Студенческая

The New Talent Play is designed to encourage as much participation in STaG as possible. The production is auditioned for, rehearsed, and performed within a maximum of two weeks at the start of the first term. This production gives priority to new members, and stipulates that all those who audition will be cast.

Community Theatre

Community theatre is a platform for students to perform a wide variety of plays in a myriad of locations. Community theatre is designed to give students an outlet for any performance ideas they may have that wouldn't necessarily be appropriate or viable for a theatre environment. Plays have been performed in nurseries, schools, on the subway, and in many other venues around the Glasgow University campus.

STaG Nights

STaG Nights is STaG's annual student theatre festival, held in the G12 theatre on University Avenue. Billed as "Scotland's Largest Festival of Student Theatre" it hosts several short plays of approximately twenty minutes in length over three nights. The Theatre is heavily themed around a central theme which does not necessarily extend to the actual productions. Past themes have included "Cirque de la Nuit", "New Orleans" and in 2010 "Circa" which will involve the STaG technical team taking on the challenge of transforming the G12 theatre into a Big Top. The theme for 2009 was "Light and Shade" and was conceived by Rob Jones.

Playgroup

Playgroup is STaG's weekly writer's group, for those interested in creating and discussing new drama, and was founded in 2004.

2. Read and remember the pronunciation of the following words:

Society [sq'saIqtI], department [dI'pRtmqnt], performance [pq'fLmqns], involve [In'vOlv], academic ["xkq'demIk], community [kq'mjHnItI], platform ['plxtfLm], subway ['sAbwei], approximately [q'prOksImeit], extend [Iks'tend].

3. Match a line in A with a line in B.

A	B
1. go to the	a) some progress
2. perform	b) plays
3. make	c) new writing festival
4. take part	d) theatre
5. design	e) in discussions

4. Fill the gaps in the following sentences. Use the words from the box.

to be involved, provide, priority, designed, platform

a)This is a chance for members… in a show in a professional space.

b)Studio plays… an opportunity for smaller scale productions.

c)This production gives … to new members.

d)The New Talent Play is… to encourage as much participation in StaG as possible.

e)Community theatre is… for students to perform a wide variety of plays.

5. Answer the following questions:

a)What is the text about?

b)What do you know about Student Theatre at Glasgow?

c)Does Student Theatre at Glasgow perform many plays each year in many countries? Why?

d)Is this information interesting for people or not? Why?

6. Complete the following sentences based on the text:

a)Each year Stag produces three full scale…

b)Stag in the studio is student theatre focused on…

c)The New Talent Play is designed…

d)Community Theatre is…

7. Make the plan of the text in writing. Retell it using the plan.

BEDLAM THEATRE

1. Read the text and find in the dictionary the translation of the following words:

build, poorhouse, creation, church, committee, project.

TEXT. Bedlam Theatre

Bedlam Theatre is a student-run theatre owned by the University of Edinburgh and notable for being the oldest student-run theatre in Britain. It is housed in the former New North Free Churchbuilding at the foot

of George IV Bridge in Edinburgh; a building which was designed

by Thomas Hamilton, an architect involved in the creation of Edinburgh New Town in the city. It is on the site of the old city poorhouse, and its name is taken from the nearby site of the city's first mental health hospital, where the poet Robert Fergusson died.

After the building was abandoned by the church in 1937 it was gifted to Edinburgh University. The University used it for various purposes, including a furniture store and a school of nursing. In 1980, the Edinburgh University Theatre Company (EUTC) moved in, the building being converted for their use.

Entrance to the theatre

Running

Bedlam Theatre is the oldest student-run theatre in Britain. It is run by a student committee, elected annually. Any member can propose a show for selection by democratic company vote, and all aspects of the production from acting to lighting to taking the tickets are carried out by the student membership.

The theatre stages over 40 shows every year. Some are small-scale, one-off lunchtimes performances, while others are larger budget, weeklong productions known as Mainterms. The Bedlam is also home to Edinburgh's longest-running improv troupe, the Improverts, who play every Friday.

Fringe

The EUTC, being a student company based in Edinburgh, has always been involved in the Edinburgh Fringe. Bedlam Theatre opens as Venue 49 each year. Again the theatre is run entirely by students during the Fringe, and has developed a warm and friendly atmosphere with many companies and audience members returning year on year.

Youth Project

Established in 2000, the Bedlam Youth Project (BYP) aims to introduce children to the various disciplines of theatre. It currently liaises with schools and the Edinburgh University student charity Children's Holiday Venture. In 2009 they visited Brussels to help run 'Featlets', a youth theatre subsidiary of the Festival of European Anglophone Theatre Societies (FEATS).

