Previous Workshops

Considering the growing global influence of Asia, we invite you to the workshop to explore the nuanced landscape of communication with Asian partners, focusing specifically on China. Understanding the typical features of communication becomes increasingly vital for successful international interactions, including academic collaboration. Participants will gain insights into historical, social, and business contexts that shape communication practices in China. 

At the workshop, we will focus on Chinese cultural specificities, their impact on communication styles, and common pitfalls in maintaining a cross-cultural dialog with Chinese partners. We will also consider the concept of guanxi (关系, relationships) and its role in business and academic ties. The speaker will share verbal and non-verbal communication techniques that may be effective in contacts with Chinese counterparts and help to overcome misunderstandings. 

This knowledge can help participants to foster meaningful connections and achieve successful outcomes in their cross-cultural interactions with Chinese counterparts. 

Speaker: Alexandra Sizova, Ph.D. in history, Associate Professor, Vice Head of the School of Asian Studies, and Head of the Chinese Studies Department at the School of Asian Studies, HSE University. Being the author of more than 120 works and over 20 teaching courses, she specializes in international relations and intercultural communication in East Asia, Chinese and Mongolian studies, Russia's policy in Asia. Alexandra is also known as one of the leading Russian experts in the innovative teaching of the Chinese language and Asia-related disciplines, and is the lead author of the renowned series of textbooks for secondary school — “It’s the Time to Learn Chinese!” (“Prosveshchenie”). Head and expert of academic and applied projects in Asian studies, IR, foreign languages, and education.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• «Many-many thanks! Have been glued to the screen all the time.»
• «Thank you for the idea of this workshop and a special thank - to Alexandra!»
• «Many thanks for introducing stratagems!»
• «Thank you so much! I found the workshop incredibly interesting and engaging. I’m looking forward to the next events on similar topics!»

How can we use the appropriate academic register and accuracy to be understood by different groups of listeners? How can we effectively adapt to communicating with our target audience? During the workshop we'll figure it out together. The techniques we’re going to discuss will be useful for any researcher working with international audiences. In particular, we will discuss the benefits of choosing the right register and language adaptation, analyzing real-life examples. We will find out which approaches may help to adjust to the audiences we interact with, maintaining professionalism and clarity of presentation. We will also speak about how precision and register affect the academic and professional image of the researcher.  

Speaker: Olesya Petrenko, Ph.D. in Economics and Management, associate professor, supervisor of the Academic Skills in English program. Olesya has been teaching English for 17 seven of them in the University of Western Bohemia. She works with multinational groups of students, researchers, and university teachers, publishes research papers on gender income differentiation, the impact of higher education on economic development, and economics of AI.

Target audience: HSE teachers, researchers, and graduate students
Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The speaker prepared a high-quality detailed presentation and constantly communicated with the audience. The workshops included diverse topics and tasks, so it was easy to focus and follow the content.” 
• “It was highly interactive, friendly, with a lot of relevant examples; the topic was interesting.”
• “Informal atmosphere, the speaker's comprehensive explanations, simple yet effective tasks, life-hacks”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

In any communication, there are specific rules, and interaction with artificial intelligence is no exception. These rules pertain not only to formulating requests but also to processing the obtained results, as no AI-generated output can be used without proper modifications.

In the workshop, we will discuss in detail the strategies for creating prompts and editing texts generated by AI. We will also analyze the key characteristics of generated materials and review real examples of student work. Additionally, we will test AI as a tool for structuring ideas.

Speaker: Sofia Stalskaya is a linguist, translator, and English language teacher. She regularly conducts workshops and seminars on the topic of AI in education. Sofia is also the head of digital internships for teachers, where she discusses the application of AI tools in working with texts and creating educational materials.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The structure of the workshop was very good. I enjoyed the exercises as well, very engaging. We learnt about immediately usable AI tools and prompting techniques.”
• “The workshop was informative and illustrative. I also appreciated perfect time management, deep knowledge of the speaker, and a friendly atmosphere.”
• “It was interactive, there were a lot of practical assignments so that the knowledge about AI was built on practice. Time flew!”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Definitions are the linguistic timber that scholarly writers use to undergird their arguments, theories, paradigms, theses, and claims. Definitions are like a building’s load bearing beam – the entire weight of a writer’s argument rests on them. Without the “load bearing definition,” the writer’s argument, like a building, would collapse. Writers use definitions to both invent and support arguments.

The workshop presents definition's rudimentary rhetorical structures used to make arguments. We will discuss and analyze scholarly writers’ use of definition in published articles. We will also draft our own definitions. Ultimately, we will practice using definition's rhetorical form to both invent ideas and structure our written thought.

