University of Wroclaw

 University of Wroclaw (UWr) has a rich history of more than three centuries. Founded by Leopold I Habsburg in 1703 today is a public university and one of the most significant research and education centres in Poland with over 1900 academic staff and over 28 000 students. It is among the top research universities in Poland. It has world-class research teams and facilities both in the field of natural sciences and humanities: Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Astronomy, Natural Sciences, Law, Administration, Economy, Social Sciences, Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, Philology. The results of its research are published, patented, used in various studies and technical descriptions. In recent years University of Wroclaw has participated as a partner or coordinator in numerous international research and development projects within European and international research programmes, e.g. the Sixth and the Seventh Framework Programme (FP6 and FP7) of the European Commission, Horizon 2020, European Commission – DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission – Justice Programme, European Commission – Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme, EC Programme LIFE+, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Polish-Norwegian Research Programme, Polish-German Foundation for Science, International Visegrad Fund, Rothschild Foundation, Stiftung Pressehaus NRZ, The Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation, ERA NET. University of Wroclaw also actively participates in international educational projects (e.g. within ERASMUS+) as well as national research projects supported by national agencies and ventures financed from European Structural Funds. Research activities at University of Wroclaw are supported by central administration offices, including Foreign Projects Office, International Relations Office, Division of Scientific Research, Human Resource Office, Internal Audit Office and Bursar’s Office.
The cultural and geographical location of our University on the Polish, German and Czech border justifies their aspiration as an open, tolerant and world – oriented institution. The overall aim of the university Internationalization Strategies are to prepare the students for a multicultural community and information society. Since Poland’s European Union accession our University are a part of uniform European Area of Higher Education. This means political, economic and social consolidation and cooperation. It also greatly facilitates free students movement between European countries.
On 30 October 2019 the academic community learned that the application in “Excellence Initiative – Research University” programme was considered one of the top ten in Poland. The programme selected a group of universities specialising in high-quality research. Now our University has a chance to become a key participant of social, cultural, and economic changes, engaging the community on a regional, national, and European scale. The Institute of English Studies of the University of Wroclaw employs more than 50 academic teachers who are committed to excellence in research and teaching in the fields of linguistics, literary studies, and culture studies. The structure of the organisation reflects a division by areas of expertise. The Institute comprises five departments: Department of English and Comparative Linguistics, Department of English and Comparative Studies, Department of American Literature and Culture, Department of Translation, Department of Second Language Learning and Teaching. The students of our institute can choose from three different specialization courses: translation, teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), and literary studies.
The department involved in the current project is Second Language Learning and Teaching section, whose members focus their research and teaching on linguistic, psychological, cognitive and social aspects of learning and teaching EFL. The department offers BA and MA seminars as well as a number of theoretical and practical courses on teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). Upon completion of the teaching specialisation, students obtain nationally recognized qualifications to teach English in state schools. Additionally, the department organizes lectures and workshops for in-service teachers. It also cooperates with English teachers of primary and secondary education in the region.

The key persons involved are:

Anna Klimas has worked as an academic teacher and researcher since 2004. She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Wroclaw. Her research interests in the field of foreign language teaching concentrate on teacher education and professional development, learner and teacher motivation and autonomy, research methods used in classroombased studies, developing 21st century skills as well as the application of new technologies in L2 instruction. She has been involved in training teachers of English as a foreign language at undergraduate and postgraduate levels for many years. In addition, she supervises pre-service teachers’ internships at schools. In her academic career she has developed and run a number of e-learning courses for university students of English and teacher trainees. She has published in the areas of TEFL and teacher education.

Małgorzata Baran-Łucarz – PhD, since 2004 an Assistant Professor at the Institute of English Studies. Her main areas of interest include: teacher development and training, Second Language Acquisition (particularly the matter of the role of IDs – aptitude, anxiety, motivation, willingness to communicate, personality – in FL acquisition/learning and teaching), developing 21st century skills in teachers and students, teaching young learners and seniors, and phonetics and pronunciation pedagogy. She has presented at over 40 international conferences and symposiums worldwide, published numerous articles and book chapters. For over 20 years she has been working with teacher trainees by offering them lectures on SLA and theoretical and practical classes in methodology on FL teaching. She has also conducted several courses for in-service teachers, among others on the matter of pronunciation teaching, and cooperated with many schools, offering students representing different age groups several workshops related to successful FL learning and organizing international meetings, aiming at developing students’ multicultural and communicative competences. At present she is involved in a project ‘University for Seniors – an innovative approach to adult education’ as a leader and one of the members of ‘Language Competence Team’ (funding: National Centre for Research and Development in Poland; agreement no: POWR.03.01.00-00-T214/18).

Anna Czura is a researcher, academic teacher and teacher trainer. Her research interests centre around language assessment, intercultural competence, learning mobility (both facetoface and virtual), CLIL and European language policy. She has a vast experience in international projects. She was a team member in two development projects supported by the European Centre for Modern Languages in Graz (Council of Europe): ‘PluriMobil: Mobility for sustainable plurilingual and intercultural learning’ and ‘A Quality Assurance Matrix for CEFR Use’. Additionally, she served as an advisory board member for the “INTERMOVE – Intercomprehension and intercultural project ” (Erasmus+ strategic partnership; 2015-17) and an external examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland whose responsibilities include quality control of course design and assessment in the fields of foreign language and research design (2018-present). She has a vast experience of running teacher professional development courses for international audiences. Currently she is a principal investigator in a study on language assessment in virtual exchanges. She acts as the Polish Ministry of Education expert who certifies published teaching materials for school use. She has published widely in international journals and authored chapters in her area of study.