2.Find in the text English equivalents of the following Russian words:

церковь, представление, пьеса, постановка, создание, студенческий театр.

3.Make questions to the text using the following table and answer them in pairs.

Вопроситель	Вспомогательный	Подлежащее	Смысловой	Второстепенные
ное слово	глагол/модал.гл.		глагол	члены предложения

4.Complete the following sentences: a) Any member can propose…

b) The Theatre stages over 40 shows…

c) The EUTC, being a student company… d) Bedlam Theatre opens …

e) In 2009 they visited …

5.Make the plan of the text and retell it using this plan.

LANGUAGE-ORIENTED EXTRA-CURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES

1. Read the text and find in the dictionary the translation of the following words:

extracurricular activities, perform, instruction, goal, skills, abilities.

TEXT. Language-Oriented Extra-Curricular Activities in

Russian Universities

Universities all over the world are focusing on rearranging their curricular to meet the demands of the global market (Richards 2001, Scollon 2004, Higgs 1984, Omaggio 1986, Moore 1990, Verbitsky 1991). University graduates are expected to develop professional skills along with the ability to understand and be understood in the languages of the worldwide neighborhood (Brutt-Griffler 2002), i.e., university education implies effective communication in one or more foreign languages. Therefore, finding ways of improving foreign language education at the postsecondary level emerges as an important question in applied linguistic research (Brumfit 1995) and university planning documents (e.g., Brecht & Walton 1994, Castro 1980, Flynn 1995, Lambert 1989, 1990,1991). Besides reforming language curricular, many schools are trying to increase students interest and language skills by offering a variety of language related extracurricular activities (Lambert 1991; Campbell 1973). This

paper examines the range of extracurricular activities in Russian and Canadian universities.

A brief history and a role of extracurricular activities in language education in Russia

Extracurricular activities are performed by students outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education; they supplement the regular course of classroom instruction.

In the Soviet Union times, in Russian schools and universities, extracurricular activities were very popular. Partly the abundance of extracurricular activities was connected with the goal of bringing up hard working comrades with good social and communicative skills along with high professional abilities (Andreeva 1958). However, the main purpose of extracurricular activities in Soviet schools was to complement the curriculum, to provide students with opportunities to use and share the skills they obtained in class in an informal way, outside of class, in the process of socializing with other students (Andreeva 1958). Students participated in different clubs, which were called кружкиand секции, were involved in Student newspapers, student government and theatres, took part in competitions and theme parties called вечера, organized trips and excursions. In order to investigate the current attitudes to extracurricular activities in Russia, we designed a study and report some of its preliminary results below.

The goals of the current study:

–to compare the types of extracurricular activities in Canadian and Russian

universities;

–to describe the benefits and problems of extracurricular activities;

–to analyze the role of extracurricular activities in language learning.

Materials and methods

The method employed in the current study combined observations and interviews. Russian data were obtained during observation sessions and interviews related to extracurricular activities in pedagogical colleges in two locations in Russia. The participants were a group of students taking advanced English classes.The participants were university students enrolled in language courses. Some participants were language majors, and some others took languages to satisfy degree requirements or as electives.

Types of extracurricular activities in modern Russian universities and colleges

Extracurricular activities that emerged in Russia are games/competitions, clubs, parties, holiday celebrations and pen-friends or a modern variant – online friends from the target countries.

Games and sports are major forms of extracurricular activities at many schools in Russia, and they can be language-oriented, for example if students play the national sport of the country of the target language, such as Russian students playing American football or baseball.

Language-related clubs are popular in Russia; they typically include writing, communication, foreign film, language, book, theatre (Drama), musical and cultural clubs. However, some features of languagerelated club activities are country-specific. In Russia, the most popular language-related clubs are more general - Culture Clubs or Language Clubs, focusing on cultural and communicational aspects of foreign language learning. Finding pen-friends from other countries goes back to Soviet Union times. Correspondence in the foreign language with students from the target country was one of the most exciting activities for students at that time. Nowadays it is improved with the mass usage of internet and computer technology, so communication with foreign students with the help of internet – skypeand videoconferences- is used all over the world.

Celebration of traditional holidays of the country of the target language is common in Russia and abroad.In Russia, some traditional Western holidays (like Halloween and St.Valentine‘s day) are being celebrated on an increasing scale due to their commercialization and marketing. Among other activities popular in both countries, we found theme parties, project work and research trips.

Since the Soviet Union times one of the most popular extracurriculars in Russia was newspaper editing in foreign language (Andreeva 1958), we found that it is found only very rarely in Canadian universities (apart from newspapers in the native language).

