Head of the Department of Computational Linguistics and Linguodidactics – Natalya A. Kurkovich, Candidate of Philological Sciences.

Deputy Head of the Department for Student Scientific-research Work – Anna O. Dolgova, Associate professor, Candidate of Philological Sciences.

Deputy Head of the Department for Academic Affairs – Natalya V. Ushakova, Senior Lecturer.

Deputy Head of the Department for Ideological and Educational Work – Irina V. Sokolova, Senior Lecturer.

Responsible for the Department’s Webpage – Valeriy V. Voronovich, Senior Lecturer.

The Department of Computational Linguistics and Linguodidactics (formerly known as the Department of General Sciences) was one of the first departments founded at the Faculty of Humanities of the Belarusian State University, namely on October 1, 2004. The department was founded with the intention to provide education in a broad spectrum of humanitarian (liberal arts) disciplines to the students majoring in International Relations and Modern Foreign Languages, as well as those pursuing non-linguistic specialties such as “Design”, “Social Work”, “Management in Health Care” and “Computer Sciences”. Prior to 2014, the department’s primary specializations were “International Relations” and “Modern Foreign Languages”, at present the graduates of the department major in “Modern Foreign Languages” (comprising “Computational Linguistics” and “Computer Assisted Language Learning”).

Larisa Babitskaia was the head of the department from the day of its foundation until June of 2005. From 2005 untill 2015, Lidia Blinkova held the position. Prokhorenko Olesia, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences & current Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Education Innovations, headed the department from 2015 until April 2021. Since 2021 the department has been headed by Kurkovich Natalya, Candidate of Philological Sciences.

The field of scientific research and projects of the Department of Computational Linguistics and Linguodidactics is completely in line with the priority trends of the scientific and research activity of the Republic of Belarus in the field of information technologies and is concerned mainly with the development of online (electronic) educational resources. These include:

• Computer technologies and intelligent systems of distant learning;
• Mathematical, logical and statistical methods, information technologies and systems of identification and processing of images, signals, speech and multimedia information;
• Theoretical, scientific and methodological fundamentals of the educational process in the age of the innovative development of the Belarusian National Education System.

From 2006 until 2010, the department worked on the scientific-research project “Development of teaching and methodical complexes for humanities and social sciences, as well as specialised subjects, on the basis of new educational technologies”. “Development of broad-spectrum educational software for linguistic research and its implementation into the teaching-learning process” was the focus of the scientific-research project from 2010 until 2015. From 2016 to 2021, the department carried out research work on the topic “Creation of linguoacoustic resources for the support of educational process in language disciplines”. In 2021, a new 5-year scientific-research project “A multi-platform approach to online support for academic disciplines” was adopted. The staff of the department supports and encourages students to actively participate in yearly scientific conferences for students and post-graduates.

The staff of the department participates in international scientific and practical conferences and seminars on the problems of intercultural communication, text linguistics, computer assisted language learning, methods of teaching foreign languages. The department fruitfully cooperates with the Speech Synthesis and Recognition Laboratory of the United Institute of Informatics Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The members of the department are highly qualified specialists in the field of teaching foreign languages: 1 doctor of sciences, 1 professor, 4 candidates of sciences, 4 associate professors, 17 senior lecturers, 1 lecturer, 1 trainee lecturer. Many lecturers of the department have been awarded honorary diplomas, certificates, Gratitude of the Rector of the BSU for their scientific, pedagogical and academic achievements.

Over more than 10 years of its existence the department has trained more than 500 specialists, who are now successfully employed and working in the spheres of information technologies, international relations, and education.

Address: Minsk, 5 Kurchatov Street, Room 416

tel.: +375 17 209 58 67

e-mail: calldepartment416@bsu.by