of scientific and educational and pedagogical literature on linguistic synergetics and pragmastylistics. The department also conducts applied research on the compilation and linguistic content of a basic electronic textbook for the organization of distance education of a linguist student; using the capabilities of computer lexicography in compiling terminological dictionaries (narrow-branch aviation terminology); research on pragmalinguistic issues of translation of scientific, technical and special texts to improve the training of professional translators.