Some country-specific features of extracurricular activities Russia

In Russia, language-related extracurricular activities appear to be of a more general nature (like Language club or Culture Club). These limitations of extracurricular activities can be explained by the language curricular in Russian universities which offers significantly more contact

academic hours in smaller student groups, where language students typically take two integrated-skills language classes a year with the total of 72 hours of classroom instruction, and the number of students in a firstyear language class varies between 30 and 150. More ample time given to classroom instruction in Russia allows instructors to cover cultural issues, watch educational videos, provide students with opportunities of peer-to- peer and student-instructor communication, and provide extra exposure to the target language with the help of audio and video materials.

Students attitudes to extracurricular activities

In Russia

We report below some student comments on their attitudes to extracurricular activities that emerged from our interviews. Most Russian students never thought they could watch a foreign film without Russian translation prior to attending an extracurricular movie night. However, contrary to their low expectations, they were delighted to be able to understand the film and they reported enjoying this activity.

Russian students memorized more language materials thanks to participation in an extracurricular competition than if they tried learning these materials with a textbook. A visit to an exhibition by a foreign photographer aroused their interest towards foreign artists and photography, and some students carried on attending exhibitions of other photographers from abroad. Students‘ responses show that languageoriented extracurricular activities had a strong impact on their confidence as language learning, their motivation and communicative skills.

Some concerns involving extracurricular activities

Although in the last few years, many Russian universities have been encouraging their faculty and students to organize extracurricular activities, no financial support has been offered. The teaching materials produced during the Soviet era are either lost or dated, methods and methodologies are forgotten. New materials and methods need to be developed, which is impossible without investment.

In Russia, most students are already forced into seeking employment to support their university studies, which strongly limits the time and effort they may be willing to spend on extracurricular activities. In the situation of the looming increases in tuition fees far beyond the outreach of an average family, it is also likely that the enrolments in language programs other than English will drop even further. Language courses are likely to

get converted into ‗service courses‘ matched to more lucrative majors

(such as law, economics, science, etc.), which again will limit the scope of extracurricular activities. However, the turn of events in Russia in many cases proves to defy all predictions, so the future of extracurricular activities in Russia may still turn out a pleasant surprise.

2. Find in the text English equivalents of the following Russian words:

навыки, способности, кружки, секции, правительство, цели.

3.Make some questions to the text and answer the following questions in pairs.

4.Which sentences in the text express the main idea of the text.

5.Give the title to each passage of the text to make the plan of it.

6.Retell the text using the plan.

UNIVERSITY LIFE ISN’T JUST ONE BIG PARTY

1. Read the text.

TEXT. University Life isn’t just One Big Party

Students life used to be a byword for delicious hedonism. But even these days, their careers and debt make it a more stem preparation real world, there is still at least the hope perversity is the place where you will forge relationships that last a lifetime.

But a paper published by Dr Meg Barker, a lecturer Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, paints a very different picture. From the study of students at a traditional university which she declines to name, Barker found that many students are ―clinically‖ lonely. By that she doesn't mean suffering from a bout of homesickness. Rather, she identifies loneliness as the root of problems such as self-doubt, isolation, physical health, anxiety and depression. Barker also found that a third of students

said that loneliness was their main problem at university and it is also the third big best reason for them consider dropping out.

Barker says: ―Times have changed‖. Joint honours degrees mean that students have a sense of belonging to any single thing. They meet a wide range of people but few regular basis, so making friends is more difficult. Also, increased student numbers means the system is ineffective. Most students work nowadays and that means that it is more difficult to societies or plan a social life – consequently to become isolated.

But the biggest cause of loneliness is an inability to share feelings with others. It is a taboo subject.

Barker found some tragic case studies. There was a man from South Africa who had not single conversation with another man.

Barker has identified specific groups who are valuable to loneliness. Mature students often feel do not fit in with university life and they can be misunderstood at home. Part-timers also fall between two social stools, being neither workers for students.

Among international students, surprisingly, it is from countries more similar to the UK, such as Canada, who are most likely to feel isolated.

Barker has identified the times when students are most likely to be lonely. First-week homesickness is predictable, but other danger times are in 'he middle of the first term, when the freshers' parties have finished; post-Christmas, when students have just come back from home and the weather is miserable; and at exam time, when revision is an isolating factor.

Student retention in university is a serious problem. The drop-out rate is 18% countrywide and at some universities it is more than 30%.

Barker says: "Schools should run preparatory courses on dealing with life away from home and universities should balance their glossy prospectuses with hard factual advice".

"Self-help groups should be set up for the vulnerable - the mature, part-time and international students. It's not enough to offer classes for those who can't cope because the social taboo of admitting to being lonely prevents most from attending. Each academic course should include firstyear modules which help students adjust".

"It's a nonsense to teach only academic disciplines when lack of personal and social skills prevents many from making progress".

2. Match a line in A with a line in B.