Speaker: Dr. Melvin Hall has a Ph.D. in Composition and Rhetoric from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and has taught academic writing, argument, and critical thinking for over fifteen years, with an emphasis on the cultural role of rhetoric and comparative rhetoric. He currently teaches English language courses at Moscow Finance and Law University.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

•  “I was impressed by the thorough metaphysical approach to types of definitions and defining concepts and real-life objects.”
• “The topic of the workshop was just what I needed for my current article and a paragraph in my Ph.D. thesis. Now I can structure the article about storytelling in music using the approach I learned.”
•  “There was lots of practical information. I liked the flow of the workshop – we all worked on the tasks, but there was no pressure to rush. I appreciated that we could post our answers in the workshop chat. I enjoyed listening to the speaker’s comments on our answers.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

In academic texts, the ability to express the author's attitude is crucial to develop a persuasive and authoritative voice. This workshop explores modality as a key tool for articulating levels of certainty, possibility, and obligation in academic discourse. The workshop will provide an overview of grammatical, lexical, stylistic, and rhetoric means for expressing the writer’s attitude. We will explore how these means may be applied in each part of an academic article (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) in accordance with the communicative purpose of each section. Strategic use of modality helps authors professionally demonstrate their authority, acknowledge uncertainty, and maintain a professional tone. Through interactive activities, practical examples, and collaborative analysis, the workshop equips participants with the skills to enhance clarity in their writing.

Speaker: Ekaterina Redkina is a psychologist and a qualified EFL teacher with more than 10 years of experience. She is a CELTA, TKT CLIL, IHCAM and DELTA (M1-2) holder, and a Fulbright scholar. Currently, she is teaching at the Institute of International Education of Moscow Pedagogical State University. Her primary interests are CLIL, ESP, EAP, lesson frameworks, syllabus and materials design, and the use of information technology in the ELT practice.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “Great discussion! The workshop offered a lot of useful information and good communication.”
• “Everything was useful: materials, exercises, phrases, working with participants’ own writing.”
• “Exercises, examples, and discussion about different cases of using modality were valuable for me.”

Automatic translators undoubtedly make the life of an EAL writer easy. But sometimes the results are far from being desired. At the workshop, you will learn how to refine the results and produce an accurate English text using AI-based tools. The speaker will present a protocol for translating research papers. We will also widen the range of prompts to improve English output. Be prepared to “play” with the tools and discuss effective ways to use chatbots as your translating assistants. Hopefully, the skills you’ll get will lead to minimizing the need for native English speaker review.

Speaker: Adrian Wallwork is an EFL & EAP teacher and author of 30+ textbooks for Springer Science, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and BBC. Since 2000, Adrian Wallwork has held more than 100 courses for doctoral students and researchers at universities primarily in Italy, but also recently in Turkey, China, and Qatar. In 2021 Adrian introduced automatic translation into the courses, and in 2023 he began analyzing how AI can transform writing and communication skills.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• "There were so many great aspects: clear, practical instructions; humor and personal anecdotes that built rapport; and a high level of professionalism throughout."
• "It was a great workshop! I discovered new AI tools, practiced creating effective prompts, and received checklists to help assess prompt quality."
• "I’ve finally learned why and how to write short sentences, and how to translate my text without losing its meaning."

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Objectivity is considered to be one of the major characteristics of research writing. How can we distinguish one writer from another in an impersonal text? To be recognizable, one needs to demonstrate their own authorial voice. Recent studies have demonstrated that research writers do express their opinions and attitudes in the articles rather than merely communicate facts. The workshop will focus on linguistic markers of authorial voice. We will find out what stance features are conventionally employed by researchers from “hard” and “soft” disciplines and practice using them in some tasks.

Speaker: Elizaveta A. Smirnova is an associate professor of Foreign Languages Department at the HSE University in Perm. She is an academic supervisor of the BA Programme "Foreign languages and intercultural communication in business."  She holds a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Vigo (Spain). Her research interests include corpus linguistics, academic discourse analysis, and teaching English for academic purposes. Her works were published in such journals as Lingua, Pragmatics and Society, the International Journal of Applied Linguistics.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The speaker drew on her own research in explaining the difference between the author's stance in hard and soft sciences, which was highly valuable. A very good balance between theory and practice!”
• “I appreciated the logical progression from doing exercises to writing an abstract and utilizing all this knowledge in one's own research.The tasks were well-structured and informative.” 
• “The speaker gave us detailed tips on how to write a summary in a research paper using words to enhance the author's point of view. The theoretical input and practical examples were very useful.”

Writing and reading skills are intertwined: a good writer has to be a good reader. But what does it mean to read well, especially when you have to process large volumes of text in limited time? What reading and thinking skills does a researcher rely on to decode, evaluate, and integrate other authors' texts? At the workshop, we will discuss critical thinking and analytical reading skills. Participants will explore and train such subskills as identifying key ideas, noticing syntactic and lexical markers, understanding logical connections at the sentence and paragraph level, and inference. Finally, we will look at summarizing based on the deep understanding of a text, which is an essential skill for writing a literature review.

