Student population

In the 2014–15 academic year, 176 students have currently enrolled as English majors, ranging from their first to fifth year. “The majority of our students are females,” said Tatiana Nikolevna, a teacher who has been with the institute for 36 years. “The reason is our Russian culture: We have unwritten norms that men should go to military school or get involved in industry or in business enterprises and IT. But women – women should be teachers and translators, and we have the notion that women learn languages easily, that they listen well, that they make better teachers for our children, as they also become mothers.” Thus, Russian culture has gender norms and expectations that translate into educational norms (Richmond, Reference Richmond2003). Among this year's English majors in the student population, fewer than fifteen students are male. Moreover, all twenty teachers in the Department of English Philology are female.

Since Soviet times, the Russian student population studying English has always been predominantly female (Ashwin, Reference Ashwin2000). Many young female students are married, with some women also having a child. “Our parents take care of our children while we study,” said Alyona, a young Buriat girl, aged 21. Regarding Indigenous students, Buriats and other minorities (Tatar, Ukrainian) are represented at the institute. Yet of the six young Indigenous women we interviewed for this article, none spoke their Indigenous language.Footnote ¹ Additionally, these young English majors, male and female, ranged in age from 17 to 24 years of age.

Requirements for graduation have changed this year (2014), as the institute merged with Moscow State Linguistic University this summer. This centralization of academic institutions is part of a government initiative to improve educational quality while reducing overall costs (http://www.rg.ru). This current year is the final year students must study for five years as specialists; from next year students will only study for four years to achieve their baccalaureates (http://edu.ru). Today, as in the past, English language classes are small, with no more than ten to fifteen students per group. English majors choose a second language as their minor, with Mandarin Chinese now being the most popular, followed by German.

Testing has also changed. From 2006, to enter the institute, students have had to take a qualifying exam called the United National Exam (EGE).Footnote ² This test somewhat resembles the SAT exams in the USA. In Russia, the maths and Russian EGE exams are compulsory; there are also several, optional EGEs, such as physics, chemistry, and foreign languages (Lenskaya, Reference Lenskaya2013). To qualify as English majors, students graduating from secondary school sit for the English language EGE, which has 100 points and consists of listening comprehension, reading, writing, and grammatical/lexical components. In 2015, a 15 minute spoken component will be added to the English exam (http://fipi.ru).

In 2014, the minimum score for secondary school students to receive an EGE English Certificate was 20 (http://fipi.ru). Upon graduation they are given their certificate in English as a foreign language (EGE – English). In 2015, however, students must score 22 to receive this certificate (personal communication, October 2014). At the ELI, as among other institutes, every area of studies has the right to determine the minimum entrance score. To qualify at ELI as an English major, in the past the minimum score was 21; in the future, the minimum score is expected to be approximately 40 (personal communication, October 2014). Inside Russian universities, those with high scores may receive a government stipend for tuition. Students with lower scores may choose a major other than English, while electing to pursue English fluency through practical conversation courses also offered by the university.

Most ELI students (as well as other students attending universities in Irkutsk) hail from Irkutsk City and outlying regions, such as Angarsk and the neighbouring provinces of Buryatia and Zabaikalskaya. Yelena Alexandrovna, an associate professor of English, explains: “Students take a series of exams after graduating from high school, and with their marks they are eligible to apply for institutes and universities around Russia. Usually, however, they prefer to stay near their homes, because they want to be close to their families and because it costs less to live nearby than to move elsewhere, where there are no relatives to help you, or give you a place to sleep.” Thus, economics is often a major factor determining educational choices (Ashwin, Reference Ashwin2000).

Evolving curriculum

During the Soviet era, education was free (Holmes, Read & Voskresenskaya, Reference Holmes, Read and Voskresenskaya1995). Now, in post-Soviet times, at the ELI, students without a stipend must pay 60,000 rubles per academic year (http://www.islu.ru). According to one teacher, “Some of our students get state stipends; this covers only the cost of their studies. Basic needs: a dorm room, for example, is 400 rubles a month, and food costs vary from 2500 to 5500 rubles a month. Stipends are awarded to according to their academic marks”. Different courses of study have different tuition charges. Another teacher remarked that the Management Department of ELI has a different kind of student body. “They also study English, for practical purposes, and some go abroad to do internships, in China or New Zealand or elsewhere,” said Irina Ivanovna, a teacher, “These students desire English but don't want to learn linguistic theories; they think that it simply doesn't pay enough these days to be an English teacher.”

With the breakup of the USSR in the early 1990s, educational institutions were forced to restructure and transform themselves (Polyzoi & Dneprov, Reference Polyzoi and Dneprov2011). New majors appeared in the institute during the 1990s (Khakhalova, Reference Khakhalova2008). “We added management, PR, and guide/interpreter to our curriculum choices,” said Svetlana Yurevana, the head of the Department of English Philology, adding, “Professional English teachers now receive a higher salary than in the past.” English majors must take intensives from both theoretical as well as practical perspectives. Their degree requirements include learning the history of the English language, as well as grammatical and lexical theory. They also learn hands-on communicative teaching methods from their teachers and from doing internships in local primary and secondary schools.

In addition to new majors, the ELI was encouraged, as were other academic facilities around Russia, to seek new ways to make money (Jones, Reference Jones1994). Natalia Vladimirovna, a coordinator inside the International Relations Office, said: “We have created a youth language school, as well as an adult night school that offers several foreign languages. English is our most popular choice, but we also offer Chinese, French, Spanish, Italian and German.” When I asked the English teachers about the popularity of other foreign languages, they told me that some of their students actually preferred Chinese to English. “It's because we are such close neighbours with China,” said Natalia Nikolaevna, an associate professor, “Our students travel there and think they can find a better job, or have a better life, than here. When they do their internships in China, they may forget about studying English.”

