Higher education in Great Britain

There are more than 60 universities in the U.K. They are divided into free types. First, these are old universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities. Second, these are the 19th century universities, such as London and Manchester, and at last there are the new universities. Some years ago there were also polytechnics. After graduating from a polytechnic a student got a degree, but it was not a university degree. 31polytechnics were given university status in 1992.

English universities differ from each other in traditions, general organization, internal goverment, etc. British universities are comparatively small, the approximate number is about 7-8 thousand students. Some universities have under 3,000 students, some even less than 1,500 ones. The most famous universities in Britain are Oxford and Cambridge. They are the two oldest English universities and they both have a long and eventful history of their own. Oxford and Cambridge are regarded as being academically superior to other universities and as giving special privilege and prestige. The number of students in each of them is about 20,000. Cambridge University consists of a group of 32 independent colleges. All British universities are private institutions. Students have to pay fees and living costs, but every student may obtain a personal grant from local authorities.

The typical academic programme for university students in Great Britain is composed of a varying number of courses or subjects. The academic obligations for each subject fall into three broad types. Lectures, at which attendance is not always compulsory, often outline the general scope of the subject matter and stress the particular specialization of the lecturer. Tutorials, through individual or group discussion, reading extensively, and writing essays under the tutor's direction, ensure focused and in-depth understanding of the subject.

Students studying for first degrees are known as «undergraduates». They have lectures, there are regular seminars. After four years the students will take their finals. Those who pass examinations successfully are given the Bachelor’s degree: Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science. Students who have completed a first degree are eligible to undertake a postgraduate degree, which includes Master's degree (typically taken in one year), Doctorate degree (typically taken in three years). The first postgraduate degree is Master of Arts, Master of Science. Doctor of Philosophy is the highest degree.

The Open University was founded in 1969 and started its first course in 1971. The Open University offers degrees for people who do not have a formal education and qualifications, or who are much older than 16. Students study at home and then post their paper off to a tutor for marking. Most courses take six years and students get a number of credits for each year’s work. About 120000 people have enrolled since then.

Vocabulary:

a polytechnic – политехнический колледж, политехникум;

approximate – приблизительный;

to regard – расценивать, рассматривать, считать;

a superior – что-л., превосходящее по качеству;

fee and living cost – плата за обучение и проживание;

fall into – делиться на категории;

attendance – посещение;

compulsory – обязательный;

to outline – обрисовать в общих чертах;

the general scope – общее представление;

a subject matter – предмет, тема;

a tutor – наставник;

eligible – имеющий право, пригодный, подходящий;

to enroll – поступать.

Lesson 22.

1. Грамматика: видо-временная система английского языка (Simple и Progressive).

2. Сравнительная характеристика систем высшего образования.

Systems of higher education

Country	The USA	Russia	The UK
Types of institutions	1) colleges 2) universities (contains several colleges + one or more graduate schools for obtaining a master’s or a doctoral degree)
Duration of study	1) 4 years 2) 4 years + professional work and studies (apprenticeship, internship) + scientific research
Degree	1) Bachelor’s degree 2) Bachelor’s degree + Master’s degree + Doctoral degree
Requirements for admission	high school records, recommendations from high school teachers, the scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT), the impression during interviews at the university
Source of financing	public or private
Number of students	3000 – 50000
Types of studies	lectures, seminars, tutorials
Field of concentration	major
Assessment	credits, tests

Commentary:

There are also other types of educational institutions in the USA:

1) two-year, or community colleges, from which students may enter many professions or may go to four-year colleges or universities. They provide for a degree of Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS),

2) technical training institutions, at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration, and learn a wide variety of technical skills, from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming. They provide no university degree.

But in fact both these types of institutions are not considered to be higher educational establishments in Russia.

Vocabulary:

duration – продолжительность;

requirements for admission – требования к приему (здесь – поступлению);

apprenticeship – ученичество;

internship– интернатура;

associate – степень, присваиваемая выпускнику среднего специального учебного заведения;

major – профилирующая дисциплина (в какой-л. области – in ); дисциплина, выбранная как специализация;

tutorial– консультация.

Lesson 23.

1. Обсуждение презентаций на темы:

1) Система высшего образования в России и мой вуз.

2) Вузы России.

3) Мой факультет.

4) Система высшего образования в Англии.

5) Система высшего образования в США.

6) Вузы Великобритании.

7) Вузы США.

8) Вузы Европы.

9) Главные транспортные вузы России.

1.1. Слова и выражения для презентации

1.1.1. Начало презентации:

I want to tell you about (I would like to speak about). There are different ways of representing the name of the university, training in the field of railway transport: University of Transport Communications, University of Transport, Railway University. You can also see the name formed in the course of history: University of Railway Engineering.

1.1.2. The oldest (the largest, the farthest, the most famous and so on) one.

1.1.3. При сравнении университетов используйте такие грамматические конструкции:

Степень сходства	Способы выражения
Полное сходство	My profession is the same as yours. Your profession and mine arealike.
Сходство по многим признакам	This building islike a museum This student works like a skilled specialist.
Сходство по одному признаку	He has the same plans as I have. He works as good as an engineer.

Степень отличия	Способы выражения
Неопределенная степень отличия	His design differsfrom mine. His design is different from mine.
Незначительная степень отличия (неполная)	This problem differs somewhat from that one. This problem is a little different from that one.
Отличие по одному признаку	His work is not so difficult as mine.
Значительная степень отличия (полная)	Your plan differs from mine in many ways. Your plan is very different from mine. Your plan is entirely different from mine.

Чтобы избежать повтора существительных в предложении, используйте следующие замены: а) существительное можно пропустить при наличии притяжательного местоимения в независимой форме или существительного в притяжательном падеже: This university is as large as ours; His plan is not so interesting as Victor`s ; б) существительное можно заменить словами-заместителями: This university is as large as that one. The building of our university is different from that of the Moscow university.

Lesson 24.

1. Контрольная по лексике, грамматике, чтению:

1) Части речи:

1.1. Имя существительное: употребление артикля; множественное число; притяжательный падеж.

1.2. Артикль.

1.3. Прилагательное: степени сравнения.

1.4. Местоимение: разряды местоимений и употребление.

1.5. Числительное.

1.6. Наречие.

1.7. Глагол (личные формы и неличные формы глагола (Причастие)).

1.8. Глаголы to be, to have.

1.9. Оборот there + to be.