Speaker: Natalia Fedorova, manager at the HSE Academic Writing Center, has over 15 years of experience in teaching English in a variety of contexts. She holds a degree in English Philology, Trinity CertTESOL (Trinity College London), CPE, and FTBE (Pearson). Her professional interests include EAP, ESP, teacher training, and project management in education.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “I liked testing myself with the tasks — they really helped me think more critically about how I read. The interactive parts made it more fun.”
• “Organizing the reading process is something I often struggle with, so it was great to get clear tips and try out helpful exercises.”
• “The workshop felt relaxed but lively. The practical tasks helped me stay focused and made the session really engaging.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Literature review is an important part of academic research in any discipline. A review can be treated as part of an article or as a standalone and independent genre - a review article. A review article aims to get insight into a landscape of views on the topic in order to generate new knowledge and new research questions in the field. At the workshop, we will discuss why we need to write a review, what key types of review articles exist, and what effective strategies can be used in the writing process. We will also deal with typical mistakes that can be made when we build a literature map for our review and prepare a review article . We will practice analyzing different types of review articles (using published samples of abstracts and introduction sections) to get a better idea of how to write a literature review.

Speaker: Natalia Tsatsenko, Ph.D. in Economics, postdoc and research fellow at the Centre for Productivity Studies, HSE University. She participated in an interdisciplinary project in the ZALF institute, Leibniz Association and was a member of SME Management Graduate School at the University of Siegen where she ran seminars for international master students. Natalia’s research interests lie in the fields of economic growth and economics development; interdisciplinarity and sustainable development; and the intersection between entrepreneurship and structural transformation.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• ”The workshop had a well-structured format that made it easy to follow and engage with the content.”
• ”The interactive exercises provided a great opportunity for active participation and learning.”
• ”The seminar offered a comprehensive overview of various types of LR, giving a broad understanding of the topic.”
• “The utilization of visualization techniques in the literature review segment was a pleasant surprise and added a unique dimension to the learning experience.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

The workshop is aimed at discussing changes in publication activity due to external circumstances. We will talk about mapping up your publication strategy in the situation where everything around you is being evaluated and measured. As the principles and tools of such measurements diverge considerably in Russia and the rest of the world, it is becoming more difficult to develop a personal publication strategy. We will look at the main approaches to evaluating publications and authors in Europe, Asia, the US, and Russia, including changes in recent years. We will discuss how to navigate among these rocks to get somewhere without ending up either in the clutches of pirates or on a desert island.

Speaker: Ivan Sterligov, the founding director of HSE Scientometrics Center and a current advisor to the HSE Vice-Rector. Ivan brings years of experience in applied science studies and bibliometrics, having published papers in journals such as Scientometrics, Journal of Informetrics, and Research Evaluation, among others.

Target audience: HSE teachers, researchers, and graduate students
Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The presentation provided a logically structured explanation of the global situation, demonstrating relevance in a contemporary context with a plethora of useful links.”

• “The speaker's enthusiasm and expertise stood out, making it a pleasure to listen to his detailed and informative presentation, enriched with updated information and diverse useful resources.”

• “The presentation offered a logically structured explanation of the situation the world of academia.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Discussion is an important part of an academic article in which the researcher puts their findings in the broader context of research in their field. Russian scholars find this part one of the most difficult to write, probably due to the absence of such conventions in academic writing in their native language. At the workshop, you will learn what structural elements the Discussion section contains, and what functional language is pertinent to these elements. You will practice using the language of comparison and contrast to analyze your research outcomes at the backdrop of previous findings in the field. You will understand why hedging and tentative language are particularly important for this part of a research article and learn how to incorporate them in your writing. Finally, you will become aware of why you may need citations in your Discussion, and you will learn how to use them appropriately. 

Speaker: Svetlana Bogolepova is Associate Professor at HSE School of Foreign Languages with a Ph.D. in Language Theory. She supervises the “Foreign Language and Intercultural Communication” bachelor program. Svetlana has authored and co-authored more than 40 research articles and textbooks, including “English for Academics” and “How to Write a Research Article: Theory and Practice.”

Target audience: HSE teachers, researchers, and graduate students
Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “A highly interactive workshop with clear navigation between the presentation and the materials and an informative discussion with examples. I was impressed to learn about the evolution of academic English.”
• “A very detailed and step-by-step approach to the theme. It was easy to follow and comfortable to complete the tasks.”
• “The topic was very interesting and important for novice researchers. The workshop was interactive, everyone was engaged. The content was very relevant and easy to understand, with genuine examples.”

