April 25 — May 1, 2016
From April 25th to May 1st, 2016 Voronezh University was visited by the Programme Director of the on-campus MA in TESOL Studies of University of Aston (UK) Dr. Nur Hooton.
On April 25th she had a meeting with the rector Dmitry Endovitsky and Vice-Rector for Economics and International Affairs Oleg Belenov. During the meeting, Prof. Endovitsky noted the fruitful cooperation between the VSU and Aston University and expressed confidence in its successful continuation. The issue of the continuation of work on the programme of double MA degrees was also discussed at the meeting.
On April 25th-27th Dr. Nur Hooton and the VSU lecturers Larisa Kuzmina and Elena Chaika held classes on the modules «Language Teaching Methodology» and «English Language Improvement» with MA students majoring in language education. The classes were traditionally held in the computer lab of the faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology with the use of materials of electronic moodle platform, and were full of interaction, creativity and enjoyment. Dr. N. Hooton also met with BA students of the English Department to discuss the features of the training for the profession of a language teacher. In the letter Nur Hooton sent at the end of her trip to Voronezh, she said, “The main purpose of my visit was to co-teach on the blended MA programme. I feel it has gone very well. It is obvious that the MA programme is running smoothly and that the tutors are putting their positive energy into making it a success. The MA students are proud to have enrolled on the programme. It was wonderful to meet them in person and spend time with them not only in class but outside of class, too, socialising with them and finding out about Voronezh and the Russian culture. It was also great to meet many of your BA TESOL students and to be able to share with them some instances from my own experiences of becoming a teacher. I know they appreciated it”.
On April 26th Nur Hooton visited the foreign languages school «Intelingua» and the school museum of toys «Helen and Teddy». The pupils held a virtual tour round Voronezh and told Nur about the main sights and traditions of the city.
On April 28th at the city seminar of teachers of English attended by secondary school and university teachers of Voronezh, as well as students of Voronezh University and Voronezh Pedagogical University, Dr N. Hooton gave an eighty-minute lecture. Then, under the chairmanship of the Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs Prof. Elena Chupandina and the Vice-Rector for Economics and International Affairs Prof. Oleg Belenov, Nur Hooton awarded VSU MA students majoring in language education with the certificates of Aston University. She also held one-hour skype session with teachers and BA students of VSU branch in Borisoglebsk.
Dr. Nur Hooton was offered an extensive cultural programme. Together with the members of the TEMPUS project working group and MA students, she visited the museum of the history of Voronezh, the museum of rare books, attended a performance at the Opera and Ballet Theatre, and visited the exhibition of paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts. Nur was particularly impressed by the museum on the water «Goto Predestination» and Voronezh Oceanarium. On April 30th Dr. Nur Hooton visited Ramon in the Voronezh region, where she had a tour in the Oldenburg Castle and then Dmitri Venevitinov’s estate in the village of Novozhivotinnoe.