Textbooks

For Russian students, English language studies are still evolving. Firstly, since the breakup of the USSR, many things have changed regarding English language teaching and the curriculum (Hudgins, Reference Hudgins2004). “In the Soviet period we had the same textbooks for years and years, they were written by our experts,” said Svetlana Yurevna. She explained that in 1997 her department started making use of Headway and other foreign ESL textbooks. “When the British Council had an office in Irkutsk, we had the opportunity to attend workshops and get some teaching materials. Our English teachers also utilized excerpts from English books they obtained from abroad,” said Varvara Faridovna. “Eventually, in 2008, we created our own textbook. This book incorporates reading, speaking, and writing activities; we don't have a listening component because we are not native speakers. Since 2006, we started getting literary books from the Oxford–Russia Fund; they cater exclusively toward university students and teachers. Every year I go to a conference and come back with fifty new top quality books – modern British literature – for free,” said Svetlana Yurevna.

English Language Proficiency

“There is no doubt that contemporary students are becoming fluent more easily than those who studied during Soviet times,” said Svetlana Yurevna. She spoke of three significant factors: technology, mobility, and interactions. “Clearly, young people today have access to the Internet; they can hear, see, watch, and mimic English freely. They can chat with English speakers using computers; this is something previous generations lacked,” she said. Her words reflect similar trends worldwide (Warschauer, Reference Warschauer1998).

Additionally, Ekaterina Valerievna, a young teacher in the department, also pointed out the opportunities that Russian students had to participate in work exchanges; “If someone is motivated, and not just a wealthy student, he or she can go to an English-speaking country and do a work exchange. These things are possible. Today's young people are highly mobile; many of my students have been to Canada or to Australia.” Finally, I asked Varvara Faridovna, at age 28 the youngest senior teacher, how she gained her astounding fluency. She said: “I have been abroad a few times, but mainly I have volunteered for many international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for several years, and helped foreign guests who came as artists, scholars, and scientists. This ongoing contact, as well as some trips to international conferences affiliated with my activities, has made me very comfortable using English.”

Significantly, when I polled the teachers regarding the fluency of their students, reactions were mixed. Many told me that their students were talented and fluent, especially those who had travelled and/or worked abroad on exchanges. “The trouble is that they no longer read,” said Natalia Nikolaevna. “During Soviet times, we read voraciously; reading is crucial to understanding and learning anything, especially a foreign language. But today's students don't read much. They lack a long attention span.” Her complaint, also voiced by other teachers, is reflected worldwide (Barnes, Marateo, & Ferris, Reference Barnes, Marateo and Ferris2007). Digital technology, mobile phones and the Internet have opened immense opportunities for social interactions, but they seem to have come at a price. Young Russian students at ELI are less likely to sit and read, than they are to scan webpages, or watch videos, whether it be in English or Russian.

“Another issue is motivation,” said Yelena Alexandrevna, an associate professor of English. “Some of these kids are not as hard working, they put out less effort, because their lives are very different from those of us who grew up during Soviet times. It's a different mindset, I can't blame them …” Post-Soviet culture has cultivated this trend (Markowitz, Reference Markowitz2000). This led us to query the twenty women about their own visions as teachers.

Teachers, teaching philosophy, and methodology

“As an English teacher, my life has not changed much in terms of salary; I mean I am still paid poorly, it's just inflation has changed the value of the ruble,” said one teacher over 50 when I asked her about her teaching career. Another, younger teacher said: “Well, we must run about to different places to teach. Our salaries here are small, so I teach at three or four different places. The thing is, I like having the choice. If I want more money, I run about and work. I think it's good. I teach at the nearby Waldorf School and it is exciting for me to experience a different system, as well as to get extra money.” Many post-Soviet teachers feel the same way (Roshchina & Fillopova, Reference Roshchina and Fillopova2014).

Russian universities such as this one have a hierarchy for teaching (Holmes, Read, & Voskresenskaya, Reference Holmes, Read and Voskresenskaya1995). Respect for other colleagues can be determined by academic ranking. In the Department of English Philology at ELI there are three doctors of philology, seven assistant professors, and ten senior teachers. In Russia, a doctor of philology (doktor) rates higher than an American PhD, because it implies that this scholar has published extensively and her doctoral dissertation has added something original to the body of knowledge. An assistant professor (kandidat nauk) has defended her (kandidat) dissertation; finally a senior teacher is a person who has studied for five years and received a diploma (specialist) and who is working toward a higher degree; she also has several years experience teaching English. As throughout Russia, those who work in the Department of English Philology are eligible to retire at age 55; they may go on full pension and decide to return to teach at full salary (Eklof, Holmes, & Kaplan, Reference Eklof, Holmes and Kaplan2004). Some of the professors in the Department of English Philology have done this, either because they do not want to give up their profession, or they wish to supplement their income, or both.

All the Russian teachers of English, young and old, said that they were under the same pressure as in Soviet times. They were expected to better themselves academically, to write articles, or to conduct extra-curricular activities – involving creation of textbooks or curriculum (Khakhalova, Reference Khakhalova2008). The English teachers at ELI had to carry out tedious administrative functions, attend meetings, and to teach many classes.