This session will look at how to criticize politely in written and spoken English, in formal settings and more casually, so that our message will be taken on board more easily and our professional relationships continue more smoothly.

In order to be considered robust, research needs to be scrutinized by others in the community. The peer review process for publishing papers, being central to academic work, presupposes an exchange of comments and critiques. Sometimes we also find ourselves called upon to comment more personally on our colleagues' work, both informally when a peer asks for advice or help and sometimes more formally in departmental meetings. Feedback should be both clear and phrased so as not to offend a person. Having joined the workshop, you will learn how to give helpful constructive criticism ensuring effective communication.

Speaker: Heather Belgorodtseva is Director of Studies for Teacher Training. She has worked as an English teacher and teacher trainer for over 20 years, in the UK and Russia, in private language schools and in further education settings. She often runs high-stakes courses where giving feedback, including constructive criticism, is an integral part of the process.

Target audience: HSE teachers, researchers, and graduate students
Language: English

Writing an academic paper can be compared to driving a car since there is a need to leverage the author’s attitude: hit the gas, using emphatic constructions when necessary, or slow down to soften the claims and use hedging when we are unsure. This workshop will focus on using some techniques, which will allow you to demonstrate your attitude towards ideas, varying the degree of emphasis. You will practice effective use of boosting and hedging nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs and some expressions in academic writing. Manipulation of certainty and doubt will be discussed from the point of view of reasonable distribution among different sections of academic paper. 

Speaker: Olga Karamalak, Ph.D. in linguistics, an associate professor of the HSE School of Foreign Languages (Moscow), an ICELT (In-service Certificate in English Language Teaching issued by Cambridge) holder, a member of the international association Distributed Language Group, a member of a research team in Switzerland Digital Fashion Communication (Università della Svizzera italiana), an alumna of American educational program Fulbright FLTA at Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, NC) and German scientific program DAAD Immanuel Kant at Leibnitz University, Hannover.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The workshop was well-structured, with lots of wisely-organized tasks.”
• “I found the topic highly relevant. There were practical exercises and examples.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

In this workshop, we will delve into nominalization, the process of forming noun phrases. Understanding how to build up complex noun phrases is essential for enhancing academic writing as such texts should be succinct and the number of content words should be maximized. We will examine the core components of complex noun phrases, their relevance in academic texts, and address challenges such as articles, prepositional phrases, and noun forms. Additionally, we'll evaluate some samples from various sources including online translators and AI tools to practice linguistic strategies that improve writing quality. By focusing on nominalization and mastering the nuances of complex noun phrases, participants will gain valuable insights into crafting concise and informative academic content.

Speaker: Anna Kashcheeva, a CELTA and DELTA trainer, MSc in Educational Management (University of Portsmouth, UK); Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (DELTA, the University of Cambridge); MA in TESOL; International House Teacher Training Certificate (IHTTC). Anna is a teacher trainer of International House, Trinity College, and Cambridge University’s Teacher Training programmes. She is also a teaching practitioner, running courses for higher-level students and teachers for over 25 years. Her main areas of interest are exam preparation, material design, and teacher development. Anna is an author of various programmes for different educational establishments like IH Izmir, IH Moscow BKC, Language Link Beijing, Thimar Teacher Training Centre, New Economic School, HSE University, Cambridge English Assessment, and a co-writer of Certificate of Advanced Methodology course for International House Worldwide Organisation.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “I liked the well-chosen examples and the handout. The speaker's assistant was professional, which is a rarity nowadays.”
• “The speaker’s support of the group was valuable, and her tandem with a colleague was effective. Demonstrating exercises and keys on slides was very useful.”
• “The manner of the speaker; interesting topic; a lot of exercises; interactive style”

Whether you would like to apply for an educational program, participate in a professional contest, or earn a grant, a motivation letter is a pre-requisite. Seemingly undemanding, this genre may prove to be challenging because of somewhat vague requirements. This workshop will guide you through the process of writing a strong motivation letter from making sense of what is asked of you to planning and structuring your text. You will look at both strong and weak examples of motivation letters, practice making choices about language and structure, and take away strategies and tips. Join us to beat your competitors at this game!

Speaker: Natalia Fedorova, manager at the HSE Academic Writing Center, has over 15 years of experience in teaching English in a variety of contexts. She holds a degree in English Philology, Trinity CertTESOL (Trinity College London), CPE, and FTBE (Pearson). Her professional interests include EAP, ESP, teacher training, and project management in education.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “Overall, I would highly recommend this workshop for its engaging structure, thought-provoking content, and real-world focus. It was an extremely valuable learning experience that left me with a deep understanding of the subject matter and new insights to apply in my own work.”
• “The workshop provided numerous valuable takeaways, which were supported by illustrative examples that made the information easy to understand and apply. The language exercises were also interesting and helped to reinforce the learning.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

The workshop will focus on the concepts of emotional intelligence and empathy to clarify what they really mean and how empathy contributes to successful presentation of your research. We will discuss how to make your texts credible and efficient and how to provide and receive non-evaluative feedback. 

