English is a link between Yerevan and Pyatigorsk State Universities

Professor Seda Gasparyan, Ph.D., Head of the English Philology Chair, and correspondent member of RA National Academy of Sciences, spoke about the cooperation between the two universities.

Cooperation between Yerevan and Pyatigorsk State Universities has existed since 1997, but to strengthen the partnership, in December 2022, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Faculty of European Languages and Communication (ELC) of YSU and the Institute of Foreign Languages and International Tourism of Pyatigorsk State University.

Although this three-day lecture series is the first step following that agreement, the latter involves not only visits and lectures, but also student and professor exchange programs, joint conferences, research and textbook publications, and other scientific and educational programs.

The partnership between the two universities will contribute to the expansion of the geography of international cooperation at Yerevan State University.

Arega Hakobyants spoke about the urgency of the lecture topics.

For the three-day lectures, we have chosen urgent and important topics, on which I give lectures not only in Russia, but also in Spain, Italy, France, and other European countries.

The topic of the first day of the lecture was "English in the era of linguistic globalization", within the scope of which I presented the reasons for the spread of English as a language of communication throughout the world, its historical background, its negative and positive aspects, opportunities, challenges, and dangers.

The topic of the lecture "Pragmatic and didactic linguistic foundations of foreign language teaching" has been at the center of my attention for many years. I wrote a doctoral dissertation and published more than 50 articles and 2 monographs. The main purpose of this lecture was to show the methodology of teaching foreign languages, the problems that arose during teaching and their possible solutions, the connection between students and the foreign language, the given culture, etc.

The topic of the last lecture was "Linguistic and cultural studies. A novelty in modern linguistics", which was mostly studied by Russian scientists. This is quite an urgent topic because nowadays learning grammar is not enough to fully organize communication between people at the international level, it is also necessary to be familiar with culture, which is inextricably linked to language and the identity of a given nation.

As a linguist, it is extremely important for me to present these topics to my Armenian colleagues and have professional discussions with them, which leads to new ideas and perspectives.

The students talked about the impressions they got from the lectures.

Satenik Iskandaryan, a 2nd-year Мaster's student of the Department of English and Literature of the Faculty of European Languages and Communication.

Professor Hakobyants’s depth of subject knowledge is obvious, and the ability to present complex concepts simply and attractively is remarkable. Her attitude towards the subject was "infectious". The first lecture was particularly interesting, during which globalization and the role of English in this multi-layered process were discussed. I now have a deeper understanding of the key role English plays in our interconnected world and how important language skills are in a global context.

Diana Tandilyan, a 2nd-year Мaster's student of the Department of English and Literature of the Faculty of European Languages and Communication.

I am impressed by all the lectures, the topics of which are interesting and up-to-date, and the content of the lecture on "English in the era of linguistic globalization" corresponded to the topic of my master's thesis. I have recorded many thoughts and ideas that I will use in my research.

According to the students, such inter-university meetings have a positive effect, broadening the horizon and the stock of knowledge.