Dear all.

Below is an update and a reflection.

1. Teaher Strand

1.1 A reflection by our ML instructor, Olga Sokolova

Reflections on the conference “Current Issues in Linguistics, Intercultural Communications and Foreign Languages Teaching Methods”

On April 7th, 2026, I had the pleasure of participating in the IX International Scientific and Practical Conference “Current Issues in Linguistics, Intercultural Communications and Foreign Languages Teaching Methods” at the Ural State Mining University in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The conference was organized by the Department of Foreign Languages and Business Communications.

The topic of my presentation this year was: “From Passive to Active: Student-Centered Learning in Higher Education French Classes”. During my presentation, I focused on how educators can practically integrate Student-Centered Learning throughout the entire pedagogical sequence. Rather than just discussing the theory, I wanted to provide my colleagues with actionable techniques to empower students during every stage of a lesson: presentation, practice, production, feedback, and assessment.

The presentation and all the conference were delivered in Russian to facilitate a deep exchange with the local academic community. Although there are no photographs available from the session, I am honored to share the official letter of appreciation received from the Rector of the Ural State Mining University, acknowledging this contribution to the international dialogue on foreign language teaching methods.

It was highly rewarding to share these practical strategies with fellow educators and to represent Ozyegin University in this academic dialogue. I hope that the ideas discussed during the presentation will inspire colleagues to implement more active learning techniques in their own contexts.

2. Student Strand

2.1 B2 Quiz Show – Round 1 

The first round of our traditional B2 quiz show was held last week with the participation of B2-level classes. It was a great chance for learning and revising some of the curriculum objectives paired with fun and competition spirit. The following groups made it to the podium.

First place: B2-25 Instructors: Selda Gumuş – Merve Çetinkaya 🌟​
Second place: B2-M23 Mojgan Ziyaeenejad ✨
Third place: B2-M6 Tibet Elmalık ⭐

Congratulations to the students and their inctrutors!  🎉​🎈

The second round will be held in week 13, where one of these groups will be the final winner of this quiz show!