In 2022, a difficult year for the country, the Department of Foreign Languages of the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTU “KhPI”) was to celebrate its 95th anniversary. The scientific research conducted in previous years allowed us to obtain new information and talk about new starting points for the department.
Teaching foreign languages was planned from the very beginning of the then Kharkiv Practical Technological Institute. These were not classical Latin and Greek. The future engineer needed to be familiar with the current achievements of contemporary science, and they were written about in German, French, and English. It was these foreign languages that became “classical” for our Polytechnic.
The library, which was later created at the institute, received many foreign technical magazines, printed in German, French, and English. Moreover, the teachers of the institute annually during the vacation period made business trips to local production facilities and abroad to obtain factual material and practical knowledge for the purpose of subsequent transfer to students. And in the first years of the institute’s existence, students had to use foreign textbooks.
As for the process of teaching foreign languages, for a long time it was carried out by individual teachers. Sometimes by single teachers. For example, in 1894, the schedule included teachers of German and French. And in 1904 – German, French, and English.
According to materials collected by the head of the department of rare books and manuscripts of NTU “KhPI” Pavlova Galina Viktorivna, among the first teachers of foreign languages at our higher educational institution were, as we would say now, “native speakers.” Chenault Franz Matvievich, born in Switzerland, taught French in 1885-1895. British citizen Downs Gulson taught English in 1885-1888.
Other teachers received their education abroad in their respective countries. Ferber Yuliy Akimovich studied at New York University, studied English language and literature at Johns Hopkins University, taught English at the Kharkiv Institute of Technology (KhTI) in 1900–1916. Moreau Maria Pavlovna graduated from the pedagogical course at the Sorbonne University in Paris, taught French at KHTI in 1921–1923. Ozle Franz Danilovich studied at the college in Chalais (Switzerland), taught French at KHTI in 1904–1911.
Unfortunately, connections with abroad could later be used against such people. Gorton Leonid (Leonard-John) Yakovlevich improved his education in England, taught English at the working faculty of the KhTI. In 1938, he was arrested as an agent of British intelligence and shot. A similar fate befell Anton Vasilyevich Beit-Miller, who graduated from the Higher Technical School in Karlsruhe, taught German at the KhTI, and was later arrested for anti-Soviet propaganda, sentenced to 10 years, and shot in 1937. Both were rehabilitated only in 1989.
Some foreign language teachers of the KTI taught not only there, but also in other educational institutions. For example, Oleksandr Ernestovich Truart taught German at Kharkiv University, at the 3rd Kharkiv Gymnasium and at the Kharkiv Technological Institute.
And after the reorganization of the KTI, teachers could simultaneously work in different institutes formed from the Kharkiv Technological Institute. Berg-Bronnikova Marta Emilievna taught German as an assistant at the Kharkiv Electrotechnical Institute (KHETI) and simultaneously as a teacher at the Kharkiv Mechanical and Machine-Building Institute (KHMMI).
Some taught not only foreign languages. Luzina Zinaida Ivanovna was not only an assistant at the Department of Foreign Languages at the Kharkiv Chemical and Technological Institute and a senior lecturer of English at the Kharkiv Electrotechnical Institute, but also taught philosophy and social studies. Ametistova Kateryna Ivanovna taught French and chemistry at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, while simultaneously being a free student at the Kharkiv Women’s Polytechnic Institute and a student at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute.
However, the key figure of this period should be considered Roginsky Leonid Mykhailovych. According to indirect evidence, it was he who initiated the creation of the Department of Foreign Languages. The number of students was growing, and one teacher-linguist could no longer meet the needs of the educational process. Leonid Mykhailovych taught German at KhTI since 1924. And in 1927, his personal file records that he began working as the head of the Department of Foreign Languages. Which gives us the opportunity to talk about the 95th anniversary of the Department of Foreign Languages in 2022.
The life and professional path of Leonid Mykhailovych is interesting and indicative for that era, or rather the eras that he had to live through. To get the education that interested him, he had to leave his country, because in it he did not have, as he noted in his autobiography, the opportunity and right to study at a gymnasium. In 1909, Roginsky graduated from the Realschule in Frankfurt am Main, the Technical University of Duke Karl Wilhelm in Braunschweig, the linguistic department of the Evening University of the Humanities in 1914. Returning to another country, he worked as deputy head of the local unit of the system of organizing compulsory military training of citizens and a lecturer in foreign languages. And among the languages whose knowledge he recorded in documents, in addition to German, were French, English, Spanish and Italian. Later, after being evacuated during World War II, Georgian was added to them. The characterization particularly appreciated that Leonid Mikhailovich not only knew foreign languages, but, having a special engineering education, could advise special departments on foreign technical literature. He carried out a significant amount of work in the field of highly specialized terminology.