The speaker will: 

• present cases of efficient interaction with colleagues and partners in research and education
• specify and emphasize some aspects of academic writing and style related to empathy and emotional intelligence to explain some of their “rules and norms”
• suggest techniques of non-evaluative feedback and provide an opportunity to train them.

Speaker: Yulia Ryabukhina, Ph.D. in linguistics, vice-director of Academic Writing Lab at ITMO University, St. Petersburg. She has more than 25 years’ experience of teaching foreign languages to STEM students, including courses in academic writing and speaking as well as professional and business communication. A qualified translator and interpreter, Yulia translated books on psychology and psychotherapy, interpreted workshops and lectures on related topics, and took advanced courses in psychology both in Russia and in the UK. This has led to designing courses and workshops on emotional intelligence for students and research faculty.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

“The workshop was such a great experience. I learned many concepts that I normally don't think about on a day-to-day basis. Very inspiring. Excellent structure and presentation.”

“It was good to have an opportunity for training and discussion. Also, it was interesting to know about new research on emotional intelligence.”

“The group tasks were really interesting. I've never done anything like this in the workplace before. Valuable examples, new academic writing models and conceptions involving EI”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to transform research and education, the need for robust ethical frameworks in academia has never been more critical. This workshop will offer an open discussion of the challenges HE institutions and scientific journals face in creating policies that balance innovation with accountability. We aim to explore how the new ethical norms and innovations are shaping the future academic landscape. We will share the most representative cases of AI-driven change in institutions’ and journals’ policies.  Having analyzed current trends in education and research, we will invite participants to discuss the new roles of the researcher and strategies that will ensure successful human-AI partnership in academic context.

Speakers: Oksana Nakonechnaya teaches ESL, ESP in IT and ITH, Academic Writing and Russian as a foreign language in ITMO University. In the past two years, she’s been exploring AI in teaching languages. She has participated in a number of international edtech conferences, run several workshops and seminars on AI-driven education, and developed a comprehensive course for educators. Currently Oksana sees herself as an ambassador of safe and effective integration of AI-based tools into educational context. 

Artem Sigaev is an ESL teacher with a B.A. in English Philology and M.A. in Psychology. At ITMO University, he teaches General English and ESP courses such as Academic Writing, ESP for IT and Information Security both for bachelor and master students.  Artem’s research interests include teaching writing, educational technology, and materials development.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The workshop was well-structured and informative, different perspectives were taken into account in the discussion about the attitude to AI worldwide.There was a place for interaction with the audience.”
• “Some comments, insights, and new ideas related to AI were interesting. There will be a reason to think about them later on.”
• “The topics were relevant; the speakers were experienced. I liked the clear and concise presentation, relevant information, useful links and resources, and the steady pace.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

We all know that publications are important for our professional success and progress. We also know that many of our great ideas and publication drafts never make it to the printed page or the journal’s website. In this workshop, we will focus on strategies for persevering through the publication process and for revising our drafts to meet journal expectations. We’ll also discuss how to become reviewers so that we can understand the publication process from a different perspective and strengthen our own submissions.

Speaker: Talinn Phillips is Professor of English at the College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University (USA) where she is Director of Composition and former director of the Graduate Writing and Research Center. She holds an M.A. in TESOL & Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in English Rhetoric and Composition from Ohio University. Talinn teaches various courses at Ohio University including Writing for Publication, Writing and Rhetoric, Developmental Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English and has authored a number of research publications. Talinn’s scholarly interests include rhetoric and composition, multilingual writing, graduate writing, lifespan writing research, and writing centers.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• "The workshop was incredibly informative and engaging. The presenters communicated the material clearly and concisely, covering relevant topics that provided valuable insights. I especially appreciated the interactive sessions, which fostered meaningful discussions and created a collaborative atmosphere." 
• "Time management and event organization are always perfect and accurate at AWC HSE! I enjoyed the speaker's manner of instruction and her ability to involve the participants. The task of finding and comparing the requirements for reviewers was very useful."
• "Tallinn shared her personal experiences and described some difficult situations she had faced. It was very supportive and inspiring for me." 

“Selling” our work is an idea that sometimes conflicts with the way we see ourselves as scholars. Though we want the power of our ideas to stand on their own, we can increase their power with thoughtful framing and word choice. This workshop focuses on marketing our research to editors by choosing the best journal, articulating our contributions carefully, and developing effective abstracts and introductions.