Inspector of the industrial department (since 1923). Lecturer of the “1000” group of the KhPI (1929). Deputy assistant director for the educational part (from 1930 to 1933). Inspector of the educational part, associate professor of the Kharkiv Mechanical and Machine-Building Institute, the Kharkiv Electrotechnical Institute (since 1930). Member of the Commission for checking the state of Ukrainization at the KhMII. In the 40s – senior lecturer of the Department of Foreign Languages, head of the department (1944) of the KhMII. He was engaged in scientific and terminological development in the field of machine parts, agricultural machine-building, automotive and railway business. Member of the Academic Council of the KhMII (since 1940). At the same time he headed the Department of Foreign Languages of the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers. He was transferred to the staff of the Department of Foreign Languages of the reunited KhPI (1950). This is all about Leonid Mikhailovich Roginsky.
After the division of the institute in 1930, L.M. Roginsky worked as the head of the Department of Foreign Languages at the Kharkiv Mechanical Engineering Institute. At the Kharkiv Electrotechnical Institute, the head was Esther Isaakivna Aizenshtadt, and at the Kharkiv Chemical and Technological Institute, Professor Mykola Petrovich Zhinkin.
Professor Zhinkin was entrusted with heading the Department of Foreign Languages at the merged Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute (KhPI) in 1950. His successors were Mykola Oleksandrovych Melnikov and Margarita Vasylivna Korotkikh.
Liliya Vasylivna Skrypnychenko also became a person of the era for the Department of Foreign Languages. She headed the department from 1985 to 2018. Under her leadership, more than 30 years of successful cooperation within the framework of international projects with the Language Center of the Magdeburg University Otto von Guericke (Germany) and Klagenfurt University (Austria). Within the framework of the cooperation, Ukrainian-Austrian courses were held with the opportunity to prepare for and pass the certificate exam, there were exchange and internship areas. Over the years of cooperation, computer programs for studying German, textbooks, assessment criteria and materials for testing students’ knowledge levels were created. Some of these resources proved helpful even in contexts like masterarbeit ghostwriting , highlighting practical academic applications. The teachers of the department had the opportunity to improve their qualifications at methodological seminars held with the participation of leading European specialists in the field of teaching German. Liliya Vasylivna managed to preserve the staff of the department, its traditions and spirit, and material base during the difficult 90s. Under her leadership, the annual student scientific conference “Science Looks Ahead” was launched. The teachers of the department participated in the British Council project “English for Universities”, foreign languages began to be taught to university teachers.
Tetyana Evhenivna Goncharenko took over the leadership of the department in 2018. Focusing on the current professional needs of modern students, the curricula were radically revised in order to develop foreign language communication skills, which are necessary for modern engineers. The directions of scientific work were revised. A course was taken for international cooperation. The material and technical base is being updated. New methods and approaches are being introduced aimed at the needs of students and the development of so-called soft skills, which include teamwork, creativity, and the ability to learn independently. A foreign language has returned to senior courses. Tetyana Evhenivna had to lead the department in the era of coronavirus and hostilities. In difficult new conditions, the transfer of the educational process to an online platform was organized and implemented. Trying to maximize the process of checking the acquired knowledge remotely, the teachers of the department developed a selection of Google tests for almost the entire foreign language course, including training entrance tests. Positive feedback has already been received from pilot testing on a smartphone. Kahoot quizzes developed as part of career guidance work were also well received by applicants. The department ensures a high level of English proficiency for students of the Innovation Campus. At the request of students, supported by professional necessity, opportunities were created for learning a second foreign language (German).
As ninety-five years ago, as one hundred and thirty-seven years ago, the department teaches English, German and French. However, today the department staff already has 32 teachers. Original and proprietary manuals, methodological developments are widely used. Technical means of supporting the educational process have become diverse and widely available. The basis of the department, its strategic reserve, which allows it to recover and survive difficult circumstances, are its employees.