Speaker: Talinn Phillips is Professor of English at the College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University (USA) where she is Director of Composition and former director of the Graduate Writing and Research Center. She holds an M.A. in TESOL & Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in English Rhetoric and Composition from Ohio University. Talinn teaches various courses at Ohio University including Writing for Publication, Writing and Rhetoric, Developmental Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English and has authored a number of research publications. Talinn’s scholarly interests include rhetoric and composition, multilingual writing, graduate writing, lifespan writing research, and writing centers.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• "The insights about the article's title were very useful. I used to think a title only needed to reflect the content, but I now see the importance of making it attention-grabbing as well."
• "I especially appreciate the practical tips for presenting research to journal editors."
• "I liked the effective examples of "selling" titles and abstracts, the interactive activities, and the productive discussions based on participants' experiences."

Academic publishing in English requires repeated correspondence with editors and reviewers in another language in order to situate and defend our scholarly work. This high-stakes correspondence is very stressful and often feels like we’re being forced to repeat our articles or prior messages. In this workshop, we’ll focus on “threading the needle” when corresponding with editors and reviewers between language that is too aggressive and too weak. We’ll also talk about how to take reviews seriously without compromising a publication’s aims.

Speaker: Talinn Phillips is Professor of English at the College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University (USA) where she is Director of Composition and former director of the Graduate Writing and Research Center. She holds an M.A. in TESOL & Applied Linguistics and a Ph.D. in English Rhetoric and Composition from Ohio University. Talinn teaches various courses at Ohio University including Writing for Publication, Writing and Rhetoric, Developmental Writing for Non-Native Speakers of English and has authored a number of research publications. Talinn’s scholarly interests include rhetoric and composition, multilingual writing, graduate writing, lifespan writing research, and writing centers.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• "I found the topic to be both interesting and important, though opportunities to discuss it are unfortunately rare. The speaker's English was very clear and well-articulated, striking a perfect balance between being slow and simple enough to understand while still engaging. Additionally, the panel featured brilliant experts who provided inspiring insights."
• "It was fascinating to learn that editors can take on various roles. It's important to tailor our conversations with them based on these specific roles. I also appreciated the discussion and the valuable advice provided by the editors."

No one will deny that the English language is widely used in the world. Its importance does not come from its 350 million native speakers. It is the ever expanding community of non-native speakers, who use English as the language of international communication or the lingua franca (ELF), which contributes to its importance. This way English is constantly evolving. By transferring features of their own mother tongue into English, non-native speakers eventually shape new varieties of English and add to its diversity palette. How to deal with those varieties and which variety to choose for communicating in ELF settings? We will answer these questions at the workshop.

The workshop will focus on the key units of the Russian - English pronunciation transfer (consonants and vowels) that may cause intelligibility problems in oral communication and quite often lead to underestimating Russian speakers’ public speaking performance and sociocultural image. The suggested approach may serve as an example for dealing with other transfer diversities which Russians are facing on a larger scale nowadays with the turn to the East.

Speaker: Tatiana Skopintseva, Ph.D. (Candidate of Sciences), Associate Professor, is currently Chair of the Humanities and Languages Department at New Economic School in Moscow. Before joining NES, she worked at the Department of English Phonetics at MSLU. Tatiana is an IREX scholar exchange program alumna, a frequent speaker at international conferences (IATEFL, ASIATEFL, HAAL) and an invited speaker and teacher-trainer for Russian Universities. Her areas of expertise include phonetics and phonology, EAP, ESP, ELF, EMI; English accent and pronunciation, diction, fluency, and public speaking.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The workshop was exceptionally informative, well-prepared, and expertly produced. It included a wealth of examples and engaging tasks that enhanced the learning experience.”
• "I particularly appreciated the tips on pronunciation and the emphasis that an accent is not a flaw but rather an identity feature"

Is it enough to put our ideas in English clearly, intelligibly, and even with style when dealing with international partners? Does only speaking “good” English bring about long-lasting relationships? This ability is to a large extent determined by our awareness of the culture we are dealing with. Imagine, you have a 20-minute break to build a lasting and fruitful business relationship with several designated partners. How to begin a conversation and end it leaving a memorable impression? How to make the next appointment? We are inviting you to discuss these and other questions at the workshop. We will introduce you to key world business cultures, focus on the potential cultural clashes between them, and suggest safe communicative strategies to avoid a communication collapse. Together with you, we will define the critically important stages of a successful networking conversation and train cautious language and attitudes.

Speaker: Tatiana Skopintseva, Ph.D. (Kandidat Nauk), Associate Professor, is currently Chair of the Humanities and Languages Department at New Economic School in Moscow. Before joining NES, she worked at the Department of English Phonetics at MSLU. Tatiana is an IREX scholar exchange program alumna, a frequent speaker at international conferences (IATEFL, ASIATEFL, HAAL) and an invited speaker and teacher-trainer for Russian Universities. Her areas of expertise include phonetics and phonology, EAP, ESP, ELF, EMI; English accent and pronunciation, diction, fluency, and public speaking.

Language: English

We keep receiving requests about organizing a workshop on punctuation. To meet that need, we invite you to the workshop that is focused on basic punctuation conventions in American writing culture. Unlike Russian punctuation, there are no rules carved in stone in English. The punctuation usage largely depends on the writer’s intention, language variant, and style conventions. It is important that we explore this very complicated issue to get the message across clearly. Punctuation matters as it may change the meaning of the text completely. Participants will learn basic rules and do a lot of exercises. Come to have fun while playing with punctuation marks.

Speaker: Svetlana Suchkova, Ph.D., associate professor, a teacher of English, teacher trainer, Cambridge examiner, and director of HSE Academic Writing Center.  She has widely published in the field of ELT methodology. She authored a number of EFL course books for Russian university students and academics, including English for Academics series (CUP) и How to Write a Research Article (Nauka). She has participated with presentations and workshops in numerous national and international conferences. She is a Vice-president of the National Writing Centers Consortium.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “Very helpful information. Essentials of the whole punctuation in two hours!”

• “The content was amazing, so much material was covered that I felt focused all the time. The speaker is wonderful. This is a great example of what a webinar should be like - intense and fun at the same time.”

• “Cosy atmosphere and encouraging speaker; relevant data and detailed information on the topic; excellent, memorable examples.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Failure is universal. By nature of our humanity, failure unites us. We have all experienced it, but rarely do we utilize it as the profoundly powerful tool it is: the catalyst to build bravery and resilience in our daily lives. 

How might we change if we were set free from the fear of failure? What might we accomplish if we learned how to harness it and turn it into a catalyst for our betterment? This intercultural discussion delves into techniques, strategies, and resources selected from the world’s leading thinkers on the subject. Cultural sensitivity is foundational to this exploration of personal storytelling, facing our fears, building bravery, and ultimately, employing the power of resilience. A recommended reading list and directory of specialists is provided.

Speaker: Johanna Campbell, MA in Applied Linguistics from the University of Houston, has been a teacher trainer, conference presenter, writing center editor, public speaking coach, and a young adult English club teacher. Her expertise includes teaching intensive academic English with top-tier American universities. For two years, Johanna had the privilege of living in Russia and working with university colleagues across the Russian Federation. Her research interests include how culture shapes language, learner-centered oral fluency skills, and sociolinguistics.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “I really liked the topic of the seminar and the fact that it was based on intercultural discussion. The topic seems to be a bit different than usual, but failure and its potential is certainly connected with academic writing.”

• “This theme was provoking and really valuable.”

• “We had an opportunity to have extensive speaking practice in breakout rooms.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

The presenter’s answer to these questions is yes, and if yours is too, this workshop is for you: Have you experienced (or caused) offense or embarrassment in an email with an international colleague? Does learning to work through email-based misunderstandings to build better cross-cultural relationships interest you? 

Using examples both public and personal, this session explores the functional language of politeness and its power in relationship-building in higher academia. What are the rules? How do we strategize past our blunders? Knowing how to use these tools generates an effective, compelling piece of dialogue in intercultural communication.

With a focus primarily (but not exclusively) on Russian-American correspondence, discussion will include do’s and don’ts, strategies, and an opportunity to practice both hypothetical and any real-life examples that participants would like to workshop. Editing and context considerations, as well as Q&A, will be included.

Speaker: Tamrika Khvtisiashvili, Ph.D. in Theoretical Linguistics and M.A. in TESOL (the University of Utah and University of Frankfurt), is an English Language Specialist, who has taught, given numerous workshops and facilitated Professional Development for teachers in the Unites States, Russia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Tajikistan, India, and Palestine. She taught as an Assistant Professor at the University of Utah in the United States and Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia, teaching courses in Linguistics, Methodology and Anthropology, as well as directing the University Preparatory Program for women. Her research interests are language teacher education, linguistics, anthropology, and intercultural communication.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• "Well-organized class; many ways to engage me in active work online."
• "I found the teaching approach pretty interesting: theoretical statements were supported by examples and pictures."
• "I liked the friendly energy created by the speaker. Communication with the speaker was really pleasant."

WORKSHOP RECORDING

To publish a research article, the author needs to highlight their contribution and provide their argument in a convincing factual manner.

In the workshop, we will talk about Anglo-American rhetoric conventions and discuss how to "own" a text, making authorial voice strong. We will focus on such descriptors as

•    self-identification expressions

•    intensifiers

•    references to the available resources and their combination

•    responses to other voices.

They all indicate the quality of the author’s voice and the writer’s presence in the text. We will analyze model samples and work on your texts to emphasize your autonomy of thought.

Speaker: Elina Savitskaya (Chuikova), Doctor of Education, Associate Professor, Head of FL Teaching Department, Head of Philological Faculty at Samara branch of Moscow City University. She is a specialist in Germanic philology, a teacher of the English language and literature, a specialist in FL teaching methods, an academic writing tutor, the author of more than 70 published books, articles, and teaching guidebooks – 47 of them are about academic writing skills and their development.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “Practical examples of a good and less developed author's voice in the abstract.”

• “Interesting topic with lots of writing practice.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

The surge of digital literacy apps and tools is affording us exciting opportunities to communicate research in novel ways. In this workshop, we will explore three different ways to create multimodal digital texts to present and disseminate our research. Participants will be able to practice the 10 steps necessary to create and develop infographics, microblogs, and slide sharing to help increase the impact of their research on science and society in online spaces. They will also be given some tips on how to use social media to help the visibility of their research outside of their typical academic circles.

Speaker: M. Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D.  is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a former Fulbright Scholar. She specializes in the research and teaching of sociolinguistics and digital literacies among bilinguals and transnational populations. Her research explores the intersection between digital literacy and language ideologies, identities, and culture.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “A lot of pointers and real-life examples of how research micro-blogging should be done. A very engaging manner; I now feel motivated to try my hand at microblogging - something I would have probably never considered had I not attended the workshop.”
• “Positive and friendly speaker; helpful hands-on information to be applied straight away; engagement through eye-catching visuals.”
• “Useful information presented clearly in a friendly and engaging manner; lots of examples illustrating the speaker's point.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Effective dissemination of findings is important in bridging the gap between the research making process and society (whether it is other academics or the public in general). Reaching audiences outside one’s circle is particularly important in a globalized world. In this workshop, participants will be exposed to 3 approaches for improving the visibility of their research findings. Participants will have hands-on experience in the creation of effective video abstracts, podcasts, and social media posts, all of which can be linked to academic author identifiers (e.g., ORCID, ResearcherID) and other ways to help visibility of their research.

Speaker: M. Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D.  is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and a former Fulbright Scholar. She specializes in the research and teaching of sociolinguistics and digital literacies among bilinguals and transnational populations. Her research explores the intersection between digital literacy and language ideologies, identities, and culture.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “A lot of useful information, I really learned something new from the speaker who used interesting examples during the workshop. I'm also fascinated with the speaker's manner of communication - so warm and friendly, really engaging!”

• “The lecturer delivered an incredibly comprehensive presentation with recommendations and tools to look at after.”

• “I liked that there were various tasks at the workshop. The practical session was really engaging. For me, I started thinking of making video abstracts.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

Writing literature review is often considered challenging as it requires the integration of multiple skills. However, splitting this complex task into its essential components could make it much less intimidating. In the workshop, we will brush up on the skills needed for writing a successful literature review  such as citation and referencing, summary, paraphrasing, and combining sources. We will also look at the annotated bibliography, which synthesizes most of those skills, in terms of its function, structure, and the way it can serve as a minimal building block for literature review.

Speaker: Elizaveta Tikhomirova is a language instructor, translator, and course designer in ESP, academic writing, and public speaking skills. Her main interests embrace modern pedagogical practices, use of digital tools and edutainment in language teaching, developing STEM students’ soft skills and academic writing.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “Overall, the material presented was incredibly insightful and valuable, and the structure of the workshop was particularly logical. I would also like to express my gratitude for the various online resources shared, which are sure to prove helpful.”

• “A lot of useful ideas about literature review and information about programs for reviewing.”

• “I liked the metaphors and techniques that the trainer used when talking about designing the literature review.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING

AI is rapidly transforming the world, and the academic realm, which has been at the forefront of this revolution, is eagerly anticipating significant changes along with the rest of the world. How can we adapt and effectively utilize these new tools for the greater good? Join us at our seminar as we explore the possibilities together.

Specifically, we will discuss:

•  Incorporating general generative AI, such as ChatGPT and similar technologies, into various aspects of the academic publication workflow
•  Utilizing AI-based tools for academic writing and proofreading
•  Exploring new literature search and summarization tools

Speaker: Ivan Sterligov, the founding director of HSE Scientometrics Center and a current advisor to the HSE Vice-Rector. Ivan brings years of experience in applied science studies and bibliometrics, having published papers in journals such as Scientometrics, Journal of Informetrics, and Research Evaluation, among others.

Language: English

Participants' Feedback:

• “The information and explanations provided by the speaker were brain blowing for me. In the first place, Ivan had opened a new universe of instruments to aid the researcher.”

• “Very interesting topic and good review of current instruments, thanks to the lecturer!”

• “The topic is certainly engaging in terms of using legal forms of cooperation with the AI tools to alleviate some boring, time-consuming scientific stuff, which is a great help while writing.”

WORKSHOP